Why does Ebay make Seller refund full amount when item is lost by postal service?

[maltesemojo]

I sold a record to someone in Germany. The album has gone missing. Neiher ebay or paypal will take responsiblity for what ebay says is a bad upc / bar code on my preprinted mailing label from paypal. Instead of going to Germany as stated on the address, tracking has the record in the West Indies. The Buyer didnt buy a level of postal service that would provide international tracking. I believe ebay allows two months for an item to be delivered, after that I must give a full refund. So I am out the payment and the record. Totally unfair and unethical order from Ebay. 

Everyone takes a risk when using international shipping yet the Seller is forced to take the full brunt of the loss. OUTRAGEOUS.         

[mikeystoyz]

If you sent first class you have tracking.  Pretty simple.  This is unless you are outside of the US.  You have tracking, if not, please tell me what service you used?  Cheapest I can send 1lb to germany for is about 16 bucks.

[ed8108]

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@maltesemojo wrote:

 Neiher ebay or paypal will take responsiblity for what ebay says is a bad upc / bar code on my preprinted mailing label from paypal.    

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What did PayPal say when you said the label from PayPal has an error in the upc/bar code ?

[missjen831]

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@maltesemojo wrote:

I sold a record to someone in Germany. The album has gone missing. Neiher ebay or paypal will take responsiblity for what ebay says is a bad upc / bar code on my preprinted mailing label from paypal. Instead of going to Germany as stated on the address, tracking has the record in the West Indies. The Buyer didnt buy a level of postal service that would provide international tracking. I believe ebay allows two months for an item to be delivered, after that I must give a full refund. So I am out the payment and the record. Totally unfair and unethical order from Ebay. 

Everyone takes a risk when using international shipping yet the Seller is forced to take the full brunt of the loss. OUTRAGEOUS.         

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You are the one who chooses to ship internationally, what carrier and class to use and you are the one who contacts with the carrier. Plain and simple. eBay is just the venue here. Why should they take the hit here? eBay doesn’t allow 2 months for delivery. They set an estimate delivery sate based on your handling time, shipping method and buyers location. Buyer has 30 days from that date to file. They also have a 180 days from the date of payment to file. 

[muttlymob]

Neiher ebay or paypal will take responsiblity for what ebay says is a bad upc / bar code on my preprinted mailing label from paypal.

What is the exact wording of eBay's message that says the bar code is bad?  Is it possible that the label was damaged and the barcode is not scannable?  If that is the case then it is not eBay's or PayPal's responsibility.

The Buyer didnt buy a level of postal service that would provide international tracking.

The buyer chose a level of service that you offered.  If you don't want untrackable mailings, then don't offer untrackable mailings.

So I am out the payment and the record.

No,  you are out either the payment or the record.  Both were never yours at the same time.  Once you received payment the record became the buyers.

[mikeystoyz]

I will repeat what I said unless it was a small letter.  You have tracking, was it a package?  It has tracking.  If it was a letter-sized item with just stamps you don't have tracking.  You might get the item back as well.

[secretsquirrelisnowhere]

You might want to buy a new ink cartridge for the printer. That's the primary reason for bad bar codes on self printed labels.

[muttlymob]

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@secretsquirrelisnowhere wrote:
You might want to buy a new ink cartridge for the printer. That's the primary reason for bad bar codes on self printed labels.

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more reasons barcodes can't or won't be read/scanned:

- inkjet printing gets wet (not taped over)

- wrinkled labels - taped over or applied badly

- labels applied across flap junctions - section at the junction creases/rubs/obliterates bars and numbers

- label not taped sufficiently - one piece of clear tape across the middle of the label, leaving sides or ends to flap in the wind, is not a good thing

- tape applied over thermal labels (print fades very quickly when taped over)

- label applied over the edge of a box, or even barcode on the opposite side from the address of the label

- label applied the wrong way around a tube

[robot-hands]

because unless your buyer recieves thier record you have not fulfilled your end of the deal.

You can take it out on whomever you like but the only entity you can get any sort of satisfaction from is the shipper you contracted to get the item there and to do so you need proper documentation.

...and if you don't have that, well, I think you learned a valuable lesson

[thatsallfolks]

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@maltesemojo wrote:

I sold a record to someone in Germany. The album has gone missing. Neiher ebay or paypal will take responsiblity for what ebay says is a bad upc / bar code on my preprinted mailing label from paypal. Instead of going to Germany as stated on the address, tracking has the record in the West Indies. The Buyer didnt buy a level of postal service that would provide international tracking. I believe ebay allows two months for an item to be delivered, after that I must give a full refund. So I am out the payment and the record. Totally unfair and unethical order from Ebay. 

Everyone takes a risk when using international shipping yet the Seller is forced to take the full brunt of the loss. OUTRAGEOUS.         

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No, everyone doesn't take a risk. YOU take a risk. The buyer didn't buy a level of postal service that would provide tracking because YOU offered a level of postal service that didn't include tracking.

Your responsibility is to have the item delivered. eBay's well-documented policies tell you this. Ignore them at your own risk.

[city_racer]

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@maltesemojo wrote:

I sold a record to someone in Germany. The album has gone missing. Neiher ebay or paypal will take responsiblity for what ebay says is a bad upc / bar code on my preprinted mailing label from paypal. Instead of going to Germany as stated on the address, tracking has the record in the West Indies. The Buyer didnt buy a level of postal service that would provide international tracking. I believe ebay allows two months for an item to be delivered, after that I must give a full refund. So I am out the payment and the record. Totally unfair and unethical order from Ebay. 

Everyone takes a risk when using international shipping yet the Seller is forced to take the full brunt of the loss. OUTRAGEOUS.         

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Be very careful with international shipping. EBay intentionally omits the buyer's phone number on the shipping label, which increases the chance for the item to get lost because the destination country's Customs office has no way to contact the recipient. The reason eBay does this is is to encourage people to go through them for international shipping, which they charge a hefty fee for.

Whenever you ship internationally, always be sure to hand write the buyer's phone number in the appropriate field on the label. Never offer First Class shipping (unless going from US to Canada), because it is unreliable and eBay always punishes the buyer if anything happens to the package. Make the buyer pay for Priority for his and your own good.

[greg_kurtz]

This is why I don't ship outside the US.

[jujueye]

 thanks for your response, but that does not quite address my question. The last tracking information on this package is in transit from the west Indies. Which is the wrong direction to Germany. When asked, eBay official told me yes I am responsible if the package is lost. Which is blatantly ridiculous and unfair. Everyone takes a risk even with tracking when they send a package. Yet eBay is demanding that I refund The buyer the full amount. Which will leave me high and dry. It’s on ethical and bordering on a moral.

[thatsallfolks]

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@jujueye wrote:

Everyone takes a risk even with tracking when they send a package.

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You can repeat that a million times; it will still be wrong. YOU are responsible for delivery. If that's not acceptable to you, this isn't the place for you to sell.

[ladec_48]

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@jujueye wrote:

 thanks for your response, but that does not quite address my question. The last tracking information on this package is in transit from the west Indies. Which is the wrong direction to Germany. When asked, eBay official told me yes I am responsible if the package is lost. Which is blatantly ridiculous and unfair. Everyone takes a risk even with tracking when they send a package. Yet eBay is demanding that I refund The buyer the full amount. Which will leave me high and dry. It’s on ethical and bordering on a moral.

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How would you feel if you bought something, it got lost, and the seller told you "it's unethical and amoral (immoral?) of you to expect me to refund you."?