Re: You are missing the point Message #29 Posted by Frank Wales on 30 Sept 2006, 7:44 p.m., in response to message #28 by Mike
Quote:
But here is the real issue
Why must the seller expose himself to ANY risk (even $80), when insurance will protect against any risk? Why must a seller be asked and expected to assume a risk, or commit a crime (even though it's unlikely they will ever be charged), so a buyer can defraud his country?
I agree with you, Mike. When I buy anything remotely, unless some deal has been done to the contrary, I expect it to be the seller's job to get the item safely to me. If it doesn't turn up, or arrives damaged, it's their job to put it right without any expense to me, since they chose the method of delivery, and they have the contract with the delivery agent. (*)
If that means the seller wants to include insurance to mitigate the loss when things go wrong, it's the seller's choice. If I, as buyer, decide that I don't want insurance, then some (or all) of the risk must attach to me. But the seller should not be compelled to share that risk if they don't want to, especially after the deal is done.
I would make it clear to the buyer that your terms of business don't allow you to do what they're asking, and I wouldn't debate it with them. Either they go through with the original deal, or it's off, and you'll be looking to them to pay your listing fees.
Good luck with that, by the way. :-)
(*): It's amazing how many seller's don't grasp this, not just on eBay. They seem to think that their responsibility to deliver the goods runs out once they've crammed them into the post box.
We once ordered a large amount of packaging material, which didn't show up. The seller contacted the courier, who said it was delivered, and had a signature, and a name that we didn't recognize. The seller seemed to think that, as the delivery company had a signature by someone, it then became our job to figure out who the mystery signatory was. Needless to say, we did not accept this, and got them to resend the order at their expense.
(We subsequently found out that the courier had delivered the material to a nearby building site, and the site foreman has signed for it because they get deliveries of stuff all the time.)
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