Scum - eBay vs Amazon - Item Not Received

[Worzel]

I have to say, since selling on Amazon I love it. I really LOVE it compared to eBay. I don't seem to mess around dealing with stupid emails, wasting time, having 50 emails for 1 sale etc.

Since selling on amazon I have had 1 Item Not Received claim in about 300 sales. On eBay I get them ALL the time, I am actually sick of refunding people as I know 9/10 they are lieng.

(I will stop selling on eBay when I can afford too, despite these issues I make money there)

Does anybody here sell on both? Do you find alot more "item not received" and other crap issues on ebay?

 

[ITsoldUK]

Don't sell on either but I think there are more scammers on feebay than amazon as they know there is a high chance they are dealing with 1 room charlies...(just an obs not saying you are)

...on Amazon they are not so sure and there processes are much more rigid...

As for your refunds, are you complying with the T&Cs as strong as you can (paypal for example).

Supply tracking info and whoosh, the scams begin to cease.

Just saying and good luck.

 

[Worzel]

You're right about the tracking, for my orders over £30/£40 they are sent recorded and nothing goes missing. Over the year the cost of sending everything recorded vs things missing is a loss so it's better to take these losses.


As for refunds, well what does it matter. I don't even bother to write a refund policy. You can write "must be blah blah in 14 days etc etc etc" - try telling that to ebay/paypal when the buyer opens a case months after the sale and you lose your money.


What would be such a simple solution is an option in buyer requirements to BLOCK ANY BUYER who has had 2+ items not received. It wouldn't be hard to add this as an option and would save sellers so much money. I would personally love to see this kind of option. Maybe the buyer is genuine, then all that means is their postman isn't so I want no part in a transaction with them.

 

[Justin Smith]

I have to say, since selling on Amazon I love it. I really LOVE it compared to eBay. I don't seem to mess around dealing with stupid emails, wasting time, having 50 emails for 1 sale etc.

Since selling on amazon I have had 1 Item Not Received claim in about 300 sales. On eBay I get them ALL the time, I am actually sick of refunding people as I know 9/10 they are lieng.

(I will stop selling on eBay when I can afford too, despite these issues I make money there)

Does anybody here sell on both? Do you find alot more "item not received" and other crap issues on ebay?

We really do get a better class of customer. It`s exceptionally rare for a customer to report the item not received (though we do use recorded for all orders over £20) and even if we send out a replacement the customer usually sends back the duplicate order - if it turns up - at their own expense without us even asking !
But, to be fair, we treat our customers exceptionally well, how many other mail order companies refund carriage to a customer (if we can send it out cheaply) without even being asked ? ! ? Are we the only one to do this ?

Speaking as a potential customer I hate Amazon (and E Bay come to that) anyway. You try phoning the retailer up, half the time there`s no bleedin` phone number, what kind of service is that ?
And Amazon and E Bay don`t pay their soddin` taxes...............

 

[Worzel]

I actually do that also.

We have a great record and many returning customers. I do notice it's certain items that are more prone to not turn up. For example, camera spares I can send £50+ without being recorded and never had anything go missing.

We tried phone cases once, never again. So much not turning up

 

[TheClearance]

Get those 'Tracked stickers' and slap them on your parcels. From what I have heard, it reduces INR claims quite a bit.

You might want to add a slip with a dedicated email adress with every order.

So if someone uses that email and says they have not recieved it, then you know they are not telling the truth

 

[BelindaChong]

You might want to add a slip with a dedicated email adress with every order.

So if someone uses that email and says they have not recieved it, then you know they are not telling the truth

Brilliant idea! Hope you don't mind if I nick it...

 

[Worzel]

It is a great idea, but only for your own peace of mind. Imagine explaining to eBay this theory when they open a case, it will be ignored. It's like saying, "they received it, honestly, they told me so" it won't stand up (as much as I like it, with eBay it won't) - the only hope would be that this spooks the buyer, but it might well annoy them "calling me a liar bruv?" and guarantee a negative.

I am more interested in the tracked stickers, where can I get some? will it not confuse the postman?

Thanks

 

[dingbat]

I am more interested in the tracked stickers, where can I get some? will it not confuse the postman?

Thanks

I've thought about tracked stickers too. But like you I thought they may cause confusion for the postman.

I had a customer in Europe ask 24 hours later where his delivery was. The item being sent by airmail. He ordered it Friday evening. I had sent it Monday (next available working day). By Friday he had opened a Paypal dispute case and surprise surprise.....escalated it to a claim.

Now even if the customer is being honest about not receiving the goods yet, once they've got the Paypal dispute underway and they realise they can say what they like and get their money back it appears too tempting. Once they've realised how easy it is they're probably bragging to everyone else on how to do it if not doing it again themselves.

Italy used to be the worst for me. Now France is No.1 for claims.

 

[Pish_Pash]

I've had very few problems with Ebay & stuff going missing (& I ship internationally) ...perhaps 1%-2% goes missing 9though that's a guesstimate)

I use fulfilled Amazon which is obviously great for "item not received" type situations...but what I've noticed is that with Amazon, I'm getting way more returns - I put this down to Amazon's 'no quibble' return policy & folks using my stuff to use then return! (I don't get a say whether they can return or not!)

I barely have a return on Ebay.

 

[RBS]

Worzel,

It might not be scamming ebuyer, but stealing postman. Trust me - they bustards do it if they see not tracked parcel, here in London - I had so many parcels go missing over the years. So, it might not be 100% customer telling lies.

Just use tracked service, end of story.

 

[RBS]

I am more interested in the tracked stickers, where can I get some? will it not confuse the postman?

Thanks

It will cauuse problems IMO - he will be using his handheld scanner, barcode won`t work. What he is going to do with parcel? Suspect its dodgy and return to depot? :|

 

[HGSecurity]

We sell a lot more on ebay than on amazon, and since using the Recorded delivery option have had no claims for missing items. I'm thinking of kicking amazon into touch - it's working out too expensive for the few sales we get from there (£25 a month whether you sell anything or not )

 

[paretowasright]

Our loss rates on e-bay are 1 in 200 BUT 1 in 600 on Amazon so in my opinion the demographics of the customer bases are the reason + lack of control by e-bay over dodgy buyers. E-bay do have a big court case against them in the USA about protecting sellers but not sure what stage its at (duty of care to sellers)

 

[Justin Smith]

I've had very few problems with Ebay & stuff going missing (& I ship internationally) ...perhaps 1%-2% goes missing (though that's a guesstimate).

1 to 2% going missing is low ! ! !
I`d say with us it`s 0.001%, if that. If it ever happens it`s so rare that the four people in my business remember it. And of occasions where something did go missing the only one which was a bit dodgy was to a Pawn Shop type outfit in Liverpool. Even that was odd because it was a very specialised piece of kit (a Channel 36 diplexer) which would have been of no use to 99.999% of the population. If it was nicked I can only assume the miscreant thought it was a TV signal splitter, and it wouldn`t have worked for him, ha ha !

 

[Pish_Pash]

1 to 2% going missing is low ! ! !

It's not clear whether you agree or are shocked?

I'd say 1% to 2% is low once you start shipping internationally. It's a lot less for UK deliviries.

It's an eternal problem...start sending everything recorded & it prices your goods too high compared to the competition (punters only care about their 'to the door' cost) & business drops. Don't send them recorded, then you have to accept the 'gone missing' cost....for me the latter is less than the former.


As it goes, I think most customers are decent & honest - which is heartening. On occasion I've dispatched the wrong product ....which is a major p1sser when the customer is abroad. On these occasions - because it was my error - I always send them out the correct product before i receive the erroneous return. Only once have I not had a (Dutch!) customer actually send the erroneous item back (therefore he bagged to items from me...for the cost of one)

 

[Worzel]

Worzel,

It might not be scamming ebuyer, but stealing postman. Trust me - they bustards do it if they see not tracked parcel, here in London - I had so many parcels go missing over the years. So, it might not be 100% customer telling lies.

Just use tracked service, end of story.

As said in my previous post, either way I still lose. I never accuse the buyer of anything, I always humor them. Sending everything tracked will lose more money over the year.

I do have one technique which seems to make things miraculously turn up,

"Sorry to hear this item has not reached you. Having confirmed your address, and nothing being returned to ourselves even though we have a return address on the packet, it only leaves one other option, the postman has stolen it. What I will do is contact your local sorting office who can question your local postie and see what he has done with your packet, maybe it just got left in the van. Failing that the fraud team will look into this, they might need to contact you just to confirm you have not received it"

It might not be the most professional solution, but when dealing with scum it has to be done. You will be amazed how many replies you get like:

"ohhhh it turned up today cheers
"oh actually my son had received it and it was in his bedroom this whole time"

 

[planemadgirly]

As said in my previous post, either way I still lose. I never accuse the buyer of anything, I always humor them. Sending everything tracked will lose more money over the year.

I do have one technique which seems to make things miraculously turn up,

"Sorry to hear this item has not reached you. Having confirmed your address, and nothing being returned to ourselves even though we have a return address on the packet, it only leaves one other option, the postman has stolen it. What I will do is contact your local sorting office who can question your local postie and see what he has done with your packet, maybe it just got left in the van. Failing that the fraud team will look into this, they might need to contact you just to confirm you have not received it"

It might not be the most professional solution, but when dealing with scum it has to be done. You will be amazed how many replies you get like:

"ohhhh it turned up today cheers
"oh actually my son had received it and it was in his bedroom this whole time"

LOVE IT..that has cheered me up as i have spent an hour this morning trying to locate a parcel posted on 1st March..horrid unhelpful RM Customer services--we dont have nos for delivery offices..so i found it out and when i got tho to this Middx delivery office..he said i woulnt know where to look..complain after 18 days and they will send a form thro and well hunt for it..grrrrr
what a way to run a business..i have replaced goods for customer and sent recorded delivery.just hope the other parcel comes back to me!!!!

 

[puffin]

As said in my previous post, either way I still lose. I never accuse the buyer of anything, I always humor them. Sending everything tracked will lose more money over the year.

I do have one technique which seems to make things miraculously turn up,

"Sorry to hear this item has not reached you. Having confirmed your address, and nothing being returned to ourselves even though we have a return address on the packet, it only leaves one other option, the postman has stolen it. What I will do is contact your local sorting office who can question your local postie and see what he has done with your packet, maybe it just got left in the van. Failing that the fraud team will look into this, they might need to contact you just to confirm you have not received it"

It might not be the most professional solution, but when dealing with scum it has to be done. You will be amazed how many replies you get like:

"ohhhh it turned up today cheers
"oh actually my son had received it and it was in his bedroom this whole time"

I lol'd.

 

[Worzel]

E-bay do have a big court case against them in the USA about protecting sellers but not sure what stage its at (duty of care to sellers)

Any links for this? would love to keep an eye on it

 

[Lentinus]

Interestingly I ordered a conference folder from Amazon and it did not turn up, - the first thing I remember ever not arriving.
They sent me a new one after a couple of weeks and when it arrived I could see that the box size and weight was exactly the same as if it contained a tablet. I wonder if they do any correlation on those sorts of things?

 

[titanicuk]

I stick a barcode sticker and saying "Tracked Mail" under neath. It solve many INR problem.

I set a limit for each channel, eBay £15, Amazon £30, everything over that will go by tracked Mail (real one)

 

[planemadgirly]

I stick a barcode sticker and saying "Tracked Mail" under neath. It solve many INR problem.

I set a limit for each channel, eBay £15, Amazon £30, everything over that will go by tracked Mail (real one)

Where does one get those from????
A great idea

 

[Justin Smith]

i have spent an hour this morning trying to locate a parcel posted on 1st March..horrid unhelpful RM Customer services--we don`t have numbers for delivery offices..

As pointed out by a member on another thread, if you go on saynoto0870.com and type Royal Mail into the search box you`ll get a list of all, or most of, the LDOs (Local delivery Offices). Unfortunately they`re not in alphabetical order, there`s nothing to say where each one delivers to, and, most importantly, they probably won`t answer the phone anyway......

 

[gibby]

Problems like this really increase for the xmas rush. We get so many new customers who seem to complain on the day it should arrive.

As we are so busy at this time we now pull the royal mail options and force customers to use the courier service. We do get a few complaints from customers about the extra pound but it saves us so much time.

With the new royal mail price increases we may just push everything to courier at all times

 

[planemadgirly]

Thats where i got the tel no from..its brill...very useful but the individual at the end of the phone ar Royal Mail said they do NOT give out delivery office tel nos and the Delivery office were most unhelpful..(yes they did answer the phone) and he told me that he had no intention of looking for the parcel that I sent,wouldnt know where to start, and told me to complain to RM after 18 days..they will send him a form of complaint and then he will look for it...what a shambles
All i hope is that it eventually comes back to me..they never left a card for customer,expect it was just thrown in a corner somewhere!!!!

 

[serendipitybusiness]

You might want to add a slip with a dedicated email adress with every order.

So if someone uses that email and says they have not recieved it, then you know they are not telling the truth

Genius! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Pish_Pash]

Get those 'Tracked stickers' and slap them on your parcels. From what I have heard, it reduces INR claims quite a bit.

You might want to add a slip with a dedicated email adress with every order.

So if someone uses that email and says they have not recieved it, then you know they are not telling the truth

Whilst clever in a "gotcha" sort of way.....as a seller I want to unwind this position without any impact to my seller status. For example, if you emailed them & said "You must be lying cos the only way you can have that email address is if you physically received the item", then that might make them cease with the "send me another" stance, but they can still leave you negative feedback on Ebay/Amazon etc.....which can really hurt your sales - it is worth it?

I think just taking it on the chin is what you have to do (if you like, it's a hidden tax for transacting online)

 

[Lentinus]

What would be such a simple solution is an option in buyer requirements to BLOCK ANY BUYER who has had 2+ items not received. It wouldn't be hard to add this as an option and would save sellers so much money. I would personally love to see this kind of option. Maybe the buyer is genuine, then all that means is their postman isn't so I want no part in a transaction with them.

Surely this would be easy to implement as a 3rd party product? (he says as a non programmer!) If you can have online sniping, a system to do this should be very do-able.
Probably very popular too, £5 a seller....

 

[Worzel]

Surely this would be easy to implement as a 3rd party product? (he says as a non programmer!) If you can have online sniping, a system to do this should be very do-able.
Probably very popular too, £5 a seller....

No it wouldn't work like that. Sniping is just placing a bid at the last second. For this you would need a system to check the buyers account before allowing the sale to proceed, it would have to be something ebay added, but it wouldn't be hard for them to do it, I'd love to see this option, I would even pay for it. It would slowly remove all the scum from ebay

 

[Lentinus]

I have seen ebay ads with "anyone with less than 10 +ve's contact first or bid will be removed" would that not be easy to automate on the same basis? Is there a way of declining a "bid" on a buy it now ? (not familiar with the system, but if you can do it manually then a script can be written to do it for you!)

Still amazes me that ebay want their sellers to offer the best customer service, ans emails immediately etc. and force them to always find on the side of the customer despite them being habitual scammers, whilst ebay themselves treat their customers (the sellers) like sh1t.

 

[Worzel]

I have seen ebay ads with "anyone with less than 10 +ve's contact first or bid will be removed" would that not be easy to automate on the same basis? Is there a way of declining a "bid" on a buy it now ? (not familiar with the system, but if you can do it manually then a script can be written to do it for you!)

Still amazes me that ebay want their sellers to offer the best customer service, ans emails immediately etc. and force them to always find on the side of the customer despite them being habitual scammers, whilst ebay themselves treat their customers (the sellers) like sh1t.

There is no way to decline a bid on a BIN as there is no bids, it's not an auction. I think for auctions the only way to manually do it would be to monitor each auctions bidders, but even then.. how would you know a potential scammer? the only way would be ebay monitor accounts and if they open INR cases then it should stay on their account (not punish them) just keep it on their account, hidden, so sellers can choose not to deal with them.

 

[Justin Smith]

Thats where i got the tel no from..its brill...very useful but the individual at the end of the phone ar Royal Mail said they do NOT give out delivery office tel nos and the Delivery office were most unhelpful..(yes they did answer the phone) and he told me that he had no intention of looking for the parcel that I sent,wouldnt know where to start, and told me to complain to RM after 18 days..they will send him a form of complaint and then he will look for it...what a shambles
All i hope is that it eventually comes back to me..they never left a card for customer,expect it was just thrown in a corner somewhere!!!!

Sounds about right for the RM, and they say they want to appeal to businesses ! ? !
To be fair, most of the Posties we get picking the mail up at our shop are fine, though having them call round every day costs £750 + VAT per year...... Unfortunately it`s not practical to send stuff by RM by us taking the stuff round to the post office. Which is a pity because, as I understand it (even after RM withdraw Standard Parcels) if you can take it into a PO there`s no supplement, even for for Parcelforce deliveries, to N Ireland or NW Scotland etc etc.

 

[planemadgirly]

Sounds about right for the RM, and they say they want to appeal to businesses ! ? !
To be fair, most of the Posties we get picking the mail up at our shop are fine, though having them call round every day costs £750 + VAT per year...... Unfortunately it`s not practical to send stuff by RM by us taking the stuff round to the post office. Which is a pity because, as I understand it (even after RM withdraw Standard Parcels) if you can take it into a PO there`s no supplement, even for for Parcelforce deliveries, to N Ireland or NW Scotland etc etc.

We have a RM collection too..that was 500.00 a year ago and then 750 +vat so that was a huge hike
I dont use Standard parcels normally as our items are 80% small clothing items and a few boxes and i couldnt buy Standard parcels on my business account anyway.
Our posties here that deliver and collect are fine..no probs at all with them

 

[Justin Smith]

We have a RM collection too..that was 500.00 a year ago and then 750 +vat so that was a huge hike
I dont use Standard parcels normally as our items are 80% small clothing items and a few boxes and i couldnt buy Standard parcels on my business account anyway.
Our posties here that deliver and collect are fine..no probs at all with them

This is a bit late to be telling anyone (they`ve only got about two weeks to use this info ! ), but we only found out last year, if you have a RM collection everyday and you pay for your post with a franking machine (apparently that`s required for this), you can send out Standard Parcels with the Postie who picks up your mail.

 

[Dan Healthcare4all]

The problem with eBay buyers is that in the past there was no way to record a suspected fraudulent buyer.
Now that has changed (as of a few months ago). They introduced the REPORT A BUYER function.
I would encourage everyone who thinks they are being scammed to file a report. eBay won't necessarily ban the buyer but they are collating information so if several sellers report a buyer there's a good chance they will be banned.

To find the feature, go to CUSTOMER SUPPORT then REPORT BUYER (NB you must type it exactly as printed according to the eBay advisor I spoke to), and then click on HOW DO I REPORT A BUYER...
It then shows you previous transactions and you can select the case you have concerns over (choose "misusing buyer protection").

 

[Talay]

As said in my previous post, either way I still lose. I never accuse the buyer of anything, I always humor them. Sending everything tracked will lose more money over the year.

I do have one technique which seems to make things miraculously turn up,

"Sorry to hear this item has not reached you. Having confirmed your address, and nothing being returned to ourselves even though we have a return address on the packet, it only leaves one other option, the postman has stolen it. What I will do is contact your local sorting office who can question your local postie and see what he has done with your packet, maybe it just got left in the van. Failing that the fraud team will look into this, they might need to contact you just to confirm you have not received it"

It might not be the most professional solution, but when dealing with scum it has to be done. You will be amazed how many replies you get like:

"ohhhh it turned up today cheers
"oh actually my son had received it and it was in his bedroom this whole time"

Brilliant.

I find the threat of Plod wakes up all but the scummiest of people.

 

[Talay]

As pointed out by a member on another thread, if you go on saynoto0870.com and type Royal Mail into the search box you`ll get a list of all, or most of, the LDOs (Local delivery Offices). Unfortunately they`re not in alphabetical order, there`s nothing to say where each one delivers to, and, most importantly, they probably won`t answer the phone anyway......

CTRL+F then type what you want to find