Disputes with customers who don't recieve their item and there is no tracking number

[angelan41]

Does anyone else have an issue with ebay's policy to refund customers who haven't received their item.  I sell lots of little items that are not worth using tracking number for as the cost of a tracking number is more expensive than the item.  I send my packages out same day or next day and have amazing feedback but am often let down by Aus Post when items take to long to arrive or don't arrive.  I feel as though ebay supports the buyer not the seller here.  Apparently my only options are to refund for provide tracking which I don't have.  I really don't see the point in charging $8 shipping for a $6 marker.  No one would buy it.

 How do you get around this?  Thanks

[springyzone]

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@angelan41 wrote:

Does anyone else have an issue with ebay's policy to refund customers who haven't received their item.  I sell lots of little items that are not worth using tracking number for as the cost of a tracking number is more expensive than the item.  I send my packages out same day or next day and have amazing feedback but am often let down by Aus Post when items take to long to arrive or don't arrive.  I feel as though ebay supports the buyer not the seller here.  Apparently my only options are to refund for provide tracking which I don't have.  I really don't see the point in charging $8 shipping for a $6 marker.  No one would buy it.

 How do you get around this?  Thanks

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You can't.

That's the bottom line.

Yes, a lot of others have the same problem as some dodgy buyers have woken up to the fact they can just contact a seller of untracked items & claim they haven't got it & probably more than half the time the seller will refund or replace & ebay of course is none the wiser unless they open an offical claim.

All you can do is charge a little more for your items and let the extra cover you for the occasional extortion.

[angelan41]

Thanks for your reply.

Sounds like a good idea to absorb the cost through a slightly higher postage price on all the products or the items themselves.

Thank goodness it doesn't happen often, but I just feel sellers need more support from ebay in this area.

[springyzone]

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@angelan41 wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

Sounds like a good idea to absorb the cost through a slightly higher postage price on all the products or the items themselves.

Thank goodness it doesn't happen often, but I just feel sellers need more support from ebay in this area.

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It's a difficult position for ebay. They have absolutely no proof the item has been received (although I'd say Aust post is super reliable & 99.9% of items really do arrive) and no proof the seller really sent it.

So they're between a rock & a hard place. They have to give the buyer the benefit of the doubt.

Back in the day when i used to sell a lot, some sellers just took off with your money (I was a buyer too and got stung a couple of times). I think that is why ebay has had to try to build up confidence with consumers. Eventually i believe they will expect all items to go with tracking but if it doesn't, it leaves a seller wide open.

The ones where I think ebay does need to take a long hard look at are the buyers who have records of giving negative after negative, claiming dozens of times that they never got anything or that items were damaged etc. There should be some sort of limit on claims or if they don't want to do that, those buyers should be limited to buying only tracked items.

[davewil1964]

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@springyzone wrote:

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@angelan41 wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

Sounds like a good idea to absorb the cost through a slightly higher postage price on all the products or the items themselves.

Thank goodness it doesn't happen often, but I just feel sellers need more support from ebay in this area.

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It's a difficult position for ebay. They have absolutely no proof the item has been received (although I'd say Aust post is super reliable & 99.9% of items really do arrive) and no proof the seller really sent it.

So they're between a rock & a hard place. They have to give the buyer the benefit of the doubt.

Back in the day when i used to sell a lot, some sellers just took off with your money (I was a buyer too and got stung a couple of times). I think that is why ebay has had to try to build up confidence with consumers. Eventually i believe they will expect all items to go with tracking but if it doesn't, it leaves a seller wide open.

The ones where I think ebay does need to take a long hard look at are the buyers who have records of giving negative after negative, claiming dozens of times that they never got anything or that items were damaged etc. There should be some sort of limit on claims or if they don't want to do that, those buyers should be limited to buying only tracked items.

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But they load the dice.

They provide unrealistic delivery times; they actively encourage buyers to open disputes as soon as possible. They have no interest in sellers who sell small letter size items. In fact, they have no interest in sellers that aren't big box retailers.

[phorum_junkie*]

I don't send a lot of letter rate items but even if a parcel with tracking goes astray or is damaged/faulty you have to refund so I have always addes a small amount to every item which axts a a slush fund for refunds. It is only a few cents per item but over the years I have 'cashed it in' many times as the percentage of refunds is so small.

If it ever got to the situation where I was using more than the extra few cents I would give up selling.

[springyzone]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

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But they load the dice.

They provide unrealistic delivery times; they actively encourage buyers to open disputes as soon as possible. They have no interest in sellers who sell small letter size items. In fact, they have no interest in sellers that aren't big box retailers.

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Yes, I would agree with that. The Return item tab looms big after you buy something & in fact I have sometimes been worried I might accidentally hit it instead of the feedback tab!

I think ebay are not at all interested in sellers who sell small letter items you're right. They would prefer all things tracked. It's only a matter of time I suspect.

[clarry100]

Just wondering about what percentage loss rate you are experiencng?

We get about 0.1% or about 1 in 1,000 reported lost on our letter rate items.

But we also put a bar code label on all our envelopes that can easily be interpreted to the untrained eye as some form of tracking without actually saying that it is. It could be our own internal stock control bar code.

Before using the labels our reported loss rate was about 1 in 100 or 1%.

So quite a large proportion of our claims were obviously scammers on items for about $10.

[chameleon54]

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@clarry100 wrote:

Just wondering about what percentage loss rate you are experiencng?

We get about 0.1% or about 1 in 1,000 reported lost on our letter rate items.

But we also put a bar code label on all our envelopes that can easily be interpreted to the untrained eye as some form of tracking without actually saying that it is. It could be our own internal stock control bar code.

Before using the labels our reported loss rate was about 1 in 100 or 1%.

So quite a large proportion of our claims were obviously scammers on items for about $10.

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SNAP !!!......... I lose around one in 1000, but had a purple patch soon after the money back gaurantee was introduced where I  lost around 1 in 80. It was getting out of hand at times, sometimes with a couple a week. I also began to use other methods and it reduced the problem to virtually zero. The online shop lifters are definately a real problem.

For international sales, I add $1.00 to the post cost as occasionally these items do genuinly go missing or get held up in customs longer than expected. I would have trouble with international items around one in sixty sales.

OP I WILL SEND YOU A PRIVATE MESSAGE

[samkellystudio]

Don't forget Ebay charges a FEE on Postage costs