EBay question??

Question

I recently sold a VERY expensive piece of furniture on ebay, it was paid for with paypal and the insurance was optional but declined. I took the furniture to UPS who then said that the chair would be packed there but shipped by a frieght company. After 3 weeks a heard from the buyer saying that the furniture was absolutely destroyed, she sent me pictures as proof. Now they are demanding a full refund. Who is at fault, them or me?!

I am filing a claim with UPS who is blaming it on the freight company, they are not sure if they can pay me for the furniture yet.

Answer 1

Insurance is for the seller, not the buyer.  PayPal will grant a full refund, may tell the buyer to return it but they will get a refund.

This is from the UPS site:

Damaged Packages

Report a package that was damaged in transit and check the status of your claim on UPS.com. Damage to a package can be reported by a shipper, recipient, or to a shipper by UPS. A damage inspection will be carried out if necessary by UPS. The shipper of record will be contacted with the results of the inspection. The shipper can file a claim for the lesser of the repair or replacement cost of the package contents, up to the declared value.

Answer 2

When insurance is declined it is no longer your fault. The fault is with UPS and the shipping compnay. The buyer needs to go through them to recoup their loss, which they won't be able to because of no insurance. You are not responsible for the well being of any item that is not insured, provided it was packed well enough to withstand normal shipping wear and tear.

Answer 3

First rule of thumb is to NEVER accept Paypal for high dollar items.  The customer can do a chargeback or file a claim with them and 99% of the time they'll win.

Insurance should always be purchased for expensive items, its to protect the seller, not the buyer,

You should request that the furniture be returned to you.  Tell the buyer that you're filing a claim with UPS.

I think that you're going to be out the money and the furniture.  Sorry this happened to you and good luck.

EDIT:  You should also post this on the discussion boards on eBay, under the seller central category.  Seasoned sellers are there all the time giving out very helpful advice.

Answer 4

Have you tried contacting PayPal? They have some kind of purchase protection plan. Maybe it covers this issue.

As far as the buyers, they opted out of shipping insurance. That's their own fault. Maybe they can get some kind of restitution from UPS or the freight company. But, you kept up your end of the deal. You owe the buyer nothing.