eBay, etc. General Question/Answer Thread

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#8,086
Question for sellers: if you are selling multiple items and one person buys a couple items, do you ship together? I remember there was a scam back in the day where buyers would claim one of the items was missing. I offer free shipping so it's more expensive on my end, but I wonder if it's safer? I also wonder if the buyer might be annoyed because sometimes USPS can ship things on different days even if you mail them together. Also I require signatures for all my items.

Thoughts?
 
#8,088
JadaStormy said:
Question for sellers: if you are selling multiple items and one person buys a couple items, do you ship together? I remember there was a scam back in the day where buyers would claim one of the items was missing. I offer free shipping so it's more expensive on my end, but I wonder if it's safer? I also wonder if the buyer might be annoyed because sometimes USPS can ship things on different days even if you mail them together. Also I require signatures for all my items.

Thoughts?
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Although it doesn't happen often, I've had buyers purchase multiple items and I've shipped together. As long as they're all purchased as one sale and paid in a combined payment, I've never had a problem.

But if it's a dishonest buyer, you can still do everything right and the buyer can try to scam you. In a case like that, it's not a problem with combining the shipping and whether you ship together or separately, a determined scammer will find a way to cheat.
 
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#8,089
JadaStormy said:
Question for sellers: if you are selling multiple items and one person buys a couple items, do you ship together? I remember there was a scam back in the day where buyers would claim one of the items was missing. I offer free shipping so it's more expensive on my end, but I wonder if it's safer? I also wonder if the buyer might be annoyed because sometimes USPS can ship things on different days even if you mail them together. Also I require signatures for all my items.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I ship them together if the buyer pays for them in one transaction. Ebay makes it easy to buy a label for the combined shipping and puts the same tracking number on all. I've never had a problem with someone claiming one item was missing. They can still return or dispute a single item.

Unless the total is over $750, I wouldn't ship signature required. There are cases where the item will be delivered without USPS getting the signature, and then you won't be able to prove they were delivered. I can attest to buyers getting annoyed by signature required. I had several complaints, even when it was mentioned in the listing, and one package (shipped UPS) eventually got returned to me because the buyer was never available for signing.
 
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#8,090
I purchased an item last night with buy it now and an error message popped up immediately with code 5100003 and the item page closed out instead of going to the payment page. I went into my purchases and tried to pay for the item that way, but got a message that it could not be completed and to contact the seller. I sent a message to the seller, then called ebay. They told me that the error message meant that the seller did not have their paypal linked to ebay, so there was not a way to pay them, and ebay sent a message to the seller. I'm wondering what happens now. The seller has not been responsive to questions, but that is not totally unusual in my experience on ebay, so I purchased the item anyway. If the seller never sets up a way to be paid, will I have this "unpaid" item in my history forever? Do I call ebay at a certain point to remove the item from my purchase history?
 
#8,091
nicole0612 said:
I purchased an item last night with buy it now and an error message popped up immediately with code 5100003 and the item page closed out instead of going to the payment page. I went into my purchases and tried to pay for the item that way, but got a message that it could not be completed and to contact the seller. I sent a message to the seller, then called ebay. They told me that the error message meant that the seller did not have their paypal linked to ebay, so there was not a way to pay them, and ebay sent a message to the seller. I'm wondering what happens now. The seller has not been responsive to questions, but that is not totally unusual in my experience on ebay, so I purchased the item anyway. If the seller never sets up a way to be paid, will I have this "unpaid" item in my history forever? Do I call ebay at a certain point to remove the item from my purchase history?
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You would think ebay would have made sure there was a paypal address specified when the seller made the listing! Is it a new seller?
 
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#8,092
whateve said:
I ship them together if the buyer pays for them in one transaction. Ebay makes it easy to buy a label for the combined shipping and puts the same tracking number on all. I've never had a problem with someone claiming one item was missing. They can still return or dispute a single item.

Unless the total is over $750, I wouldn't ship signature required. There are cases where the item will be delivered without USPS getting the signature, and then you won't be able to prove they were delivered. I can attest to buyers getting annoyed by signature required. I had several complaints, even when it was mentioned in the listing, and one package (shipped UPS) eventually got returned to me because the buyer was never available for signing.
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Thanks! My listings are buy it now with immediate payment required so I don't think they can do one checkout?

Honestly as a buyer I hate signature confirmation ironically. But as a seller it's the only way I feel safe. And you're right, I've had at least 2 items where the tracking never updated and thankfully I had an honest buyer. So I paid extra for nothing. But since it's only $3 it's worth it to me.
 
#8,093
nicole0612 said:
I purchased an item last night with buy it now and an error message popped up immediately with code 5100003 and the item page closed out instead of going to the payment page. I went into my purchases and tried to pay for the item that way, but got a message that it could not be completed and to contact the seller. I sent a message to the seller, then called ebay. They told me that the error message meant that the seller did not have their paypal linked to ebay, so there was not a way to pay them, and ebay sent a message to the seller. I'm wondering what happens now. The seller has not been responsive to questions, but that is not totally unusual in my experience on ebay, so I purchased the item anyway. If the seller never sets up a way to be paid, will I have this "unpaid" item in my history forever? Do I call ebay at a certain point to remove the item from my purchase history?
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I wonder whether this is related to the problems that @sedatedrainbow had in this thread:
Ebay payment headache! Is this fraud or normal? Very worried!
 
#8,095
JadaStormy said:
Thanks! My listings are buy it now with immediate payment required so I don't think they can do one checkout?

Honestly as a buyer I hate signature confirmation ironically. But as a seller it's the only way I feel safe. And you're right, I've had at least 2 items where the tracking never updated and thankfully I had an honest buyer. So I paid extra for nothing. But since it's only $3 it's worth it to me.
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They can do one checkout by putting all items in their shopping cart, then paying. I wouldn't ship together unless they did this.
 
#8,098
JadaStormy said:
Thanks! My listings are buy it now with immediate payment required so I don't think they can do one checkout?

Honestly as a buyer I hate signature confirmation ironically. But as a seller it's the only way I feel safe. And you're right, I've had at least 2 items where the tracking never updated and thankfully I had an honest buyer. So I paid extra for nothing. But since it's only $3 it's worth it to me.
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2 comments:

1. I'm not sure why s.c. makes you feel safer because as long as tracking shows delivery, you are protected against INR. And if it's a scammer claiming an empty box or other fraudulent claim, the signature isn't going to help against a scammer.

2. If a buyer contacts you and wants more than one item, you can remove the IPR for that buyer.
Screen Shot 2018-06-06 at 2.23.46 PM.png
 
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#8,099
BeenBurned said:
2 comments:

1. I'm not sure why s.c. makes you feel safer because as long as tracking shows delivery, you are protected against INR. And if it's a scammer claiming an empty box or other fraudulent claim, the signature isn't going to help against a scammer.

2. If a buyer contacts you and wants more than one item, you can remove the IPR for that buyer.
View attachment 4091232
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Thanks! I know, I know. :P My hope is that it will deter the casual scammer. I know it won't work on the pros. And for buildings that aren't secure, at least (for the most part) I know their item won't be sitting outside a door, or in an open mail-room. All of my listings are BIN with BO, so typically I can pre-screen my buyers and this is just my second layer of protection.
 
#8,100
Are there equivalent or better selling platforms around other than eBay? I've had to deal with difficult buyers recently and got the short end of the stick with eBay siding with the buyers so am looking for alternate avenues. Any tips will be much appreciated. TIA.
 
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