Rotten start to the year sick to death of scammers

[mreuromarcus]

G'day just here to vent some anger and pass on some advise on two recent overseas sales that I have lost big on.

First was a 250 dollars camera I sold overseas to Italy posted it as usually at the post office I always ask for tracking on my parcels but Australia post screwed up just sent it economy with no tracking didn't realise until I got back home later that night to enter the tracking number into the system that it was just economy air to late for me to change anything sure enough the dodgy buyer took advantage of the situation opened a not received case and got himself a free camera at my expense eBay also kept the fvf for themselves for such a successful sale.

Today I woke up with 2 more not received cases, I sold 3 vintage tailights to a chap in the UK the 3 tailights worth about 200 each where sold separately that's how he chose to buy them I did give a large post discount on the third one before he paid.

Anyway the 3 tailights were packed in the one box with tracking and signature made sure no mistakes this time but when I went to enter the tracking number on 3 separate items going to the same buyer it won't let me so only one tailight had tracking on eBay's system the other two just marked as posted.

The parcel was confirmed delivered 17 days ago and today he decided it would be a good day to take advantage of this loop hole and get two out of 3 tailights for free.

So now my PayPal is minus 500 dollars I'm loving life at the moment I think my days of selling on a site full of theiving buyers who like to abuse the money back guarantee system are coming to a end.

EBay is no longer a safe place to trade

[melbourneclearance]

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@outback_blends wrote:

WOW ...did you kill a black cat with a shard of glass from a broken mirror whilst sitting under a ladder. I would say go buy a lotto ticket but you would probably get hit by a bus on the way with your luck.

Hope your day gets better ...it has too as I think you have sucked up all the bad luck from miles around you ! 

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It has indeed gotten much better, I've had a beer in the backyard!

Must have been the hot weather. Can't wait for the full moon.

[digital*ghost]

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@melbourneclearance wrote:

It has to be today.

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"It never rains, but pours" is something I almost exclusively experience as an online seller, and also as a buyer. 😕 

I do like the times where I'm just cruising along, happy as Larry, getting all complacent and stuff, but then >bam< - problem after problem after problem, each one amplified by the previous one, and I wish it was a bit more evenly spread, because otherwise there's just so much time and energy taken up just with dealing with the clumps - at times I've spent more time doing that than I have processing new orders. 

I wouldn't be surprised if this phenomenon was responsibile for a lot of rants / tantrums in the forums (not to relegate any of the issues raised in this thread to anything like that, of course). I can just see someone having a meltdown and then *record scratch - freeze frame* followed by a voice over: "I bet you're wondering how I got this way.... It all started when I listed my old bike on eBay".

[designers*n*more]

eBay will, 99% of the time side with buyers which contradicts their so called "Seller Protection".

i would ring eBay and advise that the 3 taillight were posted in the same box and advise them the International Shipping Declaration confirms the weight of 3 tailights and mention the system did not allow you to add the same tracking number for 2 of the items.  As mentioned though, generally, if Buyers pay separately you need to send them separately. 

Did id the buyer contact you at all regarding a shipping discount? If they did,mthis might help your case.

[springyzone]

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wrote:

received case and got himself a free camera at my expense eBay also kept the fvf for themselves for such a successful sale.

Today I woke up with 2 more not received cases, I sold 3 vintage tailights to a chap in the UK the 3 tailights worth about 200 each where sold separately that's how he chose to buy them I did give a large post discount on the third one before he paid.

Anyway the 3 tailights were packed in the one box with tracking and signature made sure no mistakes this time but when I went to enter the tracking number on 3 separate items going to the same buyer it won't let me so only one tailight had tracking on eBay's system the other two just marked as posted.

The parcel was confirmed delivered 17 days ago and today he decided it would be a good day to take advantage of this loop hole and get two out of 3 tailights for free.

So now my PayPal is minus 500 dollars I'm loving life at the moment I think my days of selling on a site full of theiving buyers who like to abuse the money back guarantee system are coming to a end.

EBay is no longer a safe place to trade

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Blind freddy can work out he got all 3 alright & you are being fleeced, but whether ebay will be able to see it I don't know.  They will need some kind of evidence there were in fact 3 taillights in the pack-proof of weight, something.  But it's worth a try to ring and talk to someone.

One thing that is standing out like a beacon though is you are, by your admission, routinely taking risks with your sales. In comparison with a lot of other sellers on this site, I'm an amateur, having only sold a few thousand items in the past, but there is no way on earth I would, in your situation, have sent off all three items in the one parcel, tracked or not. The reason i say that is because it was going overseas, and each item was worth a lot of money (or in my world, a $200 item falls into that category.)

If a buyer purchased separately, I would post separately, follow procedure to the letter. In that scenario, you most likely would not have left the buyer with any room to scam you & also, it's unlikely all 3 would get lost in the post.

I've known some sellers who do put their items together even when I have bought separately, but we're talking here of untracked items of smaller value, such as spice packets etc.

Even then,  there could be some customers who would be riled if they saw you made a profit from combined postage after charging them separately.

I don't think ebay is an easy place to trade but you made it more dangerous than it needed to be.

But ring ebay, good luck, hope you get some of the money back.

[davidc4430]

i too got the 'forgot the tracking by the girl in the post office syndrome'

i allways say, "cheapest WITH tracking" when posting, but a few days ago i got home and put the number in and yes, this number will not provide tracking!

so i too am hoping for an honest buyer of a $200 item.

as i have mentioned in another thread, i'm finding tracking to europe stopping at melbourne. but as long as the tracking number shows i posted the item i should be covered .....right?   fingers crossed.

[melbourneclearance]

ebay doesn't care if you posted the item. They need proof of delivery.

When sending international with tracking, I always just say "The $23 one" at the post office because they're all $23 and some change. That will get you the cheapest international tracking number.

[everard6920]

I only sell internationally to approved buyers. Best change I ever made.

They have to message me and ask to buy my items. I look at their feedback left for others, and if that's okay, I message them and tell them to give me the item names/quantities, and I'll give them a postage quote. They then agree to that postage quote via eBay messages. Then I exempt them. It doesn't 100% eliminate the possibility of being scammed, but 1. I get to screen them before they buy, and 2. I think most scammers wouldn't bother doing any of that - they'd just move on to the next seller.

I mean, Australian buyers can be dishonest too, but I just had too many bad experiences selling internationally. Someone buying something from me, requesting a return, and then returning a box of rocks was probably my breaking point.

[egglesdtp]

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wrote:

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wrote:

received case and got himself a free camera at my expense eBay also kept the fvf for themselves for such a successful sale.

Today I woke up with 2 more not received cases, I sold 3 vintage tailights to a chap in the UK the 3 tailights worth about 200 each where sold separately that's how he chose to buy them I did give a large post discount on the third one before he paid.

Anyway the 3 tailights were packed in the one box with tracking and signature made sure no mistakes this time but when I went to enter the tracking number on 3 separate items going to the same buyer it won't let me so only one tailight had tracking on eBay's system the other two just marked as posted.

The parcel was confirmed delivered 17 days ago and today he decided it would be a good day to take advantage of this loop hole and get two out of 3 tailights for free.

So now my PayPal is minus 500 dollars I'm loving life at the moment I think my days of selling on a site full of theiving buyers who like to abuse the money back guarantee system are coming to a end.

EBay is no longer a safe place to trade

---

Blind freddy can work out he got all 3 alright & you are being fleeced, but whether ebay will be able to see it I don't know.  They will need some kind of evidence there were in fact 3 taillights in the pack-proof of weight, something.  But it's worth a try to ring and talk to someone.

One thing that is standing out like a beacon though is you are, by your admission, routinely taking risks with your sales. In comparison with a lot of other sellers on this site, I'm an amateur, having only sold a few thousand items in the past, but there is no way on earth I would, in your situation, have sent off all three items in the one parcel, tracked or not. The reason i say that is because it was going overseas, and each item was worth a lot of money (or in my world, a $200 item falls into that category.)

If a buyer purchased separately, I would post separately, follow procedure to the letter. In that scenario, you most likely would not have left the buyer with any room to scam you & also, it's unlikely all 3 would get lost in the post.

I've known some sellers who do put their items together even when I have bought separately, but we're talking here of untracked items of smaller value, such as spice packets etc.

Even then,  there could be some customers who would be riled if they saw you made a profit from combined postage after charging them separately.

I don't think ebay is an easy place to trade but you made it more dangerous than it needed to be.

But ring ebay, good luck, hope you get some of the money back.

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Hang on.... the OP said he gave a large postage discount ! So surely he was within his rights to send all three together.

[padi*0409]

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Hang on.... the OP said he gave a large postage discount ! So surely he was within his rights to send all three together.

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No, the OP should have had all three items on the same invoice and tracking number to cover their ar$e in the event of an INR dispute, which they will now find very hard to win. 

[shoppingbag*]

Can you please let me know how you set that up. Do you just state that you sell to approved International buyers only? If so, wouldn't the listing only show on Australian eBay?