56 days to AUS from CAN normal? Buyer claims not to have received item; didn't purchase tracking.

[lisi36v]

I am a seller without much experience/knowledge, because I’m just trying to sell some old stuff since my parents and I are moving out of a house and into smaller apartments.

The item in question was a metal paperweight-size statue, which I had listed in the USA eBay site for $12 USD plus shipping, even though I live in Canada. The only person who ever expressed any interest in it offered me $6 USD plus shipping for it, so I accepted. He paid me $19.88 USD to my PayPal account on April 11th, 2017. I didn’t purchase tracking at the post office, because if I did, it would make me LOSE money instead of break even or make a profit. I purchased the cheapest international shipping option the clerk in the Canada Post post office offered.

I got a message from a buyer in Australia on June 7th, 2017 stating that he didn’t receive his item from me. I messaged him back, explaining that I did send it. He said that he would wait a few more weeks for it to possibly turn up.

I did send the item, and when I go into my credit card records, it says that I made a payment to the post office of $12.47 CAD (Canadian dollars) on April 12th, 2017. I also want to find the receipt, so that I can prove I sent it. The problem is, I don’t know if I’ll be able to find the receipt from the post office, because when I moved into my new apartment in April, I just packed everything  I owned willy-nilly into dozens of boxes. I still haven’t unpacked everything yet. My fear is that if I spend hours and hours searching for it, I will never find it. If I do find it, will this protect me from having to refund the $19.88 USD?

Is it really necessary to find the receipt, or is it good enough that I have the VISA record showing that I spent $12.47 CAD at the post office? How would they know that I didn’t just spend $12.47 CAD on, say, an album of collector’s edition stamps?

So what should I do? What are my options? Do I HAVE to provide a refund? If I have to refund his money, how do I provide the refund? What are the exact steps?

https://ocsnext.ebay.ca/ocs/sr?&query=350

The above webpage says I can issue refunds via the “returns” on my dashboard, but when I visit “returns”, it says “0” for all the choices. Specifically, it says “You do not have returned items for the time period selected.”, even when I have “18 months” selected. So I don’t know how I can issue a refund.

https://ocsnext.ebay.ca/ocs/sr?&query=208

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/item-not-received.html

Who would I contact at Canada Post to find out what happened to my package? Remember, I didn’t buy tracking, so would Canada Post even know?

https://ocsnext.ebay.ca/ocs/sr?query=1479&st=7&topicName=Didn%2527t%2Breceive%2Ban%2Bitem

Or maybe it could be Canada Post deliberately waiting a while before delivering?:

“I work for Canada Post and managment in Winnipeg's processing plant have been sitting on over 150 monos of packets (500 per mono) since before Christmas and they keep telling their staff that we make no money from deliving them so we just let them sit until we can find time (maybe summer) before local package volumes slow down. We have very little staff to process the packages and no overtime is offered. Even though managment and supervisory staff are at record staffing levels (record bonuses for only management $500,000,000 in 2016 alone). This is a disgrace and warrants a few heads to roll. Let your MP know and tell all your China sellers what is going on.”

 http://community.ebay.ca/t5/User-to-User-Help/CANADA-POST-SITTING-ON-MILLIONS-OF-PACKAGES-FROM-CHINA...

[momcqueen]

The only thing that will save you from an Item Not Received case is Confirmation of Delivery, with Tracking. To show you bought a postage label only shows you bought postage. You did buy Air Mail to Australia, right? Surface Small Packets will take like six months to get there. 

The seller sets the shipping services, not the buyer. Don't let a buyer badger you into shipping without tracking of you will lose your item and your payment. 

The first thing I ever sold on ebay went to a buyer in Australia and I made the mistake of sending it Surface. It got lost along the way. Don't make the same mistake a second time. 

You will have to refund, or lose an Item Not Received case. Find the transaction within your payapl Account Activity. 

[ypdc_dennis]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:
The first thing I ever sold on ebay went to a buyer in Australia and I made the mistake of sending it Surface. It got lost along the way. Don't make the same mistake a second time.

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Last time I sent something to Australia by surface it took 13 weeks (the A-river allowed up to 12 weeks at that time) -- never again.  Fortunately the buyer and I had crossed hobby paths in the 80's and 90's so he was willing to cut me some slack.

...

Last year my small packets (untracked) to Australia were all in the 15-18 business day range (based on replies from my buyers).

-..-

[ypdc_dennis]

You are going to have issue a refund.

Cheapest shipping would have been surface. It's far too slow for eBay sales to Australia.

After you refund, you can ask the buyer to repay you through paypal when it arrives.

Small packet (surface) can be only traced internally inside Canada, once on the container ship there is no further info available to Canada Post. And you do need the receipt that has the originate scan on it.  That said, Canada Post is only likely to investigate if a bunch of packages have gone missing.

The link you have for delivering delays refers to packages coming INTO Canada, not leaving Canada.

-..-

[reallynicestamps]

Shipping is the hardest part of mail order selling.

And eBay (and Amazon and etsy and alibaba and and and....) is mail order in a clever plastic disguise.

I didn’t purchase tracking at the post office, because if I did, it would make me LOSE money instead of break even or make a profit.

At which point, hindsight being 20/20, you politely tell the customer , No.

That is allowed!

As you have learned, trying to save money on shipping is a good way to lose money.

Things you can learn from this experience:

• Do not list anything that has to be shipped by parcel on eBaydotCOM.  Only use dotCA for these and then add Calculated Shipping which gives your customer an exact price for delivery to his doorstep.
• Do not use Surface shipping overseas. Ever.
• Weigh and measure any item you sell. You can send items that are under 500 grams and 2cm thick by LetterPost/LightPacket. These items can be listed on dotCOM with Flat Rate Shipping from an International Location. Set your own shipping cost.
• Do not use Surface shipping overseas. Ever.
• The seller  chooses the shipping service and the cost. He decides whether or not the item should be Tracked or Insured. This is not the buyer's decision.
• Do not use Surface shipping overseas. Ever.
• You are allowed to say no. Not every transaction will go perfectly.
• Cookie Jar Insurance. I go into long rants about this, but basically, it means building a small amount usually less than a dime into every selling price as a self-insurance premium. Use money from the Cookie Jar to cover the occasional problem transaction.

Best Wishes. And seriously, sorry about your learning experience.

[lisi36v]

On June 13th, 2017, I got an email from my buyer saying he received it over the weekend! Phew! But yes, I will strongly consider demanding tracking the next time I sell something, even though I think it will make the number of people willing to buy anything from me drop down to zero due to the exorbitant cost.