I hate having to post this but I'm just hoping that this ends well.
I started this thread last Thursday: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-KnifeArt-Exclusive?highlight=sng+dgg+arctic
The buyer contacted me and we ended up speaking over the phone regarding him trading me a Boker Turbine plus cash in exchange for the knife listed for sale above. This was the evening of Wednesday 12/2. We agreed on a dollar amount and we agreed to both ship our knives on Thursday the 3rd. He paid the difference to me that evening via PayPal F&F (I did not request F&F, he just chose to do it that way for whatever reason). Upon receipt of funds, I immediately updated the thread to sold. Both our knives were sent out on Thursday to each other and both were shipped via USPS First Class mail with Signature Confirmation. Neither he nor I requested insurance for the goods being shipped (stay tuned). The "estimated delivery date" of both knives was Monday the 7th. Here's the knife I sent all packaged up (the knife is in a baggie and it's wrapped and sealed in a tyvek envelope inside the bubble mailer) before tendering it to USPS.
And here's the USPS acceptance receipt showing that I dropped it off.
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=9402109699938000222755
The tracking for the knife I sent shows no activity since the 3rd. The knife he sent me arrived on Monday as expected.
I know that there's still a very good chance the knife I sent him will eventually arrive. BUT.....IF the package I sent just never appears again anywhere, what am I to do? Should I be expected to give a refund of his money and knife? Obviously, I'm reluctant to make the loss entirely mine. As I see it once an item is passed off into the hands of USPS, I longer have any control or influence as to what happens to the package. I've always looked at buying or selling on the exchange as a gamble that both buyer and seller have to take in order to play the knife swapping game. Yes, there's insurance that can be purchased to provide compensation, however this costs money which adds to the cost of the transaction at either the expense of the buyer or seller. Nothing in life is free! And neither of us felt insurance was worth buying when the deal was being made. I'm obviously not here to send my valuable knives into oblivion. But if neither of us put any safeguards into place, who is really to blame? To be clear: I'm not at all saying the buyer should entirely take the loss either.
If the package doesn't turn up after a reasonable timeframe, say 15 days after shipment, I intend to offer to send him back his knife plus cash, to total a value equal to 50% of the value of the knife lost. So essentially, we would split the loss 50/50.
So for example using round (hypothetical, not actual) numbers, if the knife I sent was valued at $400 and his knife was valued at $120, he sent me his knife plus $280 to total $400 ($120+$280=$400).
Would the majority of you guys think that's reasonable? To send him back his knife plus--based on the example above--$80? Yes, he'd be out $200 cash (net). And I'd have received $200 for a $400 knife, so I'd be out too. Does that make sense and sound fair?
Alternatively I'd also be willing to just keep his knife and send him $200 if he'd rather have the cash than his knife back.
My reputation here is very important to me, and at the same time $400 is a lot of money to me. I'm not a merchant who can simply write off a loss as an expense of doing business. I'm just an average knife enthusiast like most of you guys. Reply posts such as "It's the seller's responsibility to make sure the item gets to the buyer" are of no help to me. As I've shown above, I did everything correctly and in good faith. I truly want to be fair, hence this post.
Hopefully the knife just arrives! He and I both have our fingers crossed...
I started this thread last Thursday: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-KnifeArt-Exclusive?highlight=sng+dgg+arctic
The buyer contacted me and we ended up speaking over the phone regarding him trading me a Boker Turbine plus cash in exchange for the knife listed for sale above. This was the evening of Wednesday 12/2. We agreed on a dollar amount and we agreed to both ship our knives on Thursday the 3rd. He paid the difference to me that evening via PayPal F&F (I did not request F&F, he just chose to do it that way for whatever reason). Upon receipt of funds, I immediately updated the thread to sold. Both our knives were sent out on Thursday to each other and both were shipped via USPS First Class mail with Signature Confirmation. Neither he nor I requested insurance for the goods being shipped (stay tuned). The "estimated delivery date" of both knives was Monday the 7th. Here's the knife I sent all packaged up (the knife is in a baggie and it's wrapped and sealed in a tyvek envelope inside the bubble mailer) before tendering it to USPS.
And here's the USPS acceptance receipt showing that I dropped it off.
https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=9402109699938000222755
The tracking for the knife I sent shows no activity since the 3rd. The knife he sent me arrived on Monday as expected.
I know that there's still a very good chance the knife I sent him will eventually arrive. BUT.....IF the package I sent just never appears again anywhere, what am I to do? Should I be expected to give a refund of his money and knife? Obviously, I'm reluctant to make the loss entirely mine. As I see it once an item is passed off into the hands of USPS, I longer have any control or influence as to what happens to the package. I've always looked at buying or selling on the exchange as a gamble that both buyer and seller have to take in order to play the knife swapping game. Yes, there's insurance that can be purchased to provide compensation, however this costs money which adds to the cost of the transaction at either the expense of the buyer or seller. Nothing in life is free! And neither of us felt insurance was worth buying when the deal was being made. I'm obviously not here to send my valuable knives into oblivion. But if neither of us put any safeguards into place, who is really to blame? To be clear: I'm not at all saying the buyer should entirely take the loss either.
If the package doesn't turn up after a reasonable timeframe, say 15 days after shipment, I intend to offer to send him back his knife plus cash, to total a value equal to 50% of the value of the knife lost. So essentially, we would split the loss 50/50.
So for example using round (hypothetical, not actual) numbers, if the knife I sent was valued at $400 and his knife was valued at $120, he sent me his knife plus $280 to total $400 ($120+$280=$400).
Would the majority of you guys think that's reasonable? To send him back his knife plus--based on the example above--$80? Yes, he'd be out $200 cash (net). And I'd have received $200 for a $400 knife, so I'd be out too. Does that make sense and sound fair?
Alternatively I'd also be willing to just keep his knife and send him $200 if he'd rather have the cash than his knife back.
My reputation here is very important to me, and at the same time $400 is a lot of money to me. I'm not a merchant who can simply write off a loss as an expense of doing business. I'm just an average knife enthusiast like most of you guys. Reply posts such as "It's the seller's responsibility to make sure the item gets to the buyer" are of no help to me. As I've shown above, I did everything correctly and in good faith. I truly want to be fair, hence this post.
Hopefully the knife just arrives! He and I both have our fingers crossed...
