International Shipping

Dear eBay Queen;

I sold a vintage jumpsuit for $60.00 to a buyer in Great Britain. I shipped it as soon as the payment was received. Today I received this email:

"Hi, before I leave feedback I just wanted to let you know that I received my jumpsuit, thank you it’s amazing. However, I had to pay £20, (approximately $40), because the customs form had been filled out wrong. I just wanted to make you aware in case it happens again, especially if a premium has already been paid on international shipping. Thank you."

If I'm to blame, then I guess I need to reimburse her the $40. I ship internationally all the time, (not that it means I never make a mistake,) but how do I know? I looked back at my Endicia postage log, compared it to some other international transactions, and they all look exactly the same. I don’t want to just give her 40.00 if she’s taking me for a ride. I don’t like thinking she's up to something, but most of all, I hate that she started off by saying, "before I leave feedback," like I better fix this or she’s going to be leaving me negative feedback.

I guess I have to reimburse her either way, but it really burns me up. Do you have any ideas?

Bettye
Dragon Fly Vintage

Dear Bettye;

This is quite the predicament! I completely understand you want to do the right thing by the buyer and avoid negative feedback. I have a sinking suspicion this buyer is confused about duty fees. When she said “the custom form had been filled out wrong” I immediately thought someone told her if you would have marked this as a gift on the customs form she would not have had to pay duty on the package. Duty is a tax government’s assess people for buying goods outside of their own country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_(economics)

If this were happening to me, I would contact my post office. They keep a record of all packages that go out of the country. Once they pull your customs slip, the postmaster will be able to look at your form and see if there were any discrepancies that would warrant a $40.00 charge. Once you have this information, contact your buyer and let them know what your postmaster said. I would also ask your buyer for a receipt to show how much she paid the customs office to receive her package.

If your postmaster says she was only charged for duty, I would not refund her money even if a negative feedback were in my future.

Dear eBay Queen;

I sold a book for $9.99. I shipped it media mail, and yesterday it came back to me. You can imagine my surprise when my mailman told me I had to pay $2.47 to get the book back. The post office said the address I gave them didn't exist. The buyer said her address is correct.
She still wants her book that she paid for, but if I send it out again I will be out the 5.00 on this book in postage. What would you do? Would you ship it back to her? Ask her for extra money to send it? I asked her to pay for return shipping, but she didn't want to pay any more and so I offered her a full refund. What would you do in a case like this?

Bookish Problem

Dear Bookish;

This kind of situation is very frustrating, but there is only one thing to do. Send the buyer her book and try to recoup your fees from the post office. Since the address the buyer gave you is correct, this is really a problem between you and the post office.

Contact your postmaster and let them know what happened. If your postmaster does not offer any suggestions, I would contact USPS Consumer Affairs http://www.usps.com/ncsc/locators/find-cam.html I can’t guarantee you will get your money back, but you might be able to get some of it back.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 160213905313 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the eBay homepage). Vintage tin toy are always popular. Check out this Lehmann Duo Rooster and Rabbit toy from 1910 SOLD $1874.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120224865722

eBay and a Few Shipping Problems

Dear eBay Queen;

After 3 years of selling on eBay, I finally have 2 problems that I am not sure how to solve. I can not believe they happened within a week of each other, and they both involve the post office. My first problem started out when I mailed a package to Louisiana over 3 weeks ago! The buyer has emailed a lot over the last three weeks. She has the delivery confirmation number, and it just shows “in-transit”. Yesterday the buyer emailed me and said she received the package, but she had to pay $8.95 for extra postage and she wants me to refund that money back to her or she will give me a negative.

I called my post office and her post office in Louisiana. I did not understand how she had postage due, when my post office put the postage on the box to begin with! After talking to both post offices I learned the buyer had moved from Louisiana to Alabama in July, and did not change her address with eBay or PayPal. The $8.95 she was charged was because the package was originally shipped Parcel Post, and it was the shipping fee to forward it to her new address. Do you think I should refund her $8.95? Am I obligated to do so?

My second problem is similar. I received a package back that I shipped off over a week ago. The label has “moved, left no forwarding address”. I immediately checked my PayPal payment and the invoice information from eBay. The address is the same as the one I shipped it to! I e-mailed the buyer, asked her if she moved, and told her the box was shipped back. She apologized, and gave me her new address. She did not offer to pay to ship the item back to her. What should I do? Should I charge her the shipping cost to re-send? Or should I just eat the cost of the shipping? It was only four dollars and some change.

JPK; Ottawa


Dear JPK;

In both cases you certainly did everything right. Your Louisiana/Alabama buyer may not fully understand what happened. I would email her, and let her know you feel really bad she had to pay the extra shipping money to receive her item. Tell her what you told me and all of the investigation you did to figure out what happened. I would explain to her she was charged the 8.95 because she chose parcel post shipping (there would not have been a fee to forward with Priority mail), and she did not update her address with eBay or PayPal. I would not refund her money, and she certainly went against eBay rules by threatening feedback. Her “you pay or I’ll give you a negative”, warrants you reporting her to eBay. That being said, if you are feeling kind and do not want to confront her, you could refund the money and not have any of the hassle.

When it comes to your second buyer, I would email her back and let her know the post office will not send it to her new address without charging you again to ship it. Offer to send her a new shipping invoice through PayPal. If the buyer is unhappy about paying the extra shipping, you should not feel obligated to do so. If she does not want to pay to have it shipped back and you do not want to pay ship it. I would refund her money.

All of us at some point and time will have a buyer who forgets to change their mailing address. I have been known to eat the shipping fees if the sale was a good one.


Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item 130141225705 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page). I have this memory of going to my Grandmother’s house and seeing an old amber candy dish full of candy. Maybe it wasn’t just like this one, but maybe it was. Fenton Amber Hobnail covered candy dish SOLD $13,154.00. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130141225705