What would you do?
 

So I sold a rangefinder on another forum. Quick easy sale or so I thought. When it arrived at the buyers house the box was crushed and a crack in the plastic on the rangefinder. I packed it in shipping popcorn and airbags so assumed it would be fine. When I posted the add I put shipping on me but insurance on the buyer. He never requested insurance. Well the buyer said he’ll keep the rangefinder but wants me to refund half the purchase price. I feel bad it happened but don’t think I should have to refund any cash. What’s everyone’s take on this? Also worried that if I don’t do as he says he’ll give me a negative rating.
Thanks guys

Assuming the buyer sent pics of the mangled box, and you still have no guarantee they didn't mangle the box.

They declined insurance, so their problem. Ins is cheap! Too bad they didn't spring for it.
And that's also assuming you packed it well for shipping.

Protect yourself by taking photos or even uninterrupted video while packing the item. Make some obvious marks and tape patterns and then it will be obvious that its that same package when you drop it at Canada Post and take other photos at handover.

I'd not take liability on a shippers error. Then again I've never shipped anything of value without insurance, its mandatory for me. Canada Post ineptitude or outright vandalism is not my financial problem and I insure the item for replacement cost plus a PITA payback factor should I ever have to jump through such hoops, not for what the $$ transaction was.

Tough call. Depends how much you care about your trader rating.

I won't ship without insurance. If the buyer won't pay it doesn't get sold just for this type of circumstance.

If he wants to keep it then there's nothing functionally wrong with it, a cosmetic blemish is not a half-off situation on already-used, already-depreciated equipment. Screenshot his messages to provide to site admin if he wants to skunk you with a bad rating based on his wanting the unit for half price. It sounds all kinds of fishy to me. Perhaps offer a full refund for the item returned or nothing at all, and that's only if he's a long standing member with a trader rating over 10. Actions like that erode ones confidence in the person, I'd be leery of even sending him the refund as I'd not really trust him to return ship.

I would assume if the item was advertised FOB, and if the buyer acknowledged the item was purchased FOB....then the buyer would have no claim if the item was either lost or damaged. Personally, no insurance in the sale agreement, no sale.

How did you ship it and what service level? Canada post offers up to $100 insurance on some levels. You could put in a claim for $100 assuming you can do so. Offer to put in the claim then refund that money to the seller once the claim is processed.
If you offered insurance and the seller declined in writing then I would not feel obligated to refund any money out of my pocket.

Real easy too.
If there is issues then there is insurance but if you just chuck it in the mail well....it might become a soccer ball at the warehouse during break time :scared0015:

Thanks for the replies guys. You have given me a lot of info for furture sales and purchases. I will probably just Send the cash to him and lesson learned. I did think I was shipping with the $100 from Canada post and the clerk asked if I wanted extra insurance. Said no to the extra figuring the $100 would be good enough. Well it was shipped regular package with no insurance so SOL on that as well.
Guess lesson learned and move on.
Thanks again

He’s is responsible since he declined insurance.

Sounds like your packing was reasonable, and not just thrown in a box.

There is no way you should be reimbursing half that price. If you sent that my way and that happened, the lesson learned would be I should be buying insurance.
The suggestions made here will definitely help us all in future selling situations, but that buyer needs to learn a lesson and I don’t want to deal with them

I hear yha CF

Lots of good points offered when shipping.

Purhaps a person needs to let buyers know that extra shipping costs my occur when it's time to send the package.

Include this in the for sale add, that way both parties can agree on the final price of item for sale, and who is in-charge of extra costs of shipping.

Yes, lots of photos of item before being packaged, photos of packing, and the final photos at post office.

Ask the buyer to take and send photos when receiving the package at thier end if the box looks damaged in any way, then the both of you can easily sort this out with the shipping company.

I've been in this exact situation (but not off of AOF) and it is a bad situation but the buyer is responsible.

:thinking-006: would you be happy if it came to you in that condition .I think not

The buyer is not solely responsible he paid for a product then it got damaged in shipping so they need pictures

like stated go to the shipping company and work it out if he doesn't want to give pictures then I would say forget it .Good luck hope it turns out for you

a little reverse on this, the other side of the story as they always say;

you bought a hunting/camping/fishing/archery related widget and it arrived broken. You come on here saying you feel slighted. The roar from the members will be to leave bad feedback so nobody else experiences this from the seller, which is exactly what the feedback forum is for.

Difficult answer to an easy question, should it be sent without insurance. How much was insurance, $3.00 for the extra $100 coverage?

At the end of the day you have to do what lets you sleep at night. Comfortably without shakes sweats or nightmares. Some guys could rob from their grandmother and sleep like babies, we have seen them here!
I do not think that is you.

I had this same situation happen to me.
I sold a compound bow to a guy, insurance and shipping costs on him, he declined insurance.
I packed bow and shipped out.
He got it and the quiver was broken during transport.
I refunded him the $100 cost of the quiver, as I believe it may have been from me not packing properly, I could not be sure, but the $100 was not worth the argument to me. So I know i could have said to bad you should have bought insurance, but it was $100 and I didn`t want the bad rating.

I wouldn't care how it arrived as I'm a grown man with the common sense to pay the pennies on the dollar insurance when buying items unseen off of the internets.

I ask if they want insurance. I then pack stuff judiciously and take pics throughout the process. I take a pic when the item is being handed over to Canada Post on their scale. I take a pic of the shipping label affixed to the parcel. Lastly I take a pic of the receipt with tracking # and any insurance they purchased or lack thereof. I text them to the buyer as soon as I leave the post office and sit in my truck. I wish them good luck and tell them I've enjoyed dealing with them. At that point, if the parcel is damaged it is beyond all reasonable control on my part and they can pound sand if they try and play games with me. I am no longer involved in the deal.

I don't offer the option of insurance, I insure all products that I sell, and if the buyer doesn't want to pay for insurance, I don't sell to that buyer. I did have one stock broken by Canada Post, and insurance prevented this type of headache.

Did Canada Post honor their insurance? I have heard they are terrible to deal with trying to get money out of them.

Yup I like how that sounds. And if they raise a ruckus wouldn't it be worth the extra few dollars to send a bag of sand? Lol :sHa_shakeshout:

It says quite a bit about someone's character that they would demand half the money back from you when they were offered and then declined insurance.

When the buyer received the package (you said the box was crushed),he should have refused it, to avoid liability of being the one who caused the damage to the item. Accepting (and opening) the package puts the onus on him. I don't think you owe him anything.

It sounds fishy to me. Unless you were a business I’d say tuff luck! There are too many variables and having a package crushed that bad or to the point the object gets damaged the way you packed it I would say is a small risk of happening by the post office. He probably dropped it while unpacking the box and possibly a dishonest person.

Was staying in a campsite south of Calgary witnessed a Canadian post employee throwing packages all the way into the front of back of the 5 ton truck without ever stepping foot in it. Carboard Boxes and totes. Take pictures of packing before and the buyer should have taken pictures of it upon receiving it.

If it was not shipped via Canada post then the shipping company it was shipped through should still be responsible.


Many years ago had a ring shipped to me via Canada post while I was posted on a military based from a old girlfriend. Ring was stolen. no insurance. ate the cost of ring that was stolen.

So from a legal perspective, as the vendor you are responsible up to the point the package is received in good order by the vendor. Canada post will not deal with the recipient of a parcel, only the shipper in case of loss or damage. The recipient has no standing. How you choose to do that is your issue but you cannot avoid the liability. If he takes you to small claims he will win for sure.

That is why I sell everything priced including shipping and insurance to the buyer. I calculate the cost to ship, fully insured and add that to the asking price. With guns, Signature is mandatory, it is illegal to ship without it, so I add that cost as well. Solves all the arguments as I would never sell anything worth more than $100 without additional insurance to cover loss or damage. Insured stuff also goes missing far less often than uninsured.

So heard back from Canada Post...I guess it’s my fault or the clerk misunderstood me. I alway ship expedited so I have at least the $100 insurance. When the clerk asked “if I wanted insurance” I side no the $100 is good enough but she sent it regular post with no insurance so I am SOL with them but they will refund the postage.
I ended up sending the buyer the $100 and first part of his reply was “I will leave you positive feedback now” . So I guess that’s a plus but it’s been 3 days and still hasn’t posted feedback.
Well it’s a lesson learned...the hard way lol.
Thanks for all the help and tips to avoid this in the furture

Cheers

what kind of rangefinder is it? some have no question asked replacement like Vortex or Leupold.. just a thought??