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I think this problem goes a bit deeper and it is something I have been wondering about. When I send a letter or a package and want to be sure it was received,
by kahawe 14y ago
I think this problem goes a bit deeper and it is something I have been wondering about.
When I send a letter or a package and want to be sure it was received, I can rely on tracking or I can go the extra mile and request a signed return-receipt. Now all I have is confirmation the letter or package was handed over and someone confirmed they got it. They can still claim when they opened it, it was nothing but empty pages or a couple of stones - and there is no proof I actually put an iphone or important documents in there. There is nothing that guarantees both the seller AND the buyer that the actual item was very well in there and it was just as advertised in the auction and there is no easy way to prove it either.
From a legal point of view, how could you solve this? Let a third, independent and reliable party handle the transaction for you? Or do you pay a notary to certify that you actually packaged the iphone and that it's condition is as advertised?
- dexen 14y agoPolish Post Office provides a service solving this very problem: the sender can marked the parcel with ``recipient opens the parcel in presence of mailman before payment and can return it right away without payment if she so wishes'' option. This optional service is quite cheap, at about 10% of general shipment fee methinks. The other downside is that recipient have to pick the parcel, either at doorstep or at the post office; it cannot be left in the mailbox. On polish market, `allegro.pl' -- rather than eBay -- is the dominant auction/garage sale platform, and it is somewhat common to request such option when ordering from sellers without reputation. There is some abuse of this system, but it seems low enough.
- kahawe 14y agoThis sounds fantastic, both the option and allegro. I had a good experience selling someone a quite pricey item with cash-on-delivery and I don't think the buyer would have had much chance to rip me off there; of course as a fraudulent seller you could just send them the above mentioned stones or a cardboard box labeled "macbook pro" (which was prominently done to get back at a scammer).
- shimon_e 14y agoIt's like this in China also plus alipay holds the money in escrow.
- gregpilling 14y agoTIL that the Polish post office offers services that the US Postal Service does not. I wish the USPS had the "Recipient opens" option.
- RyanMcGreal 14y ago> Let a third, independent and reliable party handle the transaction for you? I thought that party was eBay.
- kahawe 14y ago> I thought that party was eBay. Initially you would think so, yes; but they never receive and check the package neither do they actually receive the money, per se, since paypal is a "different" company and seller or buyer might choose a different form of payment.
- ChrisNorstrom 14y agoIt'd be nice to have a 3rd party receive the package, open and photograph it, even try it out, then package it back up and send it off to it's recipient. BUT... The USPS needs to introduce 3rd party interception in order for this to work. Otherwise buyers would be paying double postage + the cost of interception and checking.