Looking for Opinions

[Darkfin]

(Please forgive me if this is a repetitive question.)

A friend of mine sold a knife recently and sent it 1st class with delivery confirmation, which he emailed to the buyer. According to the postal record, the package actually got to the buyer's city before being returned to my friend, empty. Both the parties contacted their respective Post Masters, and both were essentially told there is nothing that can be done. The buyer did not request insurance, though the seller did not explicitly offer it (and did not add it). Neither party is questioning whether the knife was sent, and both agree it made it to the buyer's city but was stolen somewhere along the way.

My question is what should he do?

 

[Bill Siegle]

Seller is responsible for delivering the goods unless it was otherwise agreed that the buyer would assume the risk of loss during shipping. Your friend owes either the money back or needs to buy another knife and ship it out. I will say it till I am blue in the face: INSURANCE IS YOUR FRIEND!!!!! It never costs so much that it outweighs the risk.

 

[wolfmann601]

Return the money, it is what it is.................

 

[markksr]

This thread would have been very informative had you chosen the option to make it an open poll...

 

[tarmix101]

I would send the buyer his $$$ back, unless I specifically stated "buyer assumes responsibility for delivery". Which I never do by the way.

If I was the buyer, I would suggest sending me 1/2 my $$$ back. They both assumed 1/2 the risk, therefore it's what I would see as fair as a buyer since there weren't any specific conditions.

 

[Winston Smith]

i always ship insured when i sell, and request that an item be insured when it is sent, because i agree with what seems to be the majority opinion here, if you ship it, it is your responsibility to make sure it gets there. why would you put yourself into a position to have this dispute with a buyer, and to have your reputation (which is all you have in an online world) questioned when you could alleviate the problem for just a few bucks?

Winston.

 

[Darkfin]

This thread would have been very informative had you chosen the option to make it an open poll...

Not sure what an "open poll" is...

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The buyer has a responsibility to get the money to the seller.
The seller has a responsibility to get the merchandise to the buyer.

Asking the biuyer to be responsible for insurance is wrong, wrong, wrong. The seller should take out insurance to cover himself if the merchandise doesn't arrive, since he should have to make good on it (refund the money or send another item.)

 

[trimcut123]

Upon further examination of this case...

This should be taken care between the two... In this situation with the proof that the knife was sent indefinitely... The seller should not be 100% liable....
If i was the buyer i would not ask for a full refund.. honestly i would not... I don't know if someone else would.. Perhaps the difference could be split 50/50.... The seller may not have given the option for insurance but the buyer did not ask either...

If the seller does offer insurance and it is declined... Then the seller has no obligation to repay for the lost or stolen knife... I think it would show bad character on the buyers part.. to dispute that...

If i could i would change my poll vote to "Other" and in this situation the buyer and the seller should be understanding and be able to come to a good medium..

Matt B.

 

[popedandy]

Hard as it might be, I'd return the money. The buyer did not receive the knife that he paid for. It's a tough one to swallow, but that's what I'd do. I'd also add my vote to those who say that paying that extra couple of dollars for insurance is always a good idea.

 

[Cougar Allen]

Most of the dealers will tell you if you value your time at all insurance is usually not a good investment, because they put so much effort into trying to weasel out of paying that even if you eventually succeed in making them pay off you'll have put more time into it than the payoff is worth.

 

[Ed T]

What is the communication?

When I have had deals on hold, there has been dialogue around the resolution. For instance CAD and I have an open deal right now as my first money order has gone missing. I offerred to send the knives back while this resolves. He does not want the knives, so he asked me to keep them while we wait. By my next payday, the MO still had not arrived. I have sent a second one and am waiting for news that it has arrived and he is made whole. Once it does, I will stop payment on the first and try to get my money back less the $15 fee. I would not ask for CAD to share in the lost fee, because he has had to wait the long time without resolution.

Communication is vital. I have no indication that there is hard feelings from CAD and I truly hope there is not. In the end, ne negotiated along the way.

 

[Fort Henry Custom Knives]

Here are my recommendations to your friend;
- Return the Money to the Buyer
- Never use First Class - only use a Priority Box (properly Sealed) with Delv Conf (I pers do not purchase Ins unless the Buyer requests it)
- File a complaint www.usps.com/postalinspectors *Some will tell you that this step is a Waste of time as the PO is not going to do anything, doesn't care, blah blah blah. I STRONGLY disagree. I feel alerting the PO to this type of problem helps out everyone that uses the PO in the future (although it will not get your friend his Money or Knife back)

 

[The Deacon]

I agree with Esav that it's the seller's responsibility to get the goods safely to the buyer and the seller's choice as to whether to assume the risk themselves by sending them uninsured or to protect themselves with insurance. Since I've never had an item go missing within the USA, I generally choose to assume that risk unless the item is worth at least $200 and I have some way of proving that.

Will say that I have received some items that only made it into my hand by the grace of God. They'd almost succeeded in escaping from the cheap envelope or flimsy box they'd been shipped in or, in the case of one fixed blade, damn near cut its way to freedom.

Paul

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[CAD]

What is the communication?

When I have had deals on hold, there has been dialogue around the resolution. For instance CAD and I have an open deal right now as my first money order has gone missing. I offerred to send the knives back while this resolves. He does not want the knives, so he asked me to keep them while we wait. By my next payday, the MO still had not arrived. I have sent a second one and am waiting for news that it has arrived and he is made whole. Once it does, I will stop payment on the first and try to get my money back less the $15 fee. I would not ask for CAD to share in the lost fee, because he has had to wait the long time without resolution.

Communication is vital. I have no indication that there is hard feelings from CAD and I truly hope there is not. In the end, ne negotiated along the way.

Very well said......COMMUNICATION is VITAL !!!! Also, both parties must have PATIENCE......these things take a little time to resolve
No hard feelings at all...."stuff happens"

Chris D.

 

[Jim G.]

It is very simple, If the buyer did not recieve his goods, then the seller is responsable to refund the money.
Jim

 

[Guyon]

Return the money and invest in some packing tape for the next transaction.

He should tape his packages more carefully and securely.

If someone gets into one of my packages, he/she has to do some cutting.

 

[Darkfin]

Return the money and invest in some packing tape for the next transaction.

He should tape his packages more carefully and securely.

If someone gets into one of my packages, he/she has to do some cutting.

The package was cut open through the side, the tape was intact.

 

[richard j]

i sharpened 3 knives yesterday and shipped them out with $300 worth of insurance which cost $4.60 which to me is a lot cheaper than replacing a knife out of my own pocket if it gets stolen. i wont ship a knife without insurance and i request anyone sending me a knife to insure it.

 

[Darkfin]

"...shipped them out with $300 worth of insurance which cost $4.60...."

The knife in question was worth $30. This thread's question is more about the general perception that the seller has a responsibility to insure that the USPS does its job (and to be responsible for any thieves therein), than the actual out of pocket cost....