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.

[*tippy*toes*]

It's hard when you have stiff competition which means your profit margins are low to stay competitive. Are your competitors in Australia, or are you competing with the Chinese? If you are only competing with the Chinese, I would add a postage cost to your items, say $3, which would almost cover the cost of registered post. More and more people are preferring to pay a bit extra to buy locally because 1. there's a better than even chance it's going to arrive, 2. they get it much quicker, and 3. it's often better quality than what they'd get from China.

As for the follow up feedback suggestion, which is a good suggestion, I would suggest that when you add the follow up feedback you put the buyers username in the follow up. For example "*tippy*toes* claimed item lost in post - refund issued". That way others can see at a glance who the buyer was if they just happen to be perusing your feedback for any reason. Then if they see that name cropping up on lots of sellers feedback, alarm bells would ring.

As for the feedback left, I had an INR a few months back. Buyer sent a message, didn't open a dispute. It should have only taken 2-3 days to arrive, he sent the message after 2 weeks. I think it was the Tuesday he sent the message, so I asked that he wait until the next Monday to see if it was going to arrive. He sent another message the following Tuesday to say that it hadn't arrived. I gave him a full refund. I had no choice as it was a small item sent as large letter.

A few weeks later I was shocked to see that he'd left feedback and gave 1 star for everything. Instant defect. I contacted eBay and asked how the buyer could say it wasn't as described when it never arrived, therefore he had never laid eyes on it, or how my communication was lacking given the amount of messages that went back and forth.. They agreed and removed the star ratings and associated defects. I was shocked as I thought I didn't stand a chance. I was even more shocked that I had sent them an email rather than call them! Usually emails are a complete waste of time.

[jellybirddesigns]

Tippytoes - the seller would need to add more than $3.00 for registered post as I think the cost is closer to $3.80 PLUS postage. However, adding a nominal amount would help to lift your margins, even if it only covers what you pay in Ebay fees.

One way to compete against the Chinese is to add "From Australia" in your heading.

I get a lot of business from people who specifically know that the item is made and packed by me here in Aus, not some sweat shop in China. I know in your case you are not necessarily making any items, but having that little bit of info in your title might help as people do not always narrow the search field to "Australia only".

[davewil1964]

From the OP -

a roll of labels still makes the cost $3.10 per item

[clarry100]

The "Australia ONLY" filter does not mean what you would think it does. It's actually quite misleading.

It just means posts ONLY to Australia. So a Chinese registered and located seller who mails only to Australia will show up if you use this filter.

On the other hand, a seller who is physically located in Australia and who posts to Australia and other overseas destinations will NOT show up when you choose this filter. Because they do not post to Australia ONLY.

There was some discussion and experimentation done on this a while back.

Have a look at this thread.

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Selling/Australia-Only/m-p/1819726/highlight/true#M109125

[roseblack]

No I am not competing against Chinese.

I also applied to eBay to have defects removed but was told that because I refunded them rather than replace the missing items, eBay could not remove the defects nor the feedback - seriously!

The wording of your suggested feedback response is good - I heistated about the word "claimed" when I was deciding what to leave as follow up as I thought it might be too pointed? I like the use of the userid though and will do that.

Thx

[clarry100]

Hi Rose,

Check your Private Messages on this topic.

[twyngwyn]

I generally have approx 12 items go 'missing' every year - large envelope - 'no tracking'.....have NEVER had an item returned by Aus Post....but still a small percentage of sales...that 'Dead Letter Centre' must be overflowing 😞 I feel your pain

[digital*ghost]

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@roseblack wrote:

I also applied to eBay to have defects removed but was told that because I refunded them rather than replace the missing items, eBay could not remove the defects nor the feedback - seriously!

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Perfect eBay CS response - as in, typically no clue what they are talking about. 

The eBay request system doesn't allow for replacements in any official capacity at this point in time, so when a request is open you can resolve it without using any of eBay's provided options, but you are then counting on the buyer to close the case to indicate they're happy (which not all of them do) - there are some changes to the system where they're introducing a proper replacement option in the US, but not here (go figure, all we're getting is the ability to automatically approve returns and/or refund buyers if they open a request, might be handy for some, but I won't be using it, and I'm really annoyed we're not getting the replacement option, because I've found that 9/10 that's what a buyer who genuinely hasn't received their items actually wants, with the disclaimer that stat is applicable more for items where doubling up on the order is of no benefit to a buyer. Some items are more susceptible to people wanting more at no extra cost, like craft supplies, sadly). 

I would personally prefer buyers not to use the request system. Defect or not, I want to talk to them as well as provide a wider range of options than the request system provides for, and an automated style system makes all of that really difficult, because people don't have to approach the seller and discuss options, just tick some boxes and wait for the almost inevitable outcome. 😞 

[roseblack]

It is true that buyers do not always complete the resolution process when they receive a replacement and they are eventually closed by eBay. I recently received a neg feedback because the buyer started a case in the Res. Ctr (INR) and didn't reply to my questions about address confirmation, check PO etc. Buyer claimed they didn't receive a response and just left neg. feedback saying they didn't get a response from me. eBay customer support said they couldn't remove the feedback because the item wasn't tracked - don't worry that the buyer didn't continue the resolution process he started.

I think the only real value the Res Ctr has is that it tracks the number of times a buyer claims INR.