refunding buyers

[jacki7348]

I am so fedup with Australia Post. It appears that item has not been received by buyer so refunding is going to happen. Why am I held responsible for something that is completely out of my control. No one wants to pay for registering their item yet I am down an item which has gone missing in la la land.

[lyndal1838]

Have you started a search for the item with Australia Post?

If your items are expensive make sure you add tracking and insurance to the postage cost so the buyer pays for it.

No buyer will willingly pay for your protection, so don't make it optional.

[jellybirddesigns]

Never give buyers the option of choosing cheaper or more expensive postage (unless they specifically ask for Express).

Just build the cost into your postage and be sure to upload the tracking number once you have been to the PO.

Personally I don't use Signature on Delivery or other additional services as I know most buyers do not want to go to the PO on a  weekend to get their items just because they work during the week and cannot sign for them. 

Regular tracking is fine but if you don't have tracking, unfortunately you're out of luck.

Did you have tracking for the item in question?

Bear in mind that if there was no tracking and the buyer is dishonest, it means it has been received, but you have no way of knowing this. Australia Post may not actually be at fault here.

In 5 years of having my shop I think I've only every had 1 item lost by Australia post in over 3500 transactions.

[jellybirddesigns]

I didn't realise you were offering free shipping.

BTW, I just had a look at your items - you are making virtually no profit on your items if you are throwing in free shipping. Many of theose items would cost at least $2.00 to post due to their size and you're charging less than $4.00 on many things. By the time you take off Ebay fees, you might as well give the items away.

Maybe you would be better off to set your postage at a $2.00 minimum with additional 50c per item.

If someone places a multiple order, you would at least have close to the amount required to put in some kind of tracking and not be a total loss.

Also, less than $5.00 for a handmade card is very undervalued.

Double the price would be a better option.

[eol-products]

Do you write or print your address labels. I use large printed labels and rarely lose anything in letter post. The odd time I sent another it turned up a few days later. 

[springyzone]

Why are you so quick to blame Aust Post?

You say you are 'so fed up' so it sounds as if you have had things 'go missing' a few times.

If you don't have any sort of tracking on the items, then I'd bet that in most instances, you're being lied to.

You'll have to refund them though, as there is no way of knowing who is genuine and who is not.

Back when we sold, we sent out a few thousand items and never had anything actually go missing. Late yes, a couple of times, but not lost. I know it occasionally happens but it's easy for scammers to just blame Aust post.

You'll probably need to pop your prices up slightly to cover the occasional loss or claim.

Why would any buyer opt to pay extra? I laugh at ads that suggest that & if i buy, I ignore it too. There's no reason for a buyer to pay more as if a thing without tracking doesn't arrive, they can get their money back anyway and most know that. It's up to you to do the best to cover yourself.

[zanadoo_56]

If you've got tracking sometimes it is better to phone Aust Post customer service than use Facebook or the AP website to lodge an enquiry.

As an aside....  I also make cards (not to sell, just for friends and relatives) and I know what the real time involved is to make them.  I think you could definitely sell yours for more.  Try a few of your best single cards as a test case and see how they go.

[shoppingbag*]

This may be a silly question and may not apply, but are you hand addressing the parcels, or printing them?  I always, capture the buyer's address from eBay and print it exactly as it has been displayed there. My reason for doing this is because, I am only human and I could not guarantee Never to make a mistake when copying an address. I have known the most fastidious people (myself included) to make mistakes at times. Printing the address as given in eBay, also ensures that no-one can ever accuse you of not addressing the item correctly.

[chris-315]

the problem is the buyers these days, I have a 15% aus post buyer reported failure rate on sold items whereas I have a 100% receipt of items ive bought for myself!

Imagine if aus post had a network wide 15% failure rate of deliveries! do you think they really loose 6 million parcels a month? NO! its the awful entitled buyers!

Does that change your perspective?