Tracked Package vs Regular Post

[dreamturtle.ty]

Hi , i usually send my items regular post with no tracking because of the price, i think most of my customers like it this way. But it is not without its pitfalls.

Im thinking of offering 2 levels of shipping service for each ebay item, tracked and regular mail.

I see some sellers say something like, "We offer 2 shipping methods and if you decline the tracked package service we will send the item regular mail AT YOUR OWN RISK."

MY QUESTION IS : what happens when the buyer selects the lesser service, and the item doesnt arrive? Can they still open a case and request a refund ? How does Ebay view this scenario? Will Ebay side with the Buyer or Seller in this case? Does anyone have any direct experience with this situation?

[mr.elmwood · Accepted solution]

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@dreamturtle.ty wrote:

Hi , i usually send my items regular post with no tracking because of the price, i think most of my customers like it this way. But it is not without its pitfalls.

Im thinking of offering 2 levels of shipping service for each ebay item, tracked and regular mail.

I see some sellers say something like, "We offer 2 shipping methods and if you decline the tracked package service we will send the item regular mail AT YOUR OWN RISK."

MY QUESTION IS : what happens when the buyer selects the lesser service, and the item doesnt arrive? Can they still open a case and request a refund ? How does Ebay view this scenario? Will Ebay side with the Buyer or Seller in this case? Does anyone have any direct experience with this situation?

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Do not offer choices as the buyer will always choose the cheapest.

An INR has nothing to do with the postal choice. Buyer does not get their purchase they can file a claim.

Tracked Packet is a waste of money for 98% of what I sell. Small packet is my best option. The difference in price goes into my insurance fund.

[dreamturtle.ty]

Just out of curiosity what percentage of buyers say they didnt get their item?

[pjcdn2005]

If you don't have delivery confirmation showing that an item is delivered and a buyer files an inr, the buyer will win regardless of any disclaimers that you have in your listing. I agree that it is pointless to give a choice as of course the buyer is going to use the less expensive so you have to decide how you are willing to ship that particular item and then price the shipping accordingly. If you put a small amount into a virtual cookie jar for each transaction, that amount builds up and will often make up for any losses.

[hlmacdon]

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@dreamturtle.ty wrote:

Just out of curiosity what percentage of buyers say they didnt get their item?

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Completely depends on the category, some are higher risk and actively targeted. In a non-high risk category you should be well under 1%, assuming you aren't selling to high risk countries or countries with well known customs issues.

[femmefan1946]

Category is the most important decider in using tracking.

Most of my items go untracked although some bulky (over 500gr or 2cm thickness) parcels have tracking built in to the service.

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

But I am selling in categories where most buyer can and do read, and actually enjoy following instructions.

Most sellers would want to track in any category that appeals to high risk demographics: videogames, electronics of any sort, fancy sneakers, gaming ephemera, sportscards.

Then there are the high value categories: designer purses, fine jewellry, high end antiques.

But there are some that might seem safe but are not: dolls and horse tack are the two I've noticed.

Any other categories that are fraught?

[ricarmic]

Hi Dreamturtle, here is a link to my "annual" self insurance report...

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/My-experience-including-2015-Self-insurance-cookie-jar/m-... 

[mr.elmwood]

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@dreamturtle.ty wrote:

Just out of curiosity what percentage of buyers say they didnt get their item?

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In my world it is less than 1%. More like less than .1% (1:1000). INR very rarely really happens.

[ricarmic]

A lot depends on where all one ships.

I'm still defiantly shipping "everywhere"... last year I shipped items to 55 different countries!

This of course opens one up to more problems. Loss rate as you see in my stats is generally very low in Canada/USA....

As a side note it bears mentioning too, I'm sure some folks are thinking "he should block Russia" - well the 2015 results of 5 lost includes one guy (crime) that got 3 little ones, it also doesn't mention the fact that I had a successful sale for $1,500 to Russia as well. Blocking Russia would have lost me that big sale, which very much even on its own much more than looks after the little stuff that got lost...

[dreamturtle.ty]

Thanks Guys for all your helpful information!

Just one more question ...

Is Ebay doing anything about buyers that claim more than their fair share of Item Not Received (INR) ??

Sometimes, ive given money back with no questions asked, but then i thought later that i should have asked them to open a case through Ebay before refunding. This would allow Ebay to track any buyers abusing the honour system. Any thoughts?

[dreamturtle.ty]

Very Helpful Annual report Ricarmic!

I too am at about 1% for "lost" items in the mail.

[mr.elmwood]

I have cut out Mexico. I think my loss rate there is about 6/7. Russia, no problem. Israel can be a problem when fighting breaks out.

[hlmacdon]

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@dreamturtle.ty wrote:

Thanks Guys for all your helpful information!

Just one more question ...

Is Ebay doing anything about buyers that claim more than their fair share of Item Not Received (INR) ??

Sometimes, ive given money back with no questions asked, but then i thought later that i should have asked them to open a case through Ebay before refunding. This would allow Ebay to track any buyers abusing the honour system. Any thoughts?

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Both ebay and paypal track this. They are not however, as punitive as Amazon, who bans problem buyers on a more frequent basis as they themselves are often a target. Regardless that doesn't change how you should act as a seller: self insure, third party insure, or ship tracked with or without insurance as best suits the nature of your sales.

[amcdc79]

Everything I've sent to Russia and Mexico has made it, the issue I had with Russia, was the length of time some of them took to arrive. After almost 4 weeks, I understood why the buyer filed a claim and gave me a defect, just asking me when I sent the Emblems(the same day he paid for them). After 6 weeks they arrived, and the buyer was very happy, and he did send me a message that the problem was his Postal service. 

I got positive feedback, and a defect on that one, so Russia is now off the list of countries I ship to.

[avenueshopswapsell]

I will ship without tracking for items under $20 US.  I haven't lost a package yet, but I did have a crazy buyer who bombarded me with a million questions about an item, purchased it and then lost his mind when I "shipped" without tracking.  The item was $10.  

Thankfully, I had not ohysically "shipped" the item and just refunded his money and blocked him.

[pjcdn2005]

I've found that the mail service in places like Russia and Italy have improved quite a bit in the last couple of years.

Last year I had 2 out of 2 packages to China and 2 out of 2 to Mexico go missing so I do block them on some of my listings.

Other than that, inr's are fairly rare. When I do get a question about an item not arriving, I often ask them to wait until a specific date and the package almost always arrives before then.