eBay WARNING!

[Big J]

Hi guys,

All this talk of Cooper A-2s made me want to try one, so I bought one last week from a guy I've bought several issue G-1s from over the years, and he is always great to deal with. He shipped it via eBay's Global Shipping Program (as he has always done for me in the past) from the US to me here in Japan.

I got a notification from eBay yesterday that the GSP center had received my jacket for shipping.

About 10 hours later I got another eBay notification telling me that the jacket was on the list of 'restricted' items that couldn't be sent abroad, and that it had been destroyed, and that I had been reimbursed via Paypal.

I checked with paypal, and I had indeed already been reimbursed in full.

I checked with the seller, who spent hours on the phone to eBay, who couldn't tell him anything more than he already knew. I feel for him.

eBay contracts out it's global shipping operation to Pitney Bowes (spelling?), and they seem to be a law unto themselves with no accountability.

BE WARNED; never send a jacket via eBay's Global Shipping!

I 'only' lost out on a mint Cooper A-2, but I'd have been p*ssed if they destroyed something rarer.

That is all.

 

[ProteinNerd]

WTF? They just destroyed it? More like someone liked it and kept it for themselves...

 

[Sloan1874]

Bloody hell. How can a leather jacket be listed as 'restricted'? Is it because it's an 'animal product'? Thankfully, anything I've sent via the global shipping system has been cotton or nylon, but hell's bells, that's just wrong!

 

[Guppy]

Hi guys,

All this talk of Cooper A-2s made me want to try one, so I bought one last week from a guy I've bought several issue G-1s from over the years, and he is always great to deal with. He shipped it via eBay's Global Shipping Program (as he has always done for me in the past) from the US to me here in Japan.

I got a notification from eBay yesterday that the GSP center had received my jacket for shipping.

About 10 hours later I got another eBay notification telling me that the jacket was on the list of 'restricted' items that couldn't be sent abroad, and that it had been destroyed, and that I had been reimbursed via Paypal.

I checked with paypal, and I had indeed already been reimbursed in full.

I checked with the seller, who spent hours on the phone to eBay, who couldn't tell him anything more than he already knew. I feel for him.

eBay contracts out it's global shipping operation to Pitney Bowes (spelling?), and they seem to be a law unto themselves with no accountability.

BE WARNED; never send a jacket via eBay's Global Shipping!

I 'only' lost out on a mint Cooper A-2, but I'd have been p*ssed if they destroyed something rarer.

That is all.

That's insane. They should have a reason given and an appeal process. What a world!

 

[Monitor]

It happens... I remember reading of another members Brooks jacket that got incinerated too for being on the 'restricted items list'. It was only a $40 worth of jacket but apparently, there are some crazy restrictions on vintage clothes in particular but... I don't know any details as to why.

 

[seres]

Is there any way to see the "restricted items list", or is it a secret?

 

[Jägernaut]

Did the seller get restitution for his merchandise?

 

[nick123]

Someone should try to ship a jacket labeled as tanned with a "DDT waterproofing finish" or something not suitable for the air when burned and get the Japanese EPA in trouble! Jkjk

 

[Azog]

I had a jacket I bought destroyed by Pitney Bowes also. It was a deerskin leather halfbelt. The seller believes it may have been because she declared it "deerskin jacket" rather than "leather jacket" on the customs form.

 

[tropicalbob]

Forgive my ignorance, but who or what is Pitney Bowes?

 

[Big J]

Unless the seller inexplicably decided to stuff the pockets full of live ammo or crack cocaine, or decided to write on the customs form that it was made out of an endangered species (which, of course, he wouldn't) I can see no reason for this item to be 'restricted' whatsoever.

A look at eBays 'restricted items' list wasn't enlightening; dealing mainly with the kind of illegal substances that you'd expect.

I can only conclude therefore that;
1. Someone my size works at the shipping center and thought that they'd just steal it (thanks a bunch you a*shole).
OR,
2. Someone with sub-par education, low-level literacy, and pre-elementary English language skills, working for minimum wage in the shipping center, didn't understand that the seller was sending me a USAF A-2 style *JACKET*, and instead saw 'USAF' and incorrectly assumed that my seller was attempting to illegally export US Government property of a 'military' nature, hence it's destruction.

Both seem equally plausible to me.

I don't understand why Pitney Bowes didn't just send the jacket back to the seller, and charge him for their inconvenience (on the assumption that they are correct, and the seller was in error- which in this case, he wasn't).

I don't understand why they didn't just send the jacket back to the seller and just keep the international shipping fee to Japan (since that is actually paid- and refunded- separately from the fee I pay to the seller. Paypal invoice the shipping as 'Pitney Bowes', not eBay or the seller.

I will never buy anything from eBay ever again if the seller can't send it to me without using eBays Global Shipping Program, after all, what is that service offering? All they do is tell the seller the international shipping cost, and how much import tax the buyer has to pay, so that the buyer can be made to pay for it up front. And for that service, the seller pays them a fee.

I'd rather the seller went to the post office, put the package on the scales, filled in the customs declaration, and I'll pay the import tax when it gets delivered. It seems to be a really unnecessary business model.

@tropicalbob, Pitney Bowes hold the contract to run the Global Shipping Program for eBay.

 

[Sloan1874]

I've studiously avoided using this scheme for of r exactly this sort of thing.

 

[l0fielectronic]

How bizzare. Must admit I've avoided using it as much as possible as I had a couple of items I bought 'dissapear' on route early on - I'm not sure how exactly the system works but it seems from the tracking items are sent in lots of short deliveries between these centres as the items traveled all over the US - before not being sent. I did get a refund from PayPal but it took months. Annoying also one item popped up again in the city it 'dissapered' in on eBay once again, though nobody at either company was interested.

 

[Edward]

Useful to know. I think I've used this before (but not for leather - if memory serves, I ordered my brother a jacket fom thed states that had pleather sleeves and a cotton body). It was great being able to pay the full fee upfront, but yeesh, yes.... that's a risk with anything valuable. Sounds like they're going down the Facebook route of becoming a law unto themselves....

I agree, it is idiocy to destroy something rather thn at least return to the original seller. Can only assume they somehow thought it was government property. Current A2s aren't horse, if memory serves, so it's not as if someone could have misunderstood the laws on horsehide...

 

[Plumbline]

Worrying .. I buy (and sell) quite a lot on ebay .... and have used the GPS system fairly recently for international purchases and sales whiteout any issue to date.

May elect in future to only ship directly in future in light of this ...... thanks for the info Big J ( and others)

 

[zhz]

I sold one leather jacket on eBay with their GSP service to a Japan buyer last year, thankfully, all good. But I do stop using this service now, simply because it is more expensive and I dont fell it is a reliable service.

 

[Deacon211]

Thanks for the warning Big J.

Wow, can you imagine if that had been something with real history behind it?

 

[Stand By]

Put succinctly: Horrendous nightmare.
Thanks for the heads-up, Big J!!

 

[Worf]

Dayum! I don't get this at all. Thanks for the warning...

Worf

 

[Americanaaa Mark]

One of many ebay horror stories. I'm starting to think stuff like this happens because of ebay and wouldn't have if you just dealt with the seller outside it through standard international shipping. I basically avoid ebay like the plague and buy off communities like here. I also try to avoid international shipping in general but if I have to it's a new product from a retailer.