International - item not received but I have posted, should I refund?

[anniesvintageemporium]

This has happened to me twice in the past 3 weeks.  Both items have been posted but customers are saying not received.  International post - have postage receipt but there's no tracking.

now I have an 'item not received' - first one I refunded - putting me out of pocket.  now has happened again, will most likely refund (for sake of goodwill) but am a bit annoyed ......

so, what do other sellers do?  no tracking but have postage receipt .... is there any (affordable) way of offering tracking international?

thanks in advance

Anne

[countessalmirena]

anniesvintageemporium,

The sort of items you sell would have a reasonable market for overseas buyers, I suspect. They're not high-value items, though. That means that, unless you're prepared to refund buyers when they claim non-arrival of their item, or unless you send by a tracket method, I think you're going to have to issue refunds.

Mind you, you can always ask  your customers to wait a little longer, and explain that the estimated arrival times in their Purchase History are an eBay fiction, since eBay do not take into account a whole range of factors, including the time taken for a parcel to not only arrive in the destination country, but to get from there to the buyer's address.

If you do ask the buyer to wait longer, give a definite date, and tell them that if the item hasn't arrived by then, they should let you know so that you can organise a refund (or replacement if you have one).

If you're sending by Economy Air parcel, you might want to think about using Standard instead.

For example - Small satchel     22.5 x 35.5cm    Up to 500g    $23.72.  Tracking is included.

If you're sending by Economy Air letter, there's definitely nothing as cheap as that tempting $3.00 for up to 50g, but if sending as a letter up to 500g, the $18.00 is quite a cost if the rate of loss is high.

I always opt for Express if I'm sending important documents overseas; the $37.88 includes tracking, unlike the registered post option.

(I'm not sure if your goods would fit into an envelope, and whether they'd be suitable. The patterns could, I suppose, fit into the requirements for international letter AND into the envelopes...

[kopenhagen5]

I have won PayPal cases when the postage receipt shows location posted to. (Only proof of postage required)

However eBay cases require proof of delivery.

So depending on which case has been opened against you would determine course of action.

For future, considering the high cost of GSP showing on much of eBay listings these days, I would only put tracked International postage up and see what happens. Perhaps it will mean only a few less sales but zero refunds.

[jellybirddesigns]

BEFORE I send something internationally, I let the customer know that the item can take up to 4 weeks to arrive.

Some items have even taken 6 weeks, although this is not the norm.

If a customer contacts me after 3 weeks I ask them to be patient and remind them about the postage time from Australia.

I've only ever had 2 or 3 who have then come back to me after waiting the full 6 weeks and asked for a refund.

[davidc4430]

i never send anything anywhere without tracking, way too many 'i didnt get it' buyers out there.

of course i lose sales as postage is expensive, but i'm not willing to give money back unless i have to.

[imastawka]

I'm assuming you mean for large letters that go untracked?

Try self insurance.  That is, adding about 10c to every item, and that means you will have the funds to refund if it ever happens again.

Or adding 20c to every item listed as a large letter.  Or 50c to items that can take the increase.  You're the best judge of that.

Tracking for large letters overseas is cost prohibitve.  They just won't buy at that price.

Otherwise, only deliver to certain countries.

Some countries are notorious for missing mail.

I only post to USA, UK, NZ now, although even USA is getting a bit iffy these days.

They're very impatient.