Thanks for your response.

He has issued a refund. It just seems odd to me that if the money never went into the account, he should have to do anything. I wouldn't want him to be out the cost of the book that should have been paid by the buyer (but never was due to the funds being unauthorized)

It happened to me too.. and I shipped the book (~$140). half.com just gave me an alert at eBay.com account, which I found a few days after I shipped the item. What makes me more angry is half.com even allowed me to check the status to 'shipped' after they informed me the transaction was cancelled. why they could not directly show it was cancelled at half.com transaction page?

Any suggestion what I can do to get my money/book back? I did not use tracking service, just bought the insurance for the package, .

Hi, I sell lots of books on Half... this has become a real problem lately. I have refunded the same Business Law textbook 6 times this week.

I thought I would offer a few suggestions that may help you guys. 1st, never drop ship the book if it was purchased by someone with very little feedback, or if the account hasn't been used for a very long time. (You can see all of this from their feedback profile) By drop ship I mean NEVER ship a book to ANY address other than the one given at the time of purchase, HDC's policies won't cover you if you ship it to any other address. NEVER EVER ship a book to an address someone has sent you in an email. Even if you have Delivery Confirmation, HDC won't cover your transaction if you ship it to a different address.

2nd, I always wait at least a full business day to ship any book that costs more than $100 to make sure I don't get an email about it from HDC. These transactions are people with stolen credit cards that generally only buy really expensive items (video game consoles, high priced textbooks, etc...). They pay for expedited shipping in hopes that you will get it out the door quickly, before HDC contacts you. They keep trying because inevitably someone ships the book to them, then they can sell it and make a quick $100.

3rd, in the past I only got Delivery Confirmation when someone requested it, but I've gotten burned a few times, so now I NEVER ship ANY book without DC. I'd rather pay $.60 at the Post Office than lose a $100 book, or a $10 book for that matter. Also there are a few places you can buy postage online where the special services like DC are either free or discounted (Endicia.com, Stamps.com). I have started using Endicia.com to print my own postage. There is a monthly fee to use it, but if you ship books every day it is easily worth not having to wait in line at the PO. I used to wait an average of 20 to 30 minutes at the PO, now I just walk in and hand them my packages, or even give them to my mail man. The other advantage is that, through Endicia.com, you buy postage at a discount. My packages are usually $.05 - $.10 cheaper than at the PO, and DC is only $.18 for Media Mail, and FREE with faster mail services. That makes every book I ship in a Flat Rate Envelope $4.75 including DC, instead of $5.40 at the PO. Before you sign up for an online service make sure they offer MEDIA MAIL since that's the way you will ship most books. Endicia.com does, and they have a program for Macs, which made the decision for me.

It really sucks that people try stuff like this, but it's happening every day, so do everything you can to protect yourself. You have 3 business days to ship a book, so if it's an expensive book, check the feedback rating of the buyer. If it looks shady, don't ship it for 72 hours, make sure you don't get an email from HDC. I usually get the Half IV notice withing a couple of hours of the sale. Hope this helps!