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Sold 13" MBP on eBay - Buyer Says It's Dented

Kilamite said:
I have a product that a buyer wants. He can either collect it in person, or have it delivered. If he wants it delivered, he can choose how quick he wants it, depending on how much he wants to spend on postage. He should really take out postal insurance on the item too.
I'm not the one who wants the item, I'm not the one who's wanting it delivered. Why on earth would I pay postal insurance?
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You are the one selling it, describing it, perhaps providing a picture of the real thing...No different than one going to the Apple store making a purchase of an item sealed in a box..Should I purchase insurance on the item before bringing it home..?? If it is damaged, they take it back, replace or credit..
I dont understand why a seller would balk at taking 5 - 10 bucks of his overpriced item to purchase insurance so all would be happy in the end...It is the buyer that ultimately gets screwed otherwise...As you know UPS will not pay for it unless they watched you pack it, likewise with FEDEX, no matter how much you insure it for...
 
Mac N Tosh said:
You are the one selling it, describing it, perhaps providing a picture of the real thing...No different than one going to the Apple store making a purchase of an item sealed in a box..Should I purchase insurance on the item before bringing it home..?? If it is damaged, they take it back, replace or credit..
I dont understand why a seller would balk at taking 5 - 10 bucks of his overpriced item to purchase insurance so all would be happy in the end...It is the buyer that ultimately gets screwed otherwise...As you know UPS will not pay for it unless they watched you pack it, likewise with FEDEX, no matter how much you insure it for...
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My item wasn't over priced, and I'm not paying $100 shipping insurance.

Previous laptops I've sold on eBay, I've had buyers say they want to pay for the full postal insurance. It is news to me that it is the seller who is meant to cover postal insurance.
 
xboxer75010 said:
Actually starting July 2009 the seller is responsible for the item until it arrives according to new eBay policies:

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/July2009Update/Details/#1-9
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I stand corrected. B/c the seller was the one dictating insurance or not that led me to believe it was FOB Origin. Thats a good clarification and makes me wonder if it was FOB Destination the whole time, why did the buyer EVER have the option to pay extra for insurance? What buyer would pay for that if the seller was ultimately responsible? Odd.
 
Kilamite said:
My item wasn't over priced, and I'm not paying $100 shipping insurance.

Previous laptops I've sold on eBay, I've had buyers say they want to pay for the full postal insurance. It is news to me that it is the seller who is meant to cover postal insurance.
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Sorry, I wasn't insinuating your item was overpriced, but that would be the exception...Now that 100 dollars you wouldn't spend on insurance will cost you 10 tens that amount refunding the money, paying reverse shipping cost, maybe insuring a dented computer and buying a new case and trying to sell a damaged/fixed computer..Penny wise, pound....:(.. That is why it is beyond me why a seller would not protect himself by insuring a higher dollar piece of electronic equipment or camera, or camera lens...
 
Kilamite said:
I have a product that a buyer wants. He can either collect it in person, or have it delivered. If he wants it delivered, he can choose how quick he wants it, depending on how much he wants to spend on postage. He should really take out postal insurance on the item too.

eBay even gives you the option in the end bill for the buyer for any optional postal insurance.

I'm not the one who wants the item, I'm not the one who's wanting it delivered. Why on earth would I pay postal insurance?
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I wasn't aware when we talked about this in the other thread you originally started that you weren't going to purchase insurance. Guess I should have suggested that, but I assumed every seller knew to do this. I've always purchased insurance on every item I sell since I started selling on eBay 10 years ago. I just always have thought it was a smart practice to avoid these types of scenarios right here that you are experiencing. The buyer has always had the option to request (and receive ) a refund if the product is damaged, just as if you purchased a product via the internet from a retailer and found it damaged upon delivery you'd expect a refund/exchange also.
 
I always insure high value items regardless of whether the buyer wants it or not. I see it as my responsibility to get the item to the buyer in the condition described. Anything less is shoddy business IMHO. I have been disappointed by sellers who try to cut corners like this.
 
chris975d said:
I wasn't aware when we talked about this in the other thread you originally started that you weren't going to purchase insurance. Guess I should have suggested that, but I assumed every seller knew to do this. I've always purchased insurance on every item I sell since I started selling on eBay 10 years ago. I just always have thought it was a smart practice to avoid these types of scenarios right here that you are experiencing. The buyer has always had the option to request (and receive ) a refund if the product is damaged, just as if you purchased a product via the internet from a retailer and found it damaged upon delivery you'd expect a refund/exchange also.
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:D:D:D
 
I always keep my business policies on my own web site and sell directly from there yes I use paypal but I don't block the wayback machines bot from accessing my site either. That way there is independent documented proof that I have not changed any wording in my return policies if some jerk tried to pull a scam on me like that I would throw everything back at them in small claims court. I haven't used E-bay as a seller in 7 years and anything I buy from there I check into the company selling first so out of 7 years with Ebay I only have a very small list of sellers I trust and most of them are attached to some larger brick and mortar company using Ebay just to sell overstock.
 
Question about selling something and paypal yanking the funds back in the event the buyer is scamming you:

if you sell something, and the money comes through as a 'completed' payment, but then later the buyer/scammer complained about whatever (item not as described, etc), what could paypal do if you had already transferred the funds to your bank account and deleted the link between your account and paypal?

i was just thinking if i sold a computer on ebay and i KNOW its mint, shipped properly, as described, and insured, id probably transfer the money to my bank and delete the link just to safeguard myself. could paypal do anything?
 
puma1552 said:
Question about selling something and paypal yanking the funds back in the event the buyer is scamming you:

if you sell something, and the money comes through as a 'completed' payment, but then later the buyer/scammer complained about whatever (item not as described, etc), what could paypal do if you had already transferred the funds to your bank account and deleted the link between your account and paypal?

i was just thinking if i sold a computer on ebay and i KNOW its mint, shipped properly, as described, and insured, id probably transfer the money to my bank and delete the link just to safeguard myself. could paypal do anything?
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Take it from your attached checking/banking account...Unless you opened a separate bank account for PayPal funds only...Then one would have to wonder whom is scamming whom or is that who is scamming who..:) Self insurance is best or plain ole face to face sale only....
 
Think I'm going to have to take the fall here and learn from it.

Thanks all for the advice/opinions - in future, I'll restrict to selling only on a pickup basis to avoid all this. Buyer checks laptop, is happy with it and I get the money. No complications.

Ah well.

Only thing I'd really like to know is what has actually happened - whether it did get damaged during shipping, whether it was customs who accidently damaged it, or whether the buyer damaged it by mistake.

Oh, a question: if I agree to refund the buyer and take the fall, I get the eBay Final Value Fee (and PayPal fees back too I think). What if the situation is escalated and I lose? I won't get the fees back?
 
Kilamite said:
Oh, a question: if I agree to refund the buyer and take the fall, I get the eBay Final Value Fee (and PayPal fees back too I think). What if the situation is escalated and I lose? I won't get the fees back?
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I had filed a dispute once (buyer) and prevailed via Ebay/PayPal..All the fees were refunded to me, minus the shipping cost..Something you should be on the look out for...For laptops especially..The buyer will return the item, back to the seller via (UPS, FEDEX) and get a tracking number. All that is required by PayPal/Ebay that the buyer provide them with a return tracking number and that it has been returned to the seller to get his refund...But on more than one occasion the box returned was empty...So the scammer got your laptop AND the money returned..If it feels light, open it up in FRONT of the delivery agent.....
 
It's all sorted now.

I asked the buyer if he wanted his money back or if he'd re-negotiate a price. He came back and said a new price would be interesting, and I agreed to £725. I lost £125 out of it, but as far as things could have gone (i.e. me being stuck with a damaged laptop and trying to sell it), it isn't that bad.

Makes me incredibly suspicious though about how this happened. His main concern was that the AppleCare would be voided. Now, he's really happy at the lower price.

The laptop was definitely dented - he sent me a video and high resolution photos, so it wasn't as if he faked it to get a lower price, and it was my suggestion to lower the price if he wanted to keep it.

But why would he agree to a slightly lower price? I know if I had received a dented laptop that's main selling point was the 3 year warranty which could be voided because of the damage, I'd want my money back!

Anyway, glad it's all over.. and I'll never go down this route again.
 
Kilamite said:
It's all sorted now.

I asked the buyer if he wanted his money back or if he'd re-negotiate a price. He came back and said a new price would be interesting, and I agreed to £725. I lost £125 out of it, but as far as things could have gone (i.e. me being stuck with a damaged laptop and trying to sell it), it isn't that bad.

Makes me incredibly suspicious though about how this happened. His main concern was that the AppleCare would be voided. Now, he's really happy at the lower price.

The laptop was definitely dented - he sent me a video and high resolution photos, so it wasn't as if he faked it to get a lower price, and it was my suggestion to lower the price if he wanted to keep it.

But why would he agree to a slightly lower price? I know if I had received a dented laptop that's main selling point was the 3 year warranty which could be voided because of the damage, I'd want my money back!

Anyway, glad it's all over.. and I'll never go down this route again.
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Are you sure it was your laptop? Did any of the pics show your laptops serial number and the dent?
 
yg17 said:
Are you sure it was your laptop? Did any of the pics show your laptops serial number and the dent?
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Yeah, showed the serial number, as well as the laptop booting and showing the serial number on screen. There was no arguing that it was my laptop.

Only issue I have left now is he left negative feedback, which has really screwed my eBay rating up. I was 100%, now I'm down at 84.5%.

Is there anything I can do? I've emailed the buyer to say since we resolved the issue, can he amend his feedback and I'll leave positive feedback for him, but had no reply..
 
Kilamite said:
Is there anything I can do? I've emailed the buyer to say since we resolved the issue, can he amend his feedback and I'll leave positive feedback for him, but had no reply..
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After having had to deal with a problem seller on ebay I'd say that no, there is nothing you can do once the buyer ceases to reply. In my communication with ebay and paypal they made it clear that they want to attract more buyers and have more than enough sellers, so there is no recourse available for sellers to protect themselves against predatory or hostile buying practices.

In my case the buyer attempted a chargeback scam but was unsuccessful, resulting in me having to call paypal multiple times and wait weeks for the payment to be investigated before I could get paid (well after the buyer had received the item despite his claim of "item not received"). Because of ebay's prejudiced policy towards sellers I am unable to warn future sellers of this person's behavior (sellers can't leave negative feedback at all?!) and ebay refuses to take action despite the paypal dispute rep admitting the claim was obviously fraudulent.
 
for US Domestic...(UPS)

$600.01 to $5000 (maximum liability is $5,000) $7.70 plus $1.00 per $100 or fraction thereof over $600 in declared value...
 
Mac N Tosh said:
for US Domestic...(UPS)

$600.01 to $5000 (maximum liability is $5,000) $7.70 plus $1.00 per $100 or fraction thereof over $600 in declared value...
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Imagine how useful this would've been had the OP used UPS, which he didn't, so it's completely useless.

As an aside, nobody in their right mind would ship anything via ups given their track record...
 
Mac N Tosh said:
for US Domestic...(UPS)

$600.01 to $5000 (maximum liability is $5,000) $7.70 plus $1.00 per $100 or fraction thereof over $600 in declared value...
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I'm in the UK shipping to Europe, so not really any use..
 
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