buyer opened a dispute, I sent item a week ago, it finally arrived and she has not closed dispute.

[ldycr8tr]

I am very worried.  I am an online seller for 6 yrs.  This never happened.  I sent a buyer a custom made order, gave a timeframe of approx. 3 weeks.  Sent item then buyer opened a dispute, the item showed up and I have proof with delivery confirmation and now buyer still has not closed dispute.  I am out the money and the item that was custom made.  how can I get my money back for this transaction that paypal is holding.  It feels as though paypal works for the buyer never the seller.  I heard from them a bunch of times when they were waiting for the item and now nothing after they have it and their money.  I feel like I got scammed!

[surplusdealdude]

Have you entered the delivery confirmation number in the dispute, or, if the price+shipping was $250.00 or more, have you entered the Signature confirmation number in the dispute?

If you have, then wait for Paypal to close the dispute, that's all you have to do.

If you haven't, do so immediately.

[ldycr8tr]

Thank you for your help.  The item itself was only $40.00 and the shipping only $2.00 so there were no surprises and I let them know in their receipt that it was 2-3 weeks to create the custom order before shipping.  I do have a delivery confirmation from the post office but not signature conf.  I did offer insurance, but buyer did not want it.  The item says it was delivered from usps and they say if they mark that then it was delivered.  So what does paypal do now or any advice as to what I should do? 

[rcontrera]

Always protect yourself from bad buyers.  Insurance is always required on items over a certain amount as far as I am concerned.  Paypal is pretty clear on what they want the sellers to do when sending stuff

• Send only to PayPal verified address
• Send by traceable means

As long as you have done those things, they will take care of you.  If you can't show that the items was sent to the proper address, you may be out the cost.

Oh ... by the way, if you sent the package Priority mail and they are saying that it didn't arrive, then go to the post office since all Priority mail has a little insurance on it.  Plus, if they said it didn't arrive when it did, that is a federal crime and the Postal inspector can help.  Of course, if their dispute is that the item isn't any good, that is a different story.

[ldycr8tr]

Thank you so much for your help.  So I should be okay then, right.  I put delivery conf on it which shows it was delivered.  And I did ship to the address provided on paypal so I did exactly what they wanted.  I agree that if she says she didn't get it that is postal fraud because po says they will not scan that it was delivered if it was not.  AND the kicker is that I offer insurance on all orders and rarely any buyers ever want it, bc they probably figure they'll just get their money from paypal.  I am sick of not being protected by paypal even when I do what I am supposed to do.   Should I escalate the dispute to a claim in order for paypal to decide or should I just let it sit for the next couple weeks until the day before it expires she decides to escalate it to a claim and then she has had her item for so long it is probably used up.  What is next?

[surplusdealdude]

Make sure Paypal has the tracking number and tell them that DC shows its been delivered, then wait the buyer out.

[jewelryseller]

Most people that buy on line are honest, but some are not.  I had a buyer say that she didn't receive her item, checked her tracking number and it had already been delivered.  She hadn't yet disputed with paypal yet but you know we have to kiss these people's butts in order not to get bad feedback even though they're wrong.

So I'm super polite to her, say I will investigate but could she please check with her neighbors etc.

I asked the manager at my local post office about it:

***

He said that with the tracking number, you can find out exactly which  mail man/woman delivered the package because that's all scanned in.  So I wrote back to this woman saying that I will be investigating with her local post master who delivered the package and that I could actually speak to HER personal mail man/woman.  Funny but she wrote me back to say the package had turned up, hmmmm?