Am I sunk? PayPal claim not going my way.

[edhans]

Originally Posted by njdunkin1

Any tips or suggestions?
NJ

Easy. Don't take PayPal.

[njdunkin1]

Appreciate the feedback, everyone. After speaking with Gabriella over at PayPal, she recommends taking things up with USPS to find the package. Essentially, once delivered, I get the funds returned to me...now to just wait 30 more minutes on the wait line for USPS

I'll contact my buyer and let him know the steps I am taking in order to resolve this. I just get surprised when I receive no messaging from the buyer, stating he/she is unhappy!
NJ

[Touch'EmAll]

I recently had same situation happen to me. I sold card on eBay, buyer paid. Then I immediately sent it out with tracking number included. Two weeks later, I get an eBay "claim started" against me because buyer never received it. I am thinking WTF, I did everything I was supposed to do, and promptly. I too had money deducted and on hold at Paypal. Who now stands to lose? Buyer or Seller (me)? I went to Post Office to inquire and they basically told me NOTHING to do but wait, sorry charlie. Thankfully, a few days later the tracking showed now in continue route to buyer - and was infact delivered few days later. Whew! Ultimately if lost in mail, I honestly do not know what would happen next - who absorbs loss, buyer or seller. Good luck. Hope it works out for you.

[ibuysportsephemera]

2 comments...one good and one not so good:

1) I have posted many times in the past how to get a package going again in the USPS website....sign up for the email updates. For some reason this works really well. Any packages that I have had delayed magically show up when doing this.

2) The buyer is savvy and realized that the package was delivered without being scanned. He started a claim knowing that the package will never show up.

Good luck.

Jeff

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ibuysportsephemera

2 comments...one good and one not so good:

1) I have posted many times in the past how to get a package going again in the USPS website....sign up for the email updates. For some reason this works really well. Any packages that I have had delayed magically show up when doing this.

2) The buyer is savvy and realized that the package was delivered without being scanned. He started a claim knowing that the package will never show up.

Good luck.

Jeff

I have also found signing up for email update magically works most times.

As far as #2 some sellers send empty boxes to the correct address. On eBay there is bad buyers and sellers. They are few and far between but it really sucks when you run across one.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by edhans

Easy. Don't take PayPal.

It is the shipper's responsibility to get the package to the buyer. He chooses the shipping company and has the option to purchase insurance. I hope you aren't saying that you should take someone's money and not deliver the product.

[Sean1125]

It is the sellers responsibility to get a package delivered to the buyer. If a package gets lost in transit or does not arrive it is solely the sellers responsibility to contact shipping or refund the buyer their money. As described, you are not in the right on this claim and unless you can get the package found and delivered you will be out the money.

[quinnsryche]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

It is the sellers responsibility to get a package delivered to the buyer. If a package gets lost in transit or does not arrive it is solely the sellers responsibility to contact shipping or refund the buyer their money. As described, you are not in the right on this claim and unless you can get the package found and delivered you will be out the money.

Sean is 100% correct. With thousands of transactions on eBay with Paypal, I have found the package MUST show as delivered or you are out the money. No way around it. I have heard stories that even delivered packages have resulted in a refund if the buyer says "well, it may have been delivered, but I never got it." You hope people don't try and pull that but it has happened. Contacting USPS is your only recourse at this point. Most packages are automatically insured for $50 so you might still come out even in the end.

[jfkheat]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

Most packages are automatically insured for $50 so you might still come out even in the end.

This is true if the package was shipped priority mail. It looks like this one was shipped first class. If the shipper didn't buy insurance, there is none. That being said, I hate that the post office wants people to pay for insurance to insure that their job is done correctly.
James

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by jfkheat

This is true if the package was shipped priority mail. It looks like this one was shipped first class. If the shipper didn't buy insurance, there is none. That being said, I hate that the post office wants people to pay for insurance to insure that their job is done correctly.
James

To collect on postal insurance for a one hundred year old baseball card can be quite difficult. I've been told that unless you have a third party appraisal of the value, it's just a 25 cent baseball card. The same rules apply to all antiques.

I generally let others subsidize the post office through their insurance program.

[njdunkin1]

A spark of good news this morning in the case - I was able to reach Paul at USPS . He helped me file out a missing mail request and gave me some tips as to what action I should take. The odds of nobody scanning the package even when it made it to Massachusetts would be astronomical. The buyer is on board, so I think (barring no more incidents) I am on the right path here.

[Touch'EmAll]

So what does the seller do to make sure they are not responsible once shipped? From what you all say, a tracking number is not enough. Do you folks most ship normal first class and just hope it gets to destination? Or ALWAYS priority mail it? Or do you always buy additional insurance - even if only $50. coverage? What does big sellers like Probstein or PWCC do - say, on a $100. to $300. item - do they insure it - or just let it fly first class - or Priority it for the minimal $50. insurance?

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

So what does the seller do to make sure they are not responsible once shipped? From what you all say, a tracking number is not enough. Do you folks most ship normal first class and just hope it gets to destination? Or ALWAYS priority mail it? Or do you always buy additional insurance - even if only $50. coverage? What does big sellers like Probstein or PWCC do - say, on a $100. to $300. item - do they insure it - or just let it fly first class - or Priority it for the minimal $50. insurance?

For IIB, packages under $200 are self insured. Everything above $200 is insured with a $200 deductible.

It is not economical to insure small packages.

I am actually familiar with a large seller that has no insurance whatsoever.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

Sean is 100% correct. With thousands of transactions on eBay with Paypal, I have found the package MUST show as delivered or you are out the money. No way around it. I have heard stories that even delivered packages have resulted in a refund if the buyer says "well, it may have been delivered, but I never got it." You hope people don't try and pull that but it has happened.

Yup, I have had that happen a few times over the years. Oftentimes Paypal would pay out on those anyways to keep a customer happy, but luckily it came out of their till, and not mine.

I wonder with the Paypal split from Ebay, whether they would even do THAT anymore.

I've also had a few cases where the package showed delivered, and the person on the other end insisted they never got it. Well, it's amazing how many of those magically get found in an unexplored portion of the house when you return reply with the phrase "OK, I will file a stolen package report with your local post office then, since stealing mail is a Federal crime".