Problem with selling on eBay

Everything related to buying, selling or trading your MECCG.
henrikbe
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:02 pm

Hi,

a few weeks ago, I sold a couple of AtS R1s on eBay (Nurniags, Farmer Maggot). After sending the cards, the buyer contacted me though eBay to let me know the cards had arrived, but had been damaged. He claimed they had both fallen out of their protective sleeves, which is somewhat odd, since I shipped them in two separate envelope, but I suppose it's still possible that this could happen. Anyway, I told him immediately that I would accept a return and refund the money, expecting the return postage to be a couple of dollars (from USA to Norway). However, he told me return postage would be $35.65, for each card (he told me it would not be possible to combine them, since they were from two different eBay listings...). I replied that that I didn't want to pay that much for postage, and found (on usps.com) that you can send a letter from USA to Norway for $1.15, so I asked him if he could just do that instead. He said he did not know how to do this, that ebay had told him I should provide a shipping label (which would cost $35.65 per item), and said he had already invested a ton of time on this... After this, he opened a case against me on ebay, after a week or so ebay decided to rule in his favour, and returned the money from my paypal account without my permission. During this time, I tried contacting the seller, and have tried contacting him several times since, but he simply does not respond. I am not being rude in any way, all I'm asking is if he could slip the cards into an envelope and send them to me.

What can I do, as a seller, with this situation? Ebay obviously want to protect the buyers, and I can understand that, but don't sellers have any sort of protection at all? I mean, for all I know, the cards may have been in perfect condition when he received them, and maybe he just made up the whole damage-story, just to get his money back AND keep his cards. I don't actually think this is what this guy did (but his reluctance to respond to my messages seems a bit suspicious), but it seems very easy to screw up sellers this way.
Henrik
Tsagoi
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Dec 24, 2019 9:29 pm
Location: Paris

Hi,

He didn't send any photo of the damaged cards? How can ebay says he is right without proof?

Was there any insurance with the shipment?

Matthieu
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Yegor
Posts: 138
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2018 6:39 am
Location: Dnipro, Ukraine

Have you been replying to his claims according to eBay rules? Because if not, eBay could have easily sided with the buyer.

The shipping costs from US are crazy. Haven't seen your price on USPS site, but saw something close to what the buyer said.

I suggest you contact eBay on this issue. Maybe not everything is lost.

And I would also suggest disclosing the name of the buyer here. There is some US community here, maybe they know this person and might be able to act as middlemen.
tyhjaarpa
Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 12:37 pm
Location: Finland

Sorry to hear this. Wish you asked about this right away as eBay goes quite easily on buyers side if you dont reply fast enough. I would of requested pictures of the damaged cards on first place as it makes things easier. Tracked shipping from US is really expensive, untracked can be done quite cheaply but I would not recommend it for expensive cards. And combining shipping should not be a problem, sellers have combined my orders before. Tbh hes actions sound bit fishy and I would try to contact eBay about this issue directly.
Monkey drinks masters wine. Do you like drunken monkey?
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CDavis7M
Posts: 2816
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:10 am
Location: California

Please don't post the buyer's name.

But if you post which state they are in, then maybe someone will message you privately if they are friends with players in that state.
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Yegor
Posts: 138
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2018 6:39 am
Location: Dnipro, Ukraine

I do suggest posting the name, so that all the people here (and a lot trade with the US) know what to expect.
I don't care about the personal information protection issue in this case. Such "collectors" should be stopped.
henrikbe
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:02 pm

I'm a bit reluctant about posting his name on a public forum, especially since he might be an honest guy, who's just not very well at communicating, or maybe he just finds international shipping really confusing or difficult. After all he has a good score on eBay. For all I know, maybe he's thinking the exact same thing about me now, thinking that I was trying to rip him off by sending damaged cards. But still, it's weird that he doesn't bother to reply to my polite messages.

But I can tell you he's from Illinois. About 50 miles west of downtown Chicago, according to Google maps. So if anyone has a friend somewhere in that area, he might have couple of cards that belong to me :D

BTW the shipment was not insured, since that would be prohibitively expensive from Norway. I suggested a simple, non-insured return, which I found here:
https://www.usps.com/international/firs ... tional.htm
Henrik
henrikbe
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:02 pm

Update: The buyer has just contacted me now. Turns out he's been out of state on a business trip for some time, with no internet connection. So it looks like everything will be ok now.

Thanks for all help,

Henrik
Henrik
tyhjaarpa
Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 12:37 pm
Location: Finland

henrikbe wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 11:22 am Update: The buyer has just contacted me now. Turns out he's been out of state on a business trip for some time, with no internet connection. So it looks like everything will be ok now.

Thanks for all help,

Henrik
Did you get this solved out? Would be nice to hear how did it end.
Monkey drinks masters wine. Do you like drunken monkey?
henrikbe
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 1:02 pm

Yes, it all ended well. The seller sent me the cards, and I refunded his return postage.

The cards had quite minor wears, so I'll be putting them up on ebay again soon. But this time I'll describe them as "used" and "Near mint", to avoid similar issues again.
Henrik
tyhjaarpa
Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 12:37 pm
Location: Finland

henrikbe wrote: Tue Mar 03, 2020 1:41 pm Yes, it all ended well. The seller sent me the cards, and I refunded his return postage.

The cards had quite minor wears, so I'll be putting them up on ebay again soon. But this time I'll describe them as "used" and "Near mint", to avoid similar issues again.
Nice to hear things ended well and GL selling them again. :)
Monkey drinks masters wine. Do you like drunken monkey?
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CDavis7M
Posts: 2816
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:10 am
Location: California

Sounds like the buyer has collector's anxiety.

I prefer a nice well-loved card that's been enjoyed in its full cardboard glory. This picture from the Lure newsletter warms my heart.

Image

And the proper follower positioning Image
Papylon
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2017 7:44 am

Recently had the same situation (selling a ATS collection, my Ebay username is Epictetus_SWE).

But it has not turned out well. The buyer claimed the cards were damaged during shipping. I accepted a return immediately. The seller insisted i order a return label and pickup. But Ebay does not permit that option for international sellers so I asked for the buyer to send back the cards and that I could reimburse the shipping cost. Buyer refused.

Ebay stepped in and confirmed that I did not get the auto-print label option as an international seller. They gave the buyer a couple of days to provide me with a Paypal account for me to send the shipping money. I got none. Was assured by support that they would give the buyer a chance to send the cards at his own expense after that.

Sadly, Buyer protection kicked in for some reason. Withdrawing the entire sell amount from my Paypal and closing the case. No cards and no money. I´m finished with Ebay. It works well as long as it works. But their rules and support is atrocious.
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the JabberwocK
Ex Council Chairman
Posts: 1156
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:46 am

Papylon wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:25 pm Sadly, Buyer protection kicked in for some reason. Withdrawing the entire sell amount from my Paypal and closing the case. No cards and no money. I´m finished with Ebay. It works well as long as it works. But their rules and support is atrocious.
This is terrible, so sorry you experienced this. What was eBay's explanation of what happened? They must have told you something.

I've also run into problems in the past with eBay, but nothing that ended terribly. Beware of selling on eBay. Their support is completely 1-sided towards the buyer, which allows for all kinds of abuse. Eventually this policy has to circle back around to hurt their bottom line as sellers who are taken advantage of with no backing from eBay decide to stop selling on their website.
tyhjaarpa
Posts: 182
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 12:37 pm
Location: Finland

Papylon wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:25 pm Recently had the same situation (selling a ATS collection, my Ebay username is Epictetus_SWE).

But it has not turned out well. The buyer claimed the cards were damaged during shipping. I accepted a return immediately. The seller insisted i order a return label and pickup. But Ebay does not permit that option for international sellers so I asked for the buyer to send back the cards and that I could reimburse the shipping cost. Buyer refused.

Ebay stepped in and confirmed that I did not get the auto-print label option as an international seller. They gave the buyer a couple of days to provide me with a Paypal account for me to send the shipping money. I got none. Was assured by support that they would give the buyer a chance to send the cards at his own expense after that.

Sadly, Buyer protection kicked in for some reason. Withdrawing the entire sell amount from my Paypal and closing the case. No cards and no money. I´m finished with Ebay. It works well as long as it works. But their rules and support is atrocious.
Ouch! Did you try contacting ebay support after this? This is really bad for sellers if they have no support from buyers like this. Did he even post any pictures for proof?
Monkey drinks masters wine. Do you like drunken monkey?
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