Ebay question

[Princess4Eeyore]

Hi

I am not sure where to post this ... but I know this board is always helpful about ebay. Anyway, I bought a gift card on ebay and wanted some feedback on the insurance option. The shipping and handling for the envelope with the gift card is $5 and on the final statement says optional insurance is $15.50. Question: should I be safe and pay the insurance? What would you do? There is no paypal option, only money order - so before I go to the post office I wanted some opinions on what to do?

Thank you for yor help

 

[ceecee]

How much is the gift card worth? $1.30 insures up to $50.00, seems like they do the new "self insurance" I have had two sellers charge me insurance fees and not insure the package when I inquired they both said they "self insure" so unless the card is worth a lot of $ that seems like inflated insurance. I would email the seller and ask the reason.
Of course I had a buyer accuse me of NOT insuring an insured package and I had to send her $1.30 back, she was getting crazy, I even took a photo of the insurance slip and she was emailing 3-4 times daily over 3 days. It was easier to refund her shipping and block her from future auctions. This was a$20.00 item too and she received it in 2 days! When I mailed packages last week the guy forgot to stamp them again so I made sure to remind him.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Ugh, I wish I could be more help here, but there have been a lot of problems with people buying what turn out to be bogus gift cards on ebay.

That insurance seems really high! If it was a high ticket item, more than $100, I'd probably go ahead and get the insurance, because if you don't, there's a good chance the gift card will get 'lost' in the mail.

I've seen it happen with gift cards quite a bit...

What's the seller's feedback rating?

 

[HLAuburn]

I hate to say this, but the whole transaction sounds a little suspect to me. First of all, unless the gift certificate is worth $1000+, who would may over $15 to insure it? And then by not paying the insurance, if it doesn't get to you, the seller just says "well, you're SOL, you didn't opt for the insurance". And by not using PayPal, you have no recourse if you don't get it. Even with delivery confirmation, they can always say you did receive some package, but there's no guarantee that the GC is valid or has the value you bought it for.

If the feedback for the seller selling gift certificates was good, I'd be a little less concerned, but with what you told us, it seems a little shady.

 

[Princess4Eeyore]

Hi
Its the first time I bid on gift cards ... I hope its not one of those too good to be true sales. My dh insisted he wants to bid on it, so we did. We bid almost a $100. Sellers Positive Feedback: 99.4% with almost 200 feedback score - so we went ahead and bid. I just thought the optional insurance is high but maybe because the gift cards are worth $500 - the insurance is 15.50? I will pay it because knowing my luck it will get lost in the mail or worse.

Just wanted some reassurance I guess.
Thank you kindly.

 

[Ms.Tink04]

You may want to check on this but I dont think gift cards can be insured by the post office..there are certain things that cant like tickets and I think gift cards

The insurance will be based on the value however that is still way too high for $500 worth..it should be around $7 or $8 I think

 

[HLAuburn]

What kind of $500 gift cards did you get for $100? I hope it works out...sounds like a great deal!

 

[robinb]

I would pay $15 to insure a $500 item. Sure, the seller is making money on your shipping, but that is very common on eBay. It sounds like your total expenditure with shipping and insurance is still right around $100.

 

[Princess4Eeyore]

Thank You everyone

I have decided to just pay the insurance even tho it does seem high. I did find out tho the maximum insurance from US to Canada can only be $8 through usps, and I asked the seller about the insurance but no reply yet and I want to mail out the money order before the end of the mailing day.

Thanks again

 

[DMRick]

Thank You everyone

I have decided to just pay the insurance even tho it does seem high.

What does the insurance cover? I don't think for the US Post Office you would get anything, for a gift card (or tickets, etc), even if insured. Who would pay you if it's lost in the mail?

 

[seashoreCM]

It is the sender who applies for compensation when an insured package is lost.

There are no guarantees either way but if the seller fails to insure the package and the buyer paid for insurance the chances are better that Paypal will charge back the seller in case the package is lost.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[formernyer]

One of two explanations here

(1) The obvious choice...the seller is ripping you off on the insurance. Generally speaking, insurance is going to cost $1.00 per $100 (higher rate applies to usps packages under $100).

(2) The less obvious choice...the seller made an honest error. If the seller lists a lot of high ticket items, he might have used an old listing as a template and just forgot to adjust the insurance amount. It's not one of the more obvious areas to remember to change when you're making a new listing.

I don't think sellers should charge a handling fee on the insurance amount for items like gift cards. I charge the standard $15 going rate for insurance when I sell computers and monitors, but that's because those claims require a LOT of effort on my part as a seller. If I need to handle a claim with the carrier I'm going to be compensated for it. I would never charge the same for a GC though...the only problem with GCs is that they could get lost and filing a lost item claim takes no time at all.

Comment on self-insuring - I do it. It works out better for the sellers that way. If a customer pays for insurance I make a judgment call as to whether I'm willing to foot the bill for that particular item. In the rare instances that a customer claimed a package arrived damaged and they had paid for the insurance, I just issue them a replacement or refund out of my own pocket. I always purchase the insurance for expensive items, and sometimes I even do it when the customer doesn't pay just to cover my own butt (since PayPal will side with the buyer even if they opted out of insurance).

One unrelated comment - GCs for reputable places generally sell for 75% to 98% of face value (sometimes amazon GCs even sell for higher than face if there's a paypal code available at the time). Unless you were purchasing a GC for a small local store I'd be skeptical of the transaction.

 

[formernyer]

There are no guarantees either way but if the seller fails to insure the package and the buyer paid for insurance the chances are better that Paypal will charge back the seller in case the package is lost.

Trust me on this one...Paypal rules in favor of the buyer even if the buyer chose to not purchase optional insurance. This is one of the areas that really burns me with Paypal. Many seller have begun to REQUIRE insurance now because Paypal is so unreasonable.

 

[cats mom]

Too late for this time - but I think I'd steer clear of gift card auctions unless there is a pay by credit card option.

I'm with the others who say that USPS will not insure tickets/gift cards, well I take that back... they'll gladly take your money, they just won't pay out on them. So if the $15 is going to USPS it's a waste of money.

I almost got burned on a GC auction. Bought a gift card with a balance of around $200. I checked the balance and even used it once (for about a $7 purchase) all was good until the next time I went to use it a month or so later and found out the seller had reported it lost and the balance was now 0.

I was able to get my money back, but only because I made a claim through my credit card co.

That said, there are GC auctions that work out fine. In fact I just used one I bought on e-bay. Gave me an over all savings of almost 40%.


I hope yours is legit and it all works out for you.
Good Luck

 

[disneysteve]

One unrelated comment - GCs for reputable places generally sell for 75% to 98% of face value

I agree, though there are exceptions to this. Notably, Marriott Bonus Bucks generally sell for about 25% of face value, so a $50 coupon will go for about $13-15 and a $100 coupon will go for $25-30. I frequently see auctions for multiple Marriott coupons as a single lot, so a lot of 4 or 5 $100 coupons may sell for $100-$125.

I'm often surprised when I see how much gift cards are selling for, though. It doesn't seem worth the trouble or risk to buy a GC on ebay to save a couple of dollars.

 

[DMRick]

I"m not sure I understand what you are saying. If she paid for insurance, I think she is assuming the seller would buy it. But I don't think the seller would get anything if a giftcard was lost even if it was insured. The buyer would get payment back if the sender can't prove it got there (not just that it was shipped) if they paid with Paypal, so the buyer should be safe.

It is the sender who applies for compensation when an insured package is lost.

There are no guarantees either way but if the seller fails to insure the package and the buyer paid for insurance the chances are better that Paypal will charge back the seller in case the package is lost.

 

[Princess4Eeyore]

Hi Everyone

Thanks for all the comments and advice ... I hope that I have made the right decision ... First time buying a gift card, so I will see what happens in the next week or so. I did hear back from the seller - I asked him about the insurance and this is the answer I got (is it okay i post this? - if not, I will delete it?)
"Thanks for your e-mail. Insurance is an optional $15.50. The insurance will be visible when you receive it if you are referring to the insurance sticker they place on the package. It also gets registered in their system. Please make note of your request of insurance enclosed with your payment. I am not sure if a signature will be needed. The order will also be sent with tracking/confirmation. I hope I answered all your questions."

I hope this is not a scam but the deal I got was good, I will let you know what happens - Thanks again.

 

[formernyer]

I'm often surprised when I see how much gift cards are selling for, though. It doesn't seem worth the trouble or risk to buy a GC on ebay to save a couple of dollars.

For me it's worth it because I sell on eBay for a living and I buy from Amazon in mass quantity (I literally spend over $100k/year at Amazon). My Amazon credit card give me cash back of 3%, so any discount in excess of 3% is a good deal for me. I only buy the GCs from reputable sellers (and I've never been burned).

There are a lot of eBay sellers out there who buy in mass quantity from Amazon, so competition for Amazon GCs on eBay is intense. Sometimes I get lucky and I'll find a BIN listing from an inexperienced seller who listed the GC for 15% or 20% off face, but generally speaking Amazon GCs sell for 95% to 100% of face value.

For me, every penny counts so if the discount is more than 3.5% off face it's worth the hassle to me.

 

[disneysteve]

generally speaking Amazon GCs sell for 95% to 100% of face value.

This is what I don't understand. Why would anyone buy a GC for 100% of face value? Where's the savings?

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

Given that you have to pay with a money order, I would be very skeptical. I doubt you'll have any recourse if a problem arises, insurance or not. And...the seller didn't really answer your question about the insurance. Clearly, they're pocketing half of that money just for themselves. Didn't ebay just say they were going to stop sellers from inflating stuff like shipping and insurance. This is definitely unreasonable inflation. I hope it all works out for you, but it all sounds very fishy. Why don't they take paypal or another online payment service that could protect both of you?