I sold a few things on eBay this week. One of them was an amp head, which was sold for spares and repair and only fetched £100 or so. I really didn't want to ship it but foolishly added that as an option and of course the person who bought it paid by Paypal and paid the shipping price so I then had to send it. It was very well packed and insured, but the package must have been dropped heavily because on arrival the chassis had sheared clean out of its wooden case.
Buyer is now sending me passive-aggressive messages on eBay asking if we can reach an "amicable" settlement, which will basically involve me giving him back some of the pittance that he paid for the bloody thing in the first place. Question is -- am I obliged to reach a settlement with him before I find out whether the couriers will accept liability?
This is all a lot more trouble than it's worth, and I am seriously tempted to refund him all the money on condition that he sends me photographic evidence of him destroying the bastard thing with fire.
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do you have pics of before it was packed and sent...other wise the courier will just say that’s how it was sent.
Assuming you have a good rep already, personally I would offer some refund and let him keep it or sell again as spares, these thing happen...has he got a good rep?
Move on..
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The shipping company is your problem not his so he should get his money sorted before yours.
I don't know the answer to that, but in case you are being scammed (and it bothers you), then I'd hold off on negotiations until the insurers have seen photos of the packaging and damage and made some initial assessment.
However, if your not a stubborn bugger like me i'd suggest you get some images of the damaged goods, pay the man so he's happy and then make your claim with the courier. Even if you don't get it you'd have to pay for postage both ways and that probably equates to 30/40% refund!
He cant report damage before signing for it if there's none apparent.
Makes me laugh, if someone on here received a smashed up amp, there wouldn't be any talk of a partial refund from the seller.
FWIW, given that not a massive amount of money is involved, I would be tempted to just tell your buyer to send it back and give him a refund.
He's bought an amp for parts or repair, presumably it didn't work before you sent it, and it still doesn't work now. The damage in transit is probably easily repairable (I assume just the head shell is damaged and not the chassis itself) and in any case would be difficult to estimate the compensation for damage on a non-working amp.
In the same situation I just couldn't be doing with the hassle of any other outcome. Even the thought that he's dropped the amp after unpacking it and has tried to make a cheeky claim of damage in transit would be enough for me to stick the two fingers up and deny him his compensation and the amp.
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Bit of trading feedback here.
The onus is very much on you to make a claim against the courier. For this I would ask the buyer for pictures and a statement to substantiate the claim you’ll have to make.
Given the costs involved in having the amp shipped back, it might be best to give him a partial refund and raise a claim with the courier. Otherwise you’ll at least be shouldering the return cost and be left with a box of broken amp bits again.
If you don't do that you will most likely be forced into paying for it to be sent back again, and then you're two lots of courier fees down for an amp which is now even more knackered than it was.
It's a near certainty the couriers won't accept liability so it's not worth wasting your time pursuing it if they say no. They usually have specific exclusions for musical instruments and electrical items.
On the bright side, the worst you can be out of pocket is £100...
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How does that make him a twat?
You wont get a penny from the courier and without photographs prior to the box being sent/collected you can’t prove a thing.
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A partial refund or a return would be the only course of action.
It sucks I know. I’ve had to do a few partial refunds because of it.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein