Power Sellers Unite

ashevillekat · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 117

Hi All, I trust we are all staying warm during these last days of winter.
Got a minute to listen to my woeful tale of a Paypal chargeback from a lovely buyer in the Russian Federation.
Buyer bids 105.00 for an antique nightgown. Bidding had started at 9.95 and was bid up to this price with 6 different bidders bidding --some of whom are collectors of vintage nightgowns. I send the gown to the buyer in the Russian Federation the day she paid.(shipping 9.50 including insurance ... nice me!). 3 weeks later I get a paypal chargeback and here is how the dispute goes.....

From Buyer 2/26/2010 10:21 PST-
So - I WILL RETURN IT BECOUSE
ITS NOT BATISTE - ITS SILK . NO EVEN GENUINE SILK - TOTALLY SINTETIK WITH SINTETIK LACES- NO ANTIQUE NEVER - SLIDE VINTAGE - NOT MORE - CHEAP UZED SINTETIK NIGHTGOWN!

From Seller 2/26/2010 14:17 PST
I do wish this buyer had contacted me before opening a dispute. I will send refund through Paypal when I receive the nightgown back.. The nightgown should be returned to ( My address is given here)

From Seller -3/1/2010 11:11 PST
I still have had no contact from this buyer. I am suspicious about the large number of negative feedbacks she has left for others. Out of 124 feedbacks she has received she has left a total 46 Negatives which I assume were also Paypal charges which she never paid for. I am calling for a fraud investigation by both Paypal and Ebay of this individual who orders items to the Russian Federation and then finds fault with them and refuses to pay. I have had no contact whatsoever from this person sent either to my email account or my Ebay email address..
She has not even acknowledged receipt of my address at the above Paypal dispute site as you can see.

From Seller 3/3/2010 23:34 PST

As of this date I still have received no contact from this buyer either regarding the return of the item or receipt of my address. I have not heard back from Ebay yet which has promised to investigate possible fradulent activity on the part of this buyer. This nightgown is in fact cotton batiste despite the claim of the buyer that is is synthetic. I had 6 other bidders who would have liked to purchase this antique gown and I have heard nothing from this buyer about returning the gown she is complaining about. I do wish Paypal would take a look at this buyers systematic pattern of complaints about items she bids on and receives. There appears to be a pattern of abuse to Ebay sellers which I think will be evident.

Well, thats my story and as the song goes " Im stickin to it " I willl see this to the bitter end though I know Paypal chargebacks are not usually happy endings for sellers. Im gonna keep my cool and see how the situation develops. I have removed the buyers ebay name here in this post in case that could bring me more trouble. I dont think I am allowed to put her Ebay name in my posting am I ? Any thoughts??

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4782

Since the buyer resides in Russia, you have NO seller protections. Those are reserved for transactions in the US, UK or Canada only.

So yes, the buyer will win..

Which is why so many sellers have stopped offering their items internationally.

Jerryb · Joined: 15 Mar 2009 Posts: 418

If you are going to ship international, I strongly suggest you go to My Ebay and start a list of Countries you do not ship to- exclusion list. You have to activate the list and make it current on all your listing. Perhaps spot check your listings to see if it is actually working.

Not only do certain countries "Steal" but they also leave bad DSRs for the fun of it. the theft could be the buyer or their postal employees or even their customs.

I dont ship to South or central America mexico, Russia or any country that used to be Russia(poland, chech rep,romania, hungary), China or Middle East especially Iran, lebanon, jordan (except Israel is fine and the tiny rich oil countries are great Bahrain, Dubai) Hong Kong ok also. I have had a lot of theft from Spain but the sales are so good there i just take the loss. I hear Italy is bad but I have had only 2 thefts there.

It is my feeling you can cut your losses by excluding these countries by at least 75%. also be sure to track anything going to Puerto Rico.

ashevillekat · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 117

Hey, thank you for that list. I will go in and alter my international shipping. The climate among sellers sure has changed over the last 2 years. I finally heard back from the Russian buyer and she says she is sending the nightgown back. So we shall see. Thanks for all the good suggestions. I will keep you posted. kat

ashevillekat · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 117

Can anyone here tell me why my feedback score says 13? At Ebay it is over 3000. Is this some other type of feedback?

Brandr · Joined: 07 Mar 2010 Posts: 137

ashevillekat wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")Can anyone here tell me why my feedback score says 13? At Ebay it is over 3000. Is this some other type of feedback?

This website has no connection to ebay, and thus no connection to your ebay feedback. The feedback here is related to post count.

B

Brandr · Joined: 07 Mar 2010 Posts: 137

I have had it with ebay and Paypal. Once my latest and final sell has been paid for, I am done with both ebay and paypal and will cancel the credit card and chequing account they have on file.

Charge backs? Are they kidding? Christ, even when you have the money in hand they find a way to snatch it back.

B

ehustle · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 621

I just use shipsurance and don't worry about the rest of it.

If it's a item I'm co signed on and I can't afford or have reason to worry, I just write, requesting Western Union or gift/personal on paypal.

That pretty much covers it.

DaLizardsLair · Joined: 15 Feb 2009 Posts: 4782

ehustle wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")I just use shipsurance and don't worry about the rest of it.

If it's a item I'm co signed on and I can't afford or have reason to worry, I just write, requesting Western Union or gift/personal on paypal.

That pretty much covers it.

Let's say you ship an item to Italy. Customs seizes the item, since it's on their "banned" list. Buyer files a complaint. You refund their payment.

You file an insurance claim.

Insurance company checks, sees that the item is on the banned list and turns down your claim.

You were saying?

ashevillekat · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 117

I insure everything over 30 dollars or so. But if a bidder files a "significantly different than described" and then says they are going to return the item insurance is useless. I have filed a couple of insurance claims for lost articles over the years and one of the things they ask for is a statement from the buyer that the item was never received.

ashevillekat · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 117

Oh so feedback is related to post count! Well, now that makes sense.

ehustle · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 621

In the case of a kept item, I'd refund and write it off.

Every single item I've ever had to do that for has been overseas. Italy is the worst, agreed. Just part of the cost of doing business really.

ehustle · Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 621

Ash, on the customer participating in order for a refund to process, yep, they will ask.

With shipsurance too.

If they refuse, it's not a problem, they still cover it. Just part of the process.

ashevillekat · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 117

Hey thank you all for each response! Now here is what I am starting to wonder. Will the Russian buyer have to supply Paypal with some sort of proof of mailing and proof that I received the item back like we have to supply Paypal with when a buyer claims they never received an item? Last time a buyer made a claim of an item never received Paypal said my Post Office receipt was not sufficient. They said proving I mailed the item was not enough I also had to have a delivery confirmation or something proving that the item had been RECEIVED.

Jerryb · Joined: 15 Mar 2009 Posts: 418

Ehustle,

So how has that shipsurance worked out for you. I have it but have not used it. in my case i need to take each letter down to post office and get a certificate of mailing ($1.10) to make it all work since i ship 1st class international. it looks promising. the hassle is actually not that bad as USPS does not cover tracking or insurance for 1st class letters international.

does it only work with Ebay? have you ever filed a claim and did they pay in a reasonable amount of time?