disappearing vinyl

[gregk25]

Here's a (not quite) hypothetical question for you:

Let's assume you sell an expensive 45 (expensive as in 500 euro) via a social network site, receive payment via paypal and ship the disc via registered but not insured mail to a place like Japan. A week later you receive an email from the buyer saying: Package received but there's only 6 sheets of cardboard inside, NO RECORD! Let's further assume you'd rate your brain as comparatively intact and you're ABSOLUTELY sure to have packed not just cardboard but also the 45. What would you do?

I cannot for the life of me imagine post-office-clerks seceretly opening a package taking out a rare garage-psych 45, closing it again and posting it on. On the other hand I can very well imagine that paypal will freeze my account to reimburse the buyer should he file an "item not received"-claim.

Anybody ever experienced anything similar?

 

[Frantic]

Here's a (not quite) hypothetical question for you:

Let's assume you sell an expensive 45 (expensive as in 500 euro) via a social network site, receive payment via paypal and ship the disc via registered but not insured mail to a place like Japan. A week later you receive an email from the buyer saying: Package received but there's only 6 sheets of cardboard inside, NO RECORD! Let's further assume you'd rate your brain as comparatively intact and you're ABSOLUTELY sure to have packed not just cardboard but also the 45. What would you do?

I cannot for the life of me imagine post-office-clerks seceretly opening a package taking out a rare garage-psych 45, closing it again and posting it on. On the other hand I can very well imagine that paypal will freeze my account to reimburse the buyer should he file an "item not received"-claim.

Anybody ever experienced anything similar?

It doesn't matter what the circumstance...The record gets lost, stolen, broken, buyer says the shipper is empty (even though it wasn't) YOU LOSE. Paypal will refund his money 100% of the time. If I don't sell a 45 on Ebay where I can use SHIPSAVER insurance then the only other way to protect myself is to have the seller wire the money to my bank account. Once the money is there and I send out the record then there is nothing that can happen where the buyer can get his money back. I just sold a $1500 funk 45 to a guy in Germany, I didn't know him and was afraid to use Paypal and he didn't want me to put it on Ebay. I told him to wire the money and he did. Buyers overseas are paying this way more and more.

 

[Monster Mike]

It doesn't matter what the circumstance...The record gets lost, stolen, broken, buyer says the shipper is empty (even though it wasn't) YOU LOSE. Paypal will refund his money 100% of the time. If I don't sell a 45 on Ebay where I can use SHIPSAVER insurance then the only other way to protect myself is to have the seller wire the money to my bank account. Once the money is there and I send out the record then there is nothing that can happen where the buyer can get his money back. I just sold a $1500 funk 45 to a guy in Germany, I didn't know him and was afraid to use Paypal and he didn't want me to put it on Ebay. I told him to wire the money and he did. Buyers overseas are paying this way more and more.

Also having them pay as "gift" with Paypal will help to avoid these situations.

 

[Frantic]

Also having them pay as "gift" with Paypal will help to avoid these situations.

exactly. Although people are really abusing that service and I think it won't be around much longer.

 

[beccabear67]

Isn't there still insurance for contents through the shipper itself? I've had to claim for destroyed contents once through Canada Post and once when some artwork was damaged through UPS. It was a rigamarole with the P.O. one but eventually I got the value back.

 

[Frantic]

Isn't there still insurance for contents through the shipper itself? I've had to claim for destroyed contents once through Canada Post and once when some artwork was damaged through UPS. It was a rigamarole with the P.O. one but eventually I got the value back.

If you ship a rare item overseas and insure it you then have to declare it on the customs form for the full amount. The buyer overseas will then have to pay a huge customs fee. If you insure an item using Ebay's Shipsaver insurance you can put a low amount on the customs form. If you file a claim Shipsaver could care less how much you declared it for.

 

[gregk25]

exactly. Although people are really abusing that service and I think it won't be around much longer.

really? abusing it? disgusting! Regardless: the gift option never existed for german paypal accounts

 

[Frantic]

really? abusing it? disgusting! Regardless: the gift option never existed for german paypal accounts

I'm just saying because it's free and there is no fee, a lot of people use it a lot and Paypal will catch on and put a stop to it. Or raise rates on their other fees to compensate.

 

[Mr.Segment]

I'm just saying because it's free and there is no fee, a lot of people use it a lot and Paypal will catch on and put a stop to it. Or raise rates on their other fees to compensate.

Huh? It's not "free". I pay the fees as a buyer instead.

 

[Frantic]

Huh? It's not "free". I pay the fees as a buyer instead.

PERSONAL payments are free.

 

[Mr.Segment]

PERSONAL payments are free.

You speak of this mythical PERSONAL payment. Please show me the way.

 

[Frantic]

You speak of this mythical PERSONAL payment. Please show me the way.

surely you jest right?

 

[Mr.Segment]

No. No such choice for me. Paying for goods or services, i.e. you foot the bill, or family or friends=I pay the fee. No other choice available.

 

[Frantic]

No. No such choice for me. Paying for goods or services, i.e. you foot the bill, or family or friends=I pay the fee. No other choice available.

that's weird, it must be a thing with your country. I can send or receive personal fees with no fees to either side.

 

[Mr.Segment]

that's weird, it must be a thing with your country. I can send or receive personal fees with no fees to either side.

That used to be an option for me as well. Come to think of it, that may have been before PayPal got all lovey-dovey with Norwegian banks a few years ago. Pardon my snarkiness then

 

[chas_kit]

It could have been opened for a customs inspection, and then the record was either stolen or forgotten. In my experience, buyers and sellers in Japan are very honest.

As for the personal payment through Paypal, someone can do that only if they have enough in their Paypal balance to cover the entire payment. Which may not be likely for the big ticket items.

 

[Frantic]

As for the personal payment through Paypal, someone can do that only if they have enough in their Paypal balance to cover the entire payment. Which may not be likely for the big ticket items.

You are 100% correct.

 

[Dave Baldwin]

Here's a (not quite) hypothetical question for you:

Let's assume you sell an expensive 45 (expensive as in 500 euro) via a social network site, receive payment via paypal and ship the disc via registered but not insured mail to a place like Japan. A week later you receive an email from the buyer saying: Package received but there's only 6 sheets of cardboard inside, NO RECORD! Let's further assume you'd rate your brain as comparatively intact and you're ABSOLUTELY sure to have packed not just cardboard but also the 45. What would you do?

I cannot for the life of me imagine post-office-clerks seceretly opening a package taking out a rare garage-psych 45, closing it again and posting it on. On the other hand I can very well imagine that paypal will freeze my account to reimburse the buyer should he file an "item not received"-claim.

Anybody ever experienced anything similar?

I dunno...some of those Japanese Postal clerks are serious vinyl collectors. Some might be a bit dodgy as well.

 

[familiar quadrangle]

If you just link PayPal to your bank account, you can send all the fee-less personal/gift/living expense payments you want (on the U.S. site at least).

 

[gregk25]

I dunno...some of those Japanese Postal clerks are serious vinyl collectors. Some might be a bit dodgy as well.

As unlikely as I think this is, wouldnt this be the situation where bloody paypal could take a few pennies out of their vast wallet and foot the bill? There's proof of a registered package having been delivered, yet the buyer apparently did not receive his product. One could say: neither my nor his fault. But as expected, "after careful consideration" (yeah, right) today paypal took the (already frozen) 500 out of my account to refund the buyer. This hurts.