eBay

atwelj · ‎04-07-2019

Early last March I sold an expensive $250 GI Joe Motorcycle with Sidecar and Soldier to a person in my country. Because it was a delicate item I very carefully packed it in a sturdy box using carefully shaped Styrofoam for support so nothing would move and lots of tissue paper for packing. I had included pictures in my listing showing the motorcycle in the shipping box. The item arrived at its destination with the sidecar detached from the motorcycle. The buyer initiated a case on Ebay which I understand and first offered a $100 refund, but buyer said damage was unrepairable and wanted full refund. I initiated this process but because Canada Post does not do return labels I told him I would send him the money for return postage. I had also started a claim at Canada Post online for damaged during shipping but they wanted a week to get info from the buyer about the damage. They also wanted the buyer to hold the package while the claim was going on in case they wanted info from him on the damage, so I told the buyer I am holding back sending the money for at least a week to see if I hear from Canada Post. Before the week was done Ebay sided with the buyer and gave a full refund. About two weeks later I hear back from Canada Post about my claim, and since the buyer failed to respond to them on their attempts to get ahold of him, they had no choice but to cancel my claim with no refund. I lost everything yet I feel I did everything right. Why did the buyer not respond to Canada Post. Where is my protection Ebay as a seller. Ebay makes many claims about protections for a safe environment for the buyer but where is the same safe environment for the seller.

electronicifycanada · ‎04-07-2019

If your country is Canada and you shipped to and from Canada why were you not able to purchase a return label?

femmefan1946 · ‎04-07-2019

but buyer said damage was unrepairable and wanted full refund.

You are not required to refund until the buyer returns the purchase.

You can also ask the buyer for photos of the damaged package and item, before agreeing to a refund.

I initiated this process but because Canada Post does not do return labels

It does.

You can do this from the Canada Post website or the SnapShip website or through either Paypal or Shippo.

You get a pdf with the buyer as the sender and yourself as the recipient, then you email the pdf to him and he prints it out.

This is easy for Canadian buyers, and possible through Shippo for American buyers. Overseas is a problem.

I had also started a claim at Canada Post online for damaged...the buyer failed to respond ... (Canada Post) cancel my claim with no refund..

This has nothing to do with eBay.

But it is not a customer-friendly policy for Canada Post.

so I told the buyer I am holding back sending the money for at least a week to see if I hear from Canada Post.

This is where you lost the Dispute.

Unless you could show that you had sent postage (either as a shipping label or through Paypal's Send Money service.) to the buyer, eBay will refund the buyer.

Did you enter the information about the postage into the Dispute? The Paypal transaction number for the Send Money would have helped.

Postal insurance is less useful than many think. Normally it would only cover the actual postage, not the contents of the parcel.

I would suggest that in future, you use Cookie Jar Insurance* rather than depending on third parties.

*Self-Insurance, putting a small amount into the asking price or shipping price for an item to cover occasional losses due to delays or damage in transit, items claimed not as described, buyer remorse, your own errors, and many other problems that third party insurance will not cover. When you have a problem you take those virtual pennies out of the Cookie Jar to cover your costs.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-07-2019

Postal insurance is less useful than many think. Normally it would only cover the actual postage, not the contents of the parcel.

Why do you say that? Insurance is also for the contents.

But as you said, insurance isn’t always that workable within the eBay system because of the timeline that eBay requires us to work within. It’s sort of a catch 22...we have to refund or send a label within a certain amount of time but the insurance company may want the buyer to hold onto the package in case they want to examine it. But even if that isn’t an issue, the seller will still have to refund before an insurance claim can be settled and without knowing if the buyer will cooperate when the claim is being investigated.

reallynicestamps · ‎04-07-2019

In theory, yes.

But it's been my observation that carriers (not just Canada Post) will claim that damage to the contents of a parcel, that does not actually have tiremarks on it and a letter apologizing attached, is because of poor packaging on the part of the sender.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-07-2019

@reallynicestamps wrote:
In theory, yes.
But it's been my observation that carriers (not just Canada Post) will claim that damage to the contents of a parcel, that does not actually have tiremarks on it and a letter apologizing attached, is because of poor packaging on the part of the sender.

That is totally different than what you said earlier. You said that postage normally only covers the cost of the postage and that's not true in theory or otherwise. If insurance is not paid out because of poor packaging, they certainly aren't going to be refunding postage either.

If an item is lost in the mail, they are going to refund the value of the package plus postage, not just postage. As far as I can tell, insurance is never just for postage...it is for all or nothing.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2019

The problem is if the buyers don't respond to Canada Post, then you are out. I even begged a few of buyers to please respond but no luck, so I am out of items and $$. I am sure that Canada Post is happy not having to refund!!

fashionoutletdeal · ‎04-10-2019

When item arrived damaged .

1. Provide customer with return shipping label.This way eBay is able to postpone the decision of the Case

2.Inform the customer that he?she need to cooperate with the carrier investigation ,this way they will received their refund fast .

3.Ask customer to provide you pictures of the damage item

4.Open a case with Canada Post via phone .Its always faster and efficient .

5.Even if you receive your item before CPC resolve your issue,this isnt a problem.You always could proof how much you pay for return postage.

6.Do not beg the customer to cooperate ,be firm with them what could be the circumstances of their poor action .

After all I never had a lost case and unpaid damage item with all carriers that i work with

travis7s · ‎04-10-2019

Canada Post will pay out the value of the item and the shipping cost if they find your claim is valid, this happened to me a couple months ago.

I'm guessing that Canada Post will refund only the shipping cost if they fail to meet a guaranteed delivery time?