WARNING!! For Ebay Sellers

[A Harris]

Warning, rant below:

I have recieved three paypal disputes from three different Italian buyers in as many months. All three were filed before the packages could have possibly arrived in Italy - like within 10 days of receipt of payment (buyers chose regular airmail, not express.) This latest one has really set me off.

The guy wins the auction Dec. 4th for two pairs of Polo shoes. He sends paypal on the 5th but shorts me $4 on the shipping charge. I send an email requesting the remainder of the payment before I send the shoes. He answers that he will send the $4 via paypal but does not. Even if he had paid in full, the shoes were not supposed to be shipped until Dec 8 as per the auction terms. Airmail to Italy takes 10 days so they would not be due to arrive until tomorrow at the earliest.

On the 12th I shipped the shoes anyway. I did so because I am stuck at home right now with no car (totaled 5 wks ago) and a shattered left wrist (10 bones broken, 10 hrs surgery, 4 pins and three screws to put it back together, 3 days in the hospital.) With only one good hand I am dependant on outside help to ship, and had to take advantage of my assistants time when she was there.

On the 14th I email the guy and tell him his shoes have been shipped, but that they cannot be tracked online because he chose airmail instead of EMS.

A few hours ago I recieve a paypal dispute! With it is a message in Italian, something to the effect that he is not satisfied with my responses to his emails and is worried I did not send his shoes because he has not recieved them yet. If anyone speaks Italian I could use some help with the translation.

Anyways, I am seeing a definite pattern here. Sellers, beware of Italian buyers!! I would advise shipping IMMEDIATELY as they seem to be extraordinarily nervous about ebay transactions, even from sellers with 7+ years of continous selling experience and more than 2400 positive feedback vs. 2 (obviously bogus) negs!

 

[A Harris]

Update: Apparently my fiery emails to the buyer were to good effect, because he canceled the dispute and sent my $4.

To the buyers credit, this is how the other two disputes ended as well. As soon as I came down on them, explaining just how wrong they were, they canceled the disputes.

The warning stands though. For some reason there seems to be a higher degree of fear with these buyers, and I advise special handling...

 

[edmorel]

FYI, AHarris.

Italy is becoming or rather has become as bad as many third world nations when it somes to their postal system. Packages are regularly "lost", sometimes airmail takes 4 weeks to arrive. I stopped shipping anything to Italy via airmail. It is either EMS or nothing at all.

 

[Sam Hober]

Originally Posted by A Harris

Update: Apparently my fiery emails to the buyer were to good effect, because he canceled the dispute and sent my $4. To the buyers credit, this is how the other two disputes ended as well. As soon as I came down on them, explaining just how wrong they were, they canceled the disputes. The warning stands though. For some reason there seems to be a higher degree of fear with these buyers, and I advise special handling...
I am glad to hear that all is well with the Italian shipments, I am sorry to hear about the accident. Take care and get better soon. We only ship by EMS to anywhere outside the US with the exception of Canada. For all the reasons that you mention.

 

[TKDKid]

Originally Posted by A Harris

I did so because I am stuck at home right now with no car (totaled 5 wks ago) and a shattered left wrist (10 bones broken, 10 hrs surgery, 4 pins and three screws to put it back together, 3 days in the hospital.) With only one good hand I am dependant on outside help to ship, and had to take advantage of my assistants time when she was there.
Just a quick note to wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[aybojs]

Originally Posted by TKDKid

Just a quick note to wish you a speedy recovery.

Likewise; hope you get well soon, Andrew.

 

[sho'nuff]

good to know and good outcome.

i did not know about EMS, i thought all international packages were lost as soon as they hit the border and it was just wait and find out if they are honest situation . no paypal protection ABSOLUTELY none with international buyers.
i am sick of paypal and i hope one day God's judgment reigns down on them before time is due.

 

[Don Goldstein]

A lot of ebay sellers will not ship to Italy because of similar problems.

It is best to accept BidPay instead of PayPal for buyers outside of the USA. PayPal offers seller protection only to a few countries outside of the USA (Canada and the UK, I think). BidPay only requires proof of mailing.

 

[mack11211]

Yeah, Italy is a little dodgy, but no one has freaked so far, and the stuff has arrived eventually. I clearly state that I am not responsible for uninsured parcels, and require insurance for shipments of over $100.

Hope you are recovering well.

yours

mack11211

 

[Sator]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

There are countries in which mail containing valuables regularly "vanish". It would seem that post office or even customs staff may well be in on it and steal the goods that come through. Anything sent to Russia via post is 100% guaranteed to vanish. Oddly I have even had this problem sending stuff to France (fortunately not eBay transactions) which I would not have thought to be so riddled with corruption. Italy is obviously also a nation troubled with corruption.

 

[fredrik80]

When you ship to Europe you should always try to ship USPS Global Priority because of the special handling these packages receive here, in fact they often go together with the express packages (in the same shipment), and therefore get better (more secure) handling when arriving

EMS is good aswell ofcourse, but it's much more expensive

 

[zjpj83]

Get well, soon, Andrew.

 

[bengal-stripe]

Originally Posted by A Harris

a shattered left wrist (10 bones broken, 10 hrs surgery, 4 pins and three screws to put it back together, 3 days in the hospital.)
O M G !!!
I hope, soon you'll have the use and the dexterity of your left hand back as it was before and that there will no lasting damage.

 

[A Harris]

Hey, thanks guys for all the support! Really I was very fortunate, things could have turned out much, much worse given the situation. The doc says I should get full use of the wrist back, minus a little range of motion. And I have insurance, so all in all it should just be time lost!

Some good tips here too, I am going to have to look into Global Priority. I was really worked up over this last night, sorry for the rant!!

 

[Jerry52]

I join all in wishing you the best, Andrew! It's doubly tough to be laid up around Christmas, which is supposed to be upbeat. I guess you have to do what the doctor orders and be patient with the recovery. Slow but sure.
I'll be having an iffy Christmas too as my mother fell and broke her hip and arm three months ago. I'm not sure if she'll be home for Christmas. For all of us who DO have "the usual" Christmas of family, faith, good food, gifts, music, and a spirit of peace, that's all a blessing that we should never ignore!