Ebay...another one to make you chuckle over a pint

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Here's a new one on me. Thought it might make you chuckle

Guy in Australia bids on one of my Motocourse books. Standard (untracked) shipping is £24. I contact him straight away to make sure he's seen the shipping cost. (I often get bids from over the water and then bidder baulks at the shipping costs).

We exchange friendly emails, and he has a feedback of 800+ so all signs are good.

He settles on a discounted rate of £17 for economy freight which can take 12 weeks.

After three weeks he opens a case for item not received. (no email first...straight to case). Three weeks is a bit keen even for air mail to Oz.

A week later he escalates to eBay who refund him within 30 minutes.

I call eBay customer services to ask what I could have done better. All they kept saying was that I should upload proof that the item has been delivered. Me: but it's not yet been delivered, nor will it for maybe 2 months, them: "you didn't upload proof that the item has been delivered"

Good grief

Moral: don't try to be too helpful

[soad]

Everyone wants everything instantly.

[zedx19]

Does Economy Freight provide you with proof of delivery? Or was you relying on the goodwill of your buyer to confirm the item was received?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

zedx19 said:

Does Economy Freight provide you with proof of delivery? Or was you relying on the goodwill of your buyer to confirm the item was received?

Standard doesn't give POD either. But even if I'd shipped economy tracked & signed I still wouldn't have a proof of delivery.....because it hasn't been delivered (hopefully )

[soad]

zedx19 said:

Does Economy Freight provide you with proof of delivery? Or was you relying on the goodwill of your buyer to confirm the item was received?

The latter.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

soad said:

zedx19 said:

Does Economy Freight provide you with proof of delivery? Or was you relying on the goodwill of your buyer to confirm the item was received?

The latter.

Exactly. And even proof of delivery just means something has been delivered (somewhere )

[WolfieBot]

Surely they mean proof of actually sending, as in you have a receipt from the post office, rather than confirmation that it was received...

[hornetrider]

Seems like the buyer mugged you for a free item.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

WolfieBot said:

Surely they mean proof of actually sending, as in you have a receipt from the post office, rather than confirmation that it was received...

Nope..that's what makes it a bit amusing

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

hornetrider said:

Seems like the buyer mugged you for a free item.

Looks that way

[anonymous-user]

I ONLY sell abroad using E bays global ship programme

[Jimmy Recard]

Sounds to me like he planned to dispute it to get his cash back right from the start

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

techiedave said:

I ONLY sell abroad using E bays global ship programme

I keep thinking I should opt in to this

[gregs656]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

I keep thinking I should opt in to this

You should. It really limits your liability in cases like this. Has been a success for me, I don't send out huge volumes but I guess I am around the 100-150 parcels through the GSP now.

[anonymous-user]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

I keep thinking I should opt in to this

Its worked well for me. I'm covered as long as I get it to their warehouse place. Buyer pays 2 amounts one to me for my item cost in their currency one to e bay for the international leg. It works particularly well for me as my stuff is primarily Buy It Now

[POORCARDEALER]

Just had this....pair of car seats at nearly 2 grand....COLLECTION ONLY in big letters on write up.....someone presses buy it now, fine, come and get them....its a shipping company in london that ships to Japan and acts as an agent....they say I need to send them to london, no way i say, read the blurb on the ad....eventually I agree to courier them to them at their risk and cost...I spend 90 minutes wrapping them...courier picks them up, drops them off next day and get a proof of delivery form signed....week later they open a case for non delivery....send them the POD, they still deny having them, Paypal put my account into negative balance....two weeks later they admit they have them but had lost them in their warehouse....Paypal utterly useless, very risky selling pricey objects on Ebay now (and the fees were over £260 with paypal fees)

[anonymous-user]

I had a bicycle on there similar thing Collection Only Cash on Collection
Guy buys asks about delivery I said no I refunded him. He left negative feedback I had it removed in an hour.
You simply cant risk a payment on paypal and a collection.

[wibble cb]

While I think you have been done up like a kipper, I had the same experience from the buyer perspective, I bought an item from a seller in Thailand, item was paid for and shipped, but has so far not turned up here in Canada (its been 3 months now!). The scheduled delivery date has long since passed, so I asked the seller for help, they couldn't offer any, so I asked for a refund, the seller tried stalling me, wanting more time (trying to run down the time available to raise a case?)...I had to raise a case in the end, as I was going to lose the money.(If the item does turn up, I will contact the seller, but I am not holding my breath.

[bloomen]

I've never any problems selling on Ebay myself, but I also never permit complications.

I don't send abroad. I gaily block buyers and remove bids that have a whiff off dodginess about them. Can't be arsed with collection. Everything goes signed for or special delivery.

If Paypal did try to screw me I'd probably close everything and move abroad to spite them as I'm on the bloody minded side.