So I sell an item to a zero feedback buyer on ebay. Ship item. Item shows delivered. Buyer says never received item. Buyer says doesn't have time for me to reship (it's a textbook, so yeah, maybe).
Do I refund voluntarily? Or let ebay/paypal sort it out?
Once upon a time, you could limit sales to buyers based on feedback, but I think that would only let you limit based on negative feedback. Is there any protection against this sort of thing? I'm guessing not.
You can still limit buyers to people with feedback to prevent this, but now that it's happened you need to let eBay sort it out. You shipped the item and have a delivery confirmation to the address provided, there's no reason for you to give a refund.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I would begin with requesting a POD (proof of delivery) from the carrier. Given that most carriers use some sort of technology based on cel phones the POD should be available by e-mail or fax. With the POD you will be able to see who signed for the package, and proceed from there.
EBay will refund them all on their own, most likely without even notifying you they took money from your account. They've been anti seller for years, and keep getting worse. No need to give the guy the book and double his money back.
There's a process on eBay for responding to the "item not received" claim - follow it. If he just sent you a message saying "I didn't get it," respond with tracking information. If he started the "item not received" process then follow through on the process with eBay, on the eBay site. I think if you click on "My eBay - All Selling" there will be a section about returns / problems with sold items. I haven't dealt with it lately since I've been using the new eBay "Seller Central," but I think it's pretty easy to find.
Rons said:In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I would begin with requesting a POD (proof of delivery) from the carrier. Given that most carriers use some sort of technology based on cel phones the POD should be available by e-mail or fax. With the POD you will be able to see who signed for the package, and proceed from there.
No POD, just tracking showing the carrier dropped the package at the address. I actually had a similar thing happen a few months ago, where I took the buyer at their word and re-shipped. All was good on the second go-round. Maybe they got a free copy, but they gave me very positive feedback, so I think the request was legit. That buyer had good feedback, however.
For me, the thing that bugs me is the zero feedback and the fact that they will not let me re-ship. What are the odds of the USPS losing a package for an ebay noob?
USPS stinks. Numerous times I've had packages shown as delivered, questioned seller, only to have the item delivered the next day. I think the carrier keeps it in the truck until then.
Dirtydog said:USPS stinks. Numerous times I've had packages shown as delivered, questioned seller, only to have the item delivered the next day. I think the carrier keeps it in the truck until then.
I had that happen to me, and near as I can tell, the carrier keeps it in their own truck. Package from MidwayUSA, sig required, came to the office on a Saturday, when the office is closed. Monday AM, I'm looking at the tracking and the USPS says it was delivered. Wait for Monday's mail, no package. Tuesday, I call up Midway and explain it. Their EXCELLENT customer service says "no problem, we'll start a claim on it and I'll get another out to you this afternoon." Tuesday PM, the mailperson shows up with the package. They are off on Mondays so a different carrier with a different vehicle delivers mail. Near as I can tell, our "regular" carrier marked the package as delivered and left it in her Jeep until she got back to work on Tuesday.
In reply to Dirtydog :
They do in some instances. More often for Amazon stuff to keep their contract alive, things are marked delivered so "we delivered it on time" despite it not showing up until the next day or so. And Amazon doesn't really care, they'll either send another one out or try telling you that prime 2 day shipping means "we'll ship it in 2 days, just wait"
When I was still doing eBay a lot, before I got sick of getting screwed on stupid things, I'd see "package delivered" and have an email that is was nowhere to be found, then later that day or the next day "oo it was by the fence" or "I never actually went outside" or it was just late.
I still won't put it past eBay to refund the buyer just to keep buyers happy, whether they're legitimate buyers or not.
My favorite still, and the straw that broke this camel's back, was selling bowls and glassware from am estate sale. I posted pictures from every angle, with a ruler on top numbers showing and a dollar bill underneath for scale. Money was immediately pulled from my account to make a refund because the buyer reported "it wasn't the size it was in the picture/description". OO no, they don't want to send it back, and god forbid eBay allow you to charge realistic shipping prices either, so out items, money, and eBay fees, plus the negative feedback. Happened with several buyers, and after losing almost $200 trying to sell $0.25 estate sale items, I had enough.
Turns out there are people who do that for a living. Complain and complain to eBay and just keep everything they get plus their refunds. EBay has acknowledged it publicly as a problem, but won't do anything about it because it makes them look fantastic and the sellers look like crap, so they get to come out smelling like a rose and increase their fees a few more percentage points.
USPS? I’ve shipped books using the reduced media rate to find it takes many weeks to be delivered.
Once the guy used a PO to find somebody had the package outside the mailbox and it took a week to find out where it was.
Yea Ebay as a service has really declined. I think they are just playing the percentages but that minority that screws sellers are really visible (Just make it up in volume. /rage)
I spoke with one of the USPS contractors that delivers amazon packages one day, and he explained that they are not issued scan tools. They have to scan all of the items they are issued for delivery at the hub, which means they are all marked as delivered at that time in the system. Depending on the size of the route and the package load for that day, the goods may not actually be delivered until the following day. Made sense, and amazon has always neen willing to offer an extension of prime for a month for free.
Now of course with ebay stuff it's completely different, and they don't use contractors to deliver. USPS tracking is next to useless for disputing a delivery claim with them. When I was an ebay seller, I would outright delete any bids from buyers with 0 or negative feedback. I would only ship via UPS or FedEX, and that cut down on non-delivery claims substantially. I eventually got tired of ebay's anti-seller stance though, and haven't sold through them in years.
I agree with the above recommendation to let the ebay claim run it's course, you do not need to volunteer a refund.
eBay sucks.
Your story reminds me of when I sold a cell phone in December. Guy wins the auction, sends me the money, and asks me to ship it to a hotel in Vegas where he's currently staying. OK, no problem, I do so. Few days later, he gets it, but he says there was an additional $10 shipping charge that I should pay for. He sends me a picture of the receipt for this charge, and it's a FedEx receipt, and I used USPS (and paid in full, obviously). Basically, his hotel charged him a handling fee to receive the package for him. I tell him politely but firmly that I'm not responsible for his hotel fees, but he won't let it go. So then he submits a fraudulent buyer report with eBay saying he never got it. Well, I have tracking, and I have messages from him admitting that he did, so after waiting the mandatory three days, eBay rules in my favor. Not content to take his lumps and move on, he then claims that the phone has scratches that I didn't disclose, and that I deliberately tried to hide them in the 10 pictures I posted in the listing, so he wants a refund. At this point, I don't want the phone back, he could have done anything to it, plus I'm pissed at him, so I (again, politely, I don't want to give him any ammunition) tell him to pound sand. Once again, after the three days, eBay rules in my favor as it's a used item and was described as such in the listing. Realizing he's lost, Mr. Jackass leaves me negative feedback, the first I've received in 18 years as an eBayer.
The whole thing really turned me off selling on eBay. I suppose in retrospect I could have just sent him the $10 and avoided all the hassle, but he was such a shiny happy person about it, I didn't want to give in. When someone calls me dishonest, it really sticks in my craw.
Do not swim in the Bay. It is polluted.
Datsun310Guy said:USPS? I’ve shipped books using the reduced media rate to find it takes many weeks to be delivered.
Once the guy used a PO to find somebody had the package outside the mailbox and it took a week to find out where it was.
That's another funny thing. This went via Media Mail. VA to IL. It was dropped of at a PO in VA on 1/25. On 1/27, tracking showed it delivered. On a Saturday. Much faster than I expected.
That might be your problem. Wait 2 more weeks. Media mail is painful.
I sold an older laptop, guy receives it and after several days decides to file a claim that it was damaged in shipping. Says the laptop housing was cracked and the cd/dvd drive was outside of the laptop sitting on top of it when he opened the box. Impossible due to box dimensions for the drive to remove itself and end up like described while inside the box.
Ask him to send pics of the laptop and box, he sends pics of the laptop with the damages he described, however the box he sent me pics of was not the box I sent to him, further corroborated by the shipping label clearly displayed. Some investigation turned out he bought another laptop at the same time he bought from me and it looks like he dropped or deliberately damaged mine to get a refund. Ebay sided with me but I never got the money back.
I have some hvac refrigerant for sale local pickup only. Guy buys, then messages “hi this pedro need shipping cost to (zip code in jersey)”
i sent back local pickup only, stated several times, don’t have time to deal with all the hoops that need jumped through. He claims is easy. I did my research before listing that i’m not entering that paperwork jungle. I cancelled the sale and to cover my ass reported him on buying in bad faith demanding a change to the shipping method. This was yesterday. I like that ebay is a market for me to ditch things where i’d have to post to dozens of other places to sell. It’s annoying sometimes but mostly it’s worth it.
In reply to Patrick :
I "sold" a local pickup only bumper cover 2 or 3 times on eBay, each time the people asked for shipping costs. I finally just gave up. Nobody reads that and the bumper cover sits in my shop still. I should just cut it up and throw it in the trash.
I have never sold anything on ebay, but bought a good bit of stuff years ago. All but one transaction was a great one. I rarely even check the site any more. Once they started manipulating the feedback and basically became a vendors site, it became worthless.
I've never bought or sold anything on eBay. And thanks to this thread I never will.
I use ebay as a tool. Recently I purchased struts. The ebay site for the parts was cheaper than the manufacturers direct web site. Comparison shopping I guess. I also use it to show my wife pictures of cars that I'm interested in.
Nick Comstock said:I've never bought or sold anything on eBay. And thanks to this thread I never will.
I've bought a ton of stuff on there, and will continue to do so. It's selling that's painful.
Tom_Spangler said:Nick Comstock said:I've never bought or sold anything on eBay. And thanks to this thread I never will.
I've bought a ton of stuff on there, and will continue to do so. It's selling that's painful.
Sounds to me like since I've never bought anything I will have a zero rating which means some people won't even sell to me. And then if I do find someone to sell something to me and I don't receive said item I'll be labeled a slimeball.Think I'll stick to cash in hand/in person type transactions.
Nick Comstock said:Tom_Spangler said:Nick Comstock said:I've never bought or sold anything on eBay. And thanks to this thread I never will.
I've bought a ton of stuff on there, and will continue to do so. It's selling that's painful.
Sounds to me like since I've never bought anything I will have a zero rating which means some people won't even sell to me. And then if I do find someone to sell something to me and I don't receive said item I'll be labeled a slimeball.Think I'll stick to cash in hand/in person type transactions.
I've had the whole won't sell to you thing happen. It's kind of irritating but seeing as I've bought a total of 20 things off ebay in the 15 years I've had an account there, and how hostile they are to the sellers, I can sort of see why they won't.
On the flip side it's only a matter of time before it bites them.
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