How to fix ebay scams in one fell swoop: show how many item not received cases a buyer had to seller

[m_orsh]

Seriously, adding a simple feature like that would make it a cinch for sellers to decide whether to use tracked shipping or not to buyers that are sketchy. Scammy item not received cases towards sellers who don't always use tracking would happen a lot less since we would know who is opening item not received cases. It's not like showing a numerical value to a seller like that is a loss of privacy.

People who think everything sold on ebay should have to have expensive tracking in 5,4,3,2...

People buying stuff from me just to say item not received after reading this in 5,4,3,2...

[momcqueen]

It's an interesting concept but in practical terms, I don't think it would work. People would merely create new accounts to avoid looking bad in public and the purpose would be defeated. Alternatively, to be fair, it may be suggested sellers show all their private dashboard metrics so all potential buyers could then see rate of Returns and Cases opened and closed for INR and SNAD and that would also lead to an outcry. 

In short, it will never happen. Members expect more privacy, not less. Item, price, date feedback left is obscured now. I would expect more privacy measures to come for buyers in future, not less. 

Personally, I'd be happy to see number of Cancelled Orders requested reflected like the Cancelled Bids stat, but that too will probably become less transparent rather than more. Sellers cannot now see who's been blocked due to buyer restrictions for most offenses. 

[tobyshitzu]

in most countries they ship pretty much everything with del confirmation.  ebay isnt going to do that or anything else when its just Canada Post that is the problem 

[mr.elmwood]

I get about one (1) INR per thousand sales.

I use Femme's Insurance Jar and have never actually lost any money, not in 14 years.

[rose-dee]

I've had only one near-INR in 9 years, that's it.  I say "near" because the item went to an address in New Jersey just as Hurricane Sandy hit the area.  My buyer's local P.O. was flooded and all the mail had been moved elsewhere.  Still, USPS managed to locate and deliver the item within 3 weeks.  I was seriously impressed!

I don't use tracking for most items under about $50, but then I don't ship to Timbuktu either. 

[m_orsh]

that's true, canada post is a bit expensive regardless of delivery confirmation method.

[m_orsh]

associate it with both shipping address and user, this would fix multiple account issues while being somewhat less private.

or, just put this as a bullet point in the privacy policy without directly advertising to people. 

I haven't had it happen often either, but it's important to consider fair ways of ousting those who intentionally cause issues where a system has weaknesses.

[reallynicestamps]

Use a tracked service on items that are high value or high fraud, like fancy sneakers or coins.

Don't ship to any country that shipinsure* won't insure.

Keep your shipping and handling below the asking price for your product.

• Which is cheapest? A $5 item with $10 shipping or a $10 item with $5 shipping.

Don't have the lowest price on the item.

Don't be afraid of negs.

Use Cookie Jar Insurance on low value/low fraud items

Don't accept Best Offers. Block customers with unacceptbly low Offers.

Remember that free advice is worth every penny you paid for it.

[m_orsh]

I'm not asking about how to avoid issues, I already know how to do that. I'm just talking about a potential way to give sellers a more straightforward method of preventing it from happening in a fair manner.

[momcqueen]

In theory, we're supposed to count on eBay to do that for us.

[mindonfire]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo, just how long will these scams go on? A quibble here, a quabble there, on this forum or that forum.

Yet where exacts does the change take place? Like most businesses or places, a collective ebay members rally/unification directed to the staff seems needed or is justified. (behind the proper person + their phone numero digits) That or raise a stinkstank on Oprah/Ellen show. (show suggestion)

Put your collective minds together. 2 heads, 2 thousand, heck 2 million heads are better than ...............

In a nutshell this is what's going on (more or less): ebay has a buyer protection policy/statement. Order what you like, if you don't receive, (regardless of how good your side of the story) buyer/scammer (in many cases) gets to keep your product + shipping cost + their $ refunded back to them. Part of the cost of business? Debatable.

So the solution iiiiiiiiiiisssssssssss this: recording or monitoring. A video or a person. (representative/designated worker) Set up your phone or camera to live record your product packaging & shipping process. Give a 360 tour of your product, then package up the product, all whilst recording. Complete the packaging somewhere with a unique scribble (like an unimitatable Jackson Pollock) on the package. Evidence is now live recorded as to what is really in the package.

Continue live documenting @ the post office or @ parcel drop off. Record and or take pics showing shipping package cost + product delivery to staff. (also weight & other details if necessary) Your video is now live real actual evidence.

Second alternative if this somehow doesn't work. The entire process (in one swoop) video recorded or monitored by a designated worker, @ the post office. Perhaps a new policy hire or volunteer, who knows, whatever gets the job done. At the moment, most postal offices have a side counter where you can package & ship your product.

Feedback, feedback, feedback, recognize, recognize, recognize. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Pass message along, pass message along, pass message along, Go viral, go viral, go viral.

[momcqueen]

Or use tracking with delivery confirmation. You cannot hire a camera crew to follow that parcel 1,234 km to its destination to ensure no one from the post office steps on it by mistake before it is delivered. That's not practical. And who would view 136 hours of video to confirm it hasn't been digitally tampered with? This isn't CSIS. Most of us are selling $30 trinkets here. There's nothing sexy about it, nothing to take that viral. 

[reallynicestamps]

The answer is in your Seller Preferences.

Set up an automatic block on bidders with deadbeat Strikes.

Done.

There are other Blocks available, as well as some listing options.

Blocks include bidders who do not have an active Paypal account, useful if your items tend to attract newbies who are unaware that they are actually buying and not browsing.

Listing options included Immediate Payment Required on Fixed Price listings. Those remain active until someone actually bids on them.

So the solution iiiiiiiiiiisssssssssss this: recording or monitoring. A video... Evidence is now live recorded as to what is really in the package....Continue live documenting @ the post office... Your video is now live real actual evidence.

No it isn't. Because videos can be edited.

This has been known since silent movie days.

At the moment, most postal offices have a side counter where you can package & ship your product.

I deal with my postal outlet and with the slightly farther away Post Office.

Neither has a side counter.

Neither is likely to have fewer than three and often six or seven people in line at any given moment.

Not gonna happen.

Feedback,

Who do you think reads feedback?

Ignoring that it has always been voluntary and less than half of users ever left it, feedback is not a metric used by eBay to measure sellers and can only be positive for buyers.

Sellers don't read feedback.

Most sellers use Fixed Price listings, over 85%. The seller meets her buyer when he buys.

The few who still have Auctions mostly include a Buy It Now option. The seller meets her buyer when he buys.

The remaining Auctions that get any bids, tend to get them in the last few minutes*. The seller meets her buyer when he buys.

So who reads feedback?

Buyers.

And if sellers are leaving negative feedback for buyers, it does not encourage any customer to venture into a swamp.

Which takes us back to Cookie Jar Insurance.

How often do you actually have a Dispute?

Most sellers find it is one per cent or less of sales.

How much value do you lose annually to fraud?

How much of a self-insurance premium should you be putting into your prices to cover the very occasional loss?

Some categories are more fraught than others.

In addition to the well understood electronics and purse categories, I'd add sportcards, coins, dolls (especially reborns), horse tack, and sneakers.

YMMV.

*This is also why Fixed Price listings are the norm. The current shopper is an impulse buyer, on her phone and wanting Immediate Gratification, not to wait seven days to find she lost out anyway. That's soooo 20th century.

[Anonymous]

Use mail service with tracking number.

[rose-dee]

I do have to agree with everything 'reallynicestamps' has said above.  It's actually all very good advice, despite the low cost. 

And I'll also chime in about the option of using tracked (and insured) postal services if you can, with delivery confirmation for more expensive items.  The insurance of course protects only you, not your buyer, but may be worth it if you're experiencing a lot of high-cost losses. 

As an experiment, add up all your gross sales for the year to date and for all of 2017.  Add up all your gross losses due to buyer scams, theft, etc. over the same period.  If the proportion of your losses to your total income is higher than around 10%, you may want to take a closer look at the reason your items are a target.  Tracking may solve much of the problem.  Changing how or what is being sold is often the rest of the answer.  Documenting each dispatch will not be the solution, and will just waste a whole lot of your time.  

If the percentage is under 5%, calculate the total dollar value of bad transactions divided by the actual number of bad transactions and use that as your baseline for self-insurance (otherwise known around here as CJI -- "Cookie Jar Insurance").  This is basic actuarial underwriting.  Add that amount (let's say it works out to $1.75) to every item you sell, and you'll be covered for reasonably predictable losses in future.  

[tyler@ebay]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began I have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread!