sticky situation with an ebay auction. advice needed.

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nenofury

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I sold a knife to a guy in england. He won the auction for $80 plus $7.95 shipping. I goofed on that and it ended up costing me $18 to ship. It was supposed to get there in 4-6 weeks and it's been 8. Since it was USPS there is no tracking number and the person that mailed it for me didn't get insurance. So basically if it doesn't arrive by the end of next week, he says he wants a full refund. Since I have no proof he doesn't have it, I'm a little reluctant to just give him a full refund and take the hit. He only has 7 feedbacks, all good, but low enough to raise suspicions. It also takes him about a week to respond to emails and the english is broken. All of that makes me wonder a little if he is being up front with me. Maybe I should pay him though? What do you all think?
 
Sorry, buddy, but you've gotta eat it. It's the ethical thing to do.

Next time, insure and get a tracking number.

Be thankful that you learned that lesson for just $88.

Personally, I'd suggest waiting a couple more weeks just in case it is stuck in the mail somewhere. But if it hits 12 weeks and he still says he hasn't got it and you can't prove otherwise, then you're gonna have to write him a refund.
 
Don't go doing anything hasty, I had the same situation happen to me, but it was only ten bucks, and it was for a comic. I personally think the guy didn't get it on time, then when he did get it, stiffed me for it out of anger towards me. Did he pay by Paypal, by a check, by a money order? USPS has delivery confirmation etc, if you sent it overseas, you would have to have a tracking number and would have to fill out a customs form. Who sent it for you? They should have all of this information and should at least have a receipt that it was shipped, that is at least some evidence for you. All of this sounds fishy to me, no slight against the integrity of the person who sent it for you, but it seems to me, if they did indeed send it overseas, they either got a USPS employee that was incompetant, or they screwed up intentionally or unintentionally. Granted, the person could have the knife in front of him, at this very moment, as he sends you an email saying he didn't get it. I would give it some time, next time definitely use a tracking number.

Tough break man...
 
Ouch! It's a sticky wicket because you will never be able to prove whether he received it or not. Best bet is to try to hold him off for several more weeks in the hope it shows up and he's honest enough to admit it. If no luck, you'll have to eat the loss. Next time find some way to ship that provides a tracking number - it protects both the seller and the buyer. Good luck.
 
Two years ago I shipped a T-shirt from Florida to England as a gift for a friend's son. Took 12 weeks to get there.

Next time, insure and track.
 
Unfortunately late with this advice, but a good story behind it -

I sold a knife to a guy in Poland, real nice guy who sent me the funds via Western Union immediately. He wanted the shipping to be by post for reasons that elude memory at the moment, but I wanted to go Fed Ex. Fed Ex apparently is pretty specific about customs declarations and he was concerned about this if I recall right, but for whatever reason he insisted we go "postal."

Anyway, it was about four weeks and a LOT of email in a tone that was perhaps understandable though not entirely pleasant, he got his knife. I decided at that point I could care less what the buyer is asking for - I will not ship postal due to the lack of REAL-TIME and ACCURATE tracking. Even in CONUS I ship almost exclusively Fed-Ex because of the tracking and Fed Ex just having an overall better record with information and package management.

Best of luck, but I would tell the guy to give it another 3 weeks as well - as you say, you have no evidence he has the knife or not. Hopefully the post will come thru. Sucks either way.
 
sent a guitar to scotland and it took almost 2.5 months. but it made it safe and sound.
 
Depends on if it was his idea to use the USPS shipping without the tracking and insurance or not. If it was his idea, then he's the one out of luck. If it was your idea, I say pay him. I learned the hard way once, to use USPS Global Express instead of Global Priority. Global Priority is NOT trackable once it leaves the U.S. Global Express is trackable. Global Express is the ONLY way I will ship outside the U.S. anymore.
 
Did you send by USPS First Class (or "airmail") or just the plain regular cheapest stinginest avaliable rate ? At $18 i kinda doubt that so 8 weeks seems like a stretch. Anyway, the way i see it you've got two options:

1: take that guy's word and cough up the money. For $88 + difference in shipping costs you'll learn to add something along the lines of "Registered/insured shipping avaliable upon request; since i have no control over postal service I cannot be held responsible if the shipment gets lost - insurance only costs $X extra". X is usually $2-3 so it's well worth the money. I could have taught youthat lesson cheaper though :rolleyes: :D

2: inform the guy that he neither requested norpaid for shipping nsurance and that once the shipment is out of your hands (and off to USPS) you have absolutely no control over it anymore; it could get stolen from that guy's doorstep/mailbox for all you know.

The upside of method #2 is that you won't have to shell out $88. There are downsides to it too though - first is likely to be negative feedback (i got a couple from folks who tried to scam me, they're no longer eBay members at all because they got axed for other mischiefs but their feedback still shows as negative on my profile).

Think carefully, weigh the alternatives and most important of all, don't imply to the buyer that he just pocketed the knife and demands the refund now ("free knife"). The way i understand you description of the situation you did nothing wrong - you did what the guy asked of you and more (shipped the item despite the fact that you undercharged him for shipping costs). If situation seems fishy it might just be another $88 down the drain, on top of what you've lost already (plus there'sno guarantee he won't give you a negative feedback comment anyway).

If i were you i'd give it just one more week - USPS surface shipping usually takes exactly 8 weeks to get to me (don't know how they do it, it's as if the shipment was held somewhere to meetthe deadline exactly). Since that guy is very slow to respond you can probably get another week "extension" easily. Then, if he still claims that the knife hasn't arrived make up your mind.
 
Parker said:
I sold a knife to a guy in Poland, real nice guy who sent me the funds via Western Union immediately. He wanted the shipping to be by post for reasons that elude memory at the moment, but I wanted to go Fed Ex. Fed Ex apparently is pretty specific about customs declarations and he was concerned about this if I recall right, but for whatever reason he insisted we go "postal."
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Parker, you can afford to ship via FedEx without concerns inside the US because there are no customs inspections (and import duties) involved. If you never dealt with the immense stupidity embodied by customs officials and the "help" all local curier service affiliates offer them (be it UPS, FedEx, DHL, you name it) you cannot trully appreciate the simple postral shipment which sometimes gets through customs without inspection (that never happens with curier services since they kindly take your shipment down to the customs and make the matters worse, regardless of its value) and when it doesn't it's usually relatively easy to get it through with reasonable charges.

I rather knowingy take the risk of losing the item ("losing" ... with USPS insurance it takes u to 2 months for seller to reclaim insurance but at least at some poibt i'll get most of my money back) which happens ver rarely anyway, as opposed to paying double for each and every item. Only if 50% of mail got lost would i even make it to the break-even point where it wouldn't matter whether i ask seller to use USPS or curier service. Although i've never been to Poland i imagine that Polish guy was in similar position. The fact of the matter us that perhaps one out of hundred (or more) shipments gets lost and even on those one can reclaim some money. The rate is nowhere near 50%.
 
Global Express is the ONLY way I will ship outside the U.S. anymore.
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Yes, but Global Express costs a fortune!

I sold four knives to a museum in France a few years ago. They insisted on Global Express insured for the full amount. As I recall, postage was just shy of $200!

Of course, the knives arrived there a day or two later in perfect order.
 
Danbo said:
Depends on if it was his idea to use the USPS shipping without the tracking and insurance or not. If it was his idea, then he's the one out of luck. If it was your idea, I say pay him. I learned the hard way once, to use USPS Global Express instead of Global Priority. Global Priority is NOT trackable once it leaves the U.S. Global Express is trackable. Global Express is the ONLY way I will ship outside the U.S. anymore.
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I will only ship outside the USA by Global Express Mail unless the buyer agrees to my disclaimer that if untracked and uninsured, the buyer is soley repsonsible and I will not refund.

The tracking is very important since it will let you know if the item is stuck in customs.

It could be that your buyer decised the customs fee was too high and didn't accept the knife. It could be that customs confiscated the knife.

However, it is likely you will never know the truth and you'll have to suck it up and repay the buyer.

I do suggest you wait two more weeks for that.

By the way, always keep the payment receipt for the shipping or else you can't make a claim.
 
Whenever I ship outside the US, I ask the buyer to pay shipping for an insurable/trackable method of delivery. If the buyer balks and wants to go cheaper,I tell em up front it is their loss if it goes missing and get a confirmation of their acceptance of this. I know it sucks that over the border transactions get soo expensive but it is the only way to protect the package.
 
As has been stated, if it was your decision to send the knife the way you did then you are going to have to suck it up and give a refund. The fact that you don't really know if the guy is being truthful about not receiving it is irrelevant. If it was his decision then he is the one that should accept the loss.
 
But what if neither 'thought about' insurance. If the knife was put in the mail why should the seller pay for the loss? Assuming it is indeed lost.
 
SuperD said:
But what if neither 'thought about' insurance. If the knife was put in the mail why should the seller pay for the loss? Assuming it is indeed lost.
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Because they cannot prove that it was actually mailed. You need to either spell it out (if you decline insurance you are responsible for loss) or not give them the choice and send it how you want.

N2
 
Thanks for the help everyone! I spent about two hours last night and found the receipt. It was sent economy letter post (4-6) weeks. The receipt shows the Label# which I believe is the "tracking" number. No results came up when I used the website, so I'll go in to the post office and see if they can figure out what up. Thanks again.
 
The ONLY way to have a tracking number than you can actually track with, when shipping international via the post office, is to send it Global Express, it isn't cheap, but it is the ONLY way I will ship overseas, and feel confident the package will arrive safely.

The one exception is, if a buyer wants it shipped another way, and agrees it is his responsibility if something goes wrong, and moreso, leaves me a positive feedback BEFORE I ship, then I will ship it any way he wants.

Overseas buyers generally want you to use a low declared value, so they avoid hefty taxes, but then you can't insure it, so, I also make them agree that should something go wrong, it's their risk.

It is for these reasons, I really dislike shipping int'l, but, when you sell items that can cost $1,000 or more, it's hard to turn away the extra business, but, still, when an auction of mine ends and I see the winner is int'l, I always mutter to myself, something like: "Oh crap". :)
 
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