From what I gather, if you use the GSP through eBay, then you only have to get the correct item to the Global Shipping Center successfully. From that point on, any claims of non-receipt, damage, or the incorrect item being received is on the GSC, not on you.
“For eBay Money Back Guarantee cases in which eBay determines that a GSP item sold by you was damaged or not received by your buyer, eBay will review the case to determine whether you or Pitney Bowes should be responsible for the damage or non-delivery. In general, you will be responsible under the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy for the loss of, or damage to, a GSP item until it is accepted at the Global Shipping Center or if the item has been returned to you from the Global Shipping Center. For example, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you will be held responsible for eBay Money Back Guarantee cases (whether or not a GSP item can be repackaged or returned to you) where eBay finds that: +. A GSP item that you sold was not received at the Global Shipping Center.”
So, if you are going to ship internationally and don’t want to risk getting scammed, use the GSP. I know most people hate the GSP, especially buyers, but as long as you get the item to the GSC, you should no longer be liable.
Ukraine and such. The issue with the GSP is that ebay could just claim that the item was damaged before it arrived. They wouldn’t know either way as they don’t inspect everything. I’ve had a lot of issues with ebay. If there were other platforms other than ebay I would prefer them, but as nothing else really exist that people here use I’m stuck with ebay.
The GSP has 0% issues for the seller. Trust me. They have never claimed any issue from me and I honestly don’t think they even open it to inspect the item most the time. I used to struggle with international issues until I switched to GSP. Tons of people love to complain about it, but they are the vocal minority. Almost 1/3 to 1/2 of my auctions sell international even though they pay a large GSP fee. Takes all my risk away and I don’t have to fill out anything for forms as I am only shipping to KY. 10/10 would recommend.
You can be quite selective to which countries you ship to. You’re missing a few customers by not shipping to at least Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia,etc…
I understand your concerns though. I currently have a 0 feedback bidder from Finland on an auction I have up and I hope they don’t win. lol
@gottaketchumall They do seem to open all packages I’ve received so far, but I doubt they do much of a thorough inspection. I don’t like it, but for me customs is 15%(plus like $10 fees) so it’s sometimes cheaper paying Pitney Bowes/Ebay than taking that risk, plus there’s just no other options sometimes.
Taking pictures or recording video of the packaging means nothing to ebay, they dont accept either.
I was scammed like this before, buyer sent different card back. Of course paypal sided with them.
By complete miracle I appealed the case, told them the seller sent different item and they gave me my money back. From my understanding paypal actually pays out of their own pocket for appeals,so the scammer still does not get punished.
My item was just a $40 card, I’d imagine they wont make it easy to appeal a $400 case. It’s horrible but that what we sign up for when we agree to ebay’s selling terms.
I since then turned off international buyers as well.
I had a seller provide an incorrect return address for a card I needed to return, to the tune of $450. The card was rerouted really strangely in the tracking (which eventually stopped updating at all) and the package was returned to me opened and empty. The seller would not respond to any messages from me, and they also did not respond to any messages from eBay. I believe they got their card back because I saw a very, very, very similar one listed from the same small city in Virginia shortly after the case wrapped up. My refund was not from the seller as it is normally forced to be- the refund was a direct payment from eBay/PayPal. Such a shame that some scammers go through this trouble, honestly. It wasted over a month of my time and tied up some cash for no reason.
Dang if you had used it, I would say you had yourself covered. I don’t ship outside of the country without it. It seems like a near-unbeatable safety net to me.
Update:
Buyer 1 (mickeyisgay125) had said he was out of town until Dec 10 when I asked for pictures, likely because at that time the PSA 8 Charizard was not delivered yet.
Well the Buyer 2 (justmejes1) messaged me saying this on Dec. 4, PSA 8 Charizard was delivered to him Dec. 1:
“Hi dear seller,
You might have sent the wrong card to me.
As I’m getting this card for my son as a surprise birthday present for him.
Instead of getting a colored charizard card. I got a white charizard.
He previously told him he wanted this card. Is it possible for you to check and i will send it back to you for the exchange.
Thank you so muchhh. Cheers.”
I asked for a picture, which I haven’t received yet.
This was the first message I was sent from Buyer 1 on Nov. 29 after the PSA 10 Charizard had been delivered to him Nov. 27:
“Hi I think you might have send me the wrong card cause the card I received is the one from evolution”
He is making effort in trying to create a story that will sound believable to the idiots working at Ebay most likely. But to me it is a very suspicious looking message… Also I checked both ebay accounts feedback and they both have only sold Gamestop pokemon codes over a year ago, clearly these accounts are either the same person or working together.
Hopefully I have enough evidence when the buyers decide to open up SNAD cases, and Ebay sees through their bullshit as it is pretty obvious to me. Although I could still see Ebay siding with the buyers anyway since I’ve heard they love to do that. FML.
Inform eBay/Paypal about them. If they find out that both buyers are using the same IP, the case will be closed in your favor.
If it turns out that they aren’t using the same IP address, it’s still possible to close the case in your favor, it just depends on who’s reviewing your case and which rep you’re talking to.
If they are the same person (which it appears to be so), how are they using 2 different addresses? A physical address and PO box address? His friend or family address?
