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Item sold on ebay got damaged from USPS

OrangeSVTguy

OrangeSVTguy

macrumors 601
Original poster
Sep 16, 2007
4,127
69
Northeastern Ohio
Well I wanted to get some opinions on here. I sold a dual 1.25ghz G4 processor on ebay. I always ship USPS priority and offer insurance as an option. I stated in my auction that it's sold as-is no returns or refunds since I didn't know if it was working or not. The person purchased it for a good price(about 1/4 of what they go for) and didn't opt to pay the insurance.

Well apparently/supposedly it got smashed/dropped while being shipped and opened a "item not as described" dispute against me. Paypal closed the dispute in his favor and now I guess I'm waiting for it to be shipped back to me. The funds are currently being withheld until it is shipped back to me. It says to be shipped back in it's original condition, can I dispute that when I receive it since it wasn't shipped back to me in the condition from when I shipped it to them?

I've shipped quite a few of the exact same processors the same exact way and never had a problem which is why I always use USPS anyways. So I don't know if he purposily damaged it when he tested it and it indeed did not work afterall. Called both USPS and Paypal and neither would do anything for me.

This is the first time a claim like this has been filed against me. I currently have 367 100% feedback so I've been doing this for about 4-5 years now.
 
You can.

Whether or not it will get you anywhere is an entirely different matter.

99 times out of 100, eBay sides with the buyer. End of story. Sales history, feedback, etc. mean very little.

If this particular buyer has a history of this, or is very new, you may have a case.


OrangeSVTguy said:
Well I wanted to get some opinions on here. I sold a dual 1.25ghz G4 processor on ebay. I always ship USPS priority and offer insurance as an option. I stated in my auction that it's sold as-is no returns or refunds since I didn't know if it was working or not. The person purchased it for a good price(about 1/4 of what they go for) and didn't opt to pay the insurance.

Well apparently/supposedly it got smashed/dropped while being shipped and opened a "item not as described" dispute against me. Paypal closed the dispute in his favor and now I guess I'm waiting for it to be shipped back to me. The funds are currently being withheld until it is shipped back to me. It says to be shipped back in it's original condition, can I dispute that when I receive it since it wasn't shipped back to me in the condition from when I shipped it to them?

I've shipped quite a few of the exact same processors the same exact way and never had a problem which is why I always use USPS anyways. So I don't know if he purposily damaged it when he tested it and it indeed did not work afterall. Called both USPS and Paypal and neither would do anything for me.

This is the first time a claim like this has been filed against me. I currently have 367 100% feedback so I've been doing this for about 4-5 years now.
Click to expand...
 
That really really sucks, surely if they'll just side with the buyer there's absolutely no point in the feedback system.

Hope it all works out in your favour mate.
 
I know this isn't any help now, but when I sell something that I know is fairly easy to damage, I build the price of insurance into the eBay auction.

I think your odds are slim, but I would continue to fight it. You have to keep pushing your feedback history and the fact that insurance was declined......
 
ButtUglyJeff said:
I know this isn't any help now, but when I sell something that I know is fairly easy to damage, I build the price of insurance into the eBay auction.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is really the way to do it.

Don't make it optional and just tack on a little extra to your shipping charge.
 
Unspeaked said:
Don't make it optional and just tack on a little extra to your shipping charge.
Click to expand...

Just as a buyer (most of the time), I wanted to chime that I also agree. I don't like mandatory insurance on things that cost very little -- if I buy something non-fragile for $10, I don't care to pay $2 insurance for it. But for something like a computer system, as a buyer, as long as your shipping prices are not onerous, I'd probably be just as happy if you padded in insurance.
 
Technically the auction is for goods "where is" and "as is". But buyers are stupid and spoiled and expect to be treated as if they were buying from a retail store and not an auction site.

Technically you are OK to just tell the buyer to "deal with UPS" and collect your insurance (if any was bought)

You can however offer to be nice and take the thing back or just refund the money and let the buyer trash the item himself, after all, why pay UPS to ship trash.

If it were me I'd remind the buyer about the "where is" and "as is" nature of the transaction. As long as you did not mis-represent the item.

All that said. I made out well once when I shipped a computer by UPS. They lost it and I insured it for replacement value and collected about $2K on the deal.
 
USPS express mail comes with $100 insurance I believe but I am not sure how it's claimed.
Edit: only USPS Express Mail comes with free insurance.

BTW, I factor in insurance as part of shipping cost.
 
When I sale anything I make shipping insurance mandatory and include it in the shipping because as said above, eBay will almost always side with the buyer.
 
Yeah thanks for all the replies.

He's got until the 13th to ship it back to me and to provide PP with the shipping details so if I don't it before then, the case is dropped and I get my money back. The funds are currently withheld. Sucks that shipping was more than I quoted since the heat sink was heavier than I thought and also all the ebay fees I have to pay.

I think from now on, all my items will have insurance on them now and will adjust the costs into the shipping price.


USPS wouldn't cover the package since there was no insurance on it and only on Express mail is there insurance that comes with it. Paypal said it's my responsibility to get the item to the buyer even if USPS screwed up or the buyer didn't purchase the optional insurance.

In my opinion, ebay has really fallen in the trash in the last few years. I see more scams and deadbeat bidders more and more every day. It's so sad :(. Because of it, MY fees go up. ebay is so pathetic.
 
I have had things stolen when sent through USPS

So, I stopped using them

My iPod was padded correctly and sent and someone opened it and took it
 
Ive dealt enough with ebay/paypal to know to always insure unless you are the buyer. Paypal sides with the buyer all the time, same reason they don't allow sellers to give neg feedback anymore.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
Yeah thanks for all the replies.

He's got until the 13th to ship it back to me and to provide PP with the shipping details so if I don't it before then, the case is dropped and I get my money back. The funds are currently withheld. Sucks that shipping was more than I quoted since the heat sink was heavier than I thought and also all the ebay fees I have to pay.

I think from now on, all my items will have insurance on them now and will adjust the costs into the shipping price.


USPS wouldn't cover the package since there was no insurance on it and only on Express mail is there insurance that comes with it. Paypal said it's my responsibility to get the item to the buyer even if USPS screwed up or the buyer didn't purchase the optional insurance.

In my opinion, ebay has really fallen in the trash in the last few years. I see more scams and deadbeat bidders more and more every day. It's so sad :(. Because of it, MY fees go up. ebay is so pathetic.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm not much of an eBayer anymore because it's changed so much, and not for the better IMO. It really sucks that even though you had stated right in the auction that it was sold as-is, and insurance was optional, that you're being screwed over.

It seems like USPS is unusually rough with packages. When I purchased my MacBook the guy put it in a box quite a bit larger than the MacBook box itself and when I got it one whole side was crushed completely in (thankfully not the side with the MacBook). I found that pretty outrageous considering S&H on the item was nearly $50.
 
GSMiller said:
Yeah I'm not much of an eBayer anymore because it's changed so much, and not for the better IMO. It really sucks that even though you had stated right in the auction that it was sold as-is, and insurance was optional, that you're being screwed over.

It seems like USPS is unusually rough with packages. When I purchased my MacBook the guy put it in a box quite a bit larger than the MacBook box itself and when I got it one whole side was crushed completely in (thankfully not the side with the MacBook). I found that pretty outrageous considering S&H on the item was nearly $50.
Click to expand...

Our government knows how to get stuff done efficiently :p
 
SFStateStudent said:
I've lost all confidence with eBay when it comes to selling anything. They take forever to get my money to me; while the buyer has my item for 72 hours and is [snip] it. Just not worth the headache anymore...:mad:
Click to expand...


And sellers can't even leave negative feedback for buyers anymore, which makes it even worse for sellers.

I'll buy cheap things on eBay (my limit is around 50 bucks, I won't risk any more than that), but I won't sell anymore.
 
I suggest Craigslist first next time. I haven't sell anything on ebay for awhile now.
Too much effort required to sort out the baddies and fees are too high.

Unspeaked said:
Are you sure you don't mean UPS?

USPS doesn't come with any insurance by default.
Click to expand...

Oops only USPS express mail has $100 insurance
http://www.usps.com/shipping/expressmail.htm
Too many shipping of different types.

Looks like UPS and DHL both have $100 free insurance.
 
I like USPS Priority because I get free delivery confirmation and they also ship me free boxes of various sizes. I only wish that they offered free insurance for up to $100 too. Also shipping Flat Rate for under $10 is a pretty good deal too for 2 days to get it to the buyer. I think I managed to get about 35 pounds in one of those boxes once :D.
 
USPS is a **** hole

USPS will often bend in half and stuff a thick PRIORITY envelope full of postcards into my p.o. (piss. off.) box destroying all the contents, even if "DO NOT BEND" stamp or sticker is present. Those *******s will, not stop at anything and all the postal employees that were nice to me were fired and they hired some real retards now.

Also I wanna say about the "feel" of USPS post offices. Most of those USPS holes feel like trash depository - ugly or no designs and feels like vacuum, with no soul. Very rarely that I jump into a USPS place, usually from the early 20th century that has the Soul Feel of some sorts and a good service. The modern designed ones usually quite ok design but totally cold and heartless feel and very cheaply made which breaks soon.

I can compare USPS post offices with post offices of Third and Second world countries that I lived in and I can say post offices in less rich countries are much soulful places than the ones in USA. The entire country is one empty hole with no soul and this is my experience and observation of 20 years living in the U.S.

The place needs a SOUL! Fast! Or lose it. I'm moving out soon!
 
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