buyer claimed non-received regular mail

[litao]

hi ebayer 

recently , a buyer from France claimed the non received REGULAR  mail from me (in Canada)

it is just a 40 dollars worth stamps and I stated clearly in mu listing , $4 for regular on buyer risk and if need tracking add 15$, 

buyer paid 4$ for shipping and the item sent out via canada post  regular mail ,

buyer claimed non received after 30 days and  buyer won , paypal issued the full refund . 

personally I think paypal is not fair ,destroy the foundation of  the trade ,the agreement .

buyer paid regular to saving shipping charge ,should take  the risk and I believe buyer understand it clearly 

and if a scam like person does it all the way and will win all the time, it  is a way to make money...

should seller ask buyer pay high shipping charge (with tracking ) no matter the final value?

I am thinking it ,cause ,buyer will 100% win even it is a scam ...

Thank you everyone! 

[momcqueen · Accepted solution]

As a seller, I feel your pain.

The thing here is, however, it's not up to the buyer to choose postal services or costs. You are in charge. It's your item, your risk, and your money gone if it 'disappears' en route so when you, as the seller, state in a listing that you're prepared to ship something without tracking at the buyer's discretion, what you are really saying to the world is, 'I have no proof you'll received this, and will give it away for free if you are too cheap to pay for tracking'. Postage options are your choice, as the seller, and yours alone. 

A savvy, unscrupulous buyer will know that any untracked item is easily claimed 'not received'. 

There is a world of debate over shipping tracked versus untracked, risk management versus sales growth, third-part instance versus 'cookie jar' self-insurance. I know other Community members will join the conversation here too with their opinions.

But remember, you are the captain of this ship. (Pun intended.) You don't have to give anyone room to consider insubordination or mutiny with claims of non-receipt under untracked shipments. Personally, I have no patience left for risk. The buyers who will try to lowball you on postage will also be the ones likely to nitpick some other aspect too. You can never really please a true cheapskate. Unless you give it all away for free.

I ship tracked now wherever possible. I have decided that the $10 sales, I can live without. If someone wants it bad enough, they will pay for tracking. (And then I sleep better at night.) 

[luv4orphans]

You are right in saying the ones that harp on shipping costs will find other things to harp about also. They are the ones we need to worry about.

I had the same experience with somebody from England about a year ago. It was a $110.00 item and over my better judgment I let it go without tracking after her harping about shipping costs, blah blah. It was well mentioned in my TOS. On top of this her feedback was private which means I couldn't read her feedback and I couldn't see what she left for others. There was a couple of red flags but I chose to ignore these in favor of a sale. My own fault but a costly mistake as shipping had to be reimbursed also.

16 days later she put a claim in saying she hadn't received the item and paypal froze my account. They gave it another 10 days because it was overseas. She still claimed item didn't show up which I know is a bunch of crock. If it didn't show up it should have been returned to me and it never came back.

On the smaller ticket items I take my chance as sales are down all around and wouldn't be selling anything at all if I insisted on tracking on those low ticket item. Anything that sells over $50.00 now requires tracking.

We have to take some chances as shipping costs get expensive when somebody buys online a lot but this is my way of doing things now. Sometimes there is no choice because of size, tracking is required. Me too I now sleep better at night. I find most people are honest but you only need 1 or 2 of these scammers and you learn.

[femmefan1946]

Although it is not necessary in the postal regulations, I do believe adding that blue AirMail sticker helps move shipments along just a tad faster.

And it tells your customers that you care. Like tying a bow on a box of chocolates.

I agree wholeheartedly with mjwl that it is wrong to give the customer a choice.

This is where Free Shipping comes in. It makes the customer feel that he got a bargain. (Which is cheaper $5 + $5 shipping or $10 with Free Shipping?)

Or burying part of the cost of shipping in the price :

$5 item +$5 domestic shipping = $10 asking . Free Domestic Shipping and $5 International shipping.

However, you are selling stamps. Me too.

We have a very honest customer demographic.

It is quite likely that your customer does not yet have his stamps. I find French customers a bit touchy about delivery, yet their Customs Office can be slow.

Send him a polite note, regretting the delay in arrival of his stamps and letting him know that when they do arrive, he can repay the refund using Paypal's Send Money service. (You may have to send this to his PP address, along with your own email address, since eBay Messages doesn't allow us to attach email addresses. )

[femmefan1946]

BTW-- You have a couple of problems with your Red Military listing.

Are you selling just one stamp or all the stamps in the lot pictured?

If it is just the one, get rid of the pictures of multiples. That's a disaster in waiting.

And your scarlet note about not shipping to France? Take that off your listing where it will only discourage other buyers . Because if a French customer does buy, you do not have France Blocked in your Seller Preferences.

Are you using the Simple or the Advanced Sell Your Item Form? The ability to Block countries may only be on the Advanced form.

[litao]

Thank you for your answer ,it is very helpful ,

Thank you!

[litao]

Thank you for your answer ,it is very helpful ,

Thank you!

and by the way , I think you are right on the red stamps ,that item was end now (closed by myself )

[dmil8030]

Hello 'litao', 

As the others here have stated, it is always up to the seller to choose the shipping method.  Many buyers simply have no idea what it costs to mail things.  I find the best way to end any argument about shipping costs is to let people see for themselves what it costs to mail anything from Canada:

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

It seems English is not your first language but do you have a good friend for whom it is,  who would be willing to look over your listings?  You also will want to be sure you are not confusing the words "buyer" and "seller" in your descriptions. 

More importantly is that you really ought to make the listings a little more friendly.  You can change the font size and colour but don't use CAPS, -- it looks like you are SHOUTING at people.  

Statements like, 

- EXPECTED FINISH TRANSACTION WITHIN 7 DAYS  

- will fill out a non payment dispute through eBay after 72 hours . . . (will not take any action against buyer if paid within timeframe),otherwise buyer will get a record of nonpayment ,

 -FLAT SHIPPING(NO MATTER WHERE) IS 4 USD FOR THIS LOT FOR REGULAR AIR AT BUYERS RISK (buyer risk means I have NO  any liability on the lost/damage of the mail, buyer agrees will NOT take any action against buyer , like open a non-receiving dispute through eBay ),if you are not comfort with it ,we can do the registered mail or simply do NOT place a bid.

- Due to the lost mail experience , I ship only registered mail(no matter the final value of the lot) to the destinations list below

France  

- we don't issue any partial refund in any case ,I had received a request from buyer , said my stamp has fault and request a  90% refund without sending them back ,it is unacceptable .

are all terribly unfriendly and may even appear hostile.  It sounds as if you have unresolved anger issues, and that will deter the good, kind, decent people, - yet all those statements about how you ship without tracking will attract the thieves.   It makes it sound as if you would be difficult to deal with but easy to steal from, -- and that is what you absolutely do not want. 

It is also contradictory and terribly confusing.  

I would suggest you not mention the word "refund" anywhere in the listing at all.  Let's assume that all transactions will have a positive outcome. (Deal with problems as they arise).

And send all these items with Delivery Confirmation.  Buyers don't care whether you call it "Registered" or not, or how you send it.  But you will lose if you do not use tracking and by broadcasting the fact you will only attract scammers.  

People can buy and sell risk-free on ebay, so all this talk about 'risk' should be removed from your listings.  There is no need to take chances, and you will not be at risk if you do it right.

Even if you include the shipping fee in the item price ("Free Shipping"), send all these items Delivery Confirmed, and according to paypal's Seller Protection page, items with a value of $850 (Cdn) or more require Signature confirmation.  See, "What is proof of delivery":

https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/security/seller-protection-faq

You can, of course, require a signature on items valued far less, so you do not have to limit it to those valued at 850 or more.  

What it means is that on your 'quotations of Mao' stamps, without the required Signature Confirmation  paypal will not cover the sale, - and you could lose the whole $3,600.

It might be a good idea to look at similar listings on ebay that other long-time stamp dealers have.  Even if they do not have the same items, they will have finely-honed user-friendly listings displaying the stamps that are currently available.  You will notice they don't mention anything about risk and refunds in the description.  

If you have other questions or problems it might be helpful to ask on the Seller board where lots of users (many who sell stamps) will be able to help you set up your listings one-by-one, step-by-step.  They will help you ensure you never lose money again:

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/bd-p/213