robbiec
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posted on November 30, 2003 07:10:25 PM new
An individual in Germany purchased a groups of stamps from me for $93. It was a lot of 20 with most attached to each other. He claims that one strip of 5 was never sent and wants me to send it "immediately". The strip of five is worth about $15 of the $93 paid.
I am almost certain that it was sent. We talking about a block of 5 out of 20 total stamps of which most were blocks or strips. I spent 2 hours searching over 10,000 stamps currently on sale, archived for sale, and my personal stock just in case.
I'm beginning to wonder if the guy was honest. He lives in Germany and paid by paypal one week ago. I think he might try a chargeback. Any suggestions gratefully appreciated. thanks.
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jensmome
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posted on November 30, 2003 07:18:22 PM new
This is a hard one. Three things to so. First look at his feedback. Second, see what else he is/was bidding one. Third, find out if he's a seller.
The feedback is obvious. But if he's been selling stamps it may be that he's looking for some free inventory. The bidding will tell you if this is a one of a kind transaction or if he's a serious collector.
You should check the PayPal terms to see if international chargebacks are done. They have some different rules for international transactions. Plus, you don't know if he debitted an account or charged it.
You can also go a few rounds of e-mails and then offer a partial refund if you think that's the right way to go.
Good luck and keep us posted.
[ edited by jensmome on Nov 30, 2003 07:19 PM ]
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robbiec
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posted on November 30, 2003 07:33:45 PM new
Thanks Jensmome.. He has postive and that's it. Never sells, just buys. He's a Korean in Germany collecting Korean items. Cannot tell on paypal if it is credit card or checking account.
The more I think about it, the more I am certain I sent it. This is not one item but 20% of the lot!
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auctionACE
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posted on November 30, 2003 09:02:41 PM new
I wouldn't refund. Many foreign buyers must look at American sellers as being mildly retarded and an easy mark for scams.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
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ahc3
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posted on November 30, 2003 09:25:14 PM new
That is a tough one. Hard to miss packing 1/4 of the total, esp. if it is not around anywhere else...If he claims non receipt with paypal, keep his email. Who knows, maybe it will help you. Paypal won't intervene on quality of content, just whether it was delivered or not.
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bunnicula
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posted on November 30, 2003 11:34:37 PM new
How much FB does he have? If quite a bit & no prior negs, it would seem to indicate he's probably on the up & up.
Maybe try emailing other sellers he's dealt with & see if he's claimed this sort of thing with others. If everyone you contact says they had no trouble, then I would take the buyer at his word and send the stamps in question.
Especially when the best you can say is that you're "almost" certain that you sent the stamps. Do you have some sort of inventory system to keep track of the stuff you sell?
Edited to get rid of an extraneous "s"
Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
[ edited by bunnicula on Nov 30, 2003 11:35 PM ]
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rarriffle
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posted on December 1, 2003 01:56:17 AM new
Nothing tough here, offer full refund when you receive package back of everything he received. no partial refunds given. offer shipping one way.
this usually ends in them finding the missing item.
since he is a collector, he could have misplaced it on his end. could it possibly have fallen out when he took the other items out of the envelope? ask him nicely to do a search for it, explaining that you are certain it was in the package when mailed.
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robbiec
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posted on December 1, 2003 04:13:33 AM new
Thanks for the help folks. I scan the items and then immediately place them into evelopes with lot number attached. Then I file the lot numerically with all my ongoing auctions.
He has no negatives. I like rarrifle's suggestion. I have only misplaced one order in the past 3 years and that was before I created the scan and file system. My only other problem occured when I failed to send 2 stamps from a recurring auction which were filed together with multiple sets. Buyer contacted me on that one and I sent the items immediately. I have about 1000 positives (close to 600 unique)and 4 negs. One neg was from a person that sold me a junk car. That's another story.
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stopwhining
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posted on December 1, 2003 05:29:51 AM new
paypal seller protection does not cover intl sales,so he can file complaint of non receipt and paypal will debit your account.
rariffe suggestion is good,make peace not war.
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
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robbiec
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posted on December 1, 2003 05:43:42 AM new
Okay. So he returns the items to me and then I refund him and he also does a chargeback. Would that mean that I am out $186?
Mind you, these were items that I was planning to toss and started the bidding at $1.50.
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robbiec
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posted on December 1, 2003 07:18:27 AM new
Here is what I decided to do:
"Sorry to hear that you are missing some stamps from the lot. I spent two hours searching the items I have for sale and they are not located. Although I am certain that I mailed all the items as I pack the stamps immediately after scanning and entering into auction, I am willing to offer you a full refund upon return of all the stamps I sent to you. I will even pay for your return postage. As my feedback suggests, I am a reputable seller and buyer and it is important that you are satisfied with your purchase."
I will now wait and see.. Too bad that 30% of my business is overseas customers. Otherwise I wouldn't accept overseas bids.
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stopwhining
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posted on December 1, 2003 07:37:14 AM new
i doubt if he will do that,return,get refund and then file chargeback.
this is my 7th year on ebay,i find most bidders honest,some shockingly honest!!
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
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stonecold613
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posted on December 1, 2003 09:27:00 AM new
What you can do in this case, if he does send the stamps back to you is to not send a refund until the 30 day time period has passed on the original PayPal transaction. Then he cannot file for chargeback. That way you don't end up sending a refund and getting a chargeback.
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robbiec
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posted on December 1, 2003 11:02:20 AM new
He responded and wanted to bargain! Wants 1/2 of the money back say "it was the most expensive of the lot" and "would not bid otherwise."
I kindly asked him to send the entire contents that he has back to me for a refund and that I would relist it starting at $1.00.
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stopwhining
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posted on December 1, 2003 11:19:26 AM new
intl chargeback,up to 6 months,sometimes a year.
offer him a partial refund and move on.
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
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rarriffle
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posted on December 1, 2003 12:37:52 PM new
you have done the right thing. all or nothing. this way you can be sure he doesn't already have the stamps he says is missing.
if those were the ones he truly wanted he should have no problem with your offer.
as far as refund and chargeback, if you refund through paypal and use the auction number as identifier, you will have proof of refund and can argue any chargeback that may happen....I doubt if it does.
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auctionACE
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posted on December 1, 2003 12:51:55 PM new
It really sounds like a scam after reading your description of almost throwing out the lot and starting the lot only at $1.50 . Yet the lot was bid way up for some reason. It may be a chargeback scam and it works better to get a partial refund instead of $1.50 worth of stamps.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
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tomwiii
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posted on December 1, 2003 01:11:38 PM new
Please, folks, if yer gonna use PayPal, learn the rules before ya get stuck!
INTERNATIONAL PAYPAL PAYMENTS:
If you accept international pp payments, then prepare yerselves for a-screwing!
There are NO rules for international payments!!!!!!!
All a buyer has to do is tell PP that they received nothing & PP will IMMEDIATELY YANK the moola out of yer account!
REPEAT: pp will yank the moola out of yer account! They don't care if Mother Teresa calls from the grave & swears on 14.5 Bibles that the item was delivered -- IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE!
THIS is NOT a chargeback! PP will just yank the moola out of yer account & tell you: T.S.
PayPal is winderful -- but I sure don't accept International payments!
Let them use BidPay or screw someone else -- not meNRamphie!
Ralphie loves Mr Blonde:
"Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?"
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/vidrat/
[ edited by tomwiii on Dec 1, 2003 01:12 PM ]
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robbiec
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posted on December 4, 2003 12:37:14 PM new
Things are getting bizzare with this guy again. He sent an email stating that you has now shipped it registered and wants $6.50 for registration in addition to the postage of $1.50 in his refund. Mind you he never asked ME to send it registered.
I looked up the catalog value of the stamps and it was $250. So the $93 price he paid is about right. The loss of those 5 stamps, (which by the way are not the "most expensive" of the set) makes it an incomplete set.
I sense a chargeback after a refund is made. Perhaps some other problems.
Any way to protect myself from a chargeback after the refund is made?
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ebayvet
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posted on December 5, 2003 12:09:44 AM new
I think you are safe as long as you refund the payment on paypal, the original payment. He can not do a paypal chargeback on something that you have already refunded. I would not pay the extra shipping for him to register it, he did not have authorization to do it.
You have 30 days to refund the original payment. If you send a new paypal payment to him, then he can do a chargeback and you will be screwed.
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whatnot3
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posted on December 5, 2003 10:27:23 AM new
How will you know that he didn't just keep the missing stamps?
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