So I went to FedEx to ship a watch I sold here. The guy ask me what's in it and what the value is and told me they only cover 1000 max on jewelry. Is that true? Do you usually claim the actual value of the item?

Then things got weirder.

FedEx guy: Did you sell this online?
Me: Yes.
FedEx guy: There's a lot of scammers out there. Are you sure you got paid?
Me: Yes.
FedEx guy: Was that through PayPal?
Me: Yes.
FedEx guy: Did you get an email saying you got paid?
Me: Yes. I got the money. It's all good.
FedEx guy: Are you sure? Can I see your PayPal transaction history?

Of course I stopped him there. Anyone had similar experience like this before? Or does this situation seem fishy?

 

You need to finish the story. What was the problem/end result? Did you ship or not?

 

I think they’re doing you a favor as there’s been a ton of new sophisticated scams around online payments of late.

 

Yeah I shipped it. The guys just seemed a little overly concern.

 

I hope he’s just being nice. It just feels strange when he asked to see my PayPal history...

 

Never had a shipper ask to see my PayPal history. Was he fairly young by chance? Not to prejudge anyone but I have found a disconnect between what some of us over-40 folks consider personal and private and what younger folks do, so he may have been looking out for you but in an unusual way.

Theres a kid at an auto parts store here who is always going beyond what's appropriate when I'm there for something,
Me: "Hi there I need XXXX part for an 1962 Such and Such please."
Him: "So to me it sounds like what you actually need is this part here, not that part, so try this first and come back if it doesn't work."
Me: "I really just need the part I asked for, I already diagnosed it with the OBD II scanner."
Him: "People say that a lot but I have seen a few of these over the years..."
Me: "Please get my part before I go HAM on this place."

Still, I would never share any financial information with anyone not directly involved in the transaction.

 

He’s probably in his late 30 or early 40. He’s been working at that location for as long as I can remember. Maybe he started drinking a little early today.

 

I dunno. To me he seemed less overly concerned for your interests, and maybe more curious for his own interests. That's my take. If I had a convo like this at Fed Ex, I'd go to a different office. Was it a Fed Ex shipping depot or one of those old Fed Ex/Kinko hybrid stores?

 

It was a shipping center. I’ve shipped stuff at that location before and always saw that guys working there.

 

Maybe he thought you were cute and wanted to prolong his chance to engage with you as long as possible in the hopes it leads somewhere? (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

 

Perhaps Fedex is getting sick and tired of paypal and having shipping costs reversed with paypal scams.

 

Is that a thing? You can even reverse shipping cost?

 

Were you able to insure it for the full amount, or just the $1,000?

 

Just 1000. Isn’t that strange?

 

Been that way for many years. For more insurance you need to use parcelpro or similar independent insurers.

 

I do not know. But if it is a paypal hacking scam I cannot see how It could not be reversed.

 

Unfortunately FedEx itself has very low limits on insurance. IIRC it's even lower for international shipping, at least to some destinations.

 

People scam everything these days. That’s why we can’t have nice things...

 

Even UPS can insure higher value items. I thought FedEx would too.

 

USPS will insure up to $5k for Priority Mail and $50k for registered mail. Of course, registered mail is slow, and you have to tape up the box in a special way. But if I'm not in a rush, like sending a watch domestically for repair/service, I will often use registered mail for a valuable watch. It's not even very expensive.