Just Venting about Paypal & Buyer

[byrone]

It goes both ways, folks.

As a Canadian, I ship to the U.S. knowing full-well the (unfair) rules that Paypal and Ebay have in place.

If I ship anything of value, I must have signature delivery confirmation to defend against Paypal claims. Either I charge the buyer the cost for this service or I figure it into the price of the item.

I have had many U.S. buyers file claims, nothing too costly, but that's the way the world works.

It would be unwise to stop mailing items to the U.S. because of a few bad apples, especially when insurance can be purchased and signature delivery is available.

Remember, there is a big market in Canada, and to just write the entire country off due to a few bad deals is not a good idea, in my opinion.

[Buythatcard]

I don't want to write off a whole country because of a few bad apples. Until I come up with a better way to ship, then I will ship outside of the U.S.

So far, I think the best way is to tell the buyer up front that they will be responsible for a portion of the S/H costs if its over a certain amount.

I can't include the S/H costs into the price of the item because I start off all items at .99.

[jester]

As a Canadian and someone who lives in a foreign country, I appreciate the sellers that do ship worldwide. Many times I have wanted to bid on something only to be rejected because they will not ship outside of USA. Most of us are willing to pay the tracking fees and myself, I insist on on it. The only problems I have had are with sellers who refuse to ship with tracking (for some reason) and say they cannot ship with tracking to my country.
Jeff

[bobbyw8469]

Bottom line - Internation shipping IS expensive! I charge $20+ (depending on the value of the card). If the buyer still wants to pay it, then I will sell it to them. Most of them balk at having to pay that high of a price, but I tell them it is to protect BOTH the buyer and the seller. International buyers that don't wish to pay, are just looking to scam anyway imho.....my 2 cents.

[baseball tourist]

I don't sell much anymore but have ruled out selling/shipping beyond Canada and the US as the tracking costs associated with international postage make the transactions unpalatable to many buyers. I ship with tracking only now but before I made this a rule I have had several US and a few Canadian buyers claim the items haven't arrived, yet strangely they didn't return to me. Of course eBay/paypal forced me to refund.

[pwilk17]

There are ebay scammers everywhere. If I had a buyer with 6 feedback, I would now track the item if I felt the value was signifigant enough whether the buyer was in the USA or Canada or overseas. Somehow this seems to have turned into a USA/Canadian shipping thread when the real problem is probably a scammer (an ass****). I have rec'd an item did not arrive claim from ebay with no notice from the buyer and no subsequent replies to any of my emails. At this point I realize I have been scammed and it does piss me off. There are not nice people eveywhere. I know USPS offers to track any package wihin USA for $0.70. Do they not offer the tracking service from USA to Canada for a relatively small amount? Also, do not just go by someones feedback - I have made that mistake to the loss of around $500. Shipped without tracking from Canada to a guy in West Virginia with solid feedback. Guy puts in an ebay claim saying items did not arrive on the first day he was allowed to do by ebay without even contacting me. Mail from Canada to USA can be slow and 7-10 days was way to early to pull the trigger. He would not and has not ever replied to any of my emails since his claim. His claim on the first day available to him from ebay for a refund without contacting me told me that he was holding his (previously my) 2 cards worth $500 while gleefully noting that there was no tracking number on my package. The Perfect Crime!

[Buythatcard]

I learned an expensive lesson this week. All your responses have been great and thanks for hearing me out.

I will probably continue to sell overseas but will lay it out front what the costs will be.

As far as Paypal, they give me the following options:

I have 10 days to respond with a tracking # (which I don't have). If I don't respond, the money will be refunded.
- or -
Refund the money to the buyer

Whichever way you look at it, I am refunding the money.

If you had a choice at this point, would you wait out the 10 days or would you send the money immediatly. Remember, that this buyer has refused to answer my emails and I have some suspicions about him.

[Bilko G]

The rules are the rules and i don't mean to be a jerk, but you "gambled" on the rules and you got burned. It sucks, but its the truth. Did the buyer receive the card or not? Its really anyone's guess, but when you see a brand new Ebay account buying from you (especially on a $100+ item), whether or not its to Canada you get appropriate tracking, or you risk losing the card, that is a fact of doing business on Ebay.

I also don't think its fair (to Canadians and yourself) to "cut them off" from making future purchases from yourself, do to this one negative experience (you said it was your first). From now on just make a cut off amount that you can't afford to lose (some US sellers do $25, some $50, some $100 etc.) and then advertise and charge the appropriate shipping charge to get it registered to Canada. Problem Solved. Just be upfront with the registered shipping charges and you will find that on items of decent value, most Canadian buyers won't have a problem paying the charges and if they do they won't bid as you have the price advertised up front.

Considering that the US/Canada are connected to each other and our relations are so close, i wish there was a way that our two postal systems could better work together and be more reasonable on the (registered) shipping prices especially.

Like someone else mentioned, Canada is a huge market for Sports Cards as well, 2nd only to the USA. We love our Baseball and Hockey cards just as much as you guys