After the buy scam - Sharing an experience...

[exE36M3]

You sell something, buyer pays fast, usually via Paypal or online.
And you send it. Tracking shows everything arrived ok.

However, a day later, the buyer contacts you to say the item shows damage or doesn't work right.
BUT they don't want to send it back for a refund, they instead ask for a partial refund...

I've noticed this on a few online transactions lately.
The first time I was yeah, ok, sorry about that. But I've had a few eBay and private transactions go this way.

So protect yourself, photograph ALL angles of your item. And opt for shipping insurance, that should cover damage. If they claim damage, it can be re-referred to the Post Office or UPS.

--- added ---

Thanks for everyone's input. What it really boils down to is that people out there can be REALLY dishonest about their buying behavior.

As an honest seller, you do everything you can to assure everything is described as is, photos taken, shipping tracked and insured... because it's how you would want someone to take care of something you bought.

But to only have the buyer screw you in some manner... partial refund requests, lying about damage, damaging the product intentionally to get a refund, etc. It kind of kills the experience.

Just sharing as I love selling/buying Star Wars and cars stuff and the last 3 experiences that involved other "enthusiasts" just makes the community suffer overall.

[Summerwolf]

This isn't always a scam.


I have bought some things that didn't quite come in as clean as they were advertised but at the same time it was an item I could use and considered worth keeping. In that instance a partial refund is the way to go for both parties.

[mav1178]

Sorry, all items I sell are sold "AS-IS".

Buyer has the option of buying insurance.

[iamjacob]

Originally Posted by mav1178

Sorry, all items I sell are sold "AS-IS".

Buyer has the option of buying insurance.

Yup, this is the risk you take purchasing things second hand. If you wanted a perfect object buy it from the store/manufacturer with a warranty or a guarantee.

[why?]

Originally Posted by exE36M3

You sell something, buyer pays fast, usually via Paypal or online.
And you send it. Tracking shows everything arrived ok.

However, a day later, the buyer contacts you to say the item shows damage or doesn't work right.
BUT they don't want to send it back for a refund, they instead ask for a partial refund...

I've noticed this on a few online transactions lately.
The first time I was yeah, ok, sorry about that. But I've had a few eBay and private transactions go this way.

So protect yourself, photograph ALL angles of your item. That should cover damage.
If they claim damage, it can be re-referred to the Post Office or UPS.

UPS, USPS, FEDEX, etc, will laugh at you if you claim they damaged something and didn't have insurance. They all clearly state damage is not their responsibility.

If you are selling something you should have clear pictures up from a bunch of angles, and like was just stated make sure everyone knows you aren't a store and there is no guarantee whatsoever.

[Chronology]

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

This isn't always a scam.


I have bought some things that didn't quite come in as clean as they were advertised but at the same time it was an item I could use and considered worth keeping. In that instance a partial refund is the way to go for both parties.

I suspect normally you would be happy to send pics of the damage to the seller to show "hey its damaged, I don't mind keeping it but would like a bit more $$$ off". From what the OP is saying that the communication only gets to the point of "hey its broken give me more money off" with no further info. It's always nice to put a small comment about "Selling As-Is" with all the informative information / pics.

[Chronology]

Originally Posted by why?

UPS, USPS, FEDEX, etc, will laugh at you if you claim they damaged something and didn't have insurance. They all clearly state damage is not their responsibility.

If you are selling something you should have clear pictures up from a bunch of angles, and like was just stated make sure everyone knows you aren't a store and there is no guarantee whatsoever.

This is 100% correct, we had computer hardware shipped from Dell to our vendor, the vendor then sent it to us but forgot to add insurance, when the system showed up it looked like a giant metal paperweight (I assume it was dropped via a forklift since the pallet had a ton of damage), the vendor ate the 10k product cost since they forgot insurance. Even with freight its the same thing.

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by Chronology

I suspect normally you would be happy to send pics of the damage to the seller to show "hey its damaged, I don't mind keeping it but would like a bit more $$$ off". From what the OP is saying that the communication only gets to the point of "hey its broken give me more money off" with no further info. It's always nice to put a small comment about "Selling As-Is" with all the informative information / pics.

Of course! That would be the correct way to approach the issue.

As - is doesn't stand with the ebay / paypal conglomorate. They make it much too easy for buyers to potentially tie up your accounts now. No returns accepted is not really a thing anymore, lol.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by IBill4You

The USPS will laugh at you even if you had insurance

I'm about to purchase blanket coverage for all our inbound/outbound shipments at work via UPS Capital Insurance.

$0.10 per $100 valuation, and it covers every bonded carrier to/from our location/customers, and much MUCH easier to file claims than with the carrier.

Carrier insurance has a major drawback: they have to prove that they are at fault. This takes time and often it is a matter of "should I reimburse/replace items for customer, or should I wait for claim to be finished..." and this pisses off many customers.

I'm moving to this setup so I can 1) have payout within 7 days, and 2) can decide if I want to replace or refund customer within 24-48 hours.

Plus, the insurance blanket covers trade shows, used goods, and all of my ocean/air inbound shipments.

-alex

[why?]

Originally Posted by IBill4You

The USPS will laugh at you even if you had insurance

None of it is easy, especially if something is lost. The supervisor at the post office should be able to figure out where it went, but if it has been that long there probably is no hope.

[Yardjass]

Originally Posted by IBill4You

The USPS will laugh at you even if you had insurance

I flat out refuse to use USPS ever again. They lost an item I ordered a couple years back that wasn't expensive enough to be insured. As far as I know, it is still in transit according to the tracking site. I called and they opened an "investigation" and were supposed to keep me notified. I called back a couple months later when I hadn't heard anything and they were still conducting their "investigation". Pure incompetence. I get if someone stole it off the porch after delivery or if I chose to not insure something and it shows up damaged, but a shipper should be footing the bill if they can't even manage to deliver the item to its destination.

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

Of course! That would be the correct way to approach the issue.

As - is doesn't stand with the ebay / paypal conglomorate. They make it much too easy for buyers to potentially tie up your accounts now. No returns accepted is not really a thing anymore, lol.

I won't use ebay anymore because they are so seller unfriendly. My brother sold a guitar effects pedal for a great price and the jerk who bought it claimed it wasn't working. The guy didn't even attempt to contact the seller to sort things out first, and he only found out about it having gotten an auto-notification from ebay/paypal and a very quick followup that they had ruled in the seller's favor without even asking for any further evidence. My bro had to pay return shipping to even get it back, only to unbox the thing and find it in perfect shape and working condition. We both concluded that jackass had either used it for a show with the intent of never keeping it, or changed his mind, and didn't even have the integrity to "rent" it by way of paying return shipping. After that, never again.


Fast forward a few years and I protect myself with pictures beforehand, including screenshots of having sent the same detailed pictures to the buyer prior to money changing hands. Insurance is mandatory since it is so cheap and I just tack it on to the shipping costs. I haven't had a problem with paypal since. I also haven't sold on ebay since, so there's that.

[exE36M3]

Thanks for everyone's input. What it really boils down to is that people out there can be REALLY dishonest about their buying behavior.

As an honest seller, you do everything you can to assure everything is described as is, photos taken, shipping tracked and insured... because it's how you would want someone to take care of something you bought.

But to only have the buyer screw you in some manner... partial refund requests, lying about damage, damaging the product intentionally to get a refund, etc. It kind of kills the experience.

Just sharing as I love selling/buying Star Wars and cars stuff and the last 3 experiences that involved other "enthusiasts" just makes the community suffer overall.