Ebay Seller Question

Quick question to all of you seasoned ebay sellers. I sold 2 oz of silver the other day. I Printed the shipping label through ebay delivered it to the USPS and all was good. The buyer claims he received the package yesterday with now coins in it. What is the best way to handle this as I know I placed the coins in the padded envelope and have had success many times with my packaging method. Insurance through USPS does not cover coins. Thoughts?

 

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Sound like a scam to get free coins. Is there a way to know if the buyer has made any other claims?

 

check the guys feed back and try to communicate to him.ask him if the package was tampered with or some other approach to get a feel for this guy.save your mail and save the replies.

 

What do you mean? If insurance was purchased for the amount of the sale (which is what you should do), then the sales receipt through eBay is enough to make an insurance claim to recover the lost goods. If you didn't purchase any insurance (as in, specify an amount to insure), then you're pretty much out of luck as even if they're scamming you, it's going to be hard to prove on your end. Did you have tracking and delivery confirmation?

 

Not an answer - but I bought a coin from an eBay seller and the yellow, padded envelope arrived in my locked box open, with no coin in it. Sometimes envelopes open/are opened.

I filed a claim with the USPS and they never found it. I requested my money back and I'm not sure how it worked out for him.

 

You might be confusing UPS (United Parcel Service) with USPS. UPS does not insure collectibles.

Chris

 

USPS doesn't cover bullion though which this likely was as he just referred to it as 2 oz of silver. (unless you send via registered mail but that would be too expensive for 2 oz shipment)

 

The USPS does cover insurance on coins. Some USPS employees will ask the contents of your package and if you tell them "coins" they interpret it to mean "cash" and cash is not covered by USPS insurance. However, both numismatic related coins and bullion are fully insured by the USPS if you purchase insurance.

If you sent the package with Delivery Confirmation and it was delivered with no notation of any damage on the package then ebay/PayPal will consider you to have fulfilled your obligation and the USPS will not consider the package lost or eligible for an insurance payout. In other words, you will be in the clear. If you did not use Delivery Confirmation then ebay/PayPal will rule in the buyer's favor and take the funds away from you since you did not adhere to their requirements. Additionally, if the USPS delivered the package and made no note of any damage to the package then the USPS will consider the delivery complete and will not give you anything for any insurance purchased.

I am assuming you did not use Signature Confirmation instead of Delivery Confirmation for this sale.

 

I did have tracking and delivery confirmation on the the two rounds. I did not have signature confirmation on this small of purchase. My first reply to the seller was to see what the condition of the padded envelope was in when it arrived. I pack mine all the same way and place the shipping label on the reverse over the sealed part of the envelope for added protection. Hind site is 20/20 but my understanding of USPS rules for insurance has always been that they will not cover it once you make a claim on coins. I've never made a claim and I do buy insurance on items that are over $100, which this one was not. It's a business decision that I have made.

 

Whether or not you purchased signature confirmation, or Insurance, if you purchased the delivery confirmation(which if you bought the postage from ebay, you did) then you should be in the clear for any claim through paypal/ebay. If the package was damaged or opened before delivery, the post office should have made a notation. If this didn't happen, then most likely the package was opened after delivery. As long as the package shows delivered ebay should side with you. I would recommend you notify the buyer to contact his Post office. I would also send a note to the buyer that you intend to notify the Postmaster General, as it is a federal crime to tamper with mail. But I would not refund the money unless ebay/paypal forces it. Don't accuse him of anything, do your best to help him out, but as of right now, you have done nothing wrong, and may not have to pay for it.

 

I've probably had four or five empty envelopes arrive in my mailbox this year, so I can tell you from the other side that it does happen and the buyer might not be lying. In all of my cases though it was not a padded envelope, but a regular one instead. The padded envelope seems much more secure. But anyway, stuff does happen sometimes with the mail, so you really have no way of knowing if he's honest or not.

 

I keep thinking maybe I sent it out with the other coins that day and placed them in the wrong package, but that doesn;t seem like something I would do. I wonder if I should email the other buyer, but I don;t want to stir up that potential mess. I did lose a great friend that week from work so i was upset that week, but I remember that this buyer paid late and so I prepared the package that morning so it was prepared later than all of the others.

 

Almost every padded envelope I've ever received has been taped shut by the seller with that clear strong packaging tape. The one time it wasn't was the first time I've ever received open mail.

 

Ask the buyer to send you a pic of what they received. He should still have the empty envelope, ask if they mind sending you a pic. Then if you still have doubts, ask them to open a case with ebay and you will give a refund. You don't really know what happened so don't assume the guy is gaming you because he might be telling you the truth. good luck with the outcome. :thumb:

 

Two things to also consider is that there is a popular scam going around and even more at Christmas where a vehicle will drive around looking for packages on doorsteps and either rip em open and grab what's inside or just take the whole package. It could also be a postal employee that is greedy/corrupt. They are forcing better honest employees out to hire bottom feeder trash at a huge salary savings. From personal experience somewhere between Ft. Lauderdale Florida and Chicago Illinois I had a postal employee ripping open credit card statements long story short post office couldn't and wouldn't pursue the matter until I contacted AmEx's fraud division with the whole story. Magically we have a new mail carrier and no more opened statements. So I'm with bigjpst on this one as long as you dotted your i's and crossed your t's with ebay and paypal shipping policy let them work it out with the buyer. Just make sure you stay in cordial and constant contact with both the buyer and ebay thru the whole seller protection process.

 

The long and short of it is that you don't know who you can trust. The buyer is just one small link in the chain, and the postal service represents the major portion. There are also the handlers, presumably USPS employees, at the airports. It could be anywhere along the delivery processing route where something like this happens.

The only thing you can do to protect yourself as best as possible for uninsured packages is to seal the package well. If it is an ordinary envelope, I like to use the corrugated cardboard self-sealers that fit into a standard envelope using clear packing tape over the flap(s). For bubble mailers, I will use packing tape to seal both ends, and if I'm using USPS Priority Flat Rate boxes, I use packing tape to seal all the seams. This way, if there has been any tampering with the envelope or package, it will be evident.

Chris

 

Not according to USPS website, and I have also heard this backed up by a guy who sent a 1 oz gold coin fully insured, but only received a $20 dollar check when he filed the claim. (he got the $15 plus his shipping costs back)

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/609.htm#1097212

For negotiable items, currency, or bullion, the maximum indemnity is $15.00.

 

Since we can't assume that USPS employees are numismatists, then it seems to me that you should be telling them (if they ask) that the contents are "collectible silver coins" or "collectible silver dollars" (SAE's and such) or something to indicate that they have numismatic value rather than just saying "bullion" or "currency" or whatever.

Chris

 

I would not be sending gold coins in any form of mail besides registered. I had a National era $5 go astray recently, it was mailed plain old priority mail with delivery confirmation - and showed delivered but I didn't get it in my box. Of course I was a wee chaffed by this point and went up the chain of command in my PO - had to wait in the office whilst people were filling out passport renewal forms and swearing they are telling the truth, but probably aren't etc and 3-4 posties were milling about the place looking for my lost package. Finally it turned up on a sorting table! I have a pretty good relationship with my local posties so I was patient but persistent.

Delivery confirmation is WORTHLESS - always get a signature. No signature no deal.

 

Also you might want to consider photoing/videoing of your packaging process. At the very least it will show that you packaged up the correct goods, in the correct package, and sealed it properly before leaving your premise. One of the dealers I know does this for every package he sends out, and although it's a little time consuming, it has paid for itself many times over when he gets claims of missing/damaged/etc. since he has video proof on his end of the deal.

For instance, one time someone tried to scam him by whiting-over a line item on the invoice for a tube of ASE's, and claimed to their CC company about being charged for them but they weren't on the invoice/receipt. He pulled out his copy of the invoice/receipt and the packaging video showing the item, the charge, and the tube of ASE's being packaged, sent it to the CC company as his evidence, and they upheld his side. Without the proof, he easily could have eaten the cost of the ASE's.