Items not received

[roseblack]

Hi, I have a couple of eBay stores and I am finding more and more buyers are reporting that items I posted have not been received (INR). These items are always items sent without tracking i.e. large letters. (I am sure this issue has been raised before but I am fairly new to this discussion group and have not been able to find much by searching the threads.)

I try to compete with my competitors who offer free postage and are also selling the same items as me at reduced recommended retail prices, but with the eBay fees and increased cost of replacing or refunding buyers "claiming to have not received their items" I am seriously considering dumping eBay altogether. Now before anyone says send registered post, I don't think this is a viable option because a roll of labels still makes the cost $3.10 per item cutting down my profit to bare bones if I use this option and not worth it. My items are an average sale of $10-$25 and while this is not a large amount it adds up when you are receiving in excess of 5 or 6 INR's per month. What really burns is that some who claim INR and receive a refund also leave low star ratings & or neutral or negative feedback. Why should I have to wear a double whammy (refund & neg.) when it is either Auspost or a dishonest buyer who is at fault. On my off eBay online store my terms & conditions state that unless the customer selects Registered Post there will be no compensation available for lost or damaged items and I have had only one item reported missing in the mail in 12 months and I sell many times more items than I do on my eBay sites.

eBay has the Resloution Centre now (since PayPal split) and I would like to make a suggestion to other sellers who are as frustrated with dishonest buyers as I am (there is no way that many items go missing in the mail). Here is my suggestion - when a buyer reports that an item has not been received initially ask them the usual questions - check address, search around house, ask family members, check with post office and wait a few more days in case of postal delays. If after a few more days the buyer contacts you again to advise item has not arrived ask them to open a case in the Resolution Centre. This then becomes a record of the number of times a buyer claims INR and can be used by eBay to gather evidence of dishonest buyers or even dishonest posties if that is what is happening. If you then settle the case by refunding or replacing the item you do not receive any defects. I would also ask that sellers add follow up feedback to the buyers feedback stating that the buyer made an INR claim and was refunded. This will serve as an alert to other sellers. It wouldn't work the first time a buyer purchased from a seller but if the seller checks the buyers feedback after a case is settled they can see how many such comments the buyer has received and decide whether to add the buyer to their Blocked Bidders list.

If sellers started doing this it would perhaps become a deterrent to the dishonest buyer. We cannot leave neg feedback but we can leave a true record of what happend on feedback (use Reply to Feedback, even if positive feedback received) e.g. "Item lost in post - buyer refunded". While this is not a perfect answer to this problem, eBay seems incapable or doesn't care enough to do anything about the "you can get free stuff on eBay" scam that is becoming rampant, then we as sellers can at least alert each other to potential loss from the dishonest scum perpetrating this fraud. I would love to hear your thoughts.

[just_a_smooch]

For envelope items, I can use Australia Post registered post lodgement receipts at my post office.  I fill them out and the post office will stamp them.  I've used this for proof of post on a few occasions and these have always been decided in my favour.  Without the need for deliverey conformation.

https://auspost.com.au/media/documents/registered-post-lodgement-receipt.pdf

https://auspost.com.au/media/documents/registered-post-multiple-lodgement-document.pdf

I normally wouldn't leave feedback on these occasions (to limit green dots where not deserved) But I I do like your idea to comment INR in feedback. It would help make clear to other useres if someone was using one acount for many INR cases.

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Do you make a claim through the post office for every item that disappears? Standard non insured mail is covered for $50 value. It's a bit of stuffing about but if you aren't going to add signature for everything you should claim every lost item. If it's $29 value, claim the $20 plus the postage as the total so you aren't out of pocket. 

Maybe if more people did that, genuinely missing items wouldn't be as common. Also it means they will investigate meaning if it is dodgy they may discover this. 

[clarry100]

I think you will find that the $50 is discretionary by AP.

So without insurance they will just say NO.

You would have to lodge a case with the ombudsman to try to get a better result, but they have no teeth either.

[roseblack]

Ahhh Auspost has changed their policy. They no longer do the $50 non insured items cover but this applied to parcels not envelopes. Now Auspost don't even consider this if there is no insurance purchased.

[roseblack]

So are you saying that you don't  pay for this?  It sounds good if that is the case but the PO would hate me because I post a lot of large letters each day - still......

Yes I belive that recording the information that the item was "lost in the mail" as follow up Feedback would help other sellers especially if you add their eBay id in Caps as Tippy*toes suggested. It would also show at a glance that it has happened before. At the moment there is no record of this.

[jfmgray]

I am pretty sure my Post Office would not sign a registered post lodgement receipt unless I used registered post.

[sueken4812]

I print out the Selling Manager sales sheets (Use a snapshot). The Post Office stamps this as my Postage Register each time I go.  The SMP records in archived have the post codes in the details.

[collect247]

I'm done selling on ebay as the defects have just pushed me over the edge,I am receiving requests by buyers that they haven't received their items while other buyers have received theirs that were posted out around the same time.

These buyers chose standard postage over registered as I can't force a buyer to use registered post.

So now my paypal account is in the minus $$$$ and being held until I refund.

But if I'm forced to refund then I have not only lost my items but also lost the money.

So what is going on with AP all of a sudden with parcels not being delivered.

And I know that I will no doubt receive posts stating that I should have posted registered but it's a matter of having a sale or not and for the buyers to be honest or not.

So either the buyers are trying it on or the post has lost/stolen the items.

Never have I had this problem before until now,so if I lose and have to refund I will be loosing lots of money.

Which will be a lesson learned by me and I will never sell on ebay agian.

[lyndal1838]

I don't think AP is losing any more items than usual but I do think a lot more buyers are trying it on.

Unless you have proof of posting you will lose any dispute

[amber-eyed-girl]

Digi, I know your post was two weeks ago...but with regards to preferring buyers not use the request system:

I just went to "ask a question" on a listing where my purchases have disappeared into a black hole.

I was attempting to contact the seller directly, as a first approach.

The "ask a question" defaulted me into the resolutions/request centre, if I wanted to ask a question about items not received.

If that is now the current normal, then a buyer will be opening cases if an item is slow even if trying not to.