Tracking on low-value items

[veruca_boi]

Hey all,

Just wanting advice from other sellers on here.  I mainly sell cd's on here, and I start my auctions at $1 because, let's face it, a lot of cd's aren't worth much more than that these days.  If they go higher, then yay!  A lot of times, they don't even sell for $1 though.  Anyhow, my concern is that, if I send a cd overseas, and the buyer refuses to pay for tracking, I am not protected if it goes missing, and have to refund the item value and postage cost.

Let's give an example to make it a bit clearer.  If I send the item without tracking, it can go as a large letter, so let's say I sell a $1 cd to USA.  The postage cost is $8.30 for this.  If I want to send it with tracking, it has to go as a parcel, which is $24.  I have yet to find a buyer willing to pay $24 for postage on a $1 cd (and before you say to increase the starting price of the cd, read the paragraph above - it won't sell).

On top of this, there are the ebay and Paypal fees, which would be around $2.75 for untracked or $4.95 for tracked, which is more than the value of the item ... so I guess my questions are these:

1. If you were in my shoes, how would you protect yourself in case of an item going missing?  Since eBay ONLY accepts a tracking number to be able to award in the sellers favour, would you pay the extra $16 out of your own pocket to provide tracking when the item sold for $1?
2. How would you cover the cost of the fees in situations where the value of the item is less than the fees?
3. (this is to prove a point) If you bought a CD from overseas for $1, would you spend 3 times the postage cost just to have tracking?

Leigh

[purplemon18]

I use DHL ecommerce too. Works great. They have a proof of pickup service as well as a proof of delivery service. Proof of pickup is enough for paypal protection, but not ebay protection.

I mostly use the proof of pickup service for Japan, New Zealand, Europe and North America so that I could lower the price on international shipping. Then I built losses into my CODB (cost of doing busienss) model. I think that because the DHL labels look official, it keeps people pretty honest though. I only offer tracked proof of delivery service for the rest of the world. I don't think I have had a lost international package all year and I ship 10-20 per week.

Everything you are doing looks pretty good to me, except I would offer a buyer paid express option for domestic too. You might want to also put in a disclaimer about it being the buyer's responsibility to know and pay their countries customs and duties taxes. As for mentioning in your listings the reason your postage is so high, you can note it as a postage and handling charge and leave it at that.

[veruca_boi]

I just looked up DHL eCommerce, and it seems this is only available to business customers, not the general public.  Is this correct?

As for your suggestion about "postage and handling", that sounds like a good idea.  The only issue that still remains with that is the "handling" charge will change depending on the final value of the item, so that's where the problem of buyers paying BEFORE I send an invoice becomes an issue... I guess most people wait though, so that's something.

There are times though, where the additional cost is quite high due to the fees.  For example, say I sold 2 cd's for $25 each, and sent overseas without tracking for $13.50, the fees would be $10.25 extra, but I guess I can try to explain it under "handling".

Thanks for your tips guys!  I really appreciate it

[digital*ghost]

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@veruca_boi wrote:

I just looked up DHL eCommerce, and it seems this is only available to business customers, not the general public.  Is this correct?

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In the sense that a member of the general public isn't able to log onto DHL and process / pay for a shipping label without applying for an account and getting their contract rates - rates are tailored to an account (based on volume), plus you sign a contract for all the T&Cs, so it does make it more suited to those who are shipping overseas on an ongoing basis, which usually means businesses (not necessarily registered businesses with ABNs and all that, but those sending packages containing merchandise, at least). 

Invoices are issued weekly, then you get a final invoice at the end of the month for any other outstanding parcels, plus all the pick-up fees for that month, so they don't offer a pay-as-you-go option, (due to the charges being a flat fee per article, plus a per kg rate that is charged by the gram, meaning a 50 gram package will cost a little less than a 51 gram package). 

It might be best to send them a quick email enquiry and just ask them for advice / info - I do remember I had to provide them with my ABN, but there were a lot of things their contract had fields for I couldn't provide, so they're relatively flexible. At least, the account manager I contacted was, and I only send 30-40 packages a week so definitely not a high-value contract for them where they'd be more inclined to make concessions.

[veruca_boi]

Ohhhh ok.  Thanks for that.  I'll definitely check it out!

[dwilkins73]

Hi. If you are still looking for cheaper international freight then you could try Sendle - https://try.sendle.com/international-courier?&utm_source=sparro-adwords&utm_medium=cpc-int&utm_campa.... We have been using for a couple of months now and service seems reliable and cost-effective. You might only pay $13.45 for a CD to the US.

[veruca_boi]

Thanks dwilkins73, I'll check it out!