Of course, we’ve all made trades that required shipping. Well how do/would you settle this.
You ship a 1000.00 value package to someone.
They ship a 1000.00 value package to you.
Both packages are trackable and both show delivered.
But…
The package that came to you wasn’t in your box and never did show up.
How do you settle it?
P.S. Maybe the mailman put it in the wrong box and couldn’t trace it. Maybe mailbox thieves got in. Maybe it came but you lied to the other guy that it didn’t lol.
That’s happened to me, but not to that price scale…
What happened with me was the other Trader, purposely but a different number in front of my address.
That way the tracking would say delivered…Just to a random persons how.
How I ended up finding out was the address he sent it too missed the mailman and never signed for it.
So When I went to the post office it took them ages to find but when they eventually did ( Using Tracking #) I saw it in person I saw the address was a neighbor of mine… and the box had a common in it.
Guessing he assumed the person would sign… see a random pokemon card if they opened it and not really think twice… While I’m wondering where it went.
That’s the problem with USPS tracking, it doesn’t show the address it’s going to.
This is a tough one. Were the packages insured? If they are, I’m pretty sure you can go after USPS for the value, as long as you sign some legal “under the pains and penalties of perjury” thing that affirms that you actually did not receive the package. I don’t think this is anyone’s fault, and if it is, it’ll be damn hard to prove.
Two questions:
For what amount was the package insured?
Was the package shipped via a service that requires the recipient’s signature?
Step by step:
If the Tracking says “Delivered” then the seller is not obligated to do anything more at this point. However, they can always go the extra mile to contact USPS, file a claim, etc. Someone could have paid for insurance and prevented the entire issue. Who pays for insurance depends on how the two worked it out in the bartering process. How the seller handles the situation will hint at whether or not they were honest in how they sent the package. Alternatively, the buyer might be claiming it did not arrive when in fact, it did. I would probably believe the more established individual in this situation.
It’s hypothetical and that was all the info I already stated.
No signature, no insurance. Just an example.
I could have said 5.00 or 5000.00.
I just did an actual trade of 19 PSA 10 cards for 19 PSA 10 cards. We both shipped with no sig and no insurance. So it’s not that unusual.
I’m interested in your responses of “how should it be settled?”. I don’t think any of the replies above answered that.
Both tracked packages show arrived but yours is gone.
How should it be handled?
This is not ebay…private deal.
Pokephd did says contact other person to work out a deal but my question is how should it be worked out?
I think you could hold the postal service liable for theft / an investigation… but… you can’t prove or disprove it was sent empty or not…
And you don’t have the middle man fantastic-ness of pay-pal to say, hey, you don’t like your shit, here’s a full refund no questions asked.
Essentially you’re screwed without signature/insurance etc. I had a $100 package never arrive from the UK late last year. The guys tracking wouldn’t work for me and Paypal ended up refunding me, not sure if they took the hit or not but the guy seemed reasonable and I believe he sent it.
I had to schedule a redelivery. I forgot to put out the signed card. USPS web site showed it delivered. I called the 800 number, they said it was delivered. I thought I was out. This was Thursday. Saturday I went the local office, they had it.
Here’s how I would settle it w/no insurance and without going to the post office and filing a claim. In keeping with the OP, assuming the package delivered to you is the one that is missing and you are telling the truth.
First, let the other party know sooner rather than later, but without sounding accusatory. EX: “Tracking shows it was delivered today, but the package isn’t in my mailbox.” Check the other party’s social media and see if your traded item ever shows up there, or on eBay. If it does, you’ve been screwed. If it doesn’t and they seem to have genuinely sent it:
Second, go to the Post Office. Give them the tracking number and beg for help. Keep going back.
Assuming at this point the item is considered lost, nothing has worked to get it, etc.
Third, speak with the other party and lay out your story. EX “As soon as I realized I didn’t have it, I did x, y, and z to try to find the package.” After that, you can ask them if they could give you some percentage of the value of the package back.
The other party has no obligation to give you anything, assuming the package was truly lost and not insured. However, I know my conscience would rest easier if I gave the person something to compensate for their lost item. It’s just the nice thing to do and will foster a good future relationship that could lead to more (hopefully) successful trades.
Finally an answer lol. Thanks star.
Anybody else?
The last comment made a great point about refunding part of the “lost package”. I would only do a trade like this with someone I trusted and would give the benefit of doubt in this situation.
All other trades would have invloved a minimum $1000 PayPal trade to be refunded. I would have called PayPal after a week and opened a case. Let the case sit beyond a reasonable doubt & let PayPal refund the money.
Paypal has bent the rules several times in my favor when situations come up (no eBay involved). I would expect the same in this scenario. A large part of this is probably due to my long history and thousands in yearly revenue they get from me.
I’ve had a package delivered 8 months late before. Seller issued a refund after a month and swore it left his house. It was the oddest shipping experience simply to not knowing why it was so late. The package had the original postmark date.
“Steal” $1000 of supplies from the post office that lost your package to recoup your losses. Ig might be a lot of envelopes but you shoukd.be able to get there in a couple of years if you take a few at a time… Lol… Just spitballin here.
Lol
If you want to be totally black and white about it. The person who sent you the cards really owes you nothing. It is not any fault of their’s that your package went missing, their responsibility for the package ended when they lodged it at the post office, especially considering that you both sent without insurance/signature.
However I don’t think it’s a strictly black and white issue. Let’s use your example of a $1000 for $1000 trade. Perhaps ask for $500 of cards back from them so you both shoulder the burden of the lost package but aren’t completely screwed over. If they agreed to something like that I’d remember them and do my best to be generous and accommodating to them for future trades/sales.
That actually makes sense if you think of it as the two people involved in the trade being responsible together for $2000 of the total amount of product involved. Half of the amount is not accounted for regardless of which half it is the loss should be shared equally. Granted you know they are not scamming you
Well put.
So you’d feel the same if the other guy said he didn’t get your package even though tracking said it arrived?
Lol I would like to see what paypal’s resolution centre would say about that.
and Gary… why do you raise these threads!! it’s so scary thinking this might happen, someone will send me an empty box, and then get away with it!! arhhh >.<
Speaking from the perspective of the other person this is where it really gets in the territory of not being black and white. Have I dealt with this person before? If I had trust in this person then I’d be more likely to agree to something like I suggested if I was the one who had to give up half of my trade.
If I hadn’t dealt with this person before and they are not a well known person in the community(unable to get character references from other people) then I’d be a lot less likely to offer a compromise, since I am naturally skeptical and cynical.
Gary, it would be easier for us to offer opinions if you state from the beginning that it’s a hypothetical. Otherwise, we’re trying to gather facts that don’t exist.
I asked the questions about declared value and signature confirmation because knowing the answers would have allowed me to assist you further.
Instead, I find my inquiry ignored because it didn’t give “an answer.”
If I knew this wasn’t a real situation, I wouldn’t have even bothered.
SMH