Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds Who is responsible?

Ok guys hypothetical situation here.

Someone buys an item from someone who states i.e. " scope XXX $ 250.00 shipped". No further information as far as shipping goes is provided.
2 situations to examine:

A. scope was shipped but lost in mail or ups etc

B. Scope arrived but damaged

Who is responsible in each situation?

In case B who does the running around if insurance was indeed purchased? And if it was not purchased?


These cases have never happened to me, just wondering...

First 2 fall back on seller.
3 can go either way, if the package is lost, seller. If it was damaged the buyer should initiate insurance claim for the simple fact they typically want to see the packaging and damage.

In my own experience, I encountered a more difficult situation. I sold some mags to a guy and tracking shows they were delivered. The buyer said he never got them. Thats a tough spot to be in as seller since you've technically completed your end of the deal but at the same time, the buyer doesn't have the product. Luckily the buyer was a well respected member and there was never any feeling of doubt or dishonesty.

Devil's advocate here......

Shouldn't the buyer inquire whether item will be fully insured for said price?
Or the seller say that if you do require additional insurance you have to pay for it?

Whoever buys the insurance should be the one to do the running around. Since the shipper can only be the actual one to physically purchase the insurance unless the buyer sends the seller a shipping label it would be on them.

Wow I thought I was the only one.

I ordered a few things over the years and I live in a rural place.

Idiot mail carrier placed my package in the wrong mailbox. Item showed delivered on tracking # and I got shafted!

Of course no "neighbor" fessed up the package.....

A&B are both on the seller. Insurance would be on whomever purchased it. The other party should help out if their information is required.

If it's shipped USPS Priority then it is scanned at the location it is left. I've had my post master look this up more than once to prove it was delivered to the wrong (or right) place. It's a GPS location they can see on a map to verify. It's not 100% but pretty close and has solved several issues I have had in the past.

All on seller

I Agree
May not apply specifically here, but if I say that something is $500.00 shipped, I’ve figured in insurance to cover both of us.

Do some sellers Not automatically included insurance on their item??? Then if something happens they say well you didn’t ask for insurance.

If I take your money I’m going have figured in insurance, because I’ll owe you your money back.

If I send you money for Anything and don’t get it, You owe me money back.

I never had anyone ask that but I ALWAYS insure any package going through USPS. I have found that they arrive intact and in good shape. I have also found uninsured packages don't arrive at all.....I include that when I say its XXXamount shipped.

Weimguy, I had a package delivered to a wrong address, 6 miles away, wrong number, wrong road (rural), wrong name on the mailbox, wrong town. Old WWII Vet did a lot of searching in order to get a hold of me, no phone book with cell phones. Old guy wouldn't take anything for his efforts except to talk to him till he had to leave to go to his VA Appointment.

sometimes buying stuff on-line is like buying a pig in a poke.
I bought a "pre-64" stock and when it arrived the stock was a POS. Similar things have happened from different sites.

It's the seller's obligation to deliver said product in the condition it was sold in.......

Why is this even debatable?

That’s how I do it, and I make it clear to the buyer at the beginning. Once tracking shows delivery, it’s not “lost” IMO. Their choice as to whether to accept the deal. I started that after one of my wife’s ebay deals went askew. Package was placed in a parcel locker at an apartment mail kiosk. Buyer claimed it wasn’t. Ebay (Paypal) ruled in favor of my wife.

Postmaster here told me the person in possession of damaged packages has to file the claim, since they will want to see it.

This crap is why I’m not selling anything of significant value that has to be shipped. A couple of dealers I know say they both have little stacks of damaged guns that they’re waiting for insurance to cover.

Good luck getting insurance to pay through USPS. If you don't have original recipts of purchase, IME they'll deny your claim saying you lack proof of value. It doesn't matter if you can show an agreed upon value between buyer and seller, for sale ads and emails are not vaild to USPS from the couple of times I tried claiming.

Both claims were for packages lost in shipment. One showed up three weeks after the claim was filed, three months after mailed 2 day priority. The buyer was nice enough to send me the money I refunded back. The second is still lost in the ether about five months now, I doubt it ever shows up and I'm out the money. Thankfully the one I would have been out over $300 showed up, the other was only $75.

For expensive items I only use UPS even though its a PITA, at least their tracking info is more detailed.

Seller is responsible for it until it gets to the buyer's hands.

Has anyone used USPS insurance and actually got paid from them? I shipped a Rem 700 barreled action to a gunsmith a few years ago via USPS insured. The post office lost it and when I tried to file a claim they gave me the run around. Including telling me I illegally shipped a handgun through the mail and that’s why they wouldn’t pay me the insurance. My response was “why would you assume it’s a handgun if you lost it and have no idea where it is or what was in the box and why the hell would I ship a handgun in a 48” long box?” They then said “ok well you need an original receipt to prove it’s value before we can pay you”. The gun was made in the 70s so obviously I did not have a receipt for it. I pretty much gave up after they stopped responding to me. Then a few month months later I get a call from the post office saying they found it. Bottom line is that I wouldn’t trust the insurance by the USPS at all. I now ship anything of value through UPS.

This. Seller is responsible to see that buyer gets exactly what he paid for. If seller failed to buy insurance, seller loses.

This is my thought as well.

I've always wondered why sellers say "insurance is on the buyer" If I purchase a scope in the condition the seller says it is, I expect that scope to be delivered to me in that condition. For all I know, the seller could just put the scope in a box and send it. If it arrives damaged because of their lack of packaging, I should not have to file a damage report and hope to heck I get a reimbursement (as we all know and stated above, is all but impossible). This is up to the seller.