Being Scammed by buyers on lower priced items where tracking is not practical

[ryan31c]

So I am being scammed by buyers on a regular basis, it is the only explanation as I have been selling on Facebook sites for a year and yet to have one shipment go missing. Payments are made by emt or friends and family PayPal. I have also purchased hundreds of things on ebay and facebook and have never had something not make it to me, and now On ebay I am averaging one claim per week of the buyer did not receiving the item. This seems impossible to me. But it continues to happen. So I know the easy solution is send tracked. The problem with that is as any Canadian knows when shipping tracked -shipping is minimum of 11 dollars. With shipping to the states it's 18. And overseas it get's even more out ridiculous I tried shipping tracked to Australia it was 5 ounces of silver and they wanted 60 dollars. So when I'm selling a 20-30 dollar item no one is going to pay 11 to 60 dollars for shipping. So one of the solutions I have thought of and I don't know if it's sufficient is video taping me dropping the packages in the mail box. Other then that I don't know what to do. But I'm sure I'm not the person first person to have this problem or first person to ask this question but is there ANYTHING Beside's reducing my sales probably at least half maybe more! to keep from losing money on regular basis by these claims! I know I stopped giving feedback till after there item is received. Thank's for any tips or solutons

[momcqueen]

Are you sending coins via lettermail?

[momcqueen]

And, no, videotape of you dropping something into a mailbox is not sufficient. Just because you mailed something does not guarantee it is delivered to its recipient. Use this link to report lost domestic lettermail so that Canada Post has the ability to track its 'lost letters'. Maybe there is a legitimate theft ring in your area. This has happened in the past though I would not necessarily suggest it is the most likely scenario playing out.

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/kb/details.page?article=how_to_resolve_undel&cattype=kb&cat=receivi...

Are you certain you can export what you are sending to the countries in question?

Are you certain you can mail what you are mailing via lettermail?

[pjcdn2005]

If you really are receiving an item not received claim every week that is definitely not normal.  Over the years I hsve heard of a couple instances when there was a problem of disappearing mail for items mailed from a specific mailbox but that isn't common either.  

Could it be a matter of some buyers just being a mpatient?  Once I mail out an item I send a message letting the buyer know that their item is on its way and  to expect it in approximately xx-xx days.  I vary the number of days given based on the buyers location and the time of year.  If they are in another country I also mention that the package will have to clear customs Which can occasionally cause delays and also to let me know if they have a question or a concern.    I think that notes like that help to manage a buyers expectations as well as personalize the transaction a bit more.  It does seem to reassure the buyer that an item is on its way even though there is no tracking number given.

i notice that you are often charging the same shipping cost to the US as to overseas?  The prices are different so you might want to look at that.

[esclyons]

i would recommend anything over 50$ be sent with tracking. you could also look at registered mail. a small gold coin or a 100$ coin can be mailed across Canada for 12$. tracked with signature..you could also start adding 1$ to silver dollars, to put in your virtual insurance cookie jar..so when something goes missing you have a little slush fund..

[ryan31c]

Hey thanks! Yes 50 seems better then 100 and I like the isea of adding a bit to each item to cover it. It tends to be more the country's like Russia I actually don't think I have had one complete shipmet to Russia. But I have had two in Canada lots t the states "Go misssing" but yes thank you for your response

[cumos55]

There are many considerations.

(1) What you sell.... light weight  , and lettermail makes sense.....  But not on a price basis

(2)  The price of what you sell....For me the break-point for using lettermail/letterpost is nothing more than about $25 in value.  Thickness is my first consideration

About 20 % of my sales are mailed as lettermail....It is the character of the buyers that allows me to do this without claims of non receipt...of the sold item... The buyers do come back and buy more....and shipped as  lettermail, and parcel

Many times  it is value that says....  ship in a parcel with the higher cost and fully insured

(3) Blocked countries.....  I used to ship to all European countries.....  The buyers in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea became very "sensitive",  and very difficult to deal with on a regular basis....  These difficult buyers' countries were blocked.

Now I ship only to Canada and the US....  shipping to other countries is expensive and not worth the agony of wondering... "What  next?  

(4) Buyers....  character, as to who they are and what they might do....  and then the country in which they live.

In today's eBay....  tracking ......fully insured .....  and value...

If they want it they will pay the cost of postage that a seller specifies in the listing

--------------------------------------------

With OP it is the purchase of items, with the buyer knowing...... it ..... will ...be ....FREE.....

[mcrlmn]

How many Item not received are 'Best Offer'?
How many are outside Canada/U.S.A.?
How fast do you ship?

I've had 3 Item not received transactions in 3 years.

I ship via Canada Post letter mail.

I've used tracking 5 times in 3 years.

[valuestore]

Could be a postal outlet employee, try changing drop locations for a month or 2.

[Anonymous]

It is one of many reasons I switched from cheaper mail service with no tracking number to mail service with tracking number even for a 4x6 photo (sold at $14.99 each) to protect myself.  I may be losing some potential buyers but so far I sold a lot of items nearly daily more than when I offered cheaper mail service with no tracking number.  Guess buyers prefer to have their items shipped with tracking numbers??

I sold lots of items to countries by Tracked Packet (around 47.50) and XpressPost (around $85.50) which they are willing to pay.  I guess it may becoming a trend to provide tracking numbers.

In fact I went crazy a few years ago when the US buyers demanded tracking number after they made the payment and I told them there is no tracking number for cheaper mail and they insisted since USPS do provide tracking number at cheaper postal rates unlike Canada Post and that is when I decided to switch the mail service with no tracking number to mail service with tracking number to protect myself as I get way too many "where is my item?" &/or "I didn't receive my item" and because of that I am being penalized by eBay each time, it is just not worth the hassle.  It is sad that lots of buyers think they can get away with it when they see some sellers don't offer tracking number.

I wish Canada Post would offer tracking number at cheaper rates like USPS does, then we can sell more items than usual like trading card, stamps, small photos, etc.

[ladybug2785]

We use small packet usa and international (to places that insurepost insures, they have a list on their site) for higher priced higher risk items. Insurepost charges $1.60 US to add $100 US insurance to a shipment like this. It requires a scan in receipt from the post office with a day stamp on it. It is really that simple. Looks like you are shipping to alot of dumb locations, stop doing that.

Cost $8.61 CDN up to 250g to ship plus the $ for insurepost.

[sylviebee]

I noticed that you sell a lot of low priced costume jewelry. 

I've found that items I have the most issues with are costume jewelry pieces valued at $25 and below.  

I ship those pieces with stamps, not even a pretence that there's tracking, but my complaints aren't about items not arriving.

The complaints are about the pieces themselves.  In reality most of those items are super nice for very low prices.

However, they're not $100 items being sold for a few dollars.

I don't know if that's part of the problem you're faced with, but IMO it's one of the hardest areas to deal in on eBay.

HUGE competition with buyers expecting top notch pieces for a few dollars and when they get what they paid for they're disappointed and will be more likely to claim that the item didn't arrive.

I get regular questions from buyers expecting Sterling Silver and 24K Gold for a few dollars.

[jmw-coins]

u are very lucky guy .....

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.