Who is responsible for something stolen in the mail?

amother

Orange

Mon, Aug 01 2016, 3:41 pm

Lets say I order a package on ebay with no insurance, and I never get it , or I get it in an open package with item missing, who takes the loss? Buyer or seller?

I am asking because I happen to be in the middle of a debate on both ends.. I just put in a complaint to ebay about a seller not returning it and ebay made them return it and then on the other side of the coin, I work for a company, who gives buyers a choice of mailing with insurance (for more money) and the policy is that it's the person's problem , but I always feel wrong with that (why should someone pay for something they don't benefit from ?)

What would you do?

amother

Beige

Tue, Aug 02 2016, 3:21 pm

a google search seems to say the seller is responsible for the item while it is transit. It seems logical as well. Why should the buyer be responsible for something that they never received and for all we know the seller might have made a mistake shipping, such as wrong address.

Amarante

Tue, Aug 02 2016, 3:28 pm

Legally it is the recipients burden if package is lost as risk of loss passes to the buyer or recipient when a package is placed in the hands of the shipper or Post Office.

Practically most sellers cover the loss of loss for good will. I assume large commercial shippers cover it in the cost of shipping which is generally more than actually shipping costs especially when I buy from places which base shipping on the cost of goods rather than weight and distance.

When I have sold items, I always get tracking which prevents someone claiming an item wasn't received. If something was very fragile or extremely valuable, I get insurance but my shipping charges might not cover all costs because if someone has bought something from me that is profitable or whatever, I am more likely to cover all costs of shipping. It depends on what makes sense as some people like to hondel on prices and others like free shipping or a combination with a discount. Mostly I self insure since I have lost no items kinehora and if I did lose something, my savings in not paying for insurance for all the other packages ,ages economic sense. However, as I stated I do occasionally insure when an item is very expensive or fragile.

EBAY is completely unique because of the rules that EBAY has which favor buyers and most people who sell in EBAY will take a hit rather than risk a low rating. Also PayPal freezes money if there is a dispute anyway. If I were shipping EBAY items, I would definitely unsure because there are a lot of goniff buyers who take advantage as I've heard terrible stories.

shacn

Tue, Aug 02 2016, 6:08 pm

It is the sellers fault for not purchasing the proper insurance, though I'm not sure how she shipped it back but priority mail includes $50 or $100 of insurance if you call the post office but that in itself is a huge pain to do. Sometimes if u bug ebay enough they'll give in to both sides and credit both sides.