Buyer chooses expensive upgraded shipping - what if he opens a Not as Described case next?

[regineb_b]

I have a buyer in the USA who seems to be interested in paying for an upgraded shipping to get his package faster. I could offer him the fastest (and very expensive) shipping options available from Canada Post but what if he decides to return the item and opens a Not as Described case? (That seems to be very hard to win by the seller) I will then have the obligation to refund his very high shipping costs... I might be just imagining a non existent problem but something this buyer has said in his email to me makes me doubt his honesty. Also, he might leave me a negative feedback for high shipping cost. All these shipping issues are such a headache (free or not free, tracked or not...).

[recped]

What makes you think the buyer would open a Not As Described claim?

You know 99.9% of buyers on eBay buy stuff because they want it not so they can create issues.

[mr.elmwood]

Without a sale you have: SNAD, expensive refund, dishonest customer, and negative FB. All that in one non-existent transaction.

You are worrying more in one widget than I have worried in eleven years.

[regineb_b]

You are probably right, I do have a tendency to worry too much, it's just my first Not as Described was opened a few days ago and made me over-analyse and read too many discussion posts in order to prevent non existent problems.

[mr.elmwood]

Do not read any of the boards for validity of transactions.

99.9 of transactions go perfectly smoothly. Which you garner yer attention, the 99.9 or the .1?

Ya really want doom and gloom? Head over to seller central on dot com. That is Chicken Little Land. The sky is always falling, the Russains are invading, the world is flat, the entire moon landing was shot in the desert, the 200 mpg carb is hidden in Al Capone's safe. There are rolling blackouts with sellers being throttled and guardrailed.

Most of their beliefs and fears are beyond comprehension. They still believe the world is going to end May 21, 2012, er, Oct 2012, er, the end of the Mayan calendar, er, midnight 1999 when computer clocks will not change date.

[reallynicestamps]

Oh Mr. Elmwood, the moon landing was filmed in Sudbury Ontario. We Canadians are so ignorant of our own history. Sad, really.

[mr.elmwood]

I was through Sudbury in 1967. It was, um, somewhat "alien".

They have a big nickel.

[rose-dee]

OK, everyone agrees that issues with buyers are very rare, statistically.  However, take a look at what the OP is selling -- jewellery, and not fake costume jewellery.  He probably has a little bit more to be concerned about, generally speaking.

Still, if I can address the OP's worries directly, I think there's less to be anxious about if your buyer is going to be paying for premium shipping anyway.  And I would think you also have a huge advantage over some of us in terms of size and weight of items shipped. 

As an example, I just paid $57.00 for a ca. 2.4kg Xpresspost parcel to California that the buyer wanted ASAP, and I even "subsidized" the shipping cost as a courtesy to her.  With that service comes insurance, delivery confirmation, speed and priority handling, including protection against INR claims.  I imagine your small jewellery parcels wouldn't cost anything close to $57.00, so what would your potential loss really be?  You can't insure yourself against absolutely every eventuality.

What exactly was it that the buyer said (paraphrase please, not the actual quote) that made you doubt his honesty?  Where is he located (where will you be shipping to)?  I'm trying to imagine why a buyer who was planning to defraud a seller would bother to pay for a premium shipping service -- that doesn't quite add up. 

Take a breath and try to rely on the statistics, which may be slightly higher in the jewellery category, but not unmanageable.   

[regineb_b]

Finally, this buyer did not choose the upgraded shipping. According to my estimate based on Canada Post web site, to ship a ring in small box in a 9 x 6 in bubble envelope (as I usually do) with Express Post (2-3 days) would be 32$. The buyer was interested in a 35$ item and made me an offer for less pleading to accept it because he does not have lots of money these days and it's for a Christmas gift. When I countered to meet him in the middle and mentioned that the package won't make it for Christmas, he accepts it and then asks if a shipping upgrade is possible, which as he obviously must know, costs more.

So, as I wrote earlier, because of my first Not as Described case, it hit me that if he opens a case later (and not just this particular buyer but in general), I would have to refund the upgraded shipping, which is kind of not worth the risk given the item value.

[femmefan1946]

Nice to learn that calm communication won the day.

Often, I think, when a buyer asks for upgraded shipping, she is unaware of the cost of that shipping. Giving her a reality check can solve a lot of problems.

Politely.-- Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

[Anonymous]

As a seller, I would be delighted when my buyers want to pay the upgrade expensive mail service, meaning I can ship it by XpressPost with insurance and tracking number!!

Since Canada Post removed insurance from small packet air last January, I prayed everything arrived there and okay each time.