Should eBay alert Sellers and Buyers to Pitfalls re Postage?

[kalwal]

I just learned the hard way that it is not enough to send an item with tracking, as eBay encourages you to do. What they neglect to tell you is that you should also send it with extra cover for the item's full value, as they will not "protect" you if the parcel gets lost in transit. For me, eBay's insistence on tracking has always been good enough to feel protected as long as I used tracking. That and the assumption that the high fees I am paying should not just be so that eBay can offer protection to buyers who contribute absolutely nothing to their protection.

And talking about buyer protection, eBay also neglects to tell buyers that they will not be protected if tracking shows that an item was delivered although the buyer may never have received it, either due to it being mis-delivered or falsely scanned as delivered.

My question really is whether eBay should (or has to) disclose above pitfalls to their members many of whom would not be aware of them and as a result could find themselves misled and financially disadvantaged?

[veiled-lady]

I'm not sure why anyone would think eBay would cover the cost of an item lost or damaged in transit.

That's not something I ever even thought of until now.

Tracking is mainly to help the seller prove that an item has been sent within a seller's handling time, and then delivered to the buyer.

You may have a bit of a point about buyers not realising that they will lose an INR if tracking shows delivered to their suburb (I think, or within a certain distance of their address), as some people just take "buyer protection" at face value and don't read all the rigmarole surrounding that.

I just think that too many people assume things without ascertaining all the facts.