Nonpony Trade problems.

[Illumideer]

Hi,
I trade alot on instagram (mostly Disney Pins) and have recently had alot of problems with a person, she has great feedback from other people but its been over a month and a half and I still havent received my stuff while she recieved hers. It was a big trade (75$+) worth of items. She has claimed to mail it once, got sent back with wrong adress, mailed again and never recieved (she hasnt checked her post for it being mailed back yet) she never sent and proof of postage, and im unsure what to do at this point.

[Illumideer]

Please help!  I'm at my wits end, should I just make a post calling them out?

[northstar3184]

If they're a member here, I'd start by giving all the info to a mod, if you haven't done so already.

[mskittylovesrobin]

I really hope you get your items in the end. I can imagine it must be so frustrating. Hope she is a member here xx

[ladygodiva]

He has not given you tracking number? Oh my god, that frustrating.
To my why I'm afraid to change things with people I do not know. Especially when it is a lot of money. I hope it is resolved favorably.

[Illumideer]

Still nothing...think im just gonna have to cut my loses. They just had so many other people vouching for how good they were with trading, sigh. I was really hoping to be getting the pins as a surprise gift for my mom, but nope.

[hathorcat]

Do you have any other means of communication with this person other than Instagram? An email address? Perhaps you could send an old fashioned letter to their address to ask them to respond to you.

[Illumideer]

Shes actually had decent communication with me and has seemed really apologetic but after over 2 months with no proof of tracking on the now 3 times shes claimed to ship it, and not even any photos of it in an envelope I'm at a loss. I have no way to make her ship it, or even knowing that she has the items. If i sent a letter I'd probably come off as rude, or harassing.

[hathorcat]

You may feel that it would come off as harrassing but at the end of the day you are without your end of the trade. Now dont get me wrong I have experienced some horrendous shipping issues over the years when sending so I dont doubt she could be completely telling you the truth. But essentially you need to decide if you wish to keep pushing or if you are happy to sit back and wait.

Did you ask for tracking on the shipment? Does the shipment come with standard insurance?

[Illumideer]

I did ask for tracking and she said she would supply it, I ship everything with tracking. As far as I know (which isnt very much) if you ship a bbnblemailer with USPS  doesnt it automatically come with tracking?

[hathorcat]

I believe so...but I am not in the US so hopefully a US member can confirm that or deny it.

What would you like out of this situation...other than  your trade of course?

At the moment there is nothing we can advise you to do other than put pressure on your trade partner, be vocal to her/him about the situation. Ask them again for proof of postage. Ask them if they have shipped it and it is missing, can you progress to an insurance claim for the value. Set a deadline for them. Are they a member of other online communities which have similar forums to this? Could you raise concerns there?

We all have real life issues (I know I have in the past) which interfere with our online lifes...sometimes you have to just put your hands up and admit the issue. Perhaps you could say this to your partner - tell them you are not angry, you dont mind if the package was not shipped the second time...just say that you want to know what position you are in right now. Do they need more time to ship?

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I did ask for tracking and she said she would supply it, I ship everything with tracking. As far as I know (which isnt very much) if you ship a bbnblemailer with USPS  doesnt it automatically come with tracking?

Uh no, the packaging doesn't have anything to do with the service method.  Bubble envelopes can be shipped first class, media mail, Priority, Global Next-Day... and no, there's no automatic international tracking unless you pay an additional fee for the service! 

It is starting to sound like international shipping and trading is pretty new for the both of you! 


Hopefully the mods can give you more advice but with a trade, there is no guarantee or way that you can force your trade partner to send the items.  If she learned that sending the package was going to be expensive, require extra forms, have service fees applied and then YOU would still be responsible for the customs and import taxes on your side, it's NOT the right way to handle it, but she's likely avoiding you.    Especially if she doesn't want to deal with communicating this unfortunate news!

[Illumideer]

It is not international,  and if shes unable to ship it I'd wish she will just tell me. I'm ok with her keeping the items as long as she tells me about it. I am new to trading, I always mail the cheapest option with tracking and ask the people I trade with to do the same. I guess I'm not as cut out for this as I wish):

[northstar3184]

I guess I'm not as cut out for this as I wish):

This isn't your fault; it could happen to any of us. I would just stay on it, as hathorcat suggested above, and just keep us posted on any new info. If they're a user here, I'd also PM the person's info to a mod to see if there have been past issues with this individual.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

*pony hugs*  I didn't mean to come across as saying that you shouldn't trade at all!  Lots of people have great and succesful trades and form friendships over it, especially here on on the Arena!  I don't really trust much  anywhere else to do pony business...

Trading just has a level of risk with it and it sounds like you did what you could, but I don't know if you'll get the resolution you want. 
All the best for GREAT future trades!