lets say i was to order something valuable on ebay, such as a playstation 3 or something.

couldn't i just pay to get the package insured, then when it arrives complain that the item was broken and get a refund?


how does the postal services' insurance policy work? would i get to keep the item and just say it was broken and they cover the expenses, or would i have to return it?

the seller claims the money.. not you. so it is up to him to refund you or not.

Hmm there seems like something potentially good can be made out of this idea.

Say you sell a ps3 on ebay for say $300. The buyer sends you the money via paypal. When you sold the ps3 on ebay you said it works, etc. Well what if you do something to the ps3 internally that can be repaired easily by you since you did it.

So to sort it all out. You the seller have $300 usd in your paypal from the buyer of the ps3. Buyer gets ps3, and bitches to you when he finds out it doesn't work. You report to the post office that your shit arrived broken and you want your money back. They give you the money. The buyer returns the ps3 to you. He gets his money.

There you go in the end you have a working ps3, and $300.

you made this unclear. you're saying you have to be the seller.. the OP wants to be the buyer.

how about this:

say you have a friend with a paypal account. set up an auction on ebay for a ps3 or whatever. you dont even have to own a ps3.

have your friend win the item, and pay for it on paypal. send a package in the mail with a book in it or something, and insure it for like $400. then claim to the post office that it was broken.......

wouldn't the post office have to refund you the money? there ya go, an easy $400.

idk if that would work but it sounds cool.

so that probly means you'd have to send the "broken" item back to the seller to claim the refund......so i guess there isnt a way to abuse the system as a buyer......unless you claim the item never arrived maybe??

They weigh it.

im pretty you would have to send the ps3 to the post office. in other wards you would not get to keep it.

okay im going to tell you a way this is going to work.


because i have claimed insurance on items before and won. i dont want this abused and this is for instructional purposes only.

i sold a poster on ebay, worth around $30, and it was destroyed in the shipping process. I got the paypal receipt and photo shopped the $30 and changed it into $93.83 (some arbitrary number close to $100). Even though the ebay item number and stuff was listed on the receipt they only looked at the total price. So I got my check for $93.83 and returned the other guy's $30. In the end I profited about $60. I shipped with UPS because they are usually the fastest, but they are not exactly too safe with packages either. All of UPS's packages are insured for free(up to $100). the potential of this is selling items for $1 or even less, and photo shopping it, and potentially getting back close to $100. BUT definitely dont have them send checks to you guys, over and over.