My son attempted to sell his old cell phone on Ebay a few years ago. Once the winning bidder received it, they claimed empty box.

Sell and ship an anvil and see what happens.

I'll share some stuff with ya, halfcan. Maybe you can utilize some of what we do, maybe not. Some of this you probably already know.

But as a small business you have to do the absolute best you can to protect yourself because NO ONE is looking out for you. Not the consumer, not the credit processor, not the shipping company. No one.

They all look out for the consumer. Only you can protect yourself. Here's what we do:

1. All shipments require a signature. If you don't ship with signature required, it lets the shipping service off the hook in the event the package goes missing. If the customer requests no signature required, then the customer must sign a consent form understanding that we are not liable if the carrier leaves your stuff outside your fence or delivers to the wrong house etc.

2. We only ship to the billing address on the credit card. Want it shipped somewhere else? Tough shit. If you do not ship to the billing address, the customer can claim fraud and the CC processor will honor it every time. I do make exceptions to that rule if i feel that it's not high risk, i.e small orders, or if we're shipping to a shop in the same city as the customer etc. Or i may ask the customer to order through the shop that's working on his car. He pays the shop, the shop pays me and items can then be sent to the shop. But that's a calculated risk i take, not policy.

3. All large international orders must be paid via Bank wire transfer. Again i make an exception if it's a small risk. I make that exception for anything under $500. Over that requires a bank transfer. Sellers dont have much protection in the U.S, and even less internationally. It's waaaay too easy for international consumers to purchase, receive their item and then claim fraud and get their money refunded while keeping the merchandise.

4. Read what your carrier defines as "Sufficient packaging". What you and I may think is Sufficient, the carrier probably doesn't. If you didn't use their definition of "Sufficient Packaging", they're refute your claim every time. Collecting insurance from a carrier can be long and difficult. The last damage claim i did with FedEx took 3 months to resolve. They rejected my damage claim 3 separate times citing lack of packaging, which was a load of horsehit. I took me countless emails, phone calls, complaints...i even made an I.G post ripping Fed Ex and emailed that too them. Eventually they caved and awarded my claim for their very, very clear negligence. Again, they aren't your friend.

5. Take pictures of your box/packaging before you ship it out if you think it's something that could get broken. Trying to collect damage claim insurance is a FIGHT.

6. For custom or non-refundable items, our customers have to sign and send back an authorization that states our policy on the matter, that they understand and accept our terms and that they're non-negotiable.

This baby is going... Downtown!

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but, i don't think you're going to win your damage claim. I'm not sure about USPS, but that wouldn't fly with Fed Ex or UPS. They'd cite insufficient packaging.

And yes, it's quite possible that the postman punted the thing. Carriers are notoriously reckless and negligent.

My last damage claim was a radiator kit that shipped just a few hours north of us.

My packaging:

*Specially made double corrugated box to fit the radiator snug.
*Special made foam caps to protect the inlet/outlet tubes
*Cardboard sheets to protect the core
*Completely wrapped in large bubble wrap multiple times, with bubble wrap on the bottom and top of the box.
* "Fragile" Stickers and "This side up" stickers on the box.

Despite only being in transit for one day, they managed to lay the box on the side and crush it so bad that it bent both the inlet/outlet tubes, caved in the radiator tank, and push the outlet tube THROUGH the bubble wrap, foam cup AND double corrugated box.

There's only ONE way that can happen. The box was laid down and crushed. It's the only way that damage can happen. I had 10+ high res pictures of the damage, packaging and everything.

And despite all that, Fedex rejected my claim 3 times and it took me 3 months, many phone calls, nasty emails and even blasting them on social media for them to FINALLY award my $1200 damage claim.

:clap: Excellent tips!

I just had this happen witha powered sub for my Camaro. ****ing assholes

Thank you! Blows my mind that most people don't understand how USPS insurance works. Either party can claim it, but they have to have the original receipt. The person who purchased the insurance via USPS is the one who has to file a claim. Anytime a seller offers insurance, I say "sure, if you're paying for it"

Buying anything on eBay is great. Selling anything on eBay is an absolute nightmare any more. You can state 'no returns' in your auction, but in the eBay ToS, it clearly states a buyer can return anything for any reason. eBay always sides with a buyer.

I think all online shops have experienced an accusation of being a spammer.

**** Fleabay, and the useless morons who ruined it, with a thousand rusty forks.

I finally quit that shit show years ago after getting screwed out of countless hours of my life over piddly shit purchased by dishonest buyers and refuse to even give them any action as a buyer.

I'm seriously thinking about not using eBay anymore if eBay doesn't find a way to make your search preferences sticky. Basically if you buy on eBay and you get it from China, you might as well be ready for a month+ wait, and that's bullshit.

I know how to play with the search settings to either limit it to the US (but the Chinese have figured ways around that too), or "number of miles from a zipcode" (works better than saying US-only or North America), but eBay had better be aware that "SpeedPAK" means "Slow boat from China".

So eBay either needs to make this simple code change/option, or Amazon will benefit. At least Amazon has the moral fortitude to offer the "Prime-only" option.

**** eBay's relationship with Chinese sellers!

I've bought some pretty big ticket stuff off ebay.

Some electronics, a diamond and my Camaro all came off Ebay and with no real issues. Had the diamond independently appraised and it came in over what the Seller appraised it at by a couple hundred bucks - seller was even up front about the placement of an inclusion and whether a prong could hid it (it could and did). The Camaro purchase was seamless; I communicated with the guy and offered him a few hundred bucks to trailer it up to Columbia from Tulsa. Had it in the driveway within a few days.

Then again, all of that stuff was a decade or so ago. By most accounts its fallen to hell since then. I've grabbed some LED aquarium lights on there (the chinese sellers) and while customer service takes awhile, it's not really their fault. Time zones are a bitch - usually limits you to a couple interactions/day while trying to figure stuff out.

I've never done anything as a seller though - and I can't imagine I ever would. Too many assholes that have become entirely too savvy about screwing people.

If I can't sell it locally, I'll just find a way to write it off or if its something with a niche market, I'll utilize a more specific auction service.

The shipping rates on eBay lately turned me off. Just added profit for seller disguised as shipping. eBay can get screwed.

I've become convinced over the years that everyone on the internet outside of Chiefsplanet is evil. There's no policing, so you rely on people being good when they don't have to be, and that's a recipe for disappointment.

Ebay
 

Needless to say, i have around 7800 rating, been doing ebay for years of course...

I recently became a valued seller and got concierge service.. Which was good..

Just got some dummy that i shipped computer memory to, said one of the two sticks was bad (was new and sealed).. I told him he could return the bad stick or contact the manufacturer to see if they would honor the warranty..

After a day or two, he was hassling me about the refund, but I told him to send the memory back after he told me the manufacturer wanted a receipt..

Upon a few days, he then tells me they all of a sudden were sending him new memory w/o the receipt and he couldnt send the bad stick back, but WANTED a refund anyway for his time.. lol

I told him, i cant do a refund w/o the stick coming back, so he was trying to double dip, i was going to give him something for his time, but then he leaves me negative and abusive feedback..

needless to say, i called my new concierge at Ebay, not only did she remove the bad feedback, but closed the case in my favor..

She even removed a old negative that I got unfairly on a $30 cell phone that was new, but seller said didnnt work with his carrier (i had specific carrier it would work on).. Never contacted me, --

I am still on ebay even though the fees are crazy now, and usually buyers have all the power, but I think with this new status, I can deal with it..