ebay advice needed

[draggoon01]

background: i'm occasional ebay user for selling off computer parts that i upgraded. about 10 feedbacks, all positive.

situation: sold a combo of 2 computer components. mail by insured priority mail. box arrived really beat up. he said the stuff didn't work. since it was under $100 he didn't need insurance slip, so he took stuff to post office for refund. they denied the claim, citing poor packaging. 1 component was in the bubble wrap it originally came in. the other component was inside an anti-static bag. both bags were put inside a large priority mail box, and surround by shredded newspaper (thin line kind, not confetti), pretty tightly. and now he wants me to personally refund him the bid.

on the auction i have this disclaimer:
"All sales final; sold as is; no refunds/guarantees given."

1) would i be wrong to refer him back to that part of the auction description and say there's nothing i can/will do?

2) is there a law that obligates me to fulfill the insurance he paid for even though the post office denied the claim, despite the "as is" disclaimer? considering the packaging is called into question

3) doesn't he take on the title of the item once i give the item to the post office.

the good seller in me says to take the items back and refund the bid. but the practical seller in me says the overall loss (fees, bid, possibly junk components not worth auctioning anymore) is something i _think_ i'm protected against with the disclaimer.

opinions/advice appreciated.

thanks in advance

p.s.
what do you do to avoid problems like this? (in terms of disclaimers and shipping). how do you protect yourself as seller from any possible loss?

 

[Angrymarshmello]

ehh nm, wje and Andy are right

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: draggoon01
background: i'm occasional ebay user for selling off computer parts that i upgraded. about 10 feedbacks, all positive.

situation: sold a combo of 2 computer components. mail by insured priority mail. box arrived really beat up. he said the stuff didn't work. since it was under $100 he didn't need insurance slip, so he took stuff to post office for refund. they denied the claim, citing poor packaging. 1 component was in the bubble wrap it originally came in. the other component was inside an anti-static bag. both bags were put inside a large priority mail box, and surround by shredded newspaper (thin line kind, not confetti), pretty tightly. and now he wants me to personally refund him the bid.

on the auction i have this disclaimer:
"All sales final; sold as is; no refunds/guarantees given."

1) would i be wrong to refer him back to that part of the auction description and say there's nothing i can/will do?

2) is there a law that obligates me to fulfill the insurance he paid for even though the post office denied the claim, despite the "as is" disclaimer? considering the packaging is called into question

3) doesn't he take on the title of the item once i give the item to the post office.

the good seller in me says to take the items back and refund the bid. but the practical seller in me says the overall loss (fees, bid, possibly junk components not worth auctioning anymore) is something i _think_ i'm protected against with the disclaimer.

opinions/advice appreciated.

thanks in advance


p.s.
what do you do to avoid problems like this? (in terms of disclaimers and shipping). how do you protect yourself as seller from any possible loss?

The claim as far as all sales final, refers to the product when it left your hands. As far as damage in transit goes, unless you have a stiplulation that states the customer accepts risk when tender to carrier, you are still responsible.

USPS wrote the claim policy, they can deny it.

Theoretically, but the risk of damage and loss is usually accepted by the shipper AFAIK.

-PAB

 

[T2T III]

Personally, I eat the costs on this one and pay the purchaser off. However, I'd make a request to get my merchandise back so you can inspect and test it to ensure it really isn't damaged. If it is damaged, then pay the purchaser off. If it's not damaged, let the purchaser know and hold him/her responsible for all of the shipping charges that were incurred to prove the items actually did work.

In the future, you might want to use a more sound method for shipping your merchandise such as FedEx Ground. Their claim process is pretty liberal and they damaged an item that I sold via Ebay. Once I made the claim, my money arrived within 4 weeks.

 

[PsychoAndy]

wje, for some reason ATOT has an aversion to every single shipper in the country. There will be the fedex sucks kiddies coming out of the woodwork soon.

My advice to people is for them to use the carrier who gives them the least headaches.

-PAB

 

[draggoon01]

The claim as far as all sales final, refers to the product when it left your hands. As far as damage in transit goes, unless you have a stiplulation that states the customer accepts risk when tender to carrier, you are still responsible

what about "no refunds/guarantees given"?

Personally, I eat the costs on this one and pay the purchaser off.

i'm a little reluctant for two reasons. first is that we're talking about $200.00. second is that i've been scammed in the past, by someone who returned a different non-working component, which left me $100 poorer for the item, not including shipping and ebay fees. the relevance to this guy is my doubt/lack of trust. especially because he has zero feedback. (i took the auction because i thought I?d be protected by the disclaimer & insurance regardless of what happened).

If it's not damaged, let the purchaser know and hold him/her responsible for all of the shipping charges that were incurred to prove the items actually did work.

what if he is the one who damaged it for whatever reason (1 component was cpu), and is now claiming it was damaged by carrier to get refund. since the insurance claim was denied, i'm responsible? how can i protect myself from that?

as a side note, an important reason for the disclaimer was because most of my transactions are with computer parts, and problems can sometimes be attributed to installation/compatibility as opposed to damage. ideally, there would only be 1 quick transaction, and things like return shipping could be avoided.

after reading around, it seems a good number of people complain that insurance (from various carriers) is often denied for the reason of item not being 'properly packaged' (one instance i read, guy said package looked like the truck ran over it even though it was double boxed, and still denied). is there any good way to ensure that doesn't happen? if in future i had mail boxes etc package and ship the item, do they guarantee against damage/loss themselves and don't get out of it somehow? (i ask because i'm interested in people's experience with them, as opposed to any of their claims). i'm trying to figure out the best way to handle selling computer components, advice appreciated.

 

[draggoon01]

bump

 

[Entity]

If you don't want bad feedback, eat the cost, and learn your lesson, IMO.

Rob

 

[ebaycj]

draggooon-

call up the insurance company and immediately ask for a manager, and don't talk to anyone who is not a manager.. be sure to be professional and calm when talking to them. express your discontent, and tell them that your package was indeed packaged correctly. if he is uncooperative, proceed to get his name and the name/phone number of his boss, and tell him that you will be suing the insurance company (likely USPS) in small claims court for the value of your damaged package. ask for their lawyer's contact information, and tell them your lawyer (even though you really dont need one, you can represent yourself) will be in touch... Its only $25 for a small claims court fee, and itll cost them $1000 to get a lawyer to show up. most companies will settle just to avoid paying the friggin lawyer.


ebaycj

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: Entity
If you don't want bad feedback, eat the cost, and learn your lesson, IMO.

Rob

what exactly would be the lesson here? how do you avoid this in the future (considering that many people report difficulty in getting damage insurance paid depite packing efforts)? especially considering i'm selling mostly computer parts which have can have problems due to user (installation) rather than damage.

if it were something like glassware or a book, taking pictures before sending would solve a lot of problems. but with computer parts it gets tricky.

and anyone have any comments on mail boxes etc?

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: draggoon01

Originally posted by: Entity
If you don't want bad feedback, eat the cost, and learn your lesson, IMO.

Rob

and anyone have any comments on mail boxes etc?

They suck. Overpriced and lame. They take the UPS book rate, multiply by X factor and charge you that. And thats besides the fact that they get a volume discount and if there is a damage claim, you still handle it.

-PAB

 

[Gunslinger08]

Some of the MBE's up in tier 10 and tier 11 get massive discounts on UPS shipping.. and then they charge the customer an ~80% markup on UPS published rates. UPS counter rates are ~40% higher than the published rates. If you want the cheapest UPS shipping capability, print the labels online and pay with a credit card, and drop the packages off at an MBE or local shipping place.

Josh

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: draggoon01

Originally posted by: Entity
If you don't want bad feedback, eat the cost, and learn your lesson, IMO.

Rob

what exactly would be the lesson here? how do you avoid this in the future (considering that many people report difficulty in getting damage insurance paid depite packing efforts)? especially considering i'm selling mostly computer parts which have can have problems due to user (installation) rather than damage.

if it were something like glassware or a book, taking pictures before sending would solve a lot of problems. but with computer parts it gets tricky.

and anyone have any comments on mail boxes etc?

What would the lesson be?

Basically, when you are dealing with sensitive parts/information, trust FedEx or another company with a reliable insurance policy, and let the buyer pay for that coverage.

Rob

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Some of the MBE's up in tier 10 and tier 11 get massive discounts on UPS shipping.. and then they charge the customer an ~80% markup on UPS published rates. UPS counter rates are ~40% higher than the published rates. If you want the cheapest UPS shipping capability, print the labels online and pay with a credit card, and drop the packages off at an MBE or local shipping place.

Josh

I can get up to 28% off on 2nd day air if I do $1000 a week.

Counter rates are about 15% higher than the book rate.
Like I said MBE is the book rate multiplied by several times.

I have an account with the software, so I get the book rate. Its not bad at all. I even get my own account rep.

-PAB