Question on shipping machines and how to not get screwed from a buyer.
Sorry... tough topic for me to swallow.
So I’m in the Midwest and it seems all four times I’ve posted a machine for sale, I get questions on shipping it to a prospective buyer. I’ve only sold as pick-up only this far.
I think I can handle the logistics of packing and getting the unit moved. The question I have is how to protect myself while still offering protection for the buyer.
For instance: PayPal offers buyer protection. That’s fantastic for the buyer, but if there is any contesting of the sale from the buyers side, PayPal sides with the buyer 100% of the time and it’s an uphill battle for the seller. Which could come down to several issues including a game damaged during shipping (if shipper Is being difficult), the game has an issue during transit and does t work when it arrives (because 30 year old games don’t travel well all the time) not delivered at all, or the buyer just being a scammer that never intended on paying and now he’s got a nice machine I shipped to them and I’m out the game, money is charged back to the “buyer”, and shipping charges... well you get the point.
I used Square for my businesses and my wife currently uses Square. That service has a 50/50 investigation process on claims. So I can still get screwed, and if a buyer doesn’t know me, they might think I’m also trying to run a scam.
So of all the payments and with thousands of dollars being exchanged... what’s the best way to handle a sale that is going to get shipped?
Not that I’m in a hurry to eliminate even more pins from the Midwest to the coasts (because you guys have the lion share already), but a sale needs to be a sale in the end.
Thanks for your thoughts.