Need Seller's Advice (Particularly eBay)

[Redcatcher]

These days, is seems the majority of eBay sellers use Click-N-Ship or a similar service through the PayPal checkout. The buyer automatically gets a tracking number and can track his or her package. I routinely ship using USPS Priority but the oversized package surcharge can be a killer (I live on the east coast). To, say, CA, that comes out to about $50 for a lightweight package larger than 12x12x12! The LIGHTER weight the package, the HIGHER the cost! Anyway, I do not normally offer parcel post because people get impatient and I do not want anyone taking their frustrations out on me because THEY chose the slow boat to China. I made an exception and sure enough that is exactly what happened. Because I did not (and could not) automatically send her a tracking number, this buyer opened a dispute with eBay. She never sent me a message asking for a tracking number, she simply opened a dispute. I had given her a flat rate price of $10 for postage and it came out to be around $12.50. Basically I paid for delivery confirmation. The item itself was only $12.39 or so. I MIGHT be able to have the dispute closed by responding with the tracking number but the ornery side of me is balking. I sent her a message through eBay and told her WHEN I sent the package and it could take up to 10 days to get to her. I also asked her to close the dispute and she refused. When I tried to explain to her that she did not automatically get a tracking number because I could not ship out her package through Click-N-Ship, she responded: "enough said on this matter and stop the e-mails". (That was AFTER she told me "communication is everything"). My eBay rep is stellar. I do not care about my rating as much as her implying that I am dishonest.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Some people are so annoying. Don't you wish you could intercept your package and tell her to get the item elsewhere? I had a similar incident with an ebay customer and I had to settle the dispute with ebay. I also got into an arguement with a Craigslist seller the other day that called me a "scammer". We emailed back and forth arguing for quite a while. I was upset for like 3 days after that incident. Needless to say I did not buy the item he had advertised, paranoid fool.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I just call Ebay when there is a crappy buyer dispute going on. I usually get it set straight. They look at past feedback, and consider it.

 

[Redcatcher]

You bet I wish I could cancel the transaction. They were the Walmart Breyer Mustang gift sets that someone had bought me for Christmas one year. I even enclosed a horse for free just because I was in a generous mood. The problem is I am probably considered in the wrong now because I am refusing to provide a tracking number. As far as everyone is concerned, without proof, I never sent the package out. Presumed guilty until proven innocent. From the horror stories I have heard, eBay almost always sides with the buyer.

 

[Organics North]

I am an ebay seller for years, with many thousand transactions. 100% positive feedback. (At least on the 1/3 that leave it..)

So yes I offer both USPS Priority mail and USPS Parcel post. Make the Priority mail the first choice, with Parcel post as the second.. Parcel post can take more than 10 days!! It can be 30 days.. Mostly the same speed as priority or just a day or two longer.


Why not use the paypal/ebay shipping tool????? It is awsome! Easy and so forth. Plus you save money and time over going to the post office and hand filling out labels.. I ship 2-6 packages just about every day..

TrueTimbers on eBay, I make and sell cedar wood products (Grilling planks and Yoga blocks), also custom cut furniture lumber. It is my living, other than local eggs, lettuce sales, and that occasional traditional log construction project..) (Yep self employed... Will work for food..

).

Good Luck!
ON

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

not quite true on the 'siding with the buyer' i lost out on getting my $$ back on an incubator i tried purchasing last year. the seller closed their paypal account and i couldn't get my $$ back from ebay even though it was covered by their protection plan.

also had that happen with some iris bulbs this past summer from a pre-buy that i will not do again! at least not from that seller if i see them next year (these people have been listing on there the last 2 years and i had been watching their listings often but they were expensive!) never got a response after contacting through 3 different directions but since it went beyond the 45 days i was out the $$ and product!

 

[LALASD4]

I had sold thousands of items on Ebay over the years, when a buyer do not e-mail you before filing for a dispute, it is useless trying to reason with them. Just go thru the process, for items less than $250 you just need to provide a tracking #, as long as the tracking # indicates that the item had been delivered you will be ok, and for higher amounts, you need signature confirmation.