Postal Insurance For Ebay Items

[spacecaps]

Here's a learning experience incase any of you haven't had to go through this before... Last week I sold a lot of LJN D&D figures for $200 (it was a BIG lot) and shipped it out insured. It arrived on Saturday and the buyer, nice guy, emailed me and said two of the best pieces, Nightmare & Dragoone, broke in shipping. Today I went to the post to see what I had to do. If this had been one item that I sent and broke during shipping it would be an easy fix but since it's a lot,it's a headache. First the buyer has to take everything (packaging, broken, and unbroken items) all to the post and show them what happened. From there they'll give him a write up which he'll send to me. When I get the write up, I have to take that along with my claim ticket to the post office. BUT since it's a lot of items and not everything broke I have to give them an itemized list of things that were damaged along with proof of value of those items. In other words I have to provide the Post Office with completed auction printouts of examples of these figures showing what they've sold for in the past as proof of value. In addition to that, I have to provide a paypal receipt showing how much the buyer paid for the lot. They'll then give me a refund based on the value of the lot and on the figures that were damaged. So if the combined total value of the figures is $20, then thats all I'll get back. Now on a side note the two figures that arrived broken don't usually sell more than $15 a piece yet there are two completed auctions where they somehow sold for $50 and $35. Obviously, I would use those so thats a way around the system. Additionally there's nothing preventing someone that already has these items broken, winning a lot and claiming damage to the figures when all they're doing is switching out theirs for the good ones. (Not saying that's the case here but it could happen) In the end the whole process will take about a month. A few weeks ago I got burned by not insuring a package that was lost in the mail. Now I started insuring all my packages and I still get burned. Bottom line is insurance does very little for you if you sell something in a lot and only some of it gets damaged. I haven't heard back from the buyer yet but in the end I offered him $35 which is the value of what it would cost to replace these two figures by purchasing them separately on ebay because it's way easier to do it like that than dealing with the insurance circus. I really hope he take it....

[ddgaff1132]

I hate to ask this as I dont want to upset you. Was it a packing issue or was it just poor handling on USPS part? I've got burned by USPS in the past when they lost a package I sent out. But Luckily Most of my stuff arrived unharmed. I pack most of it like I assume a Mentally Impaired Bi-polar Gorilla is gonna be handling it.

[toys2cool]

yea I've been thru it before, the post office is usually good about claims...now UPS and Fed ex is a different story, those people are a joke

[spacecaps]

I hate to ask this as I dont want to upset you. Was it a packing issue or was it just poor handling on USPS part? I've got burned by USPS in the past when they lost a package I sent out. But Luckily Most of my stuff arrived unharmed. I pack most of it like I assume a Mentally Impaired Bi-polar Gorilla is gonna be handling it.

It's a good question. The stuff was packed well with lots of peanuts. Half the figures in the lot acted as packing material anyway since they were solid rubber to begin with. If your familiar with the LJN Dungeons and Dragons line, LJN used that thin plastic on some of the figures, like Hook Horror, (similar to what they did with the Gremlins 13" Stripe figure) and over time, it became notoriously brittle. Now when it left here, everything was fine and there was no sign of this at all but who knows how it was handled in transit. One bad drop could have fractured the figures. It's just a hassle when selling toys in a lot because of the breakdown of value for each piece. If it were just the one item, it would have been a case of I shipped this and it broke in transit, here's the packaging it broke in, I'd like to file a claim.

Just to follow up the buyer did take my refund of $35 and we called it a day since he wanted the figures and I wanted to avoid the hassle. I guess if I had pursued the insurance angle, he would have gotten a few more bucks back and I would not have been out any cash but in the end it was just easier to do it this way.

To be honest, I really couldn't believe the lot sold for what it went for in the first place since most of that line is worthless with the exception of a few pieces (Tiamat was not in the lot). It was probably a matter of quantity that drove the price up but even with the $35 loss, I'm still happy with what I got for it. Lesson learned though.

[NewForce]

yea I've been thru it before, the post office is usually good about claims...now UPS and Fed ex is a different story, those people are a joke

really? UPS is by far the easiest insurance claim to make...one phone call, they mail paperwork, viola, check a week later... under $100 and they don't even waste time inspecting in most cases...the PO is a PITA!!!...inspections, forms, mailings, 6-8 weeks for approval then you have to file just to get paid... a real nightmare in my opinion...

[Seriousin]

really? UPS is by far the easiest insurance claim to make...one phone call, they mail paperwork, viola, check a week later... under $100 and they don't even waste time inspecting in most cases...the PO is a PITA!!!...inspections, forms, mailings, 6-8 weeks for approval then you have to file just to get paid... a real nightmare in my opinion...

About to start selling on eBay again and this is great information to have.

[toys2cool]

really? UPS is by far the easiest insurance claim to make...one phone call, they mail paperwork, viola, check a week later... under $100 and they don't even waste time inspecting in most cases...the PO is a PITA!!!...inspections, forms, mailings, 6-8 weeks for approval then you have to file just to get paid... a real nightmare in my opinion...

yea i filed a claim on a $100 item, biggest mission ever...they kept giving me the run around until I gave up

[Mikey]

I think a lot of it depends on the local postmaster

Mine is a nice lady and anytime I ever had a problem she always took care of it quickly including claiming insurance stuff.

On the other hand in the town that I lived before it was run by a young 25 year old snot and if I ever had a problem he was nasty to deal with.

[batmanrocks]

I would justoffer the guy a $15.00 refund and try and avoid the headache, the post office is a nightmare, for all you'll go through i would see if the buyer would accept a $15.00 refund