eBay & Paypal - Policies and Practices

[tippy4]

Thanks all.

Things have cleared up quite a bit here.

ok, now my next ebay issue:

A while back, ebay started concealing the IDs of the underbidders.

Now it seems, even the winners IDs are concealed:

Case in point this Gunslinger 3rd ed.. It sold for less than $50, and yet I have no idea who bought it.

This sure makes the potential for schill bidding more likely.

[jhanic]

Agreed. I always like to see who at least won the item, but with this new system, it's virtually impossible.

John

[Scoogs]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this here.

Microsoft Live Search (http://www.live.com runs a cashback program that ebay participates in.

1. All you have to do is setup a free cashback account through live.com.

2. Then go to live.com(not the cashback site, ebay doesn't come up in the store list there) and search for something common, like "PS3"

3. Look at the sponsored links at the top of the results page and click on the ebay link.

4. Look at the top of the ebay page, see the green Microsoft Cashback banner? That tells you what the current amount is. As I write this it's 20% back, sometimes it can be as much as 30%.

5. Seach for something you want to buy. It MUST be a Buy It Now item and you MUST pay through Paypal.

6. Usually within a day or two of you "winning" the auction, you will get a message from ebay saying that you have qualified for cashback. This should provide you with a link so you can match your cashback account up to your ebay account.

7. Your pending cashback should be listed within a couple of days. Microsoft makes you wait 60 days until you can have the actual money sent to your paypal accound. (so you can return it right away and get the cashback money).

Ebay conditions are listed here:http://pages.ebay.com/cashbackoffer/...ml?_trksid=m38

It actually works and there really aren't any catches. I used this a couple of months ago and got a full 30% back. It cleared yesterday and I have over $100 transfering to my Paypal account.

Seems like a good way to save some cash on King books (like say my Grant DT IV ARC on ebay )

[Scoogs]

I should also point out that this doesn't cost the seller anything. Microsoft must fund it using the advertising revenue generated through the search site.

[e_taylor]

Bah! Not open to Canadians.

[e_taylor]

Although, of quasi relation to this thread.

If you sign up for airmiles, and access your account online. There are a bunch of sites that let you earn airmiles if you access them through the airmiles site, ebay being one of them!

[bast_imret]

Signing up. I'll give it a shot.

[Daghain]

OMG, why did I NOT know about this!

You are my new favorite person.

[wizardsrainbow]

OMG, why did I NOT know about this!

You are my new favorite person.

Shit! Displaced again. It was nice while it lasted Dags.

[Daghain]

[Scoogs]

OMG, why did I NOT know about this!

You are my new favorite person.

Shit! Displaced again. It was nice while it lasted Dags.

Ok Wiz, you can be favorite 5 months out of the year and on alternating holidays.

[Scoogs]

BTW, I think ebay limits each user account to a total of 5 cashback purchases. I may be off on the number, just check ebay's terms and conditions page the I linked to in the original post.

[Randall Flagg]

BTW, I think ebay limits each user account to a total of 5 cashback purchases.

Make the purchase count!

[herbertwest]

Sorry if you think this thread isnt at the right place, but i think that as there are a lot of collectors around here, they 'probably' know better than me about those issues

I've recently sold a book on ebay.
I am french, the buyer is in Switzerland. He requested me to send it at a specific adress, what i did. He didnt ask me to send it as "registered" or with any insurance.

It was about 20 days ago i think. He still didnt recieve anything (according to him) : i dont have any way to track what i've sent.
We exchange some emails, and i suggested him to make a "complaint" via paypal. (My ebay profile is 100%, he is a new ebayer, and it wsa the first time he used paypal). I mean, i dont want to refund it as i am not responsible of the loss by the post office...

so, what kind of things can decide paypal through the complaints?
in the complain form, we can exchange some emails (i've resumed what happened and our emails), i can choose to refund but i aint really keen of it as it isnt a really "cheap" sale (not that much but still), and we can decide to classify it as a complaint.

I suggested him to make a complaint to paypal, as i thought that he could may get his money back without me to pay it back or something...


With everything i have sent in the USA or Europe, it's the first time i got something lost through the mail... and i dont really know what to do...
Any advices? Any idea of what COULD happen next???

[Rahfa]

Yeah, if he makes a complaint through Paypal, I think you ARE going to pay it back, or at least Paypal will make you try. If you have money in your Paypal account, I would get it out ASAP.

The problem is you actually ARE responsible for getting it to him. If you use Paypal and don't use some sort of confirmed shipping method, you will lose that dispute.

Your feedback and his doesn't have anything to do with it. If you can't confirm delivery, then you can't really confirm you shipped it at all, so the buyer has a valid complaint.

How much money is at stake?

[turtlex]

I thought it was on the buyer to request insurance?

[Rahfa]

It is NOT on the buyer...credit card sales are pretty cut and dry...if, as the seller, you cannot prove the buyer actually recivied the package, then it's over. You lose.

Insurance where it's damaged is different...then you can say "Hey, you got it, it's not my problem. I told you buy insurance."

But if it never shows up that's totally the seller's responsibility. It's unwinnable as a credit card dispute. They will say "provide the tracking number? Oh, you don't have one? That's easy then. We're taking your money and we're refunding the buyer."

[turtlex]

Rahfa - Yes, that makes sense. The insurance is incase of damage.

[herbertwest]

Yeah, if he makes a complaint through Paypal, I think you ARE going to pay it back, or at least Paypal will make you try. If you have money in your Paypal account, I would get it out ASAP.

I already have transfered my money on my bank account...
But since the complaint, my paypal account shows "- amount" (so it looks like that the plan is that i will be paying it...)

The problem is you actually ARE responsible for getting it to him. If you use Paypal and don't use some sort of confirmed shipping method, you will lose that dispute.

I've sent quite a few things the same day, and unfortunately i think i bined the receipt ticket as the others were recieved.

Your feedback and his doesn't have anything to do with it. If you can't confirm delivery, then you can't really confirm you shipped it at all, so the buyer has a valid complaint.

Well, so i am definitely "stupid". The buyer was kind of thinking he lost the money and the book... and i was nice enough to suggest him to make a "complaint" through paypal.

How much money is at stake?

Only 52€, but still annoying...

It is NOT on the buyer...credit card sales are pretty cut and dry...if, as the seller, you cannot prove the buyer actually recivied the package, then it's over. You lose.

Insurance where it's damaged is different...then you can say "Hey, you got it, it's not my problem. I told you buy insurance."

But if it never shows up that's totally the seller's responsibility. It's unwinnable as a credit card dispute. They will say "provide the tracking number? Oh, you don't have one? That's easy then. We're taking your money and we're refunding the buyer."

Being nice : get fucked...


And the buyer appreciate that i am nice. for instance, in the complaint he really says that he dont have anything against me, not at all, that i always have been corteous & answered his questions about first purchase on ebay...
i guess is pointless and that i got fucked anyway

[turtlex]

Seems like, in this day and age, everything of any value should be sent with tracking.

[gsvec]

And there's still always the possibility that it'll show up! I had a guy in TX mail me an SK postcard that I never received. Quite amicably, he refunded me my money (all $2 or whatever) when it'd been over 2 months. Lo and behold 13 months later I received the postcard!! I gave him back my refund and we both laughed about it!

[Rahfa]

Well, I don't think you HAVE to pay it since they can't get the money if there isn't any in your Paypal account (in which Paypal will refund your customer)...I just don't think you could use Paypal again, because they'll take the money as soon as it shows up...

It's not really about being nice, or being fucked....bottom line is every shipper is responsible for getting the item to the buyer...if it was you on the other end, you'd be pretty annoyed if a seller just said "oh, you didn't get it? Tough break." So, if you get something with a tracking number and insurance, then you at least can get the money back from the shipping company.

So you''re not getting fucked by anybody on purpose...but it's pretty bad luck.

[herbertwest]

I need Paypal, and although is not linked to my account it is linked to my visa...
So bottom line : i guess i'll have to pay, or... finding a compromise with the buyer.

And yeah i guess i would have been the buyer i would have been upset too... but i think i would have been more upset about me for not choosing recorded delivery...
It is really the first time that the post office fucks up.. guess i'll get a lesson from that, and at least it's not a huge amount of money...

thanks anyway for everyone's advice.

[Randall Flagg]

1. The Shipper is the person (to my knowledge) who files an insurance claim for ALL shipments. Even if a buyer pays insurance-which can only be paid for at the point of shipping by the seller (shipper) the buyer has no "relationship" with the carrier.
2. As a seller on any transaction you can't "afford" to refund, it's usually a good idea to pay for insuarance AND SIGNATURE delivery confirmation. Without signature confirmation, a buyer can claim, and (will usually prevail), they never received the item. I.E. "It must have been stolen off my doorstep".

herbert, save the agony, learn from your lesson and give the person a refund.

[Rahfa]

If an item shows up damaged, then the buyer (or shipper) can file a claim based on what it was insured for, with pix of damage, etc....but the shipping company (USPS, UPS, etc.) can deny it based on how it was packed (which I know from personal experience), in which case the recipient could claim failure to deliver and dispute it with Paypal or credit card companies...

A seller will never win a dispute where they can't at least prove delivery...not even debatable.

I agree, though, with a full refund if it doesn't show, and a lesson learned...

But, I would wait two more weeks before refunding...it's an international shipment and I don't think a full month shipping time is that unlikely...so I wouldn't definitley consider it lost yet, and it sounds like the buyer is honest and patient and would understand why you want to wait a little longer.