Ebay selling/Paypal/Insurance Question

[mightbe]

I've sold a high dollar card recently. It's going to Canada and the buyer wants to be able to track it but doesn't want insurance because of the customs hit. So, since he's not opting for insurance, am I covered if I can prove that I sent it through USPS? Or if it gets lost on the way there would I be screwed? I'd have the guy write me an email claiming responsibility in case that something goes wrong since he's not taking insurance, but I don't know how much stuck Ebay/Paypal would place in that.

[Bigblue]

You could get hosed...Normally tracking does not continue through to Canada.

I'm not sure about Signature Confirmation, but that would be a good option, if it's possible.

You could purchase the insurance yourself too...this was you'd be covered through the post office at least. Paypal wouldn't give you your money back, from what I have heard.

[mightbe]

Well, I wouldn't mind paying for the insurance on my own, but I'd think it's a problem if I insure for its true value and declare at the low amount the buyer wants so he doesn't get charged outrageously by customs.

[wyomedina]

I've sold a high dollar card recently. It's going to Canada and the buyer wants to be able to track it but doesn't want insurance because of the customs hit. So, since he's not opting for insurance, am I covered if I can prove that I sent it through USPS? Or if it gets lost on the way there would I be screwed? I'd have the guy write me an email claiming responsibility in case that something goes wrong since he's not taking insurance, but I don't know how much stuck Ebay/Paypal would place in that.

Here is my recent experience if it helps. One of my buddies and I hit a "The Cup" Carey Price 1/1 Plate auto that we sold for $500. The buyer was from Canada. We wanted to be able to insure the card and still track it. USPS registered mail would track it, but would only insure it for $50. USPS Priority Mail International would track it and insure it for what we asked, plus it was signature confirmation. USPS Priority International to Canada plus sig confirmation and insurance cost =$28. The tracking by USPS is to the border. Once it hits Canada there is a new site which I can't remember but it shows the tracking thru whatever the Canadian post office is.

Here was our problem:

We thought we did everything right with tracking and insurance. Well we insured the card for $500 and we had tracking. The card arrived 3 days later but the buyer refused to sign for the card because he had to pay $70 in customs fees. He wanted us to put on the customs form that the card was a "gift" and only worth $25. We were to afraid to put that information on the customs form since the card was worth $500. The card sat in the Canadian post office for 3 weeks. Once the card was shipped back to us for non delivery, the buyer filed a paypal claim saying he never received the card.

We kept all of the emails from the buyer saying he refused to pick it up because of the customs fees but Paypal refused to recognize them because emails from a buyer aren't considered evidence since they can be changed. Anyway, we got the card back but paypal ruled in favor of the buyer and we had to refund his money even though he held us hostage for 3 weeks by not signing for the card.

To answer your question. USPS priority international with sig confirmation is the the only way to track and insure. You can send it registered mail but you can only insure up to $50. As far as the customs form goes I have no idea. IF your honest and say what the card sold for then the buyer might refuse to pick up because of the fees. But if you lie and say the card is only worth $20 but you insure it for $500 might be a risk worth taking. I honestly don't know. I help this somewhat helps.

[jayk1998]

First, high dollar cards shipped to Canada (or anywhere internationally) should go UPS or FedEx, in my opinion. It never changes hands that way, and for high dollar stuff it's worth the extra cost.

Second, if a Canadian doesn't want to pay customs, he shouldn't be buying high dollar cards from the States. Period. I'm not going to put my property or money at risk to allow a Canadian to shaft his own government. If someone made that request of me, I'd cancel the sale and relist.

[mightbe]

First, high dollar cards shipped to Canada (or anywhere internationally) should go UPS or FedEx, in my opinion. It never changes hands that way, and for high dollar stuff it's worth the extra cost.

Second, if a Canadian doesn't want to pay customs, he shouldn't be buying high dollar cards from the States. Period. I'm not going to put my property or money at risk to allow a Canadian to shaft his own government. If someone made that request of me, I'd cancel the sale and relist.

Well, the guy had just told me how he usually does it but was by no means demanding and we worked everything out quite amicably.

I've had people flat out tell me that they wouldn't accept delivery of the card if they would have to pay too much. You need to be careful when using Fedex and UPS as unless you have the buyer's Fedex/UPS account # YOU get charged the customs fees.

[iluvfish2]

Even with the Fedex Account you can be charged the fees, at times is easier for them that way...been tagged that way as well. But the info you've seen is correct. However insuring it for 500 and claiming say 50 is ok (while illegal in all aspects) you would still be covered because it covers the replacement cost of the item and you'd have the auction sheet showing the actual purchase price. One potential way around this would be to say you sell the card and accidentally your wife willed out the customs form (or vise versa)....somehow a "0" got missed?

[mwdonald]

I just had a Ultimate rookies Carey Price BGS 9.5 sent to me (in Canada) from a guy in Florida. He insisted on using FedEx to ship it and charged $40 as the shipping fee. I was fine with that. What I was worried about was the duty/tax/brokerage fees that FedEx charges. I told the seller this. I received the card 3 days later and had to pay 17.61. The seller declared the total value of the package to be $100 (even when the card was worth $700). Based on FedEx's calculations, I would had to have paid $68 if the seller declared the full amount. Clearly the 68 plus the original 40 is unacceptable. I'm not sure I would have accepted the package if I had to pay an extra 70 on top of the original 40. I didn't see how much the package was insured for. On the sellers side, at least any issues would have been covered for PayPal because Fedex was used. Personally, I'd be fine with sending a package through FedEx to the US and not declaring the full amount to save the seller the outrageous fees. When I sell some of my high end cards I will probably experiment with this.