eBay

gear2743 · ‎03-22-2019

Reading thru the advice of sellers , it seems reasonable to accept some loss thru untracked mail when sending low cost items out to buyers.

My experience so far has been a loss rate of 1 in 10 items being claimed by buyers for a refund because of non delivery . That is 10 percent loss in the postal system , really ?

Somehow , I think , buyers are not being honest , they are quick to demand refunds and are not interested in solving the issue , what is more is I have never gotten a “lost” item back in return to sender mail.

What to do ?

Anonymous · ‎03-22-2019

Ive been having that same issue from the other side of things,So far i've been able to resolve things one way or the other every time it happens,the annoying thing is,it takes over a month to order from china.it vanishes in the mail,I have to wait ANOTHER month for either re-delivery or for another seller.It happens more than I like.Im averaging 2 missing items for every 10 items ordered.I know our mail system needs work but I dont think its that bad lol.to add on.the re-order always seems to show up fine

Anonymous · ‎03-22-2019

I could have swore I left a response here,hmmmmmm

van13sina · ‎03-22-2019

Make sure you read the buyers review before you ship , also make sure the buyers feedback is from different sellers , not just a few from the same country . If you have a tracking number and if the post office has cameras than its really hard to make a fake claim , make sure you get a tracking number

reallynicestamps · ‎03-22-2019

I'm a big proponent of Cookie Jar Insurance-- self-insurance against real and even phoney problems.

But coins?

Sorry, not a good demographic for CJI, unless you have a very high "premium" built into your pricing.

We did a lot of stamps shows before we retired, but avoided "coin and stamp" shows because there was too much shoptheft.

And one Montreal show was constantly telling dealers that they were hearing reports that the show was going to be violently robbed.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-22-2019

For low value items it really isn't feasible to ship with tracking. The one thing that I find that helps is once I've shipped the item, I send a note letting the buyer know that it has been shipped and give them an approximate estimate of when to expect it to arrive. A lot of people expect tracking so if they don't see a tracking number, they wonder if the item was really shipped but I find that a personal note saying that it has been seems to make people feel a bit more secure and perhaps more patient.

Obviously that isn't going to help if a person is going to be dishonest about receiving the item but personally I've found that most people are honest. As one poster suggests it is a good idea to add a bit extra to your prices to account for the occasional loss.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎03-22-2019

Stamps on the one side are a bit easier to disguise in the mail because they appear to be printed matter. Coins sent regular mail, not so much(Even if they are in a grading holder - weight & shape). Remember when Grandma sent birthday cards with a few coins in the past? Now not such a safe idea with any kind of currency or even a gift card. Sadly it's the world we live in that nothing is entirely 100% safe.

-Lotz

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-22-2019

Actually if you are using lettermail for your lower priced coins you already have a fairly good 'buffer' built into your shipping cost as you are charging quite a bit more than the actual cost.

For your higher priced coins, any particular reason that you are using Xpresspost? It is quite expensive, especially to the US. You would save money by using Tracked Packet which has tracking and up to $100 in insurance.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-22-2019

I sell a few coins and know others that do as well and they don't have a big problem with inr's with lower priced items.

musicyouneed · ‎03-22-2019

It is funny, that when I was shipping items without tracking to the US and Internationally, I would have INR a couple times a year. With tracking that is down to nil. Same postal system, makes me think that the few that I send without tracking (to Canada) are lying. I block them so they will never buy from me again.

Anonymous · ‎03-22-2019

It is why I use tracking numbers for all my items. It is not worth to ship them without tracking numbers. There are more and more buyers looking to get items for free and get refunds at the same time. Sad for the honest buyers that have to pay for the tracking numbers.