WHat if I don't trust the seller but he paid through paypal?

[maximgrenie8]

Hi!

I am a first time seller. I have sold a statue to an international buyer Located in Qatar. I did recieved the payment in paypal, but it is frozen for a month. I have been told people can get chargebacks as a regular scam.
I am aware that first time seller are "Scammer's magnet" so I am being carefull.
The user does have a good rating, but from very few people that all leave the same kind os feedback mesages. It seems sketchy.

plus the shipping and billing address is from a hotel, but he is listed as an america user.

I sold using non-tracked, non-signed small packets air shipping.
Now I realized that I may get scammed with those settings, but I am not sure I could cancel the sale.

Could I have cancelled the sale without fee and am I getting scammed?

[esclyons]

No idea if you are being scammed, but why would you ship a 350$ item, without tracking or insurance.. That is just asking for trouble. So if the buyer says he didn't receive the item, you automatically lose the case.. I wish you the best of luck, and hope it works out for you.

[bassox333]

I would bite  the extra shipping costs and send International Parcel Air.  It does come with tracking.  You'd be better of eating an extra $20 or $30 on the shipping, instead of being out both the product and the $350.  

Good luck!

[ypdc_dennis]

---

@maximgrenie8 wrote:

I am a first time seller. I have sold a statue to an international buyer Located in Qatar. I did recieved the payment in paypal, but it is frozen for a month. I have been told people can get chargebacks as a regular scam.

---

New sellers (or old ones who have not sold for a long while) have their paypal payments held.

https://www.paypal.com/ca/smarthelp/article/why-is-my-payment-being-held-for-21-days-faq3236

For a scammer, claiming Item_Not_Received (INR) when something is shipped untracked is far easier to do than doing a chargeback. 

Plus your item has to get through customs (if being shipped to Qatar):

https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGIntDestDetails-e.asp?table=tblCountry&txtLetter=QA

Probably a legit purchase -- lots of folk from Qatar get foreign university education, so have feet in other countries.

-..-

[femmefan1946]

@maximgrenie8

I did recieved the payment in paypal, but it is frozen for a month.

You mean your customer's cleared payment is Held for 21 days against your good service.

If you do not ship promptly, you will get a Defect.

Which is pretty much the end of your selling career here, as a new seller.

The Hold is kinda patrpnizing but it is a Buyer Protection against questionable sellers who may otherwise just take the money and run.

plus the shipping and billing address is from a hotel, but he is listed as an america user.

Ask the buyer for his American address.

He may have either two homes (student, snowbird) or use a freight forwarder.

As a new seller, you should have been prevented from selling internationally, another kinda patronizing practice, but meant as a Seller Protection.

Don't sell internationally until you have 10 DSRs and know what DSRs are.

You can Block any country you want. Entire  continents even.

I sold using non-tracked, non-signed small packets air shipping.

That would be stupid.

Pay the money for the tracked air mail service.

Surface is too expensive, even though it doesn't cost much money.

Although sellers cannot charge more for shipping once the buyer has purchased, we can upgrade shipping on our own dime.

[maximgrenie8]

It is indeed held for 21 days, but what prevents the buyer from declaring it broken, or saying he did not received it or whatever?
I did film the whole packaging process as a protection, but I don't know how protected I am. Nothing prevented me from internationally ship, but I was given only 2 days to ship. If the buyer is sketchy, It does not give me much room to talk and settle things. Could I simply have refused to sell him?

[maximgrenie8]

To be fair it was fairly complicated to ship.
The price difference for tracked shipping was over 100$ from what I could see. I will not do that mistake again.

[maximgrenie8]

Also, If I can prove I sent it and he declares never receiving it, wouldn't it be the post service problem?
Shouldn't they pay for it? Let's say it was posted at the said person residence and someonle else would have picked up the parcel, how would this be MY fault?

[femmefan1946]

but what prevents the buyer from declaring it broken, or saying he did not received it or whatever?

If it is tracked, he cannot win an Item Not Received dispute. Which is why you use a Tracked service.

It is also why you use Air Mail, because there is a tracked Surface service, but it is so slow (three months or so) that you would lose an Item Not Received dispute.

did film the whole packaging process as a protection,

This is useless, since there is no way of knowing that what was packed is what was shipped.

but I was given only 2 days to ship.

You chose the 'handling ' time. You are allowed up to seven days to ship after payment clears (it may be cleared by the bank, but still Held by eBay) but there are benefits given by eBay for faster shipping.

[femmefan1946]

If I can prove I sent it and he declares never receiving it, wouldn't it be the post service problem?

No.

The seller is responsible to the buyer for prompt and secure shipping.

The seller subcontracts to the shipper.  The shipper is responsible to the seller.

You can purchase insurance from your shipper, or use a third party shipper. Some shippers and/or insurers will not insure shipments to countries they have had problems with in the past.

You have to prove Delivery, not shipping.  Again, this is why tracking is important.

If he says the item was received broken, you do have the right to demand that it be returned before refunding.

However, it is very likely that you would have to pay for return shipping from Qatar.

[maximus7001]

So how did you end up shipping it? If you shipped surface you can kiss your $ goodbye.

Shipping to quatar with no tracking, good grief.....

[Anonymous]

It never fail to amaze that some sellers can be so stupid to ship their items without tracking number just to save a few bucks!!  Use tracking number all the time!!  The cookie jar insurance won't help!!

[pjcdn2005]

I agree that shipping an expensive item without tracking can be risky but many sellers do ship some or all of their items without tracking and don’t have any problems doing that.  You do things your way and they will do things their way.  There is no reason for you to be offensive about it.

[snoopwiz]

I agree that shipping an expensive item without tracking can be risky but many sellers do ship some or all of their items without tracking and don’t have any problems doing that.  You do things your way and they will do things their way.  There is no reason for you to be offensive about it.

                                                                  ^^^THIS  ^^^

[femmefan1946]

This is exactly where cookie jar insurance WILL hel p.
With eBay or a 3rd party insurer you have to meet their standards to get coverage.
With the Cookie Jar you decide when you are covered.
No question about proof of delivery nothing to prove about what you sent or when.
You get the claim, you pay the claim. There’s less money in the Cookie Jar but no labour involved.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Since OP is a brand new seller, I suggest the OP to just cancel the transaction, refund the buyer, eat the defect, and start a fresh account. This time, limit your shipping destinations to within Canada and USA while you learn more about selling online.