eBay shipping snafu

I received an eBay message from a seller this afternoon that he accidentally swapped shipping labels when he mailed off his last batch of auctioned items. Someone else received my item, I received their item. The seller originally asked both of us to mail the items back to him and he'd re-send them.



Awhile later, the seller sent me another message asking if I'd be willing to ship directly to the other recipient with the other guy doing the same for me. The seller said he'd issue a partial refund to both buyers to cover the shipping, etc.



The seller has an established record, so I'm not too worried about being left high and dry, but I am wondering if that is the best course of action. I think I'm covered by eBay protection either way, but I'd was wondering if there are any caveats to that approach that I should be aware of?

Comments

  • Man, I hate when that happens. I had someone helping me at my shop once and he did the same thing on some packages I was sending out. Such a headache on the sellers side. The fastest way is for you and the other buyer ship to each other. As long as the seller refunds you the amount of the shipping for your inconvenience. Also deep depending on how they handle this mess leave appropriate feedback. If he is a pro and genuinely tries to make it all right then to me that would be worth a positive feedback.
  • Just had that happen to me a few weeks ago. Dude refunded me my entire purchase price to ship the item to the other party; I ended up paying him the difference back as I know mistakes happen.
  • The only way you might end up stuck is if you don't get your item and can't prove it was delivered to the wrong place. Is there tracking info associated with your item and does it show it delivered to the other guy's city? If so I think you're fine to just ship to each other.



    Sounds like he's doing what he can to fix it. Shit happens, don't be too hard on him.
  • Yeah the seller hit the ground running as soon as the other guy reported the mix-up, so he's okay in my book so far. My only concern is how the other guy ships my item. I assume I'm still covered by eBay buyer protection if my game arrives wrapped in newspaper smashed to bits.

  • Originally posted by: Lincoln



    The only way you might end up stuck is if you don't get your item and can't prove it was delivered to the wrong place. Is there tracking info associated with your item and does it show it delivered to the other guy's city? If so I think you're fine to just ship to each other.



    Sounds like he's doing what he can to fix it. Shit happens, don't be too hard on him.



    The tracking number associated to the auction I won was put on the other guy's boxed item. According to eBay, my item was successfully delivered to my house.



    FWIW, I do have the eBay messages of the seller telling me he messed up the shipping.
  • I'd ship the item you got to the other buyer. Hopefully, the other guy ships your item.



    If you never get your item, ask the original seller for a full refund.



    If you get the item but it is damaged, ask the original seller for a full refund.



    So far he sounds honest so I'd be surprised if he ignored your request for a full refund if something bad happens. Plus you got the eBay messages, so that's gotta be good for something right?
  • More than likely you and the other buyer can put your items back in the shipping containers and send them to each other. This is why I open everything very carefully.



    Another possibility (depending how carefully it was opened)is to send it back to the seller "return to sender." I've gotten that to work a couple times but that was a long long time ago when eBay wasn't so efficient. Might take some smooth talking at your PO.



    There's also a slight possiblity that explaining the situation to someone at a PO, you could get it forwarded to the correct address.
  • I had the same thing happen to me. In my case, I bought an Excitebike cart, received it..played it, and lo and behold it's Ghosts n Goblins! Mismatched the boards after cleaning. The G&G buyer of course got my Excitebike. Was easily taken care of, sent my board to the other buyer and the other buyer sent me mine (good thing we both apparently had security bits.)



    Got refunded for my shipping & purchase in the end. I wasn't even mad, I was sort of amused really and didn't expect the purchase refund.

  • Originally posted by: teh lurv



    Yeah the seller hit the ground running as soon as the other guy reported the mix-up, so he's okay in my book so far. My only concern is how the other guy ships my item. I assume I'm still covered by eBay buyer protection if my game arrives wrapped in newspaper smashed to bits.



    If you don't mind me asking, what did you buy and what did he buy? Depending on what he bought you may be able to tell what hes like, if hes buying sealed NES games he should be pretty clear on how things should be shipped.


  • Thanks to everyone who responded. Me and the other buyer through the seller agreed to cross-ship over the weekend and both packages arrived to their proper owner today.
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