Ebay Gurus: If I ship something from the U.S. without insurance and the buyer says he never received it will eBay force me to refund?

Oh yeah. But it won’t be eBay who does the forcing. It will be the buyers credit card protection.

Even with proof of shipment?

That rarely happens. I’ve been on Ebay for years and once in a while you’ll get someone who tries to scam the system. Or, maybe it’s legit? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. I just grin and bear it and move on. It’s important to have tracking on your packages over about $10 worth just in case. I also tell customers the worst possible shipping scenario so they’re always happy when it arrives well before that.

^ me too, I haven’t had anything bad happen but my friend has, and they pull it out of your paypal and refund it and close the case. Like @DWW25921 says, tracking very important.

Yes. It happened to me.

I had that happen as a seller. eBay didn’t force me, but I refunded the money to avoid the fight and the negative feedback. I also learned a lesson and tracked my shipments from there on out.

What do you have as proof of shipment, @pleiades? That’s the key. If it provides any form of tracking, you win. If it’s just a receipt, you lose.

Actually, we’re all just spitting in the wind, right now, @pleiades. We’d need to know your country of origin, the country you shipped to and the carrier to provide specific information. My answer was based on the assumption you shipped USPS and we all know what happens when we ass_u_me.

As long as you provide tracking confirmation, you will not be forced to refund. You can’t just prove that you shipped it. They want some sort of tracking. It’s not the same as insurance. I always ship with tracking but not insurance.

@ibstubro Yeah I want to ship goods over 100$ to Australia. However most shippers acknowledge aside from Priority International Express (Super Pricey like 45$USD) most people do the USPS First Class Shipping. They say the “customs” acts more as tracking but USPS overall doesn’t have tracking for international shipping…

FedEx offers visibility and step by step updates on the status of your shipment. I don’t know the specific cost of US to Australia delivery.

If they buyer could be talked into this it would solve your problem because you would be shipping to the US. I’d mention it if the buyer is a frequent flyer of US auctions. There are a number of other companies offering the same service.

Crap. Check the aforementioned, but I this is probably the ticket:

USPS Priority Mail International:
Features
Delivery in 6 to 10 business days*
Reliable and affordable
Includes tracking information with our Track & Confirm tool**
May qualify for Free Package Pickup*** at your door
PMI

The track and confirm tool is your insurance for eBay.