Buyer beware

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Jeffs55

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Sep 3, 2021
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GA, United States
I have sold literally hundreds of items on ebay and Gunbroker, seller name jeffs55. I always insure the item against loss or damage. If the customer does not get a perfect item then I reimburse them FIRST and file a claim. I do not always win on a claim filing but no customer has ever lost a cent, I do. That is the way I do business but at least two people on this site do not see it that way. I know because I was contemplating buying items and asked them their policy. Their policy was to file a claim and collect or not but NOT to reimburse the customer. That is fine and it is/was up to me to find that out before buying. I did not buy. The last told me that I should by "new" from a dealer. What has that got to do with anything? What he should have said was that I should buy from a reputable source. Both the people above have great feedback but that is just luck that no one has lost from them.

Thanx
Jeff
 
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Jeffs55 said:
I have sold literally hundreds of items on ebay and Gunbroker, seller name jeffs55. I always insure the item against loss or damage. If the customer does not get a perfect item then I reimburse them FIRST and file a claim. I do not always win on a claim filing but no customer has ever lost a cent, I do. That is the way I do business but at least two people on this site do not see it that way. I know because I was contemplating buying items and asked them their policy. Their policy was to file a claim and collect or not but NOT to reimburse the customer. That is fine and it is/was up to me to find that out before buying. I did not buy. The last told me that I should by "new" from a dealer. What has that got to do with anything? What he should have said was that I should buy from a reputable source. Both the people above have great feedback but that is just luck that no one has lost from them.

Thanx
Jeff
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As a large crane parts person I deal with claims constantly. All of our vendors file claims (or tell us to) with the shipping company, the shipping company then reimburses us or doesn't. Kudos to you for being outstanding in how you operate , however, at least in my experience, 99% of vendors/sellers operate the other way.
 
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Would you believe that many years ago I shipped a handgun valued and insured for nearly $1000. I am not a FFL dealer but I paid a FFL dealer to put his return address on the package. Therefore it was shipped from a dealer. Fedex lost or stole the package in Ponca City OK. They scanned it delivered and they delivered it to the wrong address. They initially denied that claim and they said the gun was not shipped from a dealer. I proved it was shipped from a dealer and they paid the claim. I am also not saying the two people I mentioned did anything wrong. They did not lie or misrepresent themselves. They are simply in it for themselves and it is up to each potential buyer to caveat emptor. Buyer beware, ask all kinds of questions. The on fellow told me I should buy new from a store. In essence he said that since I cannot be held accountable, you should not buy from me. I agree. I did not mention names as they did nothing disreputable. Even if I bought from them and my item was lost, unless they led me to believe they would cover loss or damage they still did nothing wrong. Another time I bought from a seller on here with a good track record. The gun arrived and the trigger may or may not work and an air gauge was broken. I should have asked does the trigger work and is anything broken. I did not. To his credit he told me that he probably messed up the trigger which did not help me at all. He even sent me a new air pressure gauge. I got the gun fixed as it was still under warranty with FX. He was a reputable man. He didn't like, he just left out some details.
 
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hawkeye69 said:
Shipping is a real pain now, there is a reluctance or outright refusal to ship airguns, packing and shipping costs are high, plus all carriers frequently deny insurance claims. For a scope or smaller items okay maybe, but I'll be trying to sell airguns locally.
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Compare pricing here with whoever you normally use. https://ship.pirateship.com/ I had good luck the one time I used them. They do NOT do Fedex but the UPS price was nearly half what it would have cost if I had used the UPS website.
 
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I agree with jps2486, seems like insurance in any form is a money scam. Paying out money you will never recover because if you file a claim, they raise your rate and everyone else's to get it back. Also agree with Jeffs55 on the buyer having to be diligent on asking all the details when buying and not assuming the seller knows or remembers everything about what they are selling since many times they purchased it used and sell it because they didn't like it.
 
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jps2486 said:
So what good is the insurance?? Or any insurance, for that matter. Homeowners or auto is the same thing. They don't want to pay.
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Obviously insurance companies would rather collect premiums that pay claims, but I've had n
Jeffs55 said:
Compare pricing here with whoever you normally use. https://ship.pirateship.com/ I had good luck the one time I used them. They do NOT do Fedex but the UPS price was nearly half what it would have cost if I had used the UPS website.
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Thanks I'll check them out.
 
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Jeffs55 said:
Would you believe that many years ago I shipped a handgun valued and insured for nearly $1000. I am not a FFL dealer but I paid a FFL dealer to put his return address on the package. Therefore it was shipped from a dealer. Fedex lost or stole the package in Ponca City OK. They scanned it delivered and they delivered it to the wrong address. They initially denied that claim and they said the gun was not shipped from a dealer. I proved it was shipped from a dealer and they paid the claim. I am also not saying the two people I mentioned did anything wrong. They did not lie or misrepresent themselves. They are simply in it for themselves and it is up to each potential buyer to caveat emptor. Buyer beware, ask all kinds of questions. The on fellow told me I should buy new from a store. In essence he said that since I cannot be held accountable, you should not buy from me. I agree. I did not mention names as they did nothing disreputable. Even if I bought from them and my item was lost, unless they led me to believe they would cover loss or damage they still did nothing wrong. Another time I bought from a seller on here with a good track record. The gun arrived and the trigger may or may not work and an air gauge was broken. I should have asked does the trigger work and is anything broken. I did not. To his credit he told me that he probably messed up the trigger which did not help me at all. He even sent me a new air pressure gauge. I got the gun fixed as it was still under warranty with FX. He was a reputable man. He didn't like, he just left out some details.
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I hate dishonesty. We need a 2A delivery system.. <--- There's a money making op for someone.
 
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Interestingly, anyone wishing to ship a handgun must acquiesce to using FedEx or UPS next day air service. NOT because it is a federal or state law, but because both the major shippers are not much more than snake pits full of thieves. And because they cannot count on their own employees to be honest, they REQUIRE the customer to pay a premium to make sure their package arrives safely.
 
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phillip said:
Interestingly, anyone wishing to ship a handgun must acquiesce to using FedEx or UPS next day air service. NOT because it is a federal or state law, but because both the major shippers are not much more than snake pits full of thieves. And because they cannot count on their own employees to be honest, they REQUIRE the customer to pay a premium to make sure their package arrives safely.
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Yea, shipping insurance 100% scam. We pay for shipping and handling so insurance should be implied not extra.
 
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It is indeed discouraging how many people / companies claim to be cool, but then are not if you dig a little / get to know them.
I think thats also one of the reasons i come off as being quite introvert, as in general i cant really be bothered in any way with people like that, even if i am able to say enjoy a hobby with a person i otherwise have nothing or very little in common with.

Here on the internet i "talk" a whole lot more with people than i would IRL, the screen barrier comfort me and act as sort of a filter, so whatever i see or read, i will not be surprised.

I refuse to accept parcels at the door if they are too dinged up, those they have to take back to some place where i can come and open it supervised, CUZ it did not take much internet shopping to find out that your trust you better not put in the wrong places.

Last time i sold something was in 1988 or there about, when i sold my old Amiga 500 to my friend, and the only things i have ever gotten 2 hand are cars, and there you can also get severely burned even with the okay Danish buyer protection for such things.
 
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I have noticed a cycle of thought on this forum, usually from younger buyers/sellers to more seasoned members. When I was a less experienced seller I had the confusion on how selling “should” work, now that I have the experience I am of the thought that the seller “owns” the package till the buyer has it in the same condition as promised. This is especially confirmed with the seller buying the insurance, has to file the claim and had to do the prep to make the claim pay out. This means, to me, that the seller has this responsibility. So I believe the seller makes the buyer whole and then the seller works through the insurance process. The insurance is for the seller more than the buyer. I have had to reimburse a few times and lost both claims in the end. Yes, didn’t matter how much evidence or pictures I had, usps was never going to approve the claim. Luckily it was never a rifle or more then a few hundred dollars, but still wasn’t the best situation.

I agree, with the price of shipping and packaging and time to ship items is getting harder and harder to even bother selling higher value items at times. Insurance sure does feel like a scam, but in the end I buy it because without there is always 100% chance of no reimbursement, with it at least there is some chance, all be it slim in the end.

I think we come down to what most people always say time and time again, do the work to make contacts in the forum, build relationships, friendship, fellowship. Contact more often then just for a sale. If you do business try and have it be with someone you know or has feedback that you have some knowledge of. Most of us know when someone is selling something you have seen the rifle before, spoke about the experience and enjoyed it with them on the forum. If the person is new, or doesn’t want to fellowship in the forum, has posted 11 times since 2018 and decides to sell higher dollar items, most likely I will pass regardless if I am looking to buy that item or not. Usually will have the opportunity with patience to buy from someone I know eventually. That’s the best insurance.
 
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coyotegod said:
I have noticed a cycle of thought on this forum, usually from younger buyers/sellers to more seasoned members. When I was a less experienced seller I had the confusion on how selling “should” work, now that I have the experience I am of the thought that the seller “owns” the package till the buyer has it in the same condition as promised. This is especially confirmed with the seller buying the insurance, has to file the claim and had to do the prep to make the claim pay out. This means, to me, that the seller has this responsibility. So I believe the seller makes the buyer whole and then the seller works through the insurance process. The insurance is for the seller more than the buyer. I have had to reimburse a few times and lost both claims in the end. Yes, didn’t matter how much evidence or pictures I had, usps was never going to approve the claim. Luckily it was never a rifle or more then a few hundred dollars, but still wasn’t the best situation.

I agree, with the price of shipping and packaging and time to ship items is getting harder and harder to even bother selling higher value items at times. Insurance sure does feel like a scam, but in the end I buy it because without there is always 100% chance of no reimbursement, with it at least there is some chance, all be it slim in the end.

I think we come down to what most people always say time and time again, do the work to make contacts in the forum, build relationships, friendship, fellowship. Contact more often then just for a sale. If you do business try and have it be with someone you know or has feedback that you have some knowledge of. Most of us know when someone is selling something you have seen the rifle before, spoke about the experience and enjoyed it with them on the forum. If the person is new, or doesn’t want to fellowship in the forum, has posted 11 times since 2018 and decides to sell higher dollar items, most likely I will pass regardless if I am looking to buy that item or not. Usually will have the opportunity with patience to buy from someone I know eventually. That’s the best insurance.
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Just skimmed this post but from what I read it is all wrong. If I sell and ship something to a buyer I am the customer to the SHIPPER. The buyer is MY customer. I the seller deal with the shipping company so they make it right with ME. It is MY duty as the SELLER to make it right with MY CUSTOMER the BUYER
 
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Trucker3573 said:
Just skimmed this post but from what I read it is all wrong. If I sell and ship something to a buyer I am the customer to the SHIPPER. The buyer is MY customer. I the seller deal with the shipping company so they make it right with ME. It is MY duty as the SELLER to make it right with MY CUSTOMER the BUYER
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I reread my post to make sure I didn’t type the exactly opposite of what I meant to type and thankfully it seems you basically cliff noted my post. Thank you for agreeing with me! lol. But opinion driven threads with opinion posts are what they are, just opinions. Opinions are like… and we all have one!
 
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coyotegod said:
I reread my post to make sure I didn’t type the exactly opposite of what I meant to type and thankfully it seems you basically cliff noted my post. Thank you for agreeing with me! lol. But opinion driven threads with opinion posts are what they are, just opinions. Opinions are like… and we all have one!
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Sorry man I must have completely mis interpreted what I did read of yours. Lol.
 
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