Buyer claims to not have received item and got refunded by eBay (untracked item)

[cl-2395]

Hello,

As the title mentions, a buyer purchased an item which is not given a tracking number as it is financially not efficient to do . I understand this is something difficult to fix because it is not tracked however I wanted to inform everyone that some people  are purposefully exploiting this.

So the buyer opened dispute that they had not received the item. Item was sent again and they did not close the dispute I obviously tried contacting them but they did not reply, days passed and eBay took into their hands and refunded it. Meaning the buyer received two items and got refunded. This hasn't just happened once so it wouldn't have been by chance that Aus Post lost the item and the buyers intent is very clear. To exploit this loophole.

[katistrophik]

In truth you can't definitvely say the buyer got 2 items as you have no proof that the first did indeed not arrive.

Some buyers will take advantage of non tracked, but I believe they are few and far between, most are honest.

On low value items I understand tracking is an expense you don't need, but in saying that, on occasion you will have to weather a loss

[jellybirddesigns]

Sending a second item is not considered a proper resolution. There is no way that Ebay can see that you have tried to resolve the dispute in this way, so the cheapest way is to refund.  Then block the buyer.

You will always lose any case that is opened against you if you do not have tracking, and there are certainly some buyers who take advantage of this.

In future, if you continue to sell with no tracking and a buyer opens a dispute, DO NO send a second item. 

Otherwise you're out 2 items AND the money and there is nothing you can do about it as you chose to send another item.

[gutterpunkz05]

As the original item had no tracking, sending another item is a waste of time and money, as a buyer should not close a dispute until the replacement item has been delivered, but as there is no tracking ebay now automatically refund the buyer in 3 days of INR being raised.

[countessalmirena]

@cl-2395,

Sending items without tracking has an intrinsic risk. You as the seller would have sat down, presumably, and worked out the percentage of losses (or the losses in dollar figures) per your overall savings by not sending with tracking. This is admittedly a difficult thing to calculate, because effectively you're not calculating the difference between untracked postage cost and tracked postage cost (because the buyer is the one who pays for the postage, one way or another), but rather the profit you are making with the volume of sales achieved by selling without tracking vs the profit you would make with the volume of sales achieved with tracking.

Even if you list the postage as "free postage" (meaning postage included, really), you would be the one absorbing the postage cost component. As you've said it's "financially not efficient" to send your items via tracked postage, my instinctive conclusion is that you wouldn't be able to absorb that cost. This is obviously not your selling account, so I am making a guess.

However... this sort of calculation would have informed your postage choices. If you concluded that the occasional lost item (or purloined item) over a year was cheaper than the impact of sending everything tracked, you have made that decision cool-headedly and in a business-like fashion.

You may want to mitigate the risk by including a self-generated barcode which could conceivably prevent some deliberate attempts to claim non-receipt, if they look official enough. Just note though that these are not a substitute for a trackable article ID number; the item won't actually be trackable. Its sole purpose would be to deter potential false claims of INR.

You may want to check the feedback history of some buyers if your gut makes you feel concerned about particular individuals, and if their feedback given to their sellers shows more than a few negatives, you might decide to protect yourself in that particular instance, either by cancelling the sale and refunding, or by sending with tracking in that instance.

Add problem buyers (including those that you feel may have falsely claimed not to have received an item) to your blocked bidders list.

Make sure that your Buyer Requirements are set up to block bidders/buyers who have more than 2 non-payment strikes over the last 12 months. It will look something like this (as of today's date):

Buyer management 

Use the following tools to manage which users can or cannot bid on or buy your items. Please select buyer requirements carefully and use these features cautiously because they may limit the number of bids or sales and reduce your selling success.

Blocked buyer list

Set up a list of buyers who will no longer be able to bid on or purchase your listings. The list will apply to all your items. You can add or delete buyers at any time.

Manage blocked buyer list  

Buyer exemption list

You can use the buyer block exemption list to let specific users through, regardless of the blocks you've set.

Manage buyer exemption list

Buyer requirements

   Block buyers who caused          2    cancellations of unpaid purchases within        12    month(s)   ⓘ

This requirement can help you avoid buyers with a history of not paying for the items they have agreed to purchase.

   Block buyers whose primary delivery address is in a location I don't post to.   ⓘ

This requirement can help you avoid buyers who agree to purchase your items without realising you don't post to their location.

   Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought          3   of my items in the last 10 days.   ⓘ

Consider selecting this requirement if you are selling expensive items and don't want to sell
over a certain number to any single buyer. Learn more about how buyer requirements work.

☐   Only set this requirement to block buyers with          0     Feedback score.

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     Don't allow blocked buyers to contact me

Buyer won't see the "Contact seller" button on your Questions and Answers page.   ⓘ

Buyers can still contact you about existing transactions, unless you add them to your blocked buyer list.

     Apply above settings to active and future listings

Existing bids will not be affected.

You can also "self-insure". That is, from each sale put aside a small amount (which may be, for example, 10¢) towards your self-insurance against missing parcels fund. You will almost certainly find that you are well and truly covered for any losses due to missing/lost untracked parcels.

[springyzone]

Sending untracked lets you charge a little less for items and you are presumably doing it this way to make it more competitive.

Yes, it carries a bit of risk, some buyers will take advantage as they know you can't prove delivery.

And you can't. You don't really know if they are honest or not. When you have a claim like this against you though, just refund. That is the most efficient thing to do. 

Look at it this way. If they are honest and the delivery did not arrive, then what is to say there won't be a problem with a second item arriving? Maybe there is a problem with their address, maybe they live in a block of flats where it would be easy for someone to pinch small items from a  mail box etc.

If the buyer is not truthful, then sending a second item is just playing into their hands. If they lied about the first item, why would they tell the truth about a second item arriving, when they can carry through with their claim and get a refund too?

Just refund, it's easier.

[trevz_treasure]

Just had this happen to me with 4 items 3 were sent together  1 separately and yeah wish we could leave bad feedback or something 😕 😢 

[twyngwyn]

You are selling cards.....maybe try tracked envelopes for multiple purchases

[davewil1964]

That's the risk you take when sending untracked. Given a medium large letter is about half the price of a tracked one, it is up to you to decide how you send (and whether you charge). Did you, for example refund the excess postage for the 3 you sent together? Or did you consider it a windfall?

[sugar249]

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@trevz_treasure wrote:

Just had this happen to me with 4 items 3 were sent together  1 separately and yeah wish we could leave bad feedback or something 😕 😢 

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So let me get this right,  the buyer didnt get the item, so you want to leave them bad feedback.   Its not their fault they didnt get the item.

You should be apologising to them and refunding