Ebay sellers beware! Add this scammer to your block list now!!

[VG_Maniac]

Add this Ebay user, jeuxbasprixalain to your block list. He's from Quebec, Canada...and is a scam artist who buys games, and than opens PayPal claims to get his money back. Look how many negative feedback comments he's left sellers just in the last three months:


http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=jeuxbasprixalain&Dirn=Left+by&ref=home


He recently bought 2 games from me (both a few days apart from each other). He then opened up PayPal claims for both of them exactly one week to the day after he paid. I emailed him and told him he's got to be more patient as he's in Canada and I'm in the USA...and international shipping usually takes well over just one week. As you would guess...he doesn't respond to any of the emails I send him. Also, because international shipping doesn't have any tracking (unless you pay for expensive Global Express) this guy automatically has PayPal on his side. He has scam artist written all over him...avoid him like the plague.

[ryborg]

Holy shit this guy looks stupid. The feedback he leaves is unintelligible. Look at this: "very BAD pactag very cheep pactage item endomaged shiping not protection"

Sorry you had to deal with him but thanks for the heads up.

Also, the cheapest form of international tracking is Delivery Confirmation with International Priority if you print it yourself at home. It's way to expensive to use for everything going to Canada or elsewhere, but it's good to know.

[Kitsune Sniper]

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/neg30?User=jeuxbasprixalain&ref=negs

Apparently his native tongue is French. Hey, if Canadians are forced to have to endure French in everything then Quebecois should be forced to take English courses too. :P

[mavrick]

I got douche chills reading that.

[weirdguy]

Imagine me, French is also my natice tongue and even then, it's really hard to understand !

That guy represent exactly why there is such a rivalry between Quebec and the rest of Canada.

The guy can't write in French and probably use a translation tool to write in English. He also seem to believe that a british pound is equal to 1$...

[wingzrow]

Done and done, thanks for the heads up. And yeah, that feelback makes me feel less smart.

[darkslime]

Get $2 insurance from U-Pic, I think you can still get it a week after you shipped and they will cover it if he wins the claim.

[Zthun]

This is why I don't like to ship internationally. You can make more money shipping to all countries, but it leaves you open because of the lack of tracking numbers. It's not worth it.

[ryborg]

This is why I don't like to ship internationally. You can make more money shipping to all countries, but it leaves you open because of the lack of tracking numbers. It's not worth it.

If you do the math, it really is worth it.

Let's say, overall, your average item price is $20 and you make a measly dollar off of shipping. That means you'd have to have a worse fail ratio than 1/20 to make it worthwhile to ship overseas, totally ignoring the fact that you'll get more money because of more buyers. 1/20 is a ridiculous number that doesn't happen. In reality, it's closer to 1/98 or 99 (about 1-2% of the time).

Even if you're selling more expensive items, it makes sense. Say you're shipping out ~$50 items all over the world frequently. All you need to do is keep the same 0-2% fail ratio and charge another measly dollar more for shipping per order to more than cover yourself.

These numbers are most extreme examples and results will obviously vary. I know I always swear I'm going to stop shipping overseas on those rare instances whenever something doesn't arrive and I get burned, but then I come to my senses, look at the numbers and realize it's more than worth it to carry on. I sell on ebay to make money and no other reason, and shipping everywhere is a big part of that.

[darkslime]

Agreed with ryborg, shipping worldwide is 100% worth it. 30% of the things I sell go international, they rarely get lost and I overcharge and make money on the shipping too.

[JSoup]

Maybe post this here:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4802

Helps with organizing a giant block list if all the names are listed in one topic.

[rik1138]

Technically, the post office can track all international shipments by the customs form. They can't track it all the way to delivery, but they can track to his local post office. Not sure if PayPal would accept that or not.

Also, this guy has been NARU'd by eBay, hopefully it's permanent... Point this out to PayPal, maybe they will find in your favor and give you the money back. They obviously know he's been ripping people off.

Rik

[ryborg]

Technically, the post office can track all international shipments by the customs form. They can't track it all the way to delivery, but they can track to his local post office. Not sure if PayPal would accept that or not.

Nope. Also, according to everyone I've talked to, the customs bar code is NOT for tracking purposes at all, for anyone.

[izarate]

Also, because international shipping doesn't have any tracking (unless you pay for expensive Global Express) this guy automatically has PayPal on his side.


The customs form serial number (usually starts with LC) can be used for limited tracking in the USPS.com website. I always ask sellers to send that number to me to confirm the shipment. Isn't that enough for Paypal? EDIT: Nevermind.

[mobiusclimber]

Nope. Also, according to everyone I've talked to, the customs bar code is NOT for tracking purposes at all, for anyone.

I've already done this before for a shipment to Germany. It works. If/when you send something to another country, try it. Keep in mind this is ONLY on the large custom form, not the small green one.

However, I've never had to fight a claim this way, so I'm not sure if they accept it or not. Likely it wouldn't matter anyway b/c outside the US is considered unverified addresses, isn't it?

[ryborg]

The customs form serial number (usually starts with LC) can be used for limited tracking in the USPS.com website. I always ask sellers to send that number to me to confirm the shipment. Isn't that enough for Paypal? EDIT: Nevermind.

What? That doesn't work at all. I have some customs forms lying around right now. Here's one that I mailed out two weeks ago: LC460111000US

"Label/Receipt Number: LC46 0111 000U S
Class: First-Class Mail International
Service(s): International Letter
Status: Acceptance

Your item was accepted at 1:13 PM on November 2, 2009 in NORTH HIGHLANDS, CA 95660. No further information is available for this item"

Literally none of that information is accurate, except the international part. It was a package, not a letter, and it was mailed on Jan 15. It was going from Buffalo, NY to Ontario, and didn't come within 3000 miles of California. I have a few other forms and all of them are like this.


However, I've never had to fight a claim this way, so I'm not sure if they accept it or not.

I have. Doesn't work. It's not real tracking and doesn't confirm delivery, which is all that matters.

[izarate]

What? That doesn't work at all. I have some customs forms lying around right now. Here's one that I mailed out two weeks ago: LC460111000US


I always make sure that the date and place of shipping match with the seller data from the "You won...." email. For example, the last package that got here yesterday:

LC820080945US
Seller:
d**** t******, tahlequah, OK 74464 United States
Data matches.

Another one:
LC406467830US
Seller:
t*** a*******, Mashpee, MA 02649 United States
Zip code is off by 1 but the rest matches.


If the data mismatches I guess that the guys at your post office aren't scanning the forms since the serial numbers get recycled. There was one instance in which I had a problem like yours, that the data was wrong but after a few hours the correct data showed up. I guess that it wasn't scanned until then.

Sometimes the LJ customs forms (the ones that you can print yourself) aren't scanned either but at least the date matches:

LJ652670461US, seller sent customs form number in November 29.
Date matches. Status is stuck at "Electronic Shipping Info Received" though.

Of course, it's not bulletproof and not a real tracking number as you say but for me it has worked fine.

[mobiusclimber]

I have no idea if it doesn't work after a certain amount of time, but I've used it to make sure something got to its destination. The last time I did that was when I sold some stuff to someone in Germany.