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Anyone ever have success with ebay claims as a seller?


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Hi all,

I am curious, has anyone ever had success with ebay as a seller defending a dispute claim that they have shipped an item?

To me it appears ebay always sides with the buyer. I sold an item to a buyer in Indonesia. The buyer won on May 25th and I shipped May 26th. Shipping with tracking was $65.00 to that location. The buyer paid $15.00 which the buyer opted for. That amount includes insurance but does not have tracking. On April 18th this person opened a claim. He says he tried contacting me multiple times. I haven't received one email or message from him.

I shipped the item, this seller just needs a little patience. Shipping takes time from Canada to Indonesia. Ebay put a hold on the funds($56.00).

I know the outcome already, the money is gone. Ebay never listens to both sides, they only care about a tracking number. The funny thing is, the tracking number only shows something was shipped. It doesn't show what was shipped. This is the second time this has occurred to me, the last time I left ebay for probably over two years. I likely will quit ebay completely if they do not reverse this decision.

Ebay never looks at the insurance info. It shows the address you shipped to, it shows the weight and dimensions, and it is also stamped by the Post Office. I sent it what is called small package air. The only way for me to get this refund is with the cooperation of the buyer. He has to file a claim confirming he didn't receive the item. His best option is to keep the item and the money.

Is Indonesia a country with a lot of theft in their mail system?

The thing I hate about ebay is the impatience of buyers. I recently bought a kit from Poland and it took 4-5 weeks to arrive. Not once did I contact the seller, once it is shipped the transit time is out of his hands.

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Yeah, I think I am done too. I already know what the outcome of this will be.

I wish they would add a feature where if a buyer isn't willing to pay for tracking it would show they opted out of that feature.

I know he will get the item. Unless their postal service is corrupt. The funny thing is my instincts told me this one was going to go wrong.

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You do realize that eBay is a financial institution just like the credit card companies, which also 99.9% of the time side with the consumer not the vendor. As long as they continue to let the one paying for the goods have control regardless of whether they are culpable as to the reason the transaction went south things will not change.

Getting vocal via social media asking pointed and specific questions without bashing either eBay or the CC companies, you can raise awareness of the unfair nature of there policies. Also, this is something this new Czar of consumer protection and your state/fed representatives should be made aware of. There are two sides to every transaction and if one is always ignored then a clear injustice is present and needs to be addressed and corrected.

Bottom line vendors need to be as vocal about such things as the consumers are. Squeaky wheel...

Think how much impact it would be on eBay's cash flow if no new listings were posted by vendors for 30 days.

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Hi all,

I am curious, has anyone ever had success with ebay as a seller defending a dispute claim that they have shipped an item?

To me it appears ebay always sides with the buyer. I sold an item to a buyer in Indonesia. The buyer won on May 25th and I shipped May 26th. Shipping with tracking was $65.00 to that location. The buyer paid $15.00 which the buyer opted for. That amount includes insurance but does not have tracking. On April 18th this person opened a claim. He says he tried contacting me multiple times. I haven't received one email or message from him.

I shipped the item, this seller just needs a little patience. Shipping takes time from Canada to Indonesia. Ebay put a hold on the funds($56.00).

I know the outcome already, the money is gone. Ebay never listens to both sides, they only care about a tracking number. The funny thing is, the tracking number only shows something was shipped. It doesn't show what was shipped. This is the second time this has occurred to me, the last time I left ebay for probably over two years. I likely will quit ebay completely if they do not reverse this decision.

Ebay never looks at the insurance info. It shows the address you shipped to, it shows the weight and dimensions, and it is also stamped by the Post Office. I sent it what is called small package air. The only way for me to get this refund is with the cooperation of the buyer. He has to file a claim confirming he didn't receive the item. His best option is to keep the item and the money.

Is Indonesia a country with a lot of theft in their mail system?

The thing I hate about ebay is the impatience of buyers. I recently bought a kit from Poland and it took 4-5 weeks to arrive. Not once did I contact the seller, once it is shipped the transit time is out of his hands.

The only dispute I ever had (I happened to be the seller) worked out in my favor.

Someone sniped a purchase in the last few seconds, didn't read the item description, and wasn't happy with their purchase.

They complained to me. I told them to go back and look at the auction description and the photos provided. She still wasn't happy and threatened to file the complaint with eBay. I told her to go pound sand and kicked it up to eBay claims myself. I gave eBay all the facts (including the fact that she sniped the auction with like 10 seconds to go) and they let me keep the money.

My situation may be the exception to the rule, but this was the only claim I've ever had.....knock on wood.

I know that our situations are a little different, but I NEVER offer insurance or tracking to overseas shipments. I always ship USPS (not UPS or FedEx) to keep costs down and I don't believe that the USPS will issue tracking or insurance on overseas packages because they don't "control" it once it leaves our shores. Unless it is Canada, I'm usually not fond of shipping overseas at all....because of situations just like this.

And don't get me started on those jerks holding my funds for a flipping month. They will hold the full amount (including shipping) which is yet another reason not to use an expensive shipping option like UPS or FedEx because that's just more money you'll have to "float" until your funds are finally released.

This situation sucks. I wish I had better advice for you, but I'm afraid this will simply be a life experience you'll get to learn a hard lesson from.

Hopefully this will work out for you, but I would be surprised. The only advice I can lend is give eBay the facts and how you followed their "rules" to the letter. If they don't step up to the plate, then I'd wash my hands of them.

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The only dispute I ever had (I happened to be the seller) worked out in my favor.

Someone sniped a purchase in the last few seconds, didn't read the item description, and wasn't happy with their purchase.

They complained to me. I told them to go back and look at the auction description and the photos provided. She still wasn't happy and threatened to file the complaint with eBay. I told her to go pound sand and kicked it up to eBay claims myself. I gave eBay all the facts (including the fact that she sniped the auction with like 10 seconds to go) and they let me keep the money.

My situation may be the exception to the rule, but this was the only claim I've ever had.....knock on wood.

I know that our situations are a little different, but I NEVER offer insurance or tracking to overseas shipments. I always ship USPS (not UPS or FedEx) to keep costs down and I don't believe that the USPS will issue tracking or insurance on overseas packages because they don't "control" it once it leaves our shores. Unless it is Canada, I'm usually not fond of shipping overseas at all....because of situations just like this.

And don't get me started on those jerks holding my funds for a flipping month. They will hold the full amount (including shipping) which is yet another reason not to use an expensive shipping option like UPS or FedEx because that's just more money you'll have to "float" until your funds are finally released.

This situation sucks. I wish I had better advice for you, but I'm afraid this will simply be a life experience you'll get to learn a hard lesson from.

Hopefully this will work out for you, but I would be surprised. The only advice I can lend is give eBay the facts and how you followed their "rules" to the letter. If they don't step up to the plate, then I'd wash my hands of them.

I always include insurance. In Canada you get $100 insurance free on all small package shipments. For each additional $1.00 you get another $100.00 insurances. Small package shipments are much cheaper but don't offer insurance. The problem is ebay never does anything about this type of shipment, they are not set-up for it since the US postal service does not offer the same.

As well, eay should know the buyer has not tried to contact me. You can only have contact through their website. There must be a way to track this.

Another thing about this is I sure hope ebay keeps track of who does this and how often they do. The system gives free items to consumers.

Edited by Scooby
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You do realize that eBay is a financial institution just like the credit card companies, which also 99.9% of the time side with the consumer not the vendor. As long as they continue to let the one paying for the goods have control regardless of whether they are culpable as to the reason the transaction went south things will not change.

Think how much impact it would be on eBay's cash flow if no new listings were posted by vendors for 30 days.

No kidding, ebay made a lot of money off of my sales last month. Almost 10% of my sales. You'd think I'd have protection too. Sellers are important too.

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I lost in my claims all the time as buyer.

In the frist claim, I received a broken item shipped by UPS. It was obviously due to improper packaging. The seller claim that UPS should be responsible and Ebay agreed with him. UPS denied the claim due to the packaging.

In the second claim, I received a DOA battery charger, the fancy kind for RC toys. Ebay ruled in my favor, but the seller promptly closed his account. I was not able to collect. The case was then closed.

In the third case, I received 3 DOA LED bulbs for flash light. The seller insisted that I must send them back for inspection per Ebay rules. It will cost more than I can get them at Harbor Freight. I gave up. (I thought that I would save gas because the bulbs had free shipping.)

I have never had any claim against me as seller. But I do not ship outside of US. Too much uncertainty.

Edited by Kei Lau
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Well, if it's been over 90 days - you should be in the clear, right? You said it was the end of May (I'm assuming it was last year), that's been just about a year now, no?

Just my thoughts...

Edited by Skyraider Maniac
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Paypal is owned by ebay - so they get paid twice. 99.999% of the time the buyer is right and the seller, good intentions and all are left holding the bag.

I think the major problem is international shipping.

First, the prices are greatly inflated for all types of mail. This usually turns off the buyer.

Second, The postal systems in the majority of these countries do not reconize the tracking systems.

Most european countries are ok, however shipping to Russia has been a problem. In the far east I only ship to Japan, every one else is shut out.

Just my 2cents....

Larry

Edited by Lae519
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As a buyer, I like ebay a lot and buy lots of stuff via this method almost every month. In over 170 transactions, I have only had one incident where a seller didn't ship to the right address, so I got my money back and eventually the seller and I completed the transaction outside of ebay later. 1/32 Tamiya jet fighter kits are $225 in the local hobby shops and I can buy the very same kit shipped to my door for $100 or even less if I'm patient on ebay. The same goes for after-market kits, so I buy all my modeling stuff this way, other than the odd purchase from Lucky Model, which has also been great.

Your question, or course, is about ebay treating the seller fairly, which I would guess they do not. Although I have sold a few items via ebay with no problems, all the pressure is on you the seller if the buyer isn't happy with their purchase. To help alleviate this, I make sure I have a solid paper trail of correspondence with the buyer before I ship anything, with tracking numbers, address confirmation, etc. If the buyers are even the least bit unscrupulous, I believe they think twice about fraud with such documentation in place. I have also noticed that many sellers will not ship outside of North America and your experience indicates why this might be a good policy. Having said that, I have bought items from all over SE Asia, Brazil and Europe with no problems on my end.

My last ebay purchase was a pretty cool experience. I bought a 1/32 Cutting Edge F-4 slatted wing set from an ebay seller, who by coincidence was following my recent F-4E build here on ARC. After a few emails back and forth, he slashed the shipping charges on my purchase and I sent him a model I'll never use in a total "win-win" transaction. I couldn't have done that at my local hobby store, which brings up another good point. How can local hobby stores continue to survive when there is so much out there in cyperspace that is cheap and conveniently shipped to your door? I try and buy paint and other items at my local hobby shops, but that isn't going to keep the lights on and there's no way I'm going to pay double on everything else to keep them around.

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Well, if it's been over 90 days - you should be in the clear, right? You said it was the end of May (I'm assuming it was last year), that's been just about a year now, no?

Just my thoughts...

I am thinking ahead a month, the transaction occured in March.

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I think the major problem is international shipping.

Most european countries are ok, however shipping to Russia has been a problem. In the far east I only ship to Japan, every one else is shut out.

Just my 2cents....

Larry

Indonesia is out if I stay on after this episode.

I like to ship international, it gives me more bids and therefore a bigger payday. The ironic thing is I rarely ship to anywhere but Canada or the United States. I always offer a cheap shipping price, I consider it a loss leader to get bids. It works most of the time. I usually charge less for shipping then I actually pay.

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Your question, or course, is about ebay treating the seller fairly, which I would guess they do not. Although I have sold a few items via ebay with no problems, all the pressure is on you the seller if the buyer isn't happy with their purchase. To help alleviate this, I make sure I have a solid paper trail of correspondence with the buyer before I ship anything, with tracking numbers, address confirmation, etc. If the buyers are even the least bit unscrupulous, I believe they think twice about fraud with such documentation in place. I have also noticed that many sellers will not ship outside of North America and your experience indicates why this might be a good policy. Having said that, I have bought items from all over SE Asia, Brazil and Europe with no problems on my end.

I do that with all transactions. This one I didn't feel good about. I kept all my emails, including the one where he elected to not pay for tracking. I certainly wasn't going to pay for it as it exceeded the value of the auction. We agreed upon the shipping price, small packet air with insurance. I have a copy of this paperwork, it is dated and stamped by the post office and includes all of the buyers shipping info.

The problem is ebay opens and closes these cases without really looking into all the details. I feel they only look at the tracking info. I may be wrong, but I want to be heard by them.

I filed a counter claim with ebay, I made claim that the buyer is filing a fradulaunt claim.

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