Yeah, yeah, yeah, another Evil-Bay/Pay Pal rant.

So last year, I bought out a couple of rather large HC collections from some local players I know that were leaving the game. After keeping what I wanted/needed, and selling off all that I didn't want/need here on HC Realms, I was left with about 1900 extra figures. I wasn't into modding (until after I'd sold them all off of course ), so I sold about 200+ to a fellow Realmser, and put a lot of 700 + (including U, LE etc) up on e-Bay.

They sold in late December, and the winning bidder was from Brazil. I went and got a shipping quote for him with the actual box, from Canada Post. Shipping was $85.00 ground, $143.00 air. I contacted him about it, and he said he'd take ground shipping for $85.00 I told him it could take up to 6 weeks or longer to get there, but that's what he wanted. He paid for it, and I took it to Canada Post that day, and shipped it off. Because of the size, weight and value of the package, a tracking number and additional insurance were added. That day, I provided the tracking number to the buyer.

Since then, I listed and sold another lot on e-Bay. 900+ figures. Sold to a US buyer. Shipped them off, and the buyer received them, and left Positive Feedback. All was well.

So the other day (last Friday actually) I sold a few figures to another Realmser. He sent the PP payment, and when I went to check my PP to confirm, this %^&*$ from Brazil had filed a 'not received' dispute with PP. I hadn't checked my PP since the 900 figure lot (had no money in there and no reasons to check it), but apparently the guy barely waited for 3 weeks before he filed his 'dispute' with PP. Seriously? I told the guy 6 weeks minimum, and provided him with the Canada Post tracking #. I checked the #, and it shows that it was received at the Post Office January 2nd, and left for 'International Destination' January 20th (18 days to leave the country , gotta love Canada Post, but that's another *rant*).

So now, I've since sold off a few other figures, and I can't access my PP money. I contacted PP about it, sent them the information including the tracking # etc and...............nothing. They are telling me that I can escalate the 'dispute' to a 'claim', and they will investigate, but if they rule in favor of the buyer, they will take the money that is presently in my PP account and I'll have to pay the rest of the money 'back'. WTF!?!?!?

Anyway, has anyone else had a similar situation? If so, how did it pan out? This is really POing me, and that may be it for shipping out of North America for me, unless they want to pay for the Airmail shipping regardless of cost.

Any help, feedback etc greatly appreciated.

/end rant (for now.............)

You have my upmost sympathies; I dealt with a smiliar situation a few years back involving an ebay auction sold to, you guessed it, a buyer in Brazil.

Fortunately, I insured the package and sent it USPS Registered so Paypal eventually saw things my way.

You have my sincerest hopes that you're able to work this out; Paypal is a pretty difficult entity to make see reason. Be prepared for an uphill fight my friend.

And don't sell to Brazil again; their postal system is like a black hole.

That really sucks. I had two situations that were similar. I sold a SR Mutations & Monsters Ironman back when the set first came out. I don't remember exactly how much I sold it for, but it was probably about $20. I believe the package went to Mexico. The buyer paid through paypal with a credit card. I left positive feedback and shipped the figure. Almost a month later they took the money out of my account with an additional $10for processing fees because the guy disputed the charge on his card. The buyer was no longer an active user and PayPal wouldn't give me my money back.

I don't remember the specifics surrounding the other transaction, but because it was months later I didn't have the DC# and PayPal screwed me over again.

I still use it because it is the easiest and most used way to send and receive money, but their policies and fees are complete B.S.

Really sorry to hear about it.

Paypal & Ebay are BOGUS when it comes to claims - Sellers never win (unless they close the account and run away with the money)

We have filed 4 x with Canadapost and ALWAYS received compensation. (2 to USA- one of which was diestroyed by a sorting machine in Ohio, 1 to Italy, 1 to Australia)

I would file with Canadapost (based on the destination- they probably won't "open" the case until day 60), but afterward it should be about 2-3 weeks and you should hopefully see positive result. The problem is that the paypal delivery window is too short for long distance suface international (can be as long as 3 months!)

As for paypal - you may end up being the big loser. We had a chargeback 2 months after the sale (and feedback recieved - he got the item). The issue was he used his sister's credit card and she denied the charge. So not only did we lose the sale but a slap in the face of $25.00 for a charge that PAYPAL authorized (I would like to know why I cant' choose to have paypal balance only- NO Credit Cards, or to block 0 star bidders if I choose?). Luckily the buyer was also in the city, and after some continual threats - he paid the amount and the penalty that paypal charged us!.

We wish you luck, send paypal the evidence (2 sided photopies of your canadapost bill), and have it ready for your claim with canadapost.

Best of luck!!

BTW- It is for this reason we NEVER use surface, with airmail its 2-3 weeks max, and quicker resolution. I would rather lose a potential sale due to canadapost rates, then lose it due to some other "circumstance"

Well, thanks for the responses guys Seems like I am going to get screwed over here. What a joke. If I do, that will be it for PP, ease of use or not, I am sick and tired of their garbage.

As a side not, I checked my PP today, and the buyer hasn't responded to any of my responses to his 'dispute'. Here is what they have posted in the 'Dispute Resolution Center' now:

Status

The buyer reported that they didn't received their merchandise. Because you used PayPal shipping, we have this shipping information on file:

* Shipping company: CA Canada Post
* Tracking number: CCXXXXXXXXCA

What happens next

We shared this shipping information with the buyer and asked whether they would like to continue with this claim. The buyer's deadline for responding is Feb 13, 2010.

I am not sure what happens if they don't respond by Feb.13 though.

And now I just checked and this was his 'response':

# 2/10/2010 08:30 PST - PayPal: Buyer escalated this dispute to a Claim.
# 2/10/2010 08:30 PST - Buyer: I paid USD 83,00 for Shipping and more than 40 days later I didnt received anything!! In the canada post is writing (jan!02) "item accepted at the post office", (jan!20) "International item has left Canada"...The item stayed there for 18 DAYS!!! So after this they don´t say if they sent to Brazil or wherever.... I already paid my credit card to and nothing...so there is a time to receive the package, 40 days is too much. I´ve never had this problem before, so I want my money back.

Wow. What a moron. I am probably going to receive a Negative Feedback from this clown on e-bay too, what a flippin joke.

Wow! What a toad! There is no way this is your responsibility and no way PP should take your money! I have a PayPal acct too and have had some issues in the past. Fortunately I've been able to work them all out.

I know this is going to make alot of people angry, but this is why I will not ship outside the US - ever again! I've had similar problems and, even though I've not lost any money on any foreign shipments, its just not worth the potential headache. Laugh at our lousy postal system all you want, its still the best in the world. Once a package leaves their hands, though, its a carpshoot as to whether or not its gonna get to its intended destination.

I only do the buying and selling of Heroclix as a hobby, not a business, so its not worth the time and effort and energy to resolve shipping disputes. Also, nowadays I add 85 cents to all my domestic shipping to include delivery confirmation on every order.

Again, better safe than sorry. I hope everything works out for the best here, I really do, but this is just another example of why people don't like to ship international.

If you added insirance to the package, then you should be able to go through the postal service to file a claim and get your money back if the item doesn't arrive. 6 weeks is 42 days and it has only been 41 plus you told him it may take longer. He opted for the ground shipping, so that is on him. He could have paid extra for air mail and would have already had his figures. If you haven't already, try contacting him through his ebay account and explain that he chose ground shipping and you already told him it would take 42 + days to arrive. I would explain the same thing to PayPal as well and see if you can find a phone number, so you can speak to an actual person. If he leaves negative feedback on ebay, keep fighting them until they remove it.

Just a couple of suggestions for your future auctions:

1. Never use ground on international shipping. I don't think that is even an option here with the USPS anymore.

2. I always state in my auctions that I will ship internationally and will provide the customs form number for proof of shipment, but will not be responsible once the package leaves the country. That covers your butt a little.

[quote=Azrael0626;4545528]If you added insirance to the package, then you should be able to go through the postal service to file a claim and get your money back if the item doesn't arrive. 6 weeks is 42 days and it has only been 41 plus you told him it may take longer. He opted for the ground shipping, so that is on him. He could have paid extra for air mail and would have already had his figures. If you haven't already, try contacting him through his ebay account and explain that he chose ground shipping and you already told him it would take 42 + days to arrive. I would explain the same thing to PayPal as well and see if you can find a phone number, so you can speak to an actual person. If he leaves negative feedback on ebay, keep fighting them until they remove it.

Just a couple of suggestions for your future auctions:

1. Never use ground on international shipping. I don't think that is even an option here with the USPS anymore.

2. I always state in my auctions that I will ship internationally and will provide the customs form number for proof of shipment, but will not be responsible once the package leaves the country. That covers your butt a little.[/QUOTE]


1) He is shipping from Canada - Already a handicap at times. And while USPS doesnt offer "ground", too many sellers opt for Priority instead of First Class International. Time wise they are about the same , but the cost is double or more.

2) Stating that you are not responsible doesnot cut much with ebay/paypal as they usually side with a buyer unless you have solid physical evidence. -

Best practices - a) As Buyer - use credit card through paypal ( file for claim with credit card company, skip dealing with paypal - you get your money right back)
Best practices b) As Seller - use insured mail only (file claim with postal carrier, skip dealing with paypal - much easier and quicker to get a reimbursement.

I only know of one case where I had a problem as a seller (Firebrand32 never got his Arkham pieces I sent him), but have had 3-4 problems as a buyer. I either got "nothing can be done because it's past the resolution time frame" or "we award in your favor but the seller has no money in their account so you don't get yours back."

I would simply say that you can block specific countries from bidding on your items in the first place.

Sorry man, this sucks

I've got $120.00 sitting in my PP account right now, frozen in time so to speak, until this gets settled. In the end, I could be out $250.00 (that was the cost of the auction + shipping) and over 700 figures

Well either that, or they have to agree to pay Airmail shipping outside of North America, no matter the cost.

One glimmer of hope for me, is the tracking # and the Insurance I included with it. Plus the fact that I sent the figures the same day the PP payment was made will hopefully reflect in my favor.

I've never screwed anybody over, and I don't intend ever to. Bummer that it looks like I am about to take one myself.

aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnddddddddd this is why I don't ship overseas. Good luck bro!! I hope everything works out for the best.

It's kinda bitter you never hear the jerks experience stories like this, only the good folks. I mean...how often has Popinjay posted about getting dup -uh, nevermind.

This type of thing only happened to me once. Sold some MK figures on MKRealms back in the days and there was a dispute after the package arrived 3 weeks later. Dispute was that someone used her account without permission. Of course I threw away the DC# by then so I had no recourse. Live and learn. Don't ever throw away the DC# until 6 months later.

BTW JD I like your sig.

I can imagine you would.