eBay

ericsells75 · ‎12-01-2020

Hi all,

So I ship out some video games lettermail and got my first INR. Just curious about a couple of things.

The buyer filed the day after estimated delivery date passed. I emailed them a couple of times to talk about it no response. I told them I would happily refund and not an issue but asked if they were willing to wait a couple of days as CP has been slow with Covid and Holidays. No response. I suspect if I don't automatically refund they are just going to ask ebay to step in so they never have to get back to me if the item does show up. As in, I feel in my gut they are just avoiding me.

I'm just wondering if I wait till eBay steps in and I lose will I get a 'mark' against my record? I'm just wondering if I should go ahead and refund now and be done with it, or is there any reason not to wait and see if they get back to me?

ricarmic · ‎12-01-2020

For sure do not make ebay do it, that does cost a black mark (defect) against you and you do not want (m)any of those.

I get these too regularly too. I send something like this (just sent one moments ago adjusted to the specific situation)...generally they work well, I have quite a decent re-pay after the fact rate, but I live in a much safer (stamps) world.

Hi! THX For your note! Hopefully you received my message on Monday XXXXX advising that they were shipped on that day?

Unfortunately COVID-19 related delays are still affecting shipments. Some items move at normal speed or even more quickly, some like yours are slowed down significantly. A lot depends on which sorting centers are affected and for how long they are impacted. I am not sure how the postal distribution network is affected in your state/ local area (I am in Canada). 99.5% of the time parcels just take longer than they should to arrive, especially now.
Trust me I share your frustration with the postal delays, I’m spending far too much time each week around all the messaging, refunds and eventual repayments accounting paperwork for the items that end up taking longer than they should to arrive.
Now that a case has been opened the only options ebay gives me are to send a message and refund and regardless of the messages, I have to refund by XXXXXXXX. If it is ok by you, I will wait to refund until then. Please close the case if it arrives in the meantime. If it doesn't arrive by the XXth, I will refund out of my own funds. Assuming the parcel does arrive after that, let me know and I’ll send another invoice so you can pay again (this is my full time job, small parcels like this are not insured so I am out 100% if they do not arrive).

Please let me know if you are ok with my waiting until XXX to refund and have a great day!

nostalgicaftertaste · ‎12-02-2020

@ericsells75 wrote:
is there any reason not to wait and see if they get back to me?

Yes. It has happened to me before where someone didn't respond to my messages, but on either the last or second-last day before the case was eligible for escalation, the buyer got back to me to say they received it not long after I initially responded but they forgot to close the case.

My recommendation is to always wait until the last possible moment (for me, that's 11:59PM, but that's cutting it close if you don't remind yourself!), just on the off chance that it does arrive and the buyer closes the case on their own accord.

When you say you "emailed" them, did you leave messages in the case itself? If yes, I'd recommend also sending a direct message to their inbox to say that you've been trying to follow up with them to see if the item is received, and that if everything is good now, they can manually close the case.

Another tip: Check the buyer's feedback — especially feedback left for others. That can sometimes prove enlightening as to any patterns they have or patterns that potentially other sellers have noticed and left either subtle or overt comments on.

If you get the sense that the buyer is giving you the runaround, though, make sure to add them to your block list once all is said and done so that they can't purchase from you again in the future. While normally it's best to take a positive view and not assume the worst, listen to your gut — it's probably right.

What was the price of the game, if you don't mind me asking?

raanana · ‎12-03-2020

When buyer is honest,he would definitely reply,if there is no answer at all I do consider is as the fraud.Some buyer just use it to get free staff,though the cannot do it often,so some are simply open a new account ( I was hit once 3 times by the same person).

Most buyers are good,but there are some bad apples ,you can do nothing about it.

Ebay will always side with a buyer,if there is no tracking.

Just part of the business,same as thieves in retail stores.

vintage*finds · ‎12-03-2020

I have an issue, too. It's only a few days overdue. We're communicating okay. Her parcel is just sitting in a Chicago distribution centre, looks like. No movement since it crossed the border. The thing is, why would I refund when I have tracking? When tracking is listed? It's proof of shipment. EBay will see that if she escalates and that should be the end of it. At least it used to be. Things change every time I come back to flog a few things.

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎12-03-2020

First thing you have to do is change your shipping for lettermail orders to the "Economy Shipping" option that takes roughly 30 days. Using your Beijing 2008 360 Game as an example, if a buyer were to buy it today, they'd expect it roughly 10-12 days from now. While lettermail can sometimes be really fast, with both COVID-19 and the holiday season, 20-35 days is not outlandish.

Your experience may change depending on the category, but selling in DVDs I find that most (not all) INR cases are genuine. I know this because after I refund the buyer, I invite them to message me to re-pay after they receive the item, and a majority do. I get a very low percentage of INR cases, I think maybe because I use the economy shipping described above, and because I send out a custom shipping confirmation with a photo of the buyer's package at my Canada Post box on the day of shipment. While extreme, it serves as a form of customer service that shows them it is reasonable to assume I sent their package. In turn, I think this makes buyers less likely to immediately contact if a package takes a bit longer.

As far as how you handle this specific case, you should refund before eBay is asked to step in. They will refund regardless, and you will get a defect. It sucks, but it's the pragmatic thing to do.

You can write a professional message to the buyer asking them to let you know when the package has arrived so that you can issue them a new invoice. While eBay does not have a feature for issuing a new invoice, you can either send them a Paypal invoice, or you can create a generic listing and call it something like 'Private Listing For Steve' and instruct the buyer to use that listing to checkout.

donkeykongvsbowser_7 · ‎12-03-2020

Do you have tracking?

reallynicestamps · ‎12-03-2020

The thing is, why would I refund when I have tracking? When tracking is listed? It's proof of shipment. EBay will see that if she escalates and that should be the end of it.

No.

Both eBay and Paypal require Proof of Delivery, not shipping. Delivery.

Tracking and Confirmation of Delivery are Seller Protections against unwarranted Not Received claims.

And look at what the Dispute is called.

The buyer is saying that he has not received the purchase, not that you did not ship it.

He doesn't have it and you have his money.

He wants either the purchase or the money.

If no one can provide him with the purchase, he gets his money back.

Those are the rules.

I've been selling here since 1998, and at no time has proof of shipping been a defense against a Not Received dispute.

ericsells75 · ‎12-03-2020

@ilikehockeyjerseys wrote:
First thing you have to do is change your shipping for lettermail orders to the "Economy Shipping" option that takes roughly 30 days. Using your Beijing 2008 360 Game as an example, if a buyer were to buy it today, they'd expect it roughly 10-12 days from now. While lettermail can sometimes be really fast, with both COVID-19 and the holiday season, 20-35 days is not outlandish.

Great Tip! Thanks! I bulk updated all my games to this method.

teenytrinkets · ‎12-04-2020

I've had more INRs on video games, than any other item I've sold... and I mostly sell cosmetics! I discovered one of mine was a repeat INRer of video games, so I reported to ebay. Of course, nothing happened.

Just make sure to block the buyer after you refund. Note the name & address too, just in case the scammer has multiple scammer accounts.