Are you obligated to give a refund after an item is lost in the mail

[Wayne]

I sold an item on e-bay back at the first of December the customer contacted me and told me he has not received his item yet. After constant communication I gave him a choice I could refund his money or send something comparable. I package another shipment for him and he let me know that the card came in but not in the bubble mailer and the envelope was tore up but the card was safe and sound.

I did us a DC and after a 2 weeks of shipping it was like the DC never existed.

My suggestion is stay in constant communication and if the item in fact does not show up make it right one way or another it is like a trade it is not complete until both sides are happy except you are trading cards for cash in this case.

[TheNightmanCometh]

Side rant.

Nothing worse than being charged $3 for shipping and the seller shipping the item in an envelope for $1. Situation is made even worse when you buy 8 cards from 1959 and only 2 of them are in a hard case protector and the other 6 aren't protected at all, just placed in between the two hard cases with no tape.

But, ya, I'm a bad buyer because I find that reprehensible.

[Exhibitman]

Two wrongs don't make a right, Ryan. Just because a seller deals with you shabbily doesn't justify another bad act.

If a seller chooses to do business with stamped mail and no delivery confirmation, he is setting himself up for a fraudulent charge-back. Either don't send stuff that way or don't complain about a charge-back when someone either doesn't get an item or sees a chance to scam. Since the seller has control over the item listing [where he can specify the postage] and the item packing and mailing, he is the one on whom a mail loss should fall. As a buyer all I am obliged to do is pay the costs and mailing costs that the seller specifies. I do that and I'm done. The rest is the responsibility of the seller and fault of the seller if there is a problem.

[TheNightmanCometh]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Two wrongs don't make a right, Ryan. Just because a seller deals with you shabbily doesn't justify another bad act.

If a seller chooses to do business with stamped mail and no delivery confirmation, he is setting himself up for a fraudulent charge-back. Either don't send stuff that way or don't complain about a charge-back when someone either doesn't get an item or sees a chance to scam. Since the seller has control over the item listing [where he can specify the postage] and the item packing and mailing, he is the one on whom a mail loss should fall. As a buyer all I am obliged to do is pay the costs and mailing costs that the seller specifies. I do that and I'm done. The rest is the responsibility of the seller and fault of the seller if there is a problem.

For full disclosure, I contacted the seller and told him I was unhappy with his shipping methods. TBH, all I wanted was a refund of $2 because I know what paying $3 shipping as a buyer should get me. The guy didn't respond, so I sent him another message telling him again that I was dissatisfied and I'd appreciate some sort of response. He responded by getting angry with me. I told him that was unfortunate and left not negative, but the other one that isn't positive, can't remember. I proceeded to block him as a buyer and block him as a seller so I don't ever buy an item from him again. Before it went into effect he bought one of my cards and made it clear he had no intention of paying. I canceled the order and he left me negative feedback calling me a liar and a 2-face, apparently because I charge $3 for shipping, but what he doesn't know is that I put the cards I sell in a sleeve, top loader, wrap it in cardboard, tape it, put it in a bubble mailer, and I add tracking. Anyways, I called ebay and they rescinded his negative feedback.

Look, I'll pay $10 for shipping if I'm getting $10 worth of shipping. Throwing cards in an envelope and charging $3 is gouging to me.