Ebay postage insurance assistance please

daniel_b

Chaps,

quick one.

I've listed an item, and not offered insurance on it, only recorded delivery.
Looks like it is going to go for around £100, and I've asked for payment by paypal.

So what happens if:

I send it without insurance, after they have paid me, and then it gets lost or stolen along the way?

Who loses money, and where does that money come from?

As in, presumably they haven't paid for insurance, so does that mean they have to claim it back from paypal, and if so, does that mean I need to refund it?

Don't want to get stitched up is all, and might insure it to be safe.

Cheers

Dan

ricadus

Check at the post office to see what types of secure delivery options there are. I suspect recorded only gives you evidence that the item was indeed delivered but otherwise isn't any more secure en route than ordinary first class post.

method

How heavy is it? If its nothing stupid I'd send via Special delivery, it can save a lot of problems later on. Least you know for sure they have recieved it.

bagpusscp

As i understand paypal rules {i maybe wrong of course} .All items paid for by paypal need to be sent by insured post. The P/O will tell how much this is and the claim rules.
1/The buyer will pay for this when you charge them for delivery.P&P
2/Always keep proof of postage given to you by the P/O.
3/ Take photos of all items prior to packing {Close ups are better.
4/ use good quality packaging.
5/Beware of scurrilous buyers. :!: :x

OffTheBackAdam

Send it by Special Delivery.
It's under a fiver more than the extra for Recorded Delivery (That insures you for up to £32.00).
Protects you against any shennanagins from your buyer, as they have to sign for it too!
Take the extra out of the profit you've made.

daniel_b

Thanks chaps for the replies,

need to send it tomorrow morning, seems like recorded or special delivery is the way to go, will get prices when I go there, and will defo make sure i wrap it properly, bubblewrap and cardboard me thinks.

Cheers

Dan

Big Shoes

Hi,

I use Parcel Force when i send the bikes i sell, it costs about £12.50 to post a bike and an extra £1 to insure it up to £100, get a bike box from Halfords to post it in. Make sure you get a proof of postage print out.

Paul

Jamey

If you're covered by PayPal's seller protection policy then you're fine if anything goes wrong. But If you're not covered then you're completely and utterly screwed.

In order to be covered, the following things need to happen:

1) The person your sending the item to MUST have a "confirmed" address in PayPal. This is the hardest bit because it's outside of your control and people always moan when you ask them to confirm.

2) You must send the item by recorded delivery and it must be trackable online. If the item is valuable then it needs to be signed for upon receipt and you need proof of signature.

3) Your PayPal account needs to be a verified business or premier account (it's free to upgrade from normal to premier, you just need to give them some details).

I've lost count of the number of times I've put "YOUR ADDRESS MUST BE CONFIRMED IN PAYPAL" in big red letters on an auction and the winning bidder turns out to have an unconfirmed address.

Usually I'll still send it to them but only after exchanging a few emails to see how genuine they seem and asking them to confirm their address if possible. But anytime I send an item that's not covered by the protection policy I make sure to insure it and I always use a service that requires a signature.

On international parcels, insuring it for the full amount means you can't do that "favour" where you lie about the value on the customs label (and mark as a gift) so there's a good chance the recipient will end up paying tax but as far as I'm concerned that's tough luck on their part. If they can't confirm their PayPal address there's no way I'm sending it uninsured.

EBay and PayPal are getting really, really sh*tty towards sellers these days (sellers no longer even have the ability to leave negative feedback for buyers anymore) and I'd recommend that anybody selling on eBay cover themselves as much as humanly possible and always try to get buyers to confirm their addresses otherwise you've got zero cover.

I'm actually pretty certain that PayPal's stupid list of seller requirements wouldn't stand up in court... I'm sure that if you had proof of delivery that wasn't trackable online you could still force them to acknowledge it but I hope I never have to put that theory to the test.