SecondSpin Puts the "Paid" in Pain Costa Mesa, Internet

First of all, the purpose of my report is to discourage anyone from thinking that quick cash is available via the Internet.  Secondly, vague or unclear policies may hurt one or both parties of a transaction.  Finally, always communicate with your business partner before initiating an agreement.

I found a search engine on Secondspin's website which allows users to enter the title or upc code of a cd, dvd, etc.  Selling requires a registered account and a confirmation of the order.  After confirmation, products must be shipped individually or in bulk. 

Since the cost of shipping was my responsibility, I only sent five cds.  This wasn't a partial order.  I didn't want to mail $30 worth of goods and pay $20. 

Anyway, the order went as I expected.  Secondspin's reimbursement rates are based on media mail quotes.  Therefore, shipments that don't qualify for media mail (such as a box of five cds) will generally cost more. 

Weeks later, I received a check with "reimbursement" included on the stub.

This process continued.  I confirmed the order and mailed my cds.  Confident that some of my shipping costs would be returned, I read a message from Secondspin in agony.  Basically, the e-mail said that I will be reimbursed $0.

Their selling policies were clear (so I thought).  Why doesn't my second order include a reimbursement.  I figured that the e-mail was an automatic message and that the "$0" was an error.
 
I contacted customer service. 

They weren't helpful in the least bit.  I asked them why a reimbursement wasn't included in the transaction and their reply was merely a link to their policies page (which I thought I understood).

From my perspective, it's tough to see who's at fault.  The address on the check in based in New York.  The cds were mailed to Kentucky.  Secondspin is based in California and Colorado. 

Maybe I misunderstood their policies about selling.  However, I think it's outrageous to be reimbursed for one out of several shipments.

At this point, I'm far more concerned about the innocent consumer who wants a decent price for his or her unwanted movies and music.  I only wanted some pocket money and I was willing to bite the expenses as long as each order included a partial reimbursement.

The moral of the story is: never assume a business deal will go as planned.  If the terms of agreement aren't verbally expressed then anything that's wrong will happen.

Secondspin isn't terrible.  Simply, I will not send them anything else because their policies regarding reimbursement can be spun in many directions.