How do I sue an EBay seller in small claims court?

MSUHitman

MSUHitman

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I bought an item off EBay and despite the tracking saying it was delivered, I did not receive it in my mailbox or at my apartment. The mailboxes for my apartment complex are a cluster of about 200 in one place so I cannot tell who has what mailbox. Because the tracking says the item was delivered, EBay and PayPal both are refusing to refund me.

I have filed a complaint via the USPS form I found via Google, but if I do not get a refund, how do I go about getting my $28 back? Is there a way to sue the seller in small claims court if I have his name, city, and zip code? Thanks in advance.

 
Taking someone to small claims over $28 is literally not worth the time, effort, or money. The cost depends on where you are, but there are going to be filing fees associated with this. Even if you win and reclaim the filing fee, you'll have spent hours dealing with this and have had to physically show up to court and argue your case to get your $28. And if they live hours away, all that traveling is on you.

 
It sucks, but if you're unable to get a refund from eBay, Paypal, or USPS, it is absolutely not worth it to go after that $28 by trying to take this to court. This is my only advice.

Edit: And yeah, you have to go to court near the defendant. They don't make them come to you.

 
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You can't be serious with all this. You don't seem to have any proof the seller did anything wrong, but you want to sue them over $28? A chargeback with your bank? lol

This is most likely the fault of USPS delivering to the wrong box, but you keep wanting to go after the seller and their money for some reason. I'm assuming you've sold things online before? Can you put yourself in the seller's shoes? Unless there is more to this story, you should file a claim with USPS(which you said you did) and just let it go. There is nothing you can do.

 
OP is correct insomuch as it is the seller's responsibility to deliver the purchased item. USPS insurance is for the seller, not the buyer.

Unfortunately, with the ebay case closed, a USPS report won't do any good unless USPS manages to turn up the item.

OP - is $28 worth losing your PayPal and ebay accounts? If so, wait for the USPS response. Hopefully you asked for email communication. Print out the email from USPS saying "We dun goofed" and give it to your bank. That should be enough.

It's also possible your bank will just take the hit and not involve Paypal or ebay.
 
Sorry the post office is not being super cooperative;

They said I can’t file for a lost package because it was delivered but I would have to go to the police to report a stolen package. Do I take that police report & go to my bank then to get my money back?

Edit: Going to police department tonight to file stolen mail report & will take that to my bank tomorrow morning.
 
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FYI this is actually the 5th item since Sept. this has happened with (Best Buy, cosplayer, Amazon, & EBay all different senders) but this is the first time I’ve not been able to get a replacement or refund so that’s why I’m trying to escalate.
 
MSUHitman said:
Sorry the post office is not being super cooperative;

They said I can’t file for a lost package because it was delivered but I would have to go to the police to report a stolen package. Do I take that police report & go to my bank then to get my money back?

Edit: Going to police department tonight to file stolen mail report & will take that to my bank tomorrow morning.
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I had a similar issue and it took two reports to USPS. The first they left me a voicemail that said they'd look into it, then closed the case. The second they sent me an email that they couldn't find the package, but that it wasn't insured so sorry about that and I should contact the sender.

Good luck. It's a lot of work for $28!
 
MSU, if you were to ship out an eBay item to a buyer, and someone stole it from their doorstep, would you be responsible for refunding the buyer?

If this has happened as many times as you claim, why haven't you done anything on your end to fix it?

 
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Because I've never had an issue getting a refund or replacement until now.

On my 1 bad Amazon transaction as a seller ($20 PSP game,) USPS tracking showed the item as delivered and I still was out the money after Amazon sided with the customer, so in my experience the seller is responsible for the item even if the item is delivered unless insurance is paid. I was not offered the option to pay extra for insurance, so it's still the seller's responsibility in my experience.

EBay could have at least let the seller keep the money and also refund me, or insist I have a police report before just flat denying my claim.

Edit: I've also heard multiple horror stories here about people sending stuff, buyer says they didn't get it, and buyer getting refunded. but when I have a legit complaint of not receiving it, EBay and PayPal refuse to do anything for me when it wasn't an issue at all getting a refund with Best Buy or Amazon.

 
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I’m sure the postman just put it in the wrong box, but instead of returning it to the post office or the office, they just kept it. Technically I have to treat it as stolen.
 
Since you say this is the 5th lost item, sounds like you have an incompetent postman. Complain as much as you can to USPS.

 
n64ra said:
Since you say this is the 5th lost item, sounds like you have an incompetent postman. Complain as much as you can to USPS.
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Yeah I can’t do anything else with USPS until a month passes. I went home to visit family last weekend, didn’t get the refund EBay Claims Dept. said I would, so I’m going to the bank tomorrow with my police report.
 
Dude over $28 it’s not even worth it. I thought you had lost a substantial amount. 4 years ago I bough and iphone 6 plus from a private seller on ebay with perfect feedback. he didn’t send it with signature confirmation. I was renting a room and sure enough the tracking showed the item was delivered and even upsp had a photo of the parcel . I never proved it but I suspected it was one of my roommates or one of their friends that took my phone. I was very fortunate I ended up getting a full refund from ebay themselves after opening a case since it was my first and only incident. I almost lost slightly over $500.


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b3mike said:
Dude over $28 it’s not even worth it. I thought you had lost a substantial amount. 4 years ago I bough and iphone 6 plus from a private seller on ebay with perfect feedback. he didn’t send it with signature confirmation. I was renting a room and sure enough the tracking showed the item was delivered and even upsp had a photo of the parcel . I never proved it but I suspected it was one of my roommates or one of their friends that took my phone. I was very fortunate I ended up getting a full refund from ebay themselves after opening a case since it was my first and only incident. I almost lost slightly over $500.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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That really sucks and I'm glad it worked out for you, but if EBay is willing to do that on your first request, why not my first request for like 5% of that amount?

 
MSUHitman said:
That really sucks and I'm glad it worked out for you, but if EBay is willing to do that on your first request, why not my first request for like 5% of that amount?
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There is (or was- those rules changed in the last year or two) a PayPal requirement that any package over $250 needs to have signature confirmation- that's why he automatically won.

Actual retailers are one thing, they'll cover your lost packages even if they show up as delivered (and also keep tracking of this activity through some company that tracks consumer claims/returns) but eBay/Paypal don't care as long as the tracking shows delivered.

Even if you do take it to court, it's your word vs sellers word (can who prove shipment at least) vs USPS' word (who's own policy doesn't cover loss w/o insurance). I'm not a lawyer but I can't see a situation where this is worth your time.

 
This isn't worth it, dude. Your filing fee where I live would be $30 on the low end of small claims court, which covers $0-1500. I make $28 in less than an hour, so I'd definitely recommend against pursuing this on principle.

 
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Blade said:
I make $28 in less than an hour, so I'd definitely recommend against pursuing this on principle.
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I fail to see how the amount of money YOU make is relevant to this conversation. Looks like you just wanted to let everyone know that $28 is chump change to you because you make so much money.

 
Navigator2001Plus said:
I fail to see how the amount of money YOU make is relevant to this conversation. Looks like you just wanted to let everyone know that $28 is chump change to you because you make so much money.
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To illustrate that it's not actually that much money and that the reason to pursue legal action is based on principle, but go ahead and be apprehensive all you want champ.

 
Blade said:
To illustrate that it's not actually that much money and that the reason to pursue legal action is based on principle, but go ahead and be apprehensive all you want champ.
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You've only illustrated that it's not that much money to YOU. I won't assume MSUHitman's situation, but the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, so for some people it takes half a work day to earn that much money. I was the first to say that pursuing $28 through the court is not worth it, but I won't presume to tell anyone that $28 isn't a lot of money, because to them, it might be.

But go ahead and be a dickhead all you want champ.

 
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