darn eBayer's--Long story/rant

cars

I'm getting really tired of these eBay buyers. Few days ago a guy from Spain emailed me asking if he could bid on an item I was selling (a Small gold ingot) I said sure but Shipping will be expensive as I must ship USPS Priority with insurance & Tracking. He Agrees after I Tell him amount. Saturday my items ended, I was sending invoices and noticed he purchased not only that one ingot but 30 others for a total around $1650. I send him an invoice with the Priority mail shipping, Insurance, Tracking & Sig required included.

I later get an email from him saying he wants me to ship it either First class mail or registered mail. I figure I can deal with that, Just add insurance and all to be covered with paypal. He goes on to say he does not want me to insure it, He does not want me to state there is gold in the package b/c he doesn't want people to know he collects gold b/c he live in the country, whatever that means. He says he want me to send them inside of a paper back book and put on the customs it is a book and the value is $40.

I email him back and tell him I'm not comfortable with sending the package uninsured and not stating on the customs what is in the package. He replies he will take all the risk if the package is lost and he does this all the time.

I asked for a money order payment if he want me to send uninsured and wants to assume all the risk. He declines saying that would not work.

He does have 1000+ purchases on eBay some of which are $1000 gold items. He claims they were all sent via his instructions.

I don't know what to do, I'm not comfortable sending the package like this. I know paypal would give his money back in an instant if he filed a claim. I'm afraid he will not follow through with the sale now and I'll have to relist all 30+ items, Wait another 2 weeks for the auctions to run again, pay the stupid ebay fees, get neg feedback etc, etc....

In the last email I sent him I stated I was Not comfortable sending the package like this with paypal payment for fear of losing $1600+ worth of bullion. Waiting his reply.


Any Suggestions??

gecko109

With a stellar feedback buyer like him, I'd probably do it. I dont think he would be dishonest in a chargeback, but you are still taking the chance that something happens to the package. I wonder if something like that DID happen, if paypal would consider the message sent from him that he would take the hit? Maybe your next move is to call paypal and ask about this situation. Perhaps there is some type of "waiver of responsibility" if the buyer states so in writing to paypal itself.

lathmach

Have him get US cash and mail it to you inside a book.
When you get it, send him the gold.

Ray

gecko109

<< <i>Have him get US cash and mail it to you inside a book.
When you get it, send him the gold.

Ray >>




Thats actually not a bad option. I have had a couple of international buyers send me cash. One transaction was for around $1100 IIRC. Took alot of "stones" for him to do this I imagine!

On a side note, I recently had a guy from Texas send me $1450 in 2 seperate USPS money orders (one for $1,000 and one for $450) for a coin he saw in one of my youtube videos. This guy didnt know me from Adam, and had no recourse had I not sent the coin. I just figure that the vast majority of people have integrity and if given the chance will do the right thing. Your tolerances may be different from mine however!

cars

I can get tracking & Sig without the insurance so I was going to do it. The more I Thought about it however the more reluctant I was to proceed. I don't feel he would "rip me off" but he may change his mind if his $1600 package doesn't show up.

One thing that worried me was providing false info on the customs form. Not to mention even If I Send the package his way he Could say I sent him a book b/c that is what the customs form would say. I tend to be a trusting person however I Do not want to learn a $1600 lesson. You never know who is on the other end of the line.

Lets not forget my lost package a few months ago for which I Only recently was reimbursed by paypal. It can/Does happen. This was a Registered mail package that vanished into nowhere.

mkman123

that would suck if the package was lost and he had paypal take back his money, not good.

OnlyGoldIsMoney

Money order for good US funds or no deal is my suggestion. That we he really does assume all the risk.

mrearlygold

I don't take any deal that makes me feel uncomfortable from anybody and being asked to break the law for a stranger like that is not acceptable. I don't know how you guys take these risks with people on ebay.

SaorAlba

Send the gold to me, I will put it in a safe place.

rgCoinGuy

<< <i>I don't take any deal that makes me feel uncomfortable from anybody and being asked to break the law for a stranger like that is not acceptable. I don't know how you guys take these risks with people on ebay. >>

carew4me

Why deal with the hassle?

Bullion sells all day long.

As some one with 3000+ feedback and a lot more sales than that..DO NOT DO IT.

I makes no sense to jump through these hoops. In fact I would suggest no longer
doing business outside of the US. Its bullion, valuable and liquid, no need for the expanded market reach.

MJPHELAN

You told him how you would ship it before he bid, stick to that.

Mark

carew4me

Let me be clear, honor the original sale as agreed to, then consider no longer selling outside of US.

cars

I agree, I do not plan on shipping his way but I'm worried about the consequences now that it is too late. He already mislead me from the start now wants me to do him a solid and trust him.

I normally don't ship outside of USA but he asked and agreed to my terms. Now he wants me to agree to his illegal & risky terms.

Weiss

He's participating on a venue with certain contractual expectations and norms for transacting business. He needs to be buying on another venue. I wouldn't feel comfortable with this at all, I wouldn't do it.

FistFullOfDollars

What ever you do cover your arse, do not give in to any of his demands and do it your way. Send him an invoice and if he/she/it does not pay then submit a nonpaying bidder complaint & relist your items. Better safe than sorry.

I never ship international and for high ticket items I always get tracking with signature comfirmation.

cars

Received a reply to my latest email:

"Rick hi, I do appreciate your concerns & I am not going to back out of the sale we will communicate until we reach a mutually agreeable solution. BTW yesterday I won an 1869 $3 piece for $965 with + $25 for priority express tracked mail, I paid today & everyone is happy, I do it this way because it works & I am honest to my word, please see my 8 years of 100% positive feedback, never even a neutral, see also my leaving always 100% positive feedback, I am not asking you to trust a stranger but to assess me upon my record, latest buy completed:
**Deleted to protect identity**
I state for yours & PayPals benifit for the record that "I request the items to be sent as I asked totally 100% at my own risk for any loss or damage - I will not make any claim or fuss whatever happens if you have proof of Priority mail posting to me" If you send me your email address I will forward the correspondence from this latest $3 purchase & it may help to put your mind at rest re this, many thanks"


I don't even look at buyer feedback b/c it doesn't really tell a seller anything when Sellers cannot leave honest/proper feedback. Looks like this one is gonna be dragged out.

gecko109

Sounds like he is willing to agree to a special waiver. Did you contact paypal to see if this is binding?

cars

I thought about it but decided not to. I Highly doubt they are willing to help us break the law. Besides that, Who would I speak with and how do I Know Paypal Will honor their word if they agreed? While I Was trying to get a refund on my Lost overseas purchase I spoke with about 10 different people. Each told me something different. One guy assured me that if it was not delivered within 3 days I will have my full purchase price refunded. It took another month from that. Each time I called they told me another 3-7 days depending on who I Spoke with.

It seems like his only concern is having the contents listed. What If I were to put on the Customs form "ebay purchase" or something along those lines instead of a in dept description? I've done this before on overseas packages when I forgot what was in the package when it came time to fill out the forms. Never had an issue.

mrearlygold

You might want to ask him to voluntarily quit the transaction. This kind of crap isn't worth 5 minutes of your time.

cars

Well, It will take me much longer to relist everything. Especially if 30 different buyers win this time, Instead of shipping 1 package it'll be 30.

Maybe I Should just say OK, take his payment and ship it the proper way. I would be risking my feedback however.

Edit: I think we have came to some sort of agreement. I have agreed to ship Priority mail/registered with insurance. I will be discrete about contents on customs form but will not lie, I will not insure for entire value. He still says he will take the hit if anything happens although I Doubt that would hold water with PP. We shall see.

secondrepublic

I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Just get payment from him in a manner that he can't reverse, i.e., NOT paypal.

Have him wire the money to your bank account (Europeans do this all the time), or send it Western Union. There are other options as well.

Bear

You could offer to send it by submarine ,in the control

of a CIA agent with the gold in a self destruct book in a

briefcase. The agent will then sneak into the Country by

rubber dingy with the help of a team of Navy Seals.

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>I have agreed to ship Priority mail/registered with insurance. >>

Just so you know- there are new rules for international shipments. For international registered mail, you need to use one of the following:

Priority Mail International flat-rate envelope
Priority Mail International small flat-rate box
First-Class Mail International

In addition, none of those three options allow for contents valued over $400.

cars

Package arrived Safely