I couldn’t believe it! The thought never entered my mind. But I got scammed from a buyer. You heard me right. I got robbed from a person that won one of my eBay auctions. The worst part of it all was that eBay allowed it to happen with no remorse. I couldn’t, and still don’t believe it happened…..

A while back I sold a vintage Herman Miller ball clock for one of my clients. Since it was an original vintage piece it sold for over $300.00 dollars. The buyer paid for the item and shipping via PayPal. Once I received the payment I packed and shipped out their clock. Everything about this transaction was going as usual. You know, the buyer pays you and then you ship out their item. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Several days later I receive an email from the buyer saying he has not received the clock. I respond to his email stating I shipped the package several days ago and it may take a little longer due to customs. So please be a bit more patient. If not you can contact your postal office and see if it is stuck in customs.

Sidenote: The buyer lived over seas, I don’t recall exactly where since it happened several years ago.

Several more days pass and now I receive an email from PayPal explaining there is a dispute placed on my account for this transaction. Apparently the buyer placed a dispute with PayPal due to him not receiving the clock. So PayPal took out his entire payment amount from my account and froze that money until the dispute is resolved.

Sidenote: It’s PayPal’s policy to freeze / deduct the full amount of the transaction payment. They do this automatically whenever there is a buyer dispute opened. They never contact you prior to them freezing the money. They just notify you that they froze the amount due to a dispute.

So I go into my PayPal account and see what I need to do. I fill in all the fields, shipping company, tracking information, date item was shipped, etc.. After that I receive a message stating it will take several days until they, PayPal, comes to a resolution. I figured I was OK since I can prove I shipped out the clock. It’s not my fault if it got lost during shipping.

Sidenote: PayPal’s policy states a transaction is not considered complete until the buyer physically receives the item. If the item gets lost in the mail, or if anything happens to the package that would prevent the buyer from receiving it, PayPal considers that an incomplete transaction. Even if you show them proof that you shipped the item. All they are concerned about is did the buyer receive the package.

So I wait several more days and finally received an email stating they are going to place the frozen money into the buyers account. Meaning the buyer is getting a full refund without sending back the clock. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind giving a refund to a buyer if they are not satisfied with their purchase. But in order to get that refund they need to return the item.

Their reasoning was, since I could not prove that the buyer physically received the item they will have to rule in the buyers favor. It does not matter that I can prove I shipped the item. That I did my part of the transaction. All they cared about was “did the buyer receive their item.”

So there I was. Out $300.00+ dollars and a cool looking clock. All I could do was NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! This buyer got an expensive clock for free. All he needed to do was make sure I couldn’t prove he received it. Does that sound right to you?

Since that happened I have changed how I handle International shipping.

• All International Shipping is required to purchase insurance.
• All International Shipping of items over $50.00 are required to purchase Return Receipt

The insurance helps me get the money back from the postal service if indeed the packages got lost in the mail. This also lets the buyer know they are full covered if anything were to happen to their item. I actually purchase insurance from another company and not from the post office. This helps with reducing the shipping cost for international buyers.

The Return Receipt is all the proof I need to show the buyer received their item. I do purchase this service from the post office. This also allows me to send tracking information to the buyer. So they can be assured they will get their package.

Since adding those two services to my international buyers, I have not had any problems. In a matter of fact I have been getting great feedback from them. Go figure..

So make sure you can prove your item was received by the buyer. Even if that means you need to add some additional shipping services. It’s better to be safe than be out your item and your money…

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