@jacqueline2015jstj wrote:
1) Even though I sent Ebay and the buyer a tracking number and stated it would take at least 6 weeks...the buyer filed a INR after only 28 days even though they could see it had left Canada on ship by the tracking number...this is a buyer I found out afterwards that has an online store in Tanzania and gets a lot of his product from China on Ebay so he is well aware of how long things take to ship to his country....
2) It takes me 3 weeks to get more surface parcel orders just from the US and 6 weeks for orders from China....so Ebays 30 days policy for anything sent overseas so out to lunch...as most buyers could not afford to pay courier service fees...
3) For the camera I sent to this buyer the shipping upgrade would have cost more than the camera price...
My first advice would be to listen to the advice of the experienced sellers here who are trying to guide you in the right direction. You are setting yourself up for another similar disaster with your current listing as well. Beyond the loss of money to you, one more serious issue and you will find your seller status downgraded by eBay to the point where you might as well be invisible.
I want to try to specifically respond to your 3 replies above, as they do tell me that you're not fully understanding the risks involved in selling on eBay.
1(a) Tracking is not equivalent to delivery confirmation. Only delivery confirmation will protect you from an INR (Item Not Received) claim, but -- and this is critical -- the delivery must be within eBay's own delivery windows. Which is another reason to avoid shipping expensive items to remote locations if you can't afford to lose a claim (in other words if your selling volume isn't large enough to absorb the hit).
Further, as 'wigetc' pointed out above, even Xpresspost -- which has tracking, delivery/signature confirmation and insurance -- can't protect you from a SNAD ("Substantially Not as Described") claim.
1(b) Your description of the buyer tells me he was using you as easy prey -- a low-feedback seller using surface shipping to remote locations for an expensive product. You can fix that situation for your next sale and protect yourself from such exploiters (see suggestions below).
2) EBay's delivery windows and their Money Back Guarantee ("MBG") are arguably unfair to sellers in many instances, but all sellers have to live with them. If you're a new seller, eBay doesn't prevent you from using economy shipping, but they will punish you very quickly for it if it's slow, via the MBG and seller defects. While it's true that many buyers are understanding about slow delivery, a lot aren't, and the worst types will take advantage of the MBG to get a free item, as you've seen.
Again, if you aren't selling a large volume each month on eBay, your chances of having your selling restricted by eBay due to a couple of late parcels (or impatient buyers who use the MBG) is very high. As a result, lower volume sellers need to be cautious about where they ship, what they sell, and what shipping services they use. Self-insuring for the occasional loss is a good idea, but insurance won't prevent defects on your seller account.
3) Yes, the shipping upgrade would have cost more than the camera, and the buyer would have either paid it (if he really wanted it) or moved on. If he'd paid for Xpresspost shipping, chances are he would have received his item within a week or so and would not have been able to file an INR/MBG claim. Many of us restrict the parts of the world to which we'll sell and we show the true cost of fully tracked express service to international destinations for that reason. It lessens the risk considerably, and means that we're more likely to get serious international buyers, not rip-off artists.
Looking at the item you have currently listed, and in view of the comments above, here are my suggestions:
- I see you've revised your listing so that free shipping is shown to Canada under the shipping tab. That's good, and was necessary to avoid real trouble with both buyers and eBay.
- Your international shipping is set at "worldwide". In my opinion, this is a serious mistake if you're a new seller listing expensive items. You don't want a repeat of the Tanzania incident. And by using "worldwide" without an exclusion list, you have countries on your ship-to list that many sellers completely avoid (such as Brazil, Russian Federation, and many others).
- Either set up a ship-to "exclusion" list (use the "Preferences" tab on your seller account), or remove "Worldwide" and indicate specific ship-to international locations. The "safest" international destination for a new Canadian seller is the U.S. Even countries like Germany have had reported slow delivery and postal fraud issues. My best advice would be to restrict your ship-to locations to Canada and the U.S. Those are most likely going to be your biggest markets anyway.
- Remove the red text from your listing photo of the monitor. If the eBay bots find this, they'll take your listing down and will probably give your seller account a demerit.
- Include more photos in your listing gallery -- use up all 12 that are available, and use a couple of close-ups. Showing just the monitor isn't much of a sales enticement.
- I honestly had difficulty figuring out from your description section what exactly it was you were selling. Granted, most people buying this kind of stuff will have some technical knowledge, but don't begin your description with: "Suite only has about 10 hours on it so in mint condition." That doesn't tell a buyer immediately what you're selling. You should put a brief general description right up front, as the first paragraph, then include the list of exactly what the "suite" of items is (move it up from the bottom where it's almost lost).
- With regard to your shipping costs, once you've restricted your ship-to locations to, for example, Canada and the U.S., you'll be able to enter a flat rate shipping cost to the U.S. that is far more precise. Your choices for a fairly large and heavy item will likely be either Expedited Air Parcel or Xpresspost. If you can get the items into 2 boxes rather than 4, all the better.
- Finally, I'd suggest doing some buying on eBay -- any small items from anywhere will do -- in order not only to get a better feel for the online eBay process, but also to build up a bit of feedback. It's a lot easier to accumulate feedback as a buyer than as a seller. And, as others have said, a low feedback seller is a target for buyers with nefarious intentions. To this I'd add that it wouldn't hurt to list a few lower-priced items that are easier to ship (say in "oversize" lettermail format within Canada or via Light Packet to the U.S.). That will give potential buyers the impression that you have some experience and are selling on a regular basis. It might also help to build up your feedback.
I hope these suggestions will help. No one wants to see a new seller fail for lack of understanding of what we all know is a very complex and difficult eBay system to learn to sell with. Best of luck!
