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Insurance warning.

I was reminded of this after seeing the thread where the guy claimed he never got his coin and
will get a refund even though he turned down insurance.

On another forum there was a post about one of those tv court shows with an Ebay case, someone was sueing a seller because the item was not recieved or damaged or something. The seller had a copy of the auction stating insurance was offered but buyer turned it down. The judge said too bad it is your responsibility and made the seller pay the buyer back.

Lesson= always make insurance a requirement

Comments

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    ajiaajia Posts: 5,411 ✭✭✭
    imageimage

    So delivery confirmation isn't good enough?

    The reason I ask, besides being the jerk that didn't make all buyers insure, is that I won an auction....paid for insurance & the package came yesterday with DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, not insurance.

    I left the seller a neg for what I consider 'bait & switch' on the insurance(he made $3 on the switch)....I expect a neg in return.

    This cr*p gets me p*ssed!image
    image
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    mgoodm3mgoodm3 Posts: 17,497 ✭✭✭
    Remember, insurance protects the seller, not the buyer. Don't give them a choice on it.
    coinimaging.com/my photography articles Check out the new macro lens testing section
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    I didn't see the episode, seems like delivery confirmation would be good enough, but for higher priced items everyone should probably play it safe and make insurance mandatory.
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    When selling on eBay I ALWAYS add insurance on to my shipping on items over $100. The buyer has no choice in the matter. On items that sell for under $100 they get sent Priority Mail with Signature Confirmation. I self insure the item.

    I recomend when selling to always use Signature Confirmation. That way you know who signed for it should the seller say: "where's the coin, I never recieved it." With Delivery Confirmation all you know is that the coin was delinered. You aren't 100% sure where.

    As a buyer I sent a payment Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. A week later I get an email wondering where the payment was??? I checked tracking and the payment was delivered a few day earlier. They swore the never received it. When I inquired at my local post office they said I could fill out a form and they would ask the carrier .. Blah .. blah .. blah .. I just stopped payment on the check and sent a new one with Signiture Comfirmation and everything turned out fine. Now on anything I send it is with Signature Confirmation as buyer or seller. The few extra pennies or dollars can save a lot of potential problems down the line.

    Of course this is my opinion ..
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    K6AZK6AZ Posts: 9,295 ✭


    << <i>I left the seller a neg for what I consider 'bait & switch' on the insurance(he made $3 on the switch)....I expect a neg in return. >>



    Did you ask the seller before dropping the negative on him? Some sellers use private insurance, and that will not show on the package.
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    the deal is this.
    the buyer must pay,you must deliver !
    contract,by law.
    i have a very cheap auction that just closed,buyer paid but did not pay for insurance which was mandatory in the auction.
    i simply will not ship the item untill the buyer pays me the 1.30 for the ins.
    wanna neg me ? go ahead.
    wanna report me as a non selling seller ? go ahead
    sounds trivial but the buyer wont dictate the terms to me after they bid !
    i will not allow myself to be set up for the "i never got my stuff " BS
    image
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    prooflikeprooflike Posts: 3,879 ✭✭
    USPS Delivery Confirmation does not guarantee delivery to the correct address, only that it has or not has been scanned as delivered (somewhere).


    image
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    Prooflike:
    You are so correct, that's why I always use Signature Confirmation now. Not only will the item show it's delived, but the person who, it's shipped to, signs for it and must show their ID.


    100Proof1957:
    With all due respect I believe you made the mistake of not just adding the Insurance with your shipping. All you had to do was state your shipping was $7 or $8 ... With NO Insurance offered. The Insurance would be in the shipping and the buyer would have no say in the matter. If any buyer thought $7 or $8 was too much they didn't have to bid.
    Priority Mail - $3.85
    Signature Confirmation - $1.80
    Insurance - $1.30
    Total - $6.95

    Granted you don't know what the final price is ... BUT ... You should have an idea of what a reasonable maximum price an item might bring. So you add in the appropriate Insurance cost to the $4.65: Priority Mail with Signature Confirmation.

    Should a buyer win more than one auction and you want to combine shipping, all you have to do is when you send the invoice you can then modify your shipping (with Insurance) to more reflect the true postage. Very easy and hassel free.

    Of course this is my opinion ..
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    "IF" anyone needs assistance in Shipping and Insurance matters you can go to:

    www.usps.com

    All questions can be answered there.
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    K6AZK6AZ Posts: 9,295 ✭
    Just a clarification here - PayPal only requires regular delivery confirmation in disputes. I had one a while ago where the buyer claimed he did not get his item. PayPal asked me for a tracking number, and I supplied the delivery confirmation number. That was accepted, and PayPal closed the complaint and released the amount of the purchase.
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    BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,676 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Whether he is self insured or not a seller is not legally obligated to purchase insurance with the $$$ you gave to him for that purpose. HOWEVER, if the package gets lost he is on the hook.

    Depending on when the actual ownership of an item purchased thru an eBay auction changes you may have temporary or custodial ownership of someone else's property and therefore a legal or common-sense duty to see that his interests [and yours] is protected.

    Would be nice if smoeone knowledgeable in contract law would clarify some of these points.
    theknowitalltroll;
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    I allways thought that what I needed as a seller was insured + return receipt. Is this good enough to prove my case or do I need something different?
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    RBinTexRBinTex Posts: 4,328 ✭
    1. If the buyer declines insurance and the seller does not ship with some kind of a tracking # to at least prove it was sent then the seller is responsible regardless if it gets lost.

    2. If a seller does use a tracking # & can get confirmation of delivery then seller is protected against bogus claims of non-delivery.

    3. Insurance is almost never a wise choice since over time the amount you pay for "unused" insurance will grow to way more than the average item you are insuring. Thus "winging" it for a while to build up a "reserve" of savings by not insuring packages in effect let's you become self-insured and when big numbers are involved, the laws of probability are on your side.

    4. A real example: I used to ship thousands of packages a year with FedEx (not coins) and used to use their declared value option - spending about $20,000 per year. I stopped several years ago & they only lose or mishandle about $3,000 per year in packages. A net $17,000 or so to the bottom line EACH & EVERY YEAR FOR THE LAST 4-5 YEARS FOR CHOOSING TO BE SELF-INSURED.

    THINK BIG & Don't sweat the small stuff. image
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    Wolf359Wolf359 Posts: 7,666 ✭✭✭
    The seller had a copy of the auction stating insurance was offered but buyer turned it down. The judge said too bad it is your responsibility and made the seller pay the buyer back.

    Bad decision. Maybe the buyer got the coin and now a refund.
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    required insurance on anything over $20-30 bucks is a good thing.
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    These are my rules for anything I sell on ebay:

    1. Always include insurance in a fixed shipping price...don't give the buyer a choice.

    2. Never ship overseas

    3. Only ship to paypal confirmed addresses (this is the address that their credit card statment goes to).

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    INS. included in shipping for all items I sell on e-bay. I just hate it takes 3 months to get a refund. I refund the buyer and hope they fill out their end of the paperwork. This has been on items of less then $100 and I've not got burned on the 2 times I've done it. Not sure what I would do on a high ticket item.
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    ajiaajia Posts: 5,411 ✭✭✭
    Let me summarize,

    Sellers are liable for delivery once buyer pays. Delivery conf. only states that the item was delivered somewhere. This, IMO, will not be sufficient if challenged.
    Sellers can self-insure (for most small sellers this relate to taking money from buyers-I can charge $3.40 to insure, pay for Sign.Conf. and pocket the proceeds!image).
    Or seller don't have insure even if you paid for it. Probably falls into self-insured.

    RBinTex, that would mean that your thinking "If a seller does use a tracking # & can get confirmation of delivery then seller is protected against bogus claims of non-delivery.' is wrong.

    Wolf359, "Bad decision. Maybe the buyer got the coin and now a refund." is right, but as sellers we need to educate ourselves more.....that's the icing to the cake on these boards for me.

    Neptune, the item in question in my case, was only $10.50. I have now learned, even on small items send everything, especially items paid with Paypal, with a minimum of Dlvry Conf. (for Paypal's proof of delivery), better yet would be Sign. Conf.

    Which brings up the point of packages insure with less than $50 value.....the receiptiant does not have to sign for it, no proof he received the item. That's probably better saved for another thread!

    As a buyer, I could pay for insurance & not get insurance. Or the item may be self insured by the seller.
    If insurance is not offered or an option, the buyer does not have to pay of it & the seller is still liable for delivery. Moral: always insure!

    Lesson learned...the hard way.

    image

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