scam?

[maximus7001]

Buyer in Victoria buys a music cd with buy it now for $7.77 US, free shipping. Sends a message with the payment stating she wants "the tracking number". Buyer has been around since 2006 with 280 feedback.

Seems kind of odd that someone on the island does not know full well that the shipping with a tracking number to Victoria is going to be $13 CDN approximately $2 more than it would be to Vancouver from Winnipeg.

Thoughts on this anyone?

[recped]

The two most common notes that come with PayPal payment or as a separate message from buyers......

1 - "instructions" on how to pack

2 - requests for tracking

If a buyer on eBay has never made a purchase for something that could be shipped by LetterMail they probably have never made a purchase that did not include a tracking number. Expecting regular consumers to know the intricacies of which shipping service come with tracking and which don't is expecting far too much. There are plenty of sellers who barely understand the differences.

My thought: It's probably something they ask of every seller on every transaction. Probably no different than buyers who leave the same feedback for all sellers, every one says "fast shipping" even if it wasn't. After all most of the feedback I leave for buyers is exactly the same no matter if they pay instantly, 1 day later, 2 days later or 3 days later. Actually my buyers get pretty much the same feedback and all they have to do is actually pay.....sometime!

You are reading are too much into a simple comment.

[musicyouneed]

I don't think a scam.  Probably this buyer buys from the US all the time and most of the items come with tracking. 

I would just respond that free shipping doesn't cover the cost of shipping within Canada with a tracking number.  I usually do a print screen of what it would cost with tracking and say that if she/he really want tracking it will be $ X amount.  If she/he still want it. to let you know right away so you can send them an amended invoice. 

Otherwise you will post it on Monday with the free shipping. 

[femmefan1946]

 Probably this buyer buys from the US all the time and most of the items come with tracking. 

Not from the US to Canada. At least not cheaply.

More likely its just her standard practice.

[pjcdn2005]

I often get asked for a tracking number even when the shipping was just a couple of dollars so as recped said, I wouldn't read too much into it. Most people have no idea how much it costs to ship and/or which options are available with various CP services.

[mr.elmwood]

Probably the most common question after "Would you likes fries with that?".

[recped]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

 Probably this buyer buys from the US all the time and most of the items come with tracking. 

Not from the US to Canada. At least not cheaply.

More likely its just her standard practice.

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First Class Package International which is the cheapest mail service from the USA to Canada comes with tracking (for about the past 4 years).

[momcqueen]

What I have to say won't alleviate any of your concern but whenever I get a 'please give me a tracking number on my untracked service' request, I assume that I am being used by a dropshipper from another selling site. (As has been the case in the past.) I would assume your buyer is another seller likely trying to cover their own butt so that they have something to tell their buyer, the person to whom you are directly shipping.

Let me ask: was this an uncommon CD? Does it sell after-market for three times the asking price elsewhere?

Ship it as you would and be ready for the inevitable INR or pay for tracking yourself, out of pocket. Either way, you're at risk. Pay now to pay later. Your choice!

Regardless, be sure to include a packing slip so the recipient knows where it really came from. 

While it's possible that the buyer is innocently asking for tracking simply because they always do, it is in my nature to be suspicious. Unfortunately. Sorry to rain on the parade this morning. It does already look to be cloudy, fellow Winnipegger! 

[recped]

In the past 10 years I've shipped almost as many packages without tracking as with tracking. For sure I've refunded more INR's that had tracking than not.

Tracking will only help you if a buyer tries to claim a fraudulent INR. In all my years on eBay and well over 30,000 transactions I had exactly ONE shipment where I suspected a fraudulent INR claim.

Anyone who wants to pul something over on you simply has to wait for the package to arrive, look at the label to see if it was tracked and if not open a claim. No thief is going to ask for the tracking number after they have bought and paid. A thief might ask before they buy if the shipping comes with tracking and buy or not based on the answer.

[momcqueen]

Funny, I've never had an INR on a parcel with tracking. Only those sent Airmail Small Packets vanish before they reach their intended destination. And that mostly stopped after the barcode on labels appeared. (And I stopped leaving them in street boxes. And I passed 700+ feedback.) One domestic lettermail package once went astray.

I know with my guts that at least half of my INR for untraced Small Packets were neither late nor not received, based on the cagey remarks in Messages and snarky feedback left for me by those members question. At least half of those half were re-selling the item afterwards. It would, however, be unethical for me to cite the specifics of each case because it may identify the members. 

Obviously, I chalked it up to the cost of doing business and moved on with risk reduction strategies in place.

I do believe very much that most people are honest. Happy customers are honest. I do my best to create happy customers in a variety of ways but taxes on import are one thing that spoils the experience for buyers. As does using buy-it-now from one seller and then later winning the same thing at auction from another. Or plain old envy that I might be successfully selling the same thing as they do for double or triple the price. Those situations create dubious self-justification for less-than-honest behaviour even from someone who is generally mostly honest.

Sort of like an unhappy employee will gladly steal from an employer they feel is treating them poorly or meanly whereas a happy one wouldn't dream of it.  An unhappy person will take whatever they can get from whomever they can get it from. I don't like to be the whomever. 

[femmefan1946]

First Class Package International which is the cheapest mail service from the USA to Canada comes with tracking (for about the past 4 years).

You are right.

https://ircalc.usps.com/?country=10054

I used FCI parcel to Canada weighing 495 grams and got a price of $15.50 USD for shipping from 90210 to K0A0A6 (House of Commons, Ottawa).

So again, not cheaply.

Actually when I compare that to the Canada to USA rate, I think Canada Post is cheaper, but someone with better arithmetic skills than me should do it.

And the FCI rates are not easy to find. I had to scroll down below the pictured Priority Mail services and then click through on text titles.

Not difficult but not as easy to spot, even on a desktop computer.

I understand that a lot of DVD and CD sellers just opt for letter rate service. And that USPS has cheap DC labels (25 cents? ) for those although not online for 'letters'.

And we are comparing apples and oranges. Shipping domestically is much cheaper in the USA than shipping to Canada.

[recped]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Actually when I compare that to the Canada to USA rate, I think Canada Post is cheaper, but someone with better arithmetic skills than me should do it..

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I ran the number a few years ago before the big increases in 2014 & 2015, there were just a couple of quirky spots where Canada Post was cheaper for the same type of service (cross border).

Last Fall I did a comparison on just a few select services/weights and found that due to the exchange rates CP was now cheaper on many. The huge difference in shipping costs that used to exist has pretty much gone away. No shortage of US Sellers complaining that their International business has all but vanished.