Should I Ship Internationally Without Tracking?

[katstar86]

I just started selling on eBay this past month. I have a question/seeking advice about a recent transaction with an international buyer. I am also curious if an INR claim will go against a sellers feedback score or affect your account in some way besides having to issue a refund? 

The backstory:

I’ve had two international buyers. The first buyer I’ve already shipped to and the second I’ve received payment from but haven’t shipped to yet. I gave them both the option to choose shipping (maybe not the best way to do it).  They both wanted the cheapest option (without tracking) and I agreed not thinking much about it at the time but now I'm realizing the risk to the seller because there is no way of knowing if the item was delivered. 

I have a few options:

A. Should I ship the second package using tracked shipping? Which would be significantly more (without tracking is $20 and with tracking is $60). The buyer paid $50 for the item and $20 for the shipping. So essentially I’d be just above breaking even. 

B.  Should I contact the buyer and say I changed my mind about the shipping charge and resend an invoice? (that seems unprofessional and I’d rather not). 

C. Should I send it without tracking and risk it? Logically this makes the most sense: I’ve already made the transaction and I should just go ahead with the cheapest option without the tracking as agreed upon with the buyer. 

I’m curious what other sellers think? Any advice for the things I’ve mentioned are welcome. 

[esclyons]

i would recommend never shipping anything without tracking that you can't afford to lose.

[teenytrinkets]

Ship without tracking and cross your fingers.

Even shipping WITH tracking, they can request a refund (and make up any reason, really) and you'd have to refund or get a chargeback.

I rarely ship internationally and if I do - only to the UK. I had a $60 +$20 shipping never arrive. I was out about $40 for the item and $20 for the shipping in the end.

So I try to keep the risk low. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and say EEF IT!

Funny enough, its the transactions you least expect that end up causing problems sometimes!!!

Good luck!

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

Since you are a new seller, I would recommend only shipping to Canada & the US to start out with. And you can add tracking to both places easily.  Many buyers target new sellers & scam them. Best to build up your feedback & reputation & then branch out to some of the safer international areas.

[femmefan1946]

Don't give the buyer a choice.

If he can't afford it, he shouldn't buy it. 

The seller chooses the shipping method to deliver the item to the buyer promptly and securely.  Cheaper methods don't do that.

But most people are honest. 

I see that none of your current listings ship overseas. That was a good choice.

With parcel shipping most services do offer tracking, certainly the domestic ones do, but Small Packet USA/International don't.

That's fine if you sold a  DVD that you only paid a loonie for, the loss would be a learning experience and not a horribly painful one.

A $60 pair of shoes? With the loss of the shipping cost? Ugh.

You can reduce your shipping costs somewhat.

If you buy a Paypal/SnapShip/Shippo label, you do get a small discount.

You can also try buying discounted mint postage on eBay which can be more awkward (few high values are offered, so you will have to use a lot of 49c stamps to make up the $60 for shipping one kilo overseas. ) But it is workable. I've been doing it for 20 years here.

I'm assuming you have this;

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

But it's worth bookmarking. Remember you will be getting some discounts and that this does not include Expedited rates, which is a better service for the same price.

 B. Should I contact the buyer and say I changed my mind about the shipping charg

You specifically cannot do that. Sellers cannot charge more for shipping than we advertise.

C. Should I send it without tracking and risk it?

Your choice. What country are you shipping to? Most of Western Europe would be no problem.

Are we talking Nigeria or Germany?I Block bidders from Russia, India, and Israel because of " poor postal systems", to be polite. 

Shipping is the hardest part of selling online. You will mess up and lose some money at first.

Another reason why newbies are encouraged not to sell anything they can't afford to lose.

But again, most people are honest.

Could I suggest you drop the part of your Description about Returns? It basically repeats eBay's policy and so is unnecessary, and in my opinion it is better not to suggest to the customer that she will be anything less than delighted. If she isn't, she'll be in touch.

Best wishes on your new enterprise.

[travis7s]

Both times I have sent without tracking it has been trouble, so I would not recommend it unless your items are very low value.

Even with tracking international can be sketchy. One of my parcels got stuck in Portugal customs indefinitely and I had to refund and I honestly don't know if they buyer ever got it or not.

I would say never, ever, send it Surface International. It literally takes months so you are almost guaranteed to have a case opened against you.

[femmefan1946]

Yeah the "stuck in customs" thing.

I suspect that all too often means the buyer knows it is at the PO but also has to pay duty before it will be released.

The seller refunds, the buyer pays duty, and the parcel is released.

[tellephoto]

I usually send items under $50 international with no tracking.  Over that amount I use tracking.  Most buyers want the cheapest shipping.  They do not want to pay for tracking unless its a valuable item.  I know a lot of sellers will not agree with this idea.  But I propose that a new shipping option is made available to buyers esp to over sea buyers.  If they are willing to take the risk that they can get a cheap shipping rate but if its lost its there problem.  I am only suggesting this to be used overseas.  But I am sure that some people will just say that this idea will only promote fraud.

[travis7s]

I've had good luck with Austrailia and NZ, i presume the UK is good too. At least you can communicate easily if something happens.

I had a small item going to Sweden that took way long and had to refund. A week later the buyer paid it back saying it had finally arrived so that was pretty nice.

[femmefan1946]

I agree that your idea would promote fraud.

No Canadian could confidently buy from Europe, China, or even the USA if only domestic sales were protected against non-delivery.

Because that is what tracking is supposed to do, prove that in a case where the seller claims the item was sent, but didn't, the buyer has  recourse.

And vice versa, when a buyer claims the item was not received, the seller is able to prove otherwise.

What it comes down to is, if the buyer is unwilling to pay for tracked shipping, the seller is not required to give up his only protection against false Not Received claims.

Some sales are not worth having.

[hlmacdon]

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@tellephoto wrote:

I know a lot of sellers will not agree with this idea.  But I propose that a new shipping option is made available to buyers esp to over sea buyers.  If they are willing to take the risk that they can get a cheap shipping rate but if its lost its there problem.  I am only suggesting this to be used overseas.  But I am sure that some people will just say that this idea will only promote fraud.

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It's not a question of agreement as we would all like to reduce our risk, but rather there is just simply no way to implement this with any modern payment method short of an irreversible method such as a crypto currency payment, cash in the mail, etc. Any credit/debit card processor or modern payments system provider has transaction reversibility baked into their terms since it is a precondition for them to act as a payment processor with banks and credit/debit card issuers. Regardless of how much ebay continues to market chargebacks as buyer protection, the venue does not control this, they simply market it. 

When selling online you as the seller unfortunately have to assume 100% of the risk. A common sense approach to blocking countries with problematic postal and customs systems (check the major third party insurers, they use actuaries to assess risk) and insuring and using trackable methods where it makes sense will limit that liability. It sounds like you are already taking steps to mitigate your risk and that is about all you can do.