For anyone selling on eBay I want to share my recent experience. I recently sold an item on eBay and used their UPS account for shipping. The package was lost so I called eBay and was told I had to put a lost claim with UPS. It took a week for UPS to confirm the package was lost. In the interim, the buyer wanted his money back so eBay froze those funds if I generated anymore sales. When UPS confirmed the package was lost,I refunded the buyer and contacted UPS for a claim form. Contacting either eBay or UPS is not easy, and I spent a lot of time with virtual assistants and with UPS, voice mail that often led in a circle to thank you for calling, without speaking with anyone.

I downloaded the claim form, completed it, scanned it, saved it on my computer and followed the link to send it to UPS. Found that to attach the form, you need an account number which I did not have. So I again waded thru UPS voice mail, to be told it was an eBay account number and would need to get it from eBay. Made two calls to eBay and was told twice after the person checked with a supervisor, that they did not have an account number. That was after they thanked me each time,for being a seller for 22 years. I deleted all my listings, tried to remove my bank account and found that I could not. So I had to make another call to get them to close my account. I decided the little money I was making was not worth the time to list, pack, ship, deal with future potential lost packages, unhappy customers, and pay the 12.5 % eBay is getting on sales and shipping. Plus they had my checking account number to charge at will.

I still have the issue of trying to get credit for the lost package. Someone on the eBay community web site, said to attach the claim to an email sent to UPS, with the subject: Customized eBay claims support. So I sent the claim form, and will see what happens.

 

Whew! What a horror story. I also sold things on Ebay but quit due to their excessive charges and almost total inability to be contacted by phone. They simply do not want people to call and tie up their agents. Same with PayPal. I agree with you it's not worth the time and energy... GOOD LUCK getting your money back...

 

The UPS account number is the first 6 digits after the "1Z" in the tracking number. I pick up packages from two Ebay shippers, and the account numbers they use start with "14V", but Ebay uses many, many different accounts.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I quit selling on Ebay when they required you to link your bank information with them to get paid, the old Paypal system worked fine with me

 

Update: UPS denied my claim. They do not say why. Their system makes it very difficult to contact anyone, who will do anything to help. Part of the issue is their system is very automated. It relies on an account and tracking number. It rejects the eBay account number for some reason.
I would suggest, anyone selling items on eBay, to use your own shipping account number, and enter the tracking number into the eBay system, so if there is a shipping issue the tracking and account number’s will match.

I recently had a lost package shipped to me via FedEx from Walmart. I called FedEx and had an easy time speaking to someone to help me. They said they would investigate the lost package and have someone call me back. Much to my surprise, within an hour someone did, confirming the package was lost, which enabled Walmart agreeing it was lost and issue credit.

Based on my experiences I will be using FedEx, for future shipping and consider the $55 lost with eBay and UPS a learning experience. Any shipping I do, will be under my own account and no more eBay sales.

I could continue dealing with UPS, appealing the rejected claim, but the aggravation and time spent is not worth the effort.