Attn Sellers: Beware of selling Intl. through Paypal

[edubs01]

Just wanted to share my recent experience and give everybody a heads-up.
I sold a shirt to a member about a month and a half ago.
I am located in the US and seller was located in Canada.
Package was shipped via USPS First Class Intl. Customs Form # was provided to buyer and uploaded on Paypal.
After a month buyer contact me that item was never received. At that time I explained that if it gets held up in Customs it is out of my control. He then started calling Customs and Canada Post. To make a long story short package was located but it was ripped open and contents were missing. Package was shipped via a padded envelope purchased directly from PO. Most likely it was ripped open by customs or in transit
Buyer opens up a Paypal claim and since proof of delivery can't be obtained I lost the case.
Just be careful when shipping Intl. and cover your ass.

 

[VLSI]

That sounds about right. I only ship first class international if I receive a gift and tell them I'm not responsible for delivery. For standard transactions, it's USPS express only.

Not sure shipping international in one of those flimsy padded envelopes was a good idea. Live and learn.

Lastly, I don't think the buyer's username is relevant here and you should remove it. He followed standard procedure for this kind of situation and did nothing wrong.

 

[Froosh]

Priority Mail International with tracking / signature.

 

[brad-t]



Priority Mail International with tracking / signature.

yes i look forward to paying $100 shipping for a shirt

 

[trig]

Priority Mail International with tracking / signature.

yes i look forward to paying $100 shipping for a shirt

nice exaggeration. shipping for int'l priority mail for a shirt with tracking is around $30-$40.

sorry about your situation edubs. I always tell buyers that they assume all responsibility when it's first class since there's no tracking whatsoever.

 

[VLSI]



nice exaggeration. shipping for int'l priority mail for a shirt with tracking is around $30-$40.
sorry about your situation edubs. I always tell buyers that they assume all responsibility when it's first class since there's no tracking whatsoever.

You can tell them anything you want, but if they paid through paypal, guess who paypal is going to side with when the item doesn't show up.

 

[whodini]



nice exaggeration. shipping for int'l priority mail for a shirt with tracking is around $30-$40.

If that. Priority envelope up to 4 lbs is around $17. Tracking is another $10 or so. It's very reasonable and the mail service is so reliable where I am that I never pay for tracking unless the seller absolutely demands it.

 

[Xtraordinaire]

Spend the extra dollar for the tracking and it usually comes with insurance. Protects both the seller and the buyer. It saves the headache of waiting and trying to figure out the whereabouts of the package.

 

[Master Milano]

Meh, I agree with Bradt, sometimes that extra fee really does the deter the buyer. As for the customs ripping out the contents of the bag, it might be because when you wrote the customs form, you didn't print what was in side the bag clearly enough or with enough pressure that it passes through to the paper underneath. Just a heads up because that almost happened to me (printed to lightly) and the USPS worker warned me in advance.

One time it got delayed because I did not put the country LAST (in the "to address") because of the way the buyer gave me the format of his address. They got the numbers at the end of the address confused with American Zip Codes and the package got stuck here for two weeks.

The rest of the times I've shipped in first class international, it went fine -- I think the buyer just really needs to take care of getting every detail straight. There's no real reason to believe it will fail, but if it makes you and the buyer feel much safer, priority shipping + tracking (albeit more expensive) is the way to go.

 

[afixedpoint]

I always ask buyer to pay for the item, ship, and then ask for the actual cost of shipping with whichever option they want. Have sold to buyers in Aus, Singapore, and Canada with no issue, but had a terrible experience with a French buyer on Ebay...

 

[rdstour]

Weird,

I was absolutely certain that the only "real tracking" that USPS provides for international packages is USPS Express.
Tracking on USPS Priority should only cover tracking in the United States, but it shouldn't hold up after it leaves the United States.
Or am I wrong?

As to the OP, IMO I think it would have been more reasonable for the Buyer to agree to a 50% refund, rather than a full refund. It's unfair for the seller that he did his due diligence, only to lose both the original payment and shipping costs. OP, I've been on your position, lost an item worth $$$, and luckily had a buyer nice enough to agree to a 50/50 refund. Learned my lesson about shipping internationally with USPS though.

 

[VLSI]

But the seller didn't do his due diligence... he put himself at risk when he cheaped out on shipping.

 

[meso]

Overseas tracking is expensive and nonexistent in some cases.
It's way more than just "another dollar" like Xtraordinaire said.
It's just not worth it for many items.

 

[VLSI]

I know how much it costs. You ask the buyer to cover it. If they don't agree and you're not willing to put up the difference, no sale. It's simple. Just recently had a buy pay an extra 50% of my asking price for tracked shipping.

What would you guys be saying if you bought something from a shop, and perhaps they had a free shipping promo so they used an untracked shipping option, and then your package never arrived? Would you be cool with splitting the cost of.the item? I doubt it...

Unless the seller made an explicit agreement to not be held liable for delivery prior to receiving payment, he is wholly at fault.

 

[meso]



I know how much it costs. You ask the buyer to cover it. If they don't agree and you're not willing to put up the difference, no sale. It's simple. Just recently had a buy pay an extra 50% of my asking price for tracked shipping.

Demanding tracking will also will diminish interest in what you're selling and reduce the selling price.
I've been selling for years on ebay (since 1998) with 2200+ positives and can count on one hand the number of times I've had to rely on proof of delivery in a dispute.
I think the poster above describing tracking as an extra dollar has never tried to get true tracking to say Italy!

What would you guys be saying if you bought something from a shop, and perhaps they had a free shipping promo so they used an untracked shipping option, and then your package never arrived? Would you be cool with splitting the cost of.the item? I doubt it...

No but I also pay substantial fees to my credit card so that I can do a chargeback in the case of fraud/non-arrival/act of god/whatever.
Dealings with businesses are quite different than buying a used shirt on styleforum.