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 Replies: 20 / Views: 3,923 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
A buyer just contacted me about a package of coins I mailed on 10-07 without tracking. Says he hasn't received, though I'm sure I mailed them. I know I will have to refund his money. Should I just go ahead and do it? Or should I advise him to open a case? I'm thinking that if e-bay is informed I may get my commission refunded. I'm also wondering how much this would lower my standing with e-bay.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Last thing you want is a case opened. There was no tracking you will lose 10K times out of 10K. You can ask him to give it a couple days, but at the end of the day just refunding it is your best move. Anything without tracking you are just banking on the buyers honesty and nothing going wrong
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
Ask the seller to file a missing mail report with the post office and file a police report on his end.
Once he has sent copies to you, follow up with the post office and his police department.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8715 Posts |
Additionally, in the future, I'd ship coins with tracking...you might have to charge a bit more for shipping, but it's like an insurance policy for you.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Why would someone file a police report for mail without tracking? The police don't deal with letters and without tracking it's honestly a waste of local polices time. I'm not trying to be a jerk but police have better things to do than waste their time on some claim with no proof. Mail fraud isn't even a local police issue when there's proof it's a postal inspector issue.
At best you can ask the post office to run a trace and they'll do what they can but in the end that's it there's no proof of deleivery he's going to lose the claim if they make one
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5683 Posts |
I would ask the buyer if he wouldn't mind waiting a few more days, since if it got delivered to the wrong address, it might take awhile to get back to him. But in the end, without tracking, you'll just have to refund him. Chalk it up to the cost of doing business. If you refund directly via PayPal, I believe the ebay and PayPal fees are not charged to you. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1326 Posts |
The seller messaged me to say he got the coins. He was pleased that I was polite and responsive to his original message and left me nice feedback.
I'm a new, lower-end seller with a lot of silver coins. My original plan was to sell mixed lots with tracked shipping. But I found that I move coins better if I sell smaller, cheaper lots. I will still use tracked shipping in some cases, but for coins of lesser value I try to keep shipping down.
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Moderator
 United States
54283 Posts |
Ship with tracking, tracking shows delivered, you win. Ship with tracking, tracking does not show delivered, you lose. Ship without tracking, you lose. Never ship, you lose. The last two, you can't prove the difference to ebay (or a buyer), even with a receipt that you sent something on that day. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
Without straying too much off the OP, I can't emphasize enough how many listings I see on e-bay with $3.50 shipping on items that aren't even worth that much, or little more than the $3.50. I hate to take the risk of untracked shipping, but it is more economic in some cases.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
It's only more economic until you run into people that decide to open a case and get the item for free. Tracking protects the seller not the buyer. As long as you understand the risk of shipping untracked it's certainly up to you how you want to do it
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2843 Posts |
I started off shipping without tracking. I never had a issue. But when the value of the items I was shipping began to increase I started to ship everything with tracking.
It is also required in order to be top rated, which results in lower fees.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5683 Posts |
The difference between shipping with tracking and USPS first class without tracking is nearly $2 for a one ounce letter (including a non-machinable fee). If you're sending items less than $20 and losing fewer than 10% of them, you come out ahead without paying for tracking. In reality, closer to 1 or 2% may go missing and have to get refunded. It's like being self-insured. And for me it's not worth it to get the minimal break in ebay fees to stay top-rated. Higher value items, I agree it's best with tracking. |
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Valued Member
United States
314 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
314 Posts |
For low cost coins (under $20), tracking isn't worth the cost. At an additional $2 or so per shipment for tracking, you are better off saving on the shipping costs and just paying for the refund. Plus, its not even worth the time to file all the paperwork. It has only happened to me only a few times. I sell things on ebay besides just coins, and if they are low priced, they go without tracking if it is lower cost. The few times someone said they didn't get anything, I just refunded them the money right away as long as there was sufficient time to account for slow mail delivery. Remember that "Media Mail" (which I use for other purchases) can take up to 2 weeks across country! Just a potential "cost of doing business" by mail. For higher priced items, definitely only ship with tracking.. And insurance! Like was pointed out, if it costs you an extra $2 to ship a $20 item, it is much more economical to just "self insure" as long as your "loss rate" is very low (which it should be). Plus, a lot less hassle and makes your customer happier. Michael |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
900 Posts |
I just sold my first items this week on ebay, mostly mint sets going for under $10. The heaviest item was about 8 ounces, and all items were enclosed in bubble mailer envelopes. I used the ebay shipping options for USPS First Class, and the rates were $2.66 - $2.92 depending on weight, and it seamlessly provides a tracking number. Mailers cost me 15-30 cents each depending on size. If I wanted to ship with the media mailer, would I be able to use the shipping options via ebay? I haven't seen that as an option. The USPS site lists media mail as starting at $2.66. I'm confused. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
Media mail is only available for books, CDs, DVDs, printed music or other manuscripts that represent physical media. Coins do not qualify for media mail.
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Replies: 20 / Views: 3,923 |
Posted 10/18/2018 11:01 pm
