The General eBay Rant Thread

Is it a personal message?

Beause AFAIK a lot of sellers have those automated systems that send out those emails "thanks for the purchase", "here's the tracking number", "thanks for the feedback"...etc.

 
So I just sold a copy of Battlefront 2 for Xbox and buyer got it and says the disc wont play saying its too dirty or scratched but I tested the game and it worked fine. He says he wants to return it and get refund for game and shipping. What can I do? I'll be out the return shipping when I know the game works. Or am I screwed by eBay's buyer protection?

 
So I just sold a copy of Battlefront 2 for Xbox and buyer got it and says the disc wont play saying its too dirty or scratched but I tested the game and it worked fine. He says he wants to return it and get refund for game and shipping. What can I do? I'll be out the return shipping when I know the game works. Or am I screwed by eBay's buyer protection?
You may want to check and make sure he hasn't purchased a second copy from someone else that doesn't work and that he is now trying to return to you. It's a fairly common scam.

 
I'm sure I've made this complaint before in this thread, but I'm getting real tired of sellers using cut up brand new Priority Mail boxes and Priority Mail bags as internal padding supplies for non-Priority Mail shipments. It doesn't seem like there is any good solution for dealing with this abuse though. Negging or Neutraling them seems excessive. And I don't think there's any way to report them to the USPS.

 
Yeah, not much you can do about it, but it is a bit unsavory.  I've gotten plenty of shipments who use UPS, FedEx and USPS branded padded envelopes inside out / reversible with the blank side showing.

 
I'm sure I've made this complaint before in this thread, but I'm getting real tired of sellers using cut up brand new Priority Mail boxes and Priority Mail bags as internal padding supplies for non-Priority Mail shipments. It doesn't seem like there is any good solution for dealing with this abuse though. Negging or Neutraling them seems excessive. And I don't think there's any way to report them to the USPS.

USPS rebranded a lot of their services this year. My post office gave me a ton of extra mailers and said to do with them as I please as they'll be out of circulation soon as they're pushing the stuff with the latest advertising. I was told I couldn't ship something as first class in an old express envelope but that I could use the old express envelope as internal packaging and so forth.

Edit: I'm sure that is technically a policy violation but they clerk I spoke to said he was being told by his boss (postmaster?) to get the new stuff out and dispose of the old stuff.

 
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USPS rebranded a lot of their services this year. My post office gave me a ton of extra mailers and said to do with them as I please as they'll be out of circulation soon as they're pushing the stuff with the latest advertising. I was told I couldn't ship something as first class in an old express envelope but that I could use the old express envelope as internal packaging and so forth.

Edit: I'm sure that is technically a policy violation but they clerk I spoke to said he was being told by his boss (postmaster?) to get the new stuff out and dispose of the old stuff.
Which may possibly be fine right now, but I doubt 99% of people were told that. And regardless, it has been a problem before any new packaging came out and it will be a problem after the new packaging comes out. People think it's just fine to swipe the stuff to do whatever you want with rather than actually use it for priority shipping.

I have less sympathy for FedEx and UPS because generally they can control the public's access to any complimentary shipping materials, but any asshole can walk into the post office and clear them out until someone catches them.

 
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About a week ago I had a buyer bid on something and then ask to cancel the transaction because it was the wrong item. I opened a cancel transaction case and he still hasn't responded, and it's not letting me close the case like you can with an unpaid item one. How long does it take for this to auto-cancel, or will it just stay like that if he doesn't respond?

I know I'm definitely not doing that again...

 
Just curious, what is everyone's opinions on sellers who message you saying "I shipped your package" despite eBay sending out an e-mail themselves?
When does eBay send that message? And how? When I sell video games, I don't use eBay's shipping labels. I just stick a few stamps on it since that's a little cheaper. After I ship it, I go to the "My Selling" page and mark it "As Shipped" manually. Do they send a notification then?

 
When does eBay send that message? And how? When I sell video games, I don't use eBay's shipping labels. I just stick a few stamps on it since that's a little cheaper. After I ship it, I go to the "My Selling" page and mark it "As Shipped" manually. Do they send a notification then?
I believe they send an email notice when you mark it as shipped.

Out of curiosity, how is your method cheaper? Don't you get a discount going through eBay/PayPal's online shipping function? Unless you stocked up big time on Forever Stamps back when they were introduced? You have to pay $0.19 for the DC using eBay/PayPal (which is cheaper than at the Post Office), but that's totally worth it when you're the seller.

 
As far as I can see DC is now free if you print your shipping label through paypal. Also I am paying A LOT less for shipping vs mailing it at the post office and paying 90 cents for tracking on each first class package that goes out. But you will need supplies like a laser printer and a postage scale. If you only send a couple items a year it's probably not worth it to invest in those items but if you ship 10+ items a week and what feels like thousands of items during the holidays it's worth it for me.
 
As far as I can see DC is now free if you print your shipping label through paypal. Also I am paying A LOT less for shipping vs mailing it at the post office and paying 90 cents for tracking on each first class package that goes out. But you will need supplies like a laser printer and a postage scale. If you only send a couple items a year it's probably not worth it to invest in those items but if you ship 10+ items a week and what feels like thousands of items during the holidays it's worth it for me.
It looks like you are correct and DC is free on First Class through eBay/PayPal. I ran a little test: A 12 ounce package through eBay/PayPal is $3.23 with DC. At the post office, it is $3.60 plus $0.90 for DC for a total of $4.50. That's a $1.27 difference (largely because of the free DC online). DC is $0.20 via Media Mail and free on Parcel Post and Priority/Express Mail. And since we're talking eBay, DC is pretty essential unless you don't mind being screwed by having zero proof of delivery.

Even without the DC involved, I still fail to see how lzanagi is saving money using stamps. Forever Stamps are currently $0.46 each. For my above example, he'd have to use 7.83 stamps for a 12 oz package without DC - but you can't do that, so he'd have to use 8 stamps at a cost of $3.68, paying $0.08 more. Unless he also has random denomination stamps lying around and could put 7 forever stamps and $0.38 in random denomination stamps. Even if he only paid $0.41 cents for his forever stamps when they were first released, he'd only be out $3.25 on 7 forever stamps plus the change, or $3.28 on 8 forever stamps. Even in that scenario, eBay/PayPal is still a cheaper rate at $3.23 and that includes DC.

I have a laser printer just as my regular printer. I've had it for years and need it for school and work related document printing. I rarely need to print anything in color and if I want pictures it is cheap and better quality to get them done at a drug store/Target/Costco/etc. Even if you just sell occasionally, printing a label on an inkjet probably isn't the end of the world. Laser or inkjet, print the label on regular paper, slap some packing tape on the edges of the label, and it's good to go.

I sell a decent amount online but don't have a postage scale. I use a food scale I got for probably $10. It's just as accurate (I check it against the post office's APC scale), though it maxes out around 7 lbs. And obviously it also works as a food scale if you keep the top clean. You probably wouldn't want to use a postage scale to weigh your food. But it's a nice solution if you're not shipping huge items.

The other thing that's good about using eBay/PayPal is you're protected by shipping to that exact name and address that they give you. I had a seller recently send me something and they opted for the post office route. Unfortunately they had a brain fart and wrote the wrong zip code on the package, so shipping was delayed and the post office had to figure out the correct zip code to send it to. There's no risk of that by printing an eBay/PayPal label. Your biggest problem would be accidentally mixing labels up if you're printing and shipping more than one thing at a time, but that can still happen without the printed labels too.

 
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I sold a PC game, and get a message from the buyer saying they tried the game in 2 XBox 360 systems and it didn't work and they want to get a replacement copy. I told them it's the PC version and that's why it's not working. it was listed as the PC version and it said in the title and description PC. I can't wait to see what happens if they open a not as described dispute. Paypal will probably side with them even though there was no mention of XBox 360 anywhere in the listing.

 
I sold a PC game, and get a message from the buyer saying they tried the game in 2 XBox 360 systems and it didn't work and they want to get a replacement copy. I told them it's the PC version and that's why it's not working. it was listed as the PC version and it said in the title and description PC. I can't wait to see what happens if they open a not as described dispute. Paypal will probably side with them even though there was no mention of XBox 360 anywhere in the listing.
LMAO. Yeah...eBay has them all.

Paypal should side with you. May take a phone call or two (I'd recommend doing calling. Be proactive), but there's no way PP is going to side with them.

But then, the buyer may just file a chargeback, in which case...you will lose the money.

 
Thanks for the suggestion about calling. I might have to since I don't see this person going away without a problem.

They just responded with this:

"But i bought it for X Box ,,i want to exchange it for an X Box one please,,"

I responded to them with:

"Nowhere in the listing did it say it was the XBox version. In the title of the listing it says PC version, in the description it says PC version in addition to saying "Platform: PC" in the item details and it was listed under the PC version from the EBay Catalog."

 
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Wait, I thought USPS had free DC since January to compensate for the raise in shipping prices? Or is that just the post offices around the Baltimore area?
 
Wait, I thought USPS had free DC since January to compensate for the raise in shipping prices? Or is that just the post offices around the Baltimore area?
It shows as an additional 90 cents on their website for First Class. I don't know if they've folded it into being free for other levels of shipping when you buy at the Post Office.

 
Thanks for the suggestion about calling. I might have to since I don't see this person going away without a problem.

They just responded with this:

"But i bought it for X Box ,,i want to exchange it for an X Box one please,,"

I responded to them with:

"Nowhere in the listing did it say it was the XBox version. In the title of the listing it says PC version, in the description it says PC version in addition to saying "Platform: PC" in the item details and it was listed under the PC version from the EBay Catalog."
lmao

 
Yoshi, withdraw everything from your pp just in case pp/ebay screws you over.  Check the buyer's bidding history to see if he at least bid on 360 version.

 
Hate it when this happens.

Tracking #:

9400109699937994721345
Carrier:

USPS

Status:

ACCEPTEDIN TRANSITDELIVERED
imgTrckIntransit.jpg

Delivery status not updated

Oct-19-13, 23:45 PM

Out for Delivery

Oct-19-13, 09:45 AM, GREENSBURG, PA 15601

Sorting Complete

Oct-19-13, 09:35 AM, GREENSBURG, PA 15601

Arrival at Post Office

Oct-19-13, 05:10 AM, GREENSBURG, PA 15601



 
So just sold something on here, and everything is fine, payment paid and what not.

But so many hours later, the buyer asks me to send to a different address other then the verified one.

I know I shouldn't, as I wouldn't be protected as I wouldn't be sending it to the verified one.

Now will probably have to relist

 
Hate it when this happens.
Happened to me recently. I thought for sure it would just never update and I might be screwed if the buyer tried to screw me, but then a few days later it was updated to Delivered on the day it said it went out for delivery. Either there was a glitch at USPS or the mail carrier didn't upload their scan data when they got back to the post office and only did it a few days later? I'm not even sure how they do it but I assume those things aren't auto-updating over WiFi or 3G on the road.

 
Happened to me recently. I thought for sure it would just never update and I might be screwed if the buyer tried to screw me, but then a few days later it was updated to Delivered on the day it said it went out for delivery. Either there was a glitch at USPS or the mail carrier didn't upload their scan data when they got back to the post office and only did it a few days later? I'm not even sure how they do it but I assume those things aren't auto-updating over WiFi or 3G on the road.
It's happened to me twice before. Once on a package to a friend and once on eBay. My friend obviously didn't care, but thankfully the guy on eBay didn't make a fuss either. He left feedback the very same day and it all worked out.

But if the buyer wants to file INR, then I'll probably have to get in touch with the PO there. Damn.

 
Received a chargeback claim from a buyer 6 weeks after I sold a DLC item.  Was a low value item so I didn't bother with DC.  I did the email route and even got positive feedback.  I responded to Paypal that I shipped it via first class postage only due to the shipping cost but noted that I received positive feedback from the buyer anyway.  Paypal at least sided with me that I deserved to keep the funds and released the hold despite no proof of shipment.

I emailed her "How do you like them apples?" after the Paypal decision.  The buyer acknowledged after the fact that their son used their credit card without their knowledge and was going through an attorney to close all of her affect credit cards and issued chargebacks for everything.  I told her that's not my fault and you shouldn't be scamming other sellers when the fault lies with her poor parenting job.  I was pretty harsh but I figured why the hell not.  I already won.  fucking cunt.
 
Received a chargeback claim from a buyer 6 weeks after I sold a DLC item. Was a low value item so I didn't bother with DC. I did the email route and even got positive feedback. I responded to Paypal that I shipped it via first class postage only due to the shipping cost but noted that I received positive feedback from the buyer anyway. Paypal at least sided with me that I deserved to keep the funds and released the hold despite no proof of shipment.

I emailed her "How do you like them apples?" after the Paypal decision. The buyer acknowledged after the fact that their son used their credit card without their knowledge and was going through an attorney to close all of her affect credit cards and issued chargebacks for everything. I told her that's not my fault and you shouldn't be scamming other sellers when the fault lies with her poor parenting job. I was pretty harsh but I figured why the hell not. I already won. fucking cunt.
That sounds like a dumb strategy and a dumb attorney on their part. That's not what chargebacks are meant for, especially not in their situation. It also sounds like it could be a load of bullshit on their part.

 
"How do you like them apples?"

LMAO. Good stuff. :)

__________________________________________

So..looks like all my problems have decided to show up all at once.

Anyway, probably tough to believe, but this is the first time I'm missing two USPS packages

Tracking says delivered as of the 17th, and the other as of the 18th but I haven't received anything.

Been worrying my PO lady, but she's clueless as always. 

So now what? I'm SOL, right?

 
Sorry I can't answer your question, but your first line caught my attention and thought I have to comment on it.

Why does it always seem you get all of your problems all at once lol? I had a few international buyers open item not received cases a few months ago and have been good since then. Now, just today, I've had another international buyer say he hasn't received his package yet (I've since stopped selling international, too many problems), another claimed he got a different game in his package (never happened to me before, but could be possible as I did sell the other game at the same time as his original one) and just now, someone said they received a torn package with nothing in it. A nice variety of problems here lol.

So that's my rant for now, but I guess I'll ask too: how do I proceed with the torn package guy? I've asked him to send me a pic of the package and I guess I'll call my post office tomorrow, but not too sure where to go from there. It's only like a $10 item, but still. Any info is appreciated!
 
Received a chargeback claim from a buyer 6 weeks after I sold a DLC item. Was a low value item so I didn't bother with DC. I did the email route and even got positive feedback. I responded to Paypal that I shipped it via first class postage only due to the shipping cost but noted that I received positive feedback from the buyer anyway. Paypal at least sided with me that I deserved to keep the funds and released the hold despite no proof of shipment.

I emailed her "How do you like them apples?" after the Paypal decision. The buyer acknowledged after the fact that their son used their credit card without their knowledge and was going through an attorney to close all of her affect credit cards and issued chargebacks for everything. I told her that's not my fault and you shouldn't be scamming other sellers when the fault lies with her poor parenting job. I was pretty harsh but I figured why the hell not. I already won. fucking cunt.
Sold dlc and got hit with a $30 paypal fee one time due to a chargeback on a $10-$15 dlc (as well as lost the funds and dlc). fucker even left feedback. He also got other sellers but those were for actual games (got them to ship to a different address)! One seller got pp to side with them and never heard back from other seller.

Sorry I can't answer your question, but your first line caught my attention and thought I have to comment on it.

Why does it always seem you get all of your problems all at once lol? I had a few international buyers open item not received cases a few months ago and have been good since then. Now, just today, I've had another international buyer say he hasn't received his package yet (I've since stopped selling international, too many problems), another claimed he got a different game in his package (never happened to me before, but could be possible as I did sell the other game at the same time as his original one) and just now, someone said they received a torn package with nothing in it. A nice variety of problems here lol.

So that's my rant for now, but I guess I'll ask too: how do I proceed with the torn package guy? I've asked him to send me a pic of the package and I guess I'll call my post office tomorrow, but not too sure where to go from there. It's only like a $10 item, but still. Any info is appreciated!
How established of a seller are you and where are these buyers located? The most international I shipped was to Canada maybe two times.

AND EVERYONE, POST IDs and/or other info

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/160089-videogame-sellers-targeted-fraud-info-on-halfcom-ebay-amazon/

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/121131-blocked-bidders-list/

 
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So..looks like all my problems have decided to show up all at once.

Anyway, probably tough to believe, but this is the first time I'm missing two USPS packages

Tracking says delivered as of the 17th, and the other as of the 18th but I haven't received anything.

Been worrying my PO lady, but she's clueless as always.

So now what? I'm SOL, right?

Contact your local post office. They can look into it. You're not necessarily SOL.

how do I proceed with the torn package guy? I've asked him to send me a pic of the package and I guess I'll call my post office tomorrow, but not too sure where to go from there. It's only like a $10 item, but still. Any info is appreciated!
Your post office might have you fill out a form, but there is little they can do there locally since your packages probably went through multiple USPS locations after you mailed them. You should tell your buyer you're going to file a report with the US Postal Inspection Service so a federal officer will likely be contacting him for details about his package problem. That's over-exaggerating but might scare your buyer if he or she is a scammer. None the less file the report with them and they can determine whether it the buyer is full of it or if there was theft or just damaged/lost in transit. They do good work there at the USPIS.

 
Contact your local post office. They can look into it. You're not necessarily SOL.
Thanks. Going to do that tomorrow. This sucks.

_______________________________________________

Unrelated question: I purchased two items from a seller. He offers combined shipping, but the guy just won't reply to my emails!! I've emailed him thrice already asking to send me a combined invoice. But so far, nothing. Now eBay is sending me emails to "pay up". And I have 24 hours left, before getting an unpaid case opened.

Do those happen automatically? Never had one before. The one time I opened one for a buyer, I did it manually.

If the case is opened and I pay up before it closes, AFAIK, I don't get an unpaid strike, right?

 
yes that is correct. You only get a strike as a buyer if the seller opens a case and you don't pay before it closes
Phew. So that's good. So many little things that I don't know about eBay because I've never had too much trouble as a buyer.

Now, I'm hoping this guy responds in time.

UPDATE:



Tracking #:

9400109699937994721345
Carrier:

USPS

Status:

ACCEPTEDIN TRANSITDELIVERED
imgTrckIntransit.jpg


Delivery status not updated



And thankfully, this took care of itself. Status updated to Delivered. Phew.

 
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Sold dlc and got hit with a $30 paypal fee one time due to a chargeback on a $10-$15 dlc (as well as lost the funds and dlc)

It sounds like you got hit with a overdraft fee.

Paypal is only supposed to withhold whatever the original purchase amount was from your remaining funds. If you ever get hit with a chargeback, make sure you make a transfer into your Paypal account to cover the claim assuming you had already transferred your entire balance out of your Paypal account.
 
I just noticed that the names of buyers are now obscured on the feedback page (they were previously only anonymous on the page that shows bidding activity, I believe).

 
When printing shipping labels via eBay for your sold packages , has this ever happened to you?

sx8e.jpg


This is the "shipping labels" tab.

Usually, in the sold tab, next to the item, it'll say "Print Shipping Label" and that's what I do.

And then the "Need to ship 1 item" disappears.

This time around, when I created the label, that remark did NOT go away, and next to the sold item, it STILL said "Print Shipping Label".

So I went into the shipping labels tab, and saw that somehow there was no item number there for that buyer.

I have verified twice..The money is in my account, and the item DID in fact sell.

I ended up just manually, copy pasting the tracking number into the "add tracking number" field in eBay and in Paypal.

But definitely strange. has this happened to anybody before?

 
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need a laugh?
 
I sold an Call of Duty dogtag that the auction ended 10/13, was paid for 10/14, and shipped on 10/15 from North Carolina, heading to Homestead, Florida.  I did as I always do, and purchased postage directly from USPS via ebay, using the confirmed address that the user has on file.
 
Ebay User
1234 Street Name
Homestead FL 33034
United States
 
It arrived at the local post office on 10/18. That night, Delivery Confirmation says that a notice was left, and that it was returned to the local post office. I typically wait until delivery has been confirmed until I leave feedback, so I checked back daily. no update.
 
Fast forward to the evening of 10/21 - I receive a message from Ebay User, simply asking:


"Where is my item?"

To which I reply:

"According to the tracking information, it is at your local post office. It says a notice was left at your address on the 18th."

The following day, he replies

"I have to go to the mail to look ?"
 
At this point, I get a little frustrated, I don't know if this guy is truly this ignorant, or if he is just trying to bust my balls over this.
 
I screen cap the Delivery Confirmation details and attach it in a message.


"Yes, you'll probably have to go pick up the package from your local post office, if they haven't attempted to redeliver to your address since Friday."
 
Middle of the night last night - 2 FULL DAYS later...mind you, I get a reply.


"This item you not put good my address i guess was return."

At this point, the Delivery Confirmation info was updated with "Insufficient Address - Package is being returned to sender." so I got out of bed to get on my laptop, to reply:
 
"I shipped the package to the confirmed address associated with your ebay account that was provided to me:

Ebay User

1234 Street Name
Homestead FL 33034
United States

There was no error in my entry of the address, as a shipping label was printed directly from ebay, not hand written.

according to the tracking information, it is being returned to me. Is there another address I may ship to, in order for you to receive the package correctly?"

 
........
 
"Yea but u not put my aparment is ###"
 
Well why in the fuck have you been wondering where your package has been, if I've been left with the task of guessing where to send it to?
 
"Wow. well plain and simple, you haven't received the package, because the address associated with your account is incorrect.  Please give me a complete, correct address to ship to. As soon as the package is returned to me, I will eat the cost of postage again, and ship it as soon as it is back in my hands."
 
Sorry for the book, just had to vent. As I was composing this, he sends me a complete address, well...complete up until I notice he incorrectly typed the zip code, which I had to stop this to reply, ensuring the original zip code was the correct one. :wall:


 
^ It is happening to me now.
Hmmm... Glitch in the system?

"This item you not put good my address i guess was return."
Wow. Some buyers..Good Lord.

I wouldn't pay to ship it back to him. Just out of principle.

But then again, a buyer that's this dumb, is also apt to neg you out of sheer stupidity.

There should be a filter in eBay that lets us ban single celled organisms like this one.

 
yea, all over an item that was even $5 shipped. I'd rather pay the extra $1.69 to ship it and avoid the negative rep though...at least he didn't do like the last guy that didn't contact me about any issues he had, he just left me negative rep, and never replied to my messages questioning why, when it boiled down to him misreading the description in the first place.

 
I've only had one item I sold returned to sender due to insufficient address, it was one of my first times dealing on eBay.  The problem was it was a new eBay user, and the address they put on file was missing a street name, so the local PO just bounced it back to me.

It was a legitimate error on the end user, and although I could of been nice about it and just reshipped for free, I still charged them the reshipping (only charged them $2.50 anyways).  I take this as a $2.50 lesson to the buyer to make sure their info is correct in the future, as things could of turned out much differently.

And in turn, now I always Google Map any address I send to, hopefully to avoid any mishaps (none since then at least).

 
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And in turn, now I always Google Map any address I send to, hopefully to avoid any mishaps (none since then at least).
Me too. Usually, I go by a combination of Feedback amount + Feedback LEFT(for the seller) + Feedback received+ Google Maps.

With eBay so pro-buyer, it pays to be cautious.

 
EDIT: USPS situation resolved. Mail carrier screwed up and didn't deliver the package, then had it erroneously scanned as undeliverable, but then today's mail carrier (a different person) re-scanned it this morning and it arrived fine.

 
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I got my first neg out 800 feedbacks. They negged me on a stylus for a 3ds xl.. They paid 300 for a limited edition 3ds and said the system was perfect but the stylus was bad.. Im calling them on there phone to talk to them personally,
 
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I got my first neg out 800 feedbacks. They negged me on a stylus for a 3ds xl.. They paid 300 for a limited edition 3ds and said the system was perfect but the stylus was bad.. Im calling them on there phone to talk to them personally,
Well was anything iffy about the stylus? And good luck, let us know how it goes!

 
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