Advice Requested On Avoiding Chargebacks

well there is no real way to stop it from happening but I can tell you I have been a seller for years and I always took paypal even before it was purchased by ebay and have never had anyone charge anything back. I always use signature confirmation on every package and I just add that into the standard shipping charge that way I can always prove who signed for the package and so far I have never had any problems, I may have one tomorrow I don't know but for the last 5 years I haven't had any

I go one step further and use Signature Confirmation on all sold items with a value over $50. Same cutoff for insurance which I require for the same value ($50) and above. Delivery Confirmation goes on every item I sell regardless of its value. I can absorb a loss of $49.99, but not one cent more. I've also been using PayPal since before ebay bought it (1999?) and have had no trouble with chargebacks so far. A paper and electronic trail seems to be the key; I keep all records (printed and electronic) of each transaction until it has demonstrated by one means or another that the buyer has received the item (feedback, Deliver Confirmation confirmed, message from the buyer, etc.).

I also use eBay/PayPal's shipping label printing service. It costs less for DC and SC and the service is far less effort than manually writing labels and standing in line at the PO. It seems to me less prone to fraud at the distant end since I have the Online Label Record half of the shipping label with all info on shipping and there are duplicate copies somewhere in the USPS computer system. There may be a psychological barrier against a potential fraudster if he sees the printed label when it arrives; kinda hard to say he didn't get the item when the scanned barcode says he did.