shipping trouble

[lookin-for-treasure]

Hi all, I just got into selling on ebay a few months ago. It's been a good experience so far. I've sold maybe around 60 things and everything has gone well. Recently I sold a fishing lure and the guy said he has never received it. On the tracking it said it has been delivered. I sent it first class since it was just a small item and wasn't of very much value 6.00. My question is what do you do to track down the item. Do you contact the post office? Do I just take the lost and refund his money now? I know without delivery confirmation there isn't any way to prove he did/did not receive it. I looked at his ratings and they were all good. I feel I have to give him the benefit of the doubt he didn't receive it. Do you guys feel it's worth the cost for some type of insurance on these small things or do you feel the rate of getting lost...etc isn't worth the cost of insurance? I hope to hear your opinions soon. Thanks

 

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[Indian Steve]

I always use delivery conformation. I have had several buyers, over the years, say that they didn't receive an item. When I tell them that delivery conformation said it was delivered, I usually never hear from them again. Sometimes another family member picked it out of the mailbox and forgot to tell the person who was supposed to receive it. Remember that 100% positive feedback means NOTHING if the person is just a buyer. Since ebay did away with negative feedback for buyers, the scammers can get away with anything. Put delivery conformation on everything you sell and ad the fee into the shipping cost.

 

[FloridaHunter]

I usually do not insure items unless they are over $100 and sometimes not even then. If I was in your situation I would just send a refund and forget about it. It is possible the post office just delivered it to their neighbor by accident. I hate it when that happens though. It is one of the downsides of Ebay. For higher priced items, I always get signature confirmation.

I have had a lot of non-payers lately and that is also frustrating.

 

[vpnavy]

I agree with FloridaHunter. I would just refund the $6.00 and move on. I have sold many items on EBay and once in a while you run into a problem. I only do the "return receipt" for items over $100. While I have had things insured - I never seem to get a refund when something is lost (go figure)...

 

[2ndisbest]

Hi all, I just got into selling on ebay a few months ago. It's been a good experience so far. I've sold maybe around 60 things and everything has gone well. Recently I sold a fishing lure and the guy said he has never received it. On the tracking it said it has been delivered. I sent it first class since it was just a small item and wasn't of very much value 6.00. My question is what do you do to track down the item. Do you contact the post office? Do I just take the lost and refund his money now? I know without delivery confirmation there isn't any way to prove he did/did not receive it. I looked at his ratings and they were all good. I feel I have to give him the benefit of the doubt he didn't receive it. Do you guys feel it's worth the cost for some type of insurance on these small things or do you feel the rate of getting lost...etc isn't worth the cost of insurance? I hope to hear your opinions soon. Thanks

That happened to me last week. A guy asked if I ever sent his package and I told him the USPS tracking said it was delivered at 11 AM that very day, I never heard from him again. However I did have another guy say he did not receive his package when the USPS tracking showed it delivered. He said he would go check with his post office, however before he got back to me the item I had sent to him came back to me with an undeliverable no such address sticker on it. Well I double checked with him to make sure the address was correct and resent it and it got to him just fine. So not everyone is a scammer, just the USPS can be incompetent at times. Also I noticed there seems to be more incidents when delivering to apartment buildings.

 

[lookin-for-treasure]

I just talked to the person that bought the lure. He said there has been a rash of burgularies in his neighborhood with some juveniles. They could have stolen it. I'm going to give it a few days and will refund his money. I rather err on the side of caution. Thanks guys

 

[GibH]

Deleivery confirmation just means it got to the local P.O. It could still have been delivered to the wrong house. Print the label from ebay or paypal and not only do you get a discount on shipping, the tracking info gets uploaded automatically.

Insurance on inexpensive items is a waste. Even if you have to issue a refund every once in a while you are going to save money.

One thing I noticed on a $50 item I just shipped with a label printed out on Paypal, Priority Mail now includes insurance up to $50 for no extra cost.

 

[RustyGold]

I do a lot of ebaying (selling and buying) all things sold by me are returnable and I always send Priority, Insured with Adult Signature Confirmation.
The things I sell are usually more than 6.00 so I can work in about half of the shipping cost into the price of an item. The other half I just soak up as the cost of the sale. I don't make as much on each sale but boy can I sure sleep well.
I had several ebay items stolen right off my porch and out of the mailbox! I caught a young lady jumping back into their car after stealing mail & packages right in front of me. I really do think this is a major problem!
Refund the money to the buyer and work in the cost for shipping with signature conformation. You too will sleep better!
Good Luck

 

[Lost&Found]

I've sold many collectable vinyl records on Ebay and had one problem with the buyer saying he never received it. In short, the issue ended up in the resolution center and it tied the payment up until the issue was resolved. Since I had delivery confirmation on the paypal printed USPS label it was resolved in my favor and the case was closed.

 

[kevin hoffman]

get ins. and signature, when you use theirs it is covered ,but there are still loop holes ,they have 14 days to make a claim, ive been had a few times.

 

[lookin-for-treasure]

I always print my labels out through ebay. Is that what you guys are talking about? I always ship priority mail unless it's a small light item.

 

[jerseyben]

get ins. and signature, when you use theirs it is covered ,but there are still loop holes ,they have 14 days to make a claim, ive been had a few times.

On a $6 item?

 

[jerseyben]

Don't re-invent the wheel. Ebay has these issues covered and has dealt with these issues countless times before. Use ebay's tools to handle these types of situations.

Tell the buyer that you sent it with DC and provide the number and date/time it was delivered.

Let them open a claim, as it will be covered under buyer protection. If you used DC and followed ebay's rules, you should be covered under seller protection.

 

[clovis97]

Do you have tracking on the lure that you sent via first class mail?

 

[diggummup]

Jerseyben gives good sound advice. All ebay requires (on items less than $250 total) is that you send the item with delivery confirmation to the address listed on ebay as the buyers shipping address. If it shows that it was delivered then you are in the clear. Items that sell for more than $250 including shipping are required to have signature confirmation. Also, delivery confirmation is free when you print your labels via ebay. Also, it is automatically uploaded onto ebay and sent to the buyers purchase history page, giving them the tracking number. Insurance, if you do purchase it for higher dollar items, usually over $100, is best if you use the "Ship Cover" ebay insurance versus the USPS insurance. I had to use it recently and I received the money back in my pp account in less than a week, $300. Don't know how quick they will pay up if I have to use it again anytime soon, but it was a positive experience the first go around.

 

[lookin-for-treasure]

Jerseyben gives good sound advice. All ebay requires (on items less than $250 total) is that you send the item with delivery confirmation to the address listed on ebay as the buyers shipping address. If it shows that it was delivered then you are in the clear. Items that sell for more than $250 including shipping are required to have signature confirmation. Also, delivery confirmation is free when you print your labels via ebay. Also, it is automatically uploaded onto ebay and sent to the buyers purchase history page, giving them the tracking number. Insurance, if you do purchase it for higher dollar items, usually over $100, is best if you use the "Ship Cover" ebay insurance versus the USPS insurance. I had to use it recently and I received the money back in my pp account in less than a week, $300. Don't know how quick they will pay up if I have to use it again anytime soon, but it was a positive experience the first go around.

Thanks all for the great advice. The tracking number showed it was shipped and delivered but he didn't receive it. He talked with neighbors and family and nobody has seen it. Diggumup, what next step should I take now. I want everyone to be happy and be fair.

 

[boristhespider88]

I had something like this happen twice:

1) This lady I sold a DVD to sent me a message and said she never rec'd it. I check the Delivery Confirmation number, it says it was delivered 2 days earlier. I then tell her I'll look into it, she emails me an hour or so later (I'm at school the whole time this is going on) and she said that the business across the street from her had her package.

2) Ship DVD to guy.
Delivery Confirmation gets package to guy's town.
DVD is MIA for a week.
Get a message that he hasn't rec'd movie.
Wait a few days, DVD is scanned in at a sort facility 3 hours from his house.
2 more days go by, the DVD is scanned an hour away from his house.
DVD is in his town.
DVD is back at the hour away sort facility.
3 days, nothing.
DVD is sent back to his town, scanned, and delivered.
Seriously, this went all over the place for at least 2.5 weeks.

 

[diggummup]

Thanks all for the great advice. The tracking number showed it was shipped and delivered but he didn't receive it. He talked with neighbors and family and nobody has seen it. Diggumup, what next step should I take now. I want everyone to be happy and be fair.

It's up to you. You can refund him $6 if you want to. I probably would on such a low dollar item. I don't think he's trying to scam you out of it. If you do refund him, make sure you cancel the transaction through the resolution center via customer support so you get your ebay fees back.

 

[lookin-for-treasure]

okay thanks diggumup, that's what I'll do.