Boring ebay question #5693: the dreaded "Item Not Arrived ... (or did it?)" report

[Turboellis]

Just had probably my first ebay item not arrived report.

I refunded the guy as I suspected that ebay and paypal would conspire to force me to do it anyway, or even just deduct it from my account.

I sent it normal airmail and not tracked, so there's nothing I can do is there?

Should I insist on sending everything tracked, & therefore more expensive, probably losing more potential sales? Doesn't seem practical. Is there anything else I can do?

The buyer, even if honest, gets absolved of all responsibility for not choosing an insured method ... is that fair?

turbulent Turbo

[Milesago]

No, it's not fair. So, anything that sells above a certain price I insist on sending with tracking. There are also some destinations where common sense dictates tracking. Inside the euro zone, I offer to send packages untracked if the buyer is willing to pay me by bank transfer (this is supposed to be free for non commercial accounts, though banks in some parts of europe have managed to get around the rules and introduce fees for this 'service' - so unlike the banking fraternity). Most people are honest though, and packages can genuinely go missing, and I reckon I've only been ripped off a handful of times in 20+ years. You can never prove it, but the following comes close in my view... I once sold an LP to a guy in Spain who was new on discogs. His address was a business address, not residential. I sent it without tracking and sure enough the buyer claimed it never turned up. I refunded his Paypal payment immediately but I left him appropriate feedback. Some months later he got in touch again, asking me to remove my feedback, and offering to return the refund. Make of that what you will.

[RedX]

Call me an old cynic, but I never believe anyone when they say it didn't arrive. If it's in the UK and sells for more than a fiver(ish) I'll usually pay the extra pound myself for Signed For. I also sold something to an Italian buyer recently, which, although not that expensive at £21, I paid the extra to have it tracked. I'll never get rich but it's peace of mind

I must say the old "but where is my item?" hasn't happened for a while now, but when it did it was usually, Italy, France and Netherlands. I used to send things to a friend in the latter quite frequently and learned to always send it by recorded/tracked etc, otherwise it would never get there or in one case it arrived about 8 months later

[Cacapo]

It happened!
5 months and 3 weeks (!) after the order I get a paypal claim that the vinyls did not arrive. I do find the receipt buried deep in a shoebox I keep for the sole purpose of burying receipts but the info is no good because Italy.

[Milesago]

5 months?! I didn't think Paypal claims could be made that long after the event.

[Cacapo]

yup. They expanded it to 6 months.

[moecurlythanu]

Any mail to or from Italy is a crapshoot. I don't know if they use prison inmates for their postal service or what, but it may be the worst postal service in the world.

[Turboellis]

Thanks for the replies folks. I also recently paid the extra to send a parcel tracked to Chile because I had a weird feeling it "wouldn't arrive" if I didn't.

[Turboellis]

No, it's not fair. So, anything that sells above a certain price I insist on sending with tracking. Inside the euro zone, I offer to send packages untracked if the buyer is willing to pay me by bank transfer

Both excellent ideas. Thanks.

[Turboellis]

I think I'm going to experiment with making the tracked and non-tracked shipping prices close enough that any reasonable person will chose tracked.

[RedX]

Let us know how you get on with those reasonable people

[Turboellis]

Let us know how you get on with those reasonable people

[BoogieWithTheHook]

Call me an old cynic, but I never believe anyone when they say it didn't arrive.

That’s probably because you KNOW you definitely sent it. I buy and sell on eBay (mainly buy!) and i’ve had a few items i’ve bought on eBay not turn up. It’s rare but it happens. You’d think it would be stuff from overseas that goes missing but i’ve never had a single parcel go missing from an overseas seller and I’ve bought dozens and dozens from overseas. Call ME an old cynic, but when I don’t get an item I think it hasn’t been sent in the first place. The scenario is usually the same - a genuine auction with a very low starting price, I win at a very low selling price, seller thinks “sod that i’d rather keep it than sell it for that”.