Just Venting about Paypal & Buyer

[Buythatcard]

I've been selling on eBay for about 10 years. I have mailed out over 50,000 cards but never had a situation like this.

A buyer from Canada bought a Mantle card from me for about $100. I was going to creating a shipping label thru eBay but the cheapest rate was around $25.00 if I wanted to include tracking. So, I took the chance of sending it First Class International without the tracking info. I did insure it thru a third party company.

I have done it this way before and have never had an issue.

If a card gets delayed or lost in the mail, buyers have always contacted me and I would work out something with them. This buyer decided to open a case with Paypal without contacting me first. So, I wrote him an email to ask him why he didn't contact me, he did not respond.

Now, Paypal gives me the option of refunding the money directly to the buyer or send proof that I shipped the card (my mistake was that I didn't opt for the tracking #).
This buyer has 6 feedbacks and I just don't feel right about what went down. I know I should have gotten the tracking # but why did this buyer not work directly with me?

I alos wrote to Paypal and explained my suspicions and they just responded that if I don't respond within 10 days they will pay the buyer. This is how I get treated after generating a fair amount of money for Paypal over time.

Because of this buyer I will no longer sell outside of the US.

Just wondering what others think about this.

[HRBAKER]

Sounds like you may be getting scammed but you never know. All buyers north of the border aren't bad apples though. Could you not just make it very clear in your listing that if the buyer is international that the shipping will be done with full tracking for both parties protection regardless of expense and that those costs will be passed along to the buyer?

[Buythatcard]

Jeff,

Thanks for your response. Your advice is good and I will consider it.

I have dealt with many buyers outside of the US and they all have been good except this one.

[Ease]

Its at the point now that we have to send everything with tracking #'s or risk what this jerk buyer did to you. IMO there are a lot of people out there just hoping for no tracking # so they can get stuff for free.

[mintacular]

I had a buyer from Canada buy a $300 card from me, I believe I charged $15 for ship and registered the card. A week or two later the buyer contacted me about where is the card, etc. and I said something about the card being registered...I then never heard back and assumed the card arrived. It is my suspicion that this buyer may have "kicking the tires" to see if I had registered or sent it express, and if not, was going to try and file a dispute, win it, and get the card for free. In short, I think Canadian scammers have found a loophole and are hoping U.S. shippers skip the $20 for registered or express mail and can win the card/get a refund.

[mintacular]

That said, I still do sell low dollar (under $50)to Canada as I don't think most scammers would risk exposing themselves over those amounts. have sent a couple dozen cards like this across the border and have not had any disputes filed...

[teetwoohsix]

Just a thought- would showing proof that is was insured by a third party be verification that it was shipped?

Sounds like you may have sold to a person who decided to take advantage of the fact that there was no tracking on the package. If that's the case- what a dirtbag. Hope it works out for you-

Sincerely, Clayton

[cardboardclassics]

This why I don't sell to Canada. The cost effective shipping options are not very good (especially when you have to get a signature). IMO it is not worth the time nor hassle to sell to Canadian buyers.

[painthistorian]

We usually ship par avion up to $150 and hope that the person is honest which for the most part is the the reality, only twice have I had to refund at this level..above this, you have to factor $15 to register item..usually I charge $10 to a person and eat the $5 as part of doing business, especially hockey cards......which Canada loves as much as baseball...the US and Canada post offices should have a Canada/US tracking joint delivery confirmation, charge accordingly(lets say $5 is fair) which will generate a new income and split this equal, the post office industry benefits and it would be a win win...I guess no one has taken the initiative!

[DixieBaseball]

Howard - Even though you don't have tracking #, you do have a Receipt from the USPS, that should show your shipment to that location. (Typically the tracking number is under that itemized shipment) That should be proof... Perhaps you don't have your receipt and if so, you may be out of luck. I typically get a delivery confirmation (Green Label) receipt and my USPS receipt where I paid is double the info to show proof of shipment.

Best of Luck, J

[byrone]

It goes both ways, folks.

As a Canadian, I ship to the U.S. knowing full-well the (unfair) rules that Paypal and Ebay have in place.

If I ship anything of value, I must have signature delivery confirmation to defend against Paypal claims. Either I charge the buyer the cost for this service or I figure it into the price of the item.

I have had many U.S. buyers file claims, nothing too costly, but that's the way the world works.

It would be unwise to stop mailing items to the U.S. because of a few bad apples, especially when insurance can be purchased and signature delivery is available.

Remember, there is a big market in Canada, and to just write the entire country off due to a few bad deals is not a good idea, in my opinion.

[Buythatcard]

I don't want to write off a whole country because of a few bad apples. Until I come up with a better way to ship, then I will ship outside of the U.S.

So far, I think the best way is to tell the buyer up front that they will be responsible for a portion of the S/H costs if its over a certain amount.

I can't include the S/H costs into the price of the item because I start off all items at .99.

[Bilko G]

The rules are the rules and i don't mean to be a jerk, but you "gambled" on the rules and you got burned. It sucks, but its the truth. Did the buyer receive the card or not? Its really anyone's guess, but when you see a brand new Ebay account buying from you (especially on a $100+ item), whether or not its to Canada you get appropriate tracking, or you risk losing the card, that is a fact of doing business on Ebay.

I also don't think its fair (to Canadians and yourself) to "cut them off" from making future purchases from yourself, do to this one negative experience (you said it was your first). From now on just make a cut off amount that you can't afford to lose (some US sellers do $25, some $50, some $100 etc.) and then advertise and charge the appropriate shipping charge to get it registered to Canada. Problem Solved. Just be upfront with the registered shipping charges and you will find that on items of decent value, most Canadian buyers won't have a problem paying the charges and if they do they won't bid as you have the price advertised up front.

Considering that the US/Canada are connected to each other and our relations are so close, i wish there was a way that our two postal systems could better work together and be more reasonable on the (registered) shipping prices especially.

Like someone else mentioned, Canada is a huge market for Sports Cards as well, 2nd only to the USA. We love our Baseball and Hockey cards just as much as you guys