Help with Sketchy Transaction

[mags_finds]

Hi Everyone 😉

I sold a set of figurines in early December.  The person that bought them was from Germany and had a feedback rating of 23.  I responded that I did not ship overseas.  He then emailed and said that they were going to his sister in NY.  I decided to sell them to him and send them cheap and without insurance, they were only sold for 14.99. 

A couple of weeks later I received feedback from him " Just Great ! "

Then yesterday I get an email from him saying they finally arrived broken.  hmmmmmmm

I asked for pictures of the statues as well as a picture of the original box. He sent me pictures of two out of three of the figurines they are broken.  However, these figurines often sell for around 30.00 each.  I sold all three for 14.99. 

He also stated that he had bought so many other things from me...he has never bought anything else from me. 

I am wondering if my figurines were sent to NY and then forwarded to Germany and that is where they got broken ( though he says no )

Or because of positive feedback and the message stating he had bought other things from me, this is just an outright scam..

I know it's only 15.00 USD but shipping was around 28.00, and then there is the principle of the thing.  I am pretty darn careful with packaging.!!

Any Advice on how I should proceed ?

Thanks

Shirley

[ricarmic]

Hi Mags. This is my opinion, others will have different opinions.

Because no tracking you will lose. Despite how frustrating these things are for all of us, IMO it is yet another grin and bear it situation, best resolved as quickly and painlessly as possible.

You have two main goals (IMO):
-avoid defects
-lose as little as you can on the transaction.

What I would do in this situation is advise that I am sorry that some were broken and ask if he is ok with a partial refund. I always leave it up to the buyer to decide the amount of the refund, this way they are in "control" and it is much more likely to end positively. (What I do behind the scenes is decide whether they were fair in their assessment, if I thought they were fair, all is good, if they weren't I block them).

It doesn't matter if he has misremembered buying before, or even if it was reshipped and broken in that phase, he still can defect you and get a full refund if he is adamant about it. My goal (and yes I would be just as frustrated as I am sure you are) would be to try to at least still get something out of the original and get it resolved in a defectless way.

Good luck, let us know what you do!

[recped]

Because no tracking you will lose.

This is NOT an INR claim, tracking or lack of is irrelevant.

I think the OP would have a good case if they call eBay, the package was received and then forwarded, there is no way to know for sure where the damage occurred but there is also no way to know if the item was repacked (improperly) before forwarding.

It's likely the buyers sister repacked the order to combine with other items and that's why they were broken.

[ricarmic]

Hi Rec, yes you are right about tracking because it is not an INR but it can become an INAD, my goals are still applicable.

If it turns into an INAD Mags is risking having to pay the shipping back to her, which costs even more, increasing the loss more....and that costs a defect too....

[reallynicestamps]

Mags is risking having to pay the shipping back to her,

I believe this is only if the seller insists on it, or if the seller refuses to refund.

It has been, in the past, fine for the seller to accept pictures of the damaged items. Some sellers do ask for pictures of the wrapping as well, since postal services will clearly mark items that they damage in transit. (Usually this damage comes from poor packaging on the part of the seller.)

I wonder if the seller would have any success with an 'innocent' inquiry about whether the sister trans-shipped the original parcel or whether she repacked it when she sent it along to Germany? Mention that shipping china and glassware is difficult and the seller had always prided herself on her professional shipping.

All that being said, this turns into a 'he said, she said'. I think the best bet is to cut your losses, including wasting your time since two of the three items are broken.

Yes, offer a partial refund -- perhaps the $15 price and not the $28 shipping-- but if the buyer refuses, just refund.

If you are paying taxes on the money you make on eBay, this is a tax loss. If this is still in hobby territory, not all sales will be successful and some are not even worth having. In hindsight, blocking a customer who clearly indicated that the items would be going to Germany one way or another would have been wise. But so few of us are wise. Certainly I'm not.

[mags_finds]

Thanks Everyone @

Your advice is much appreciated.  Yes I will probably make a deal with this person, but I am angry with myself for breaking my own rule about not shipping overseas !!

Shirley