Why NOT to use recorded?

JustLittleOldMe_2

This is mainly about something i read that soolin wrote, just wondering why not to use it? I stopped using ebay for over a year after about 7/10 buyers claimed they had not got anything from me. I just refunded and stupidly didnt bother with a claim with the royal mail (stupid i know!). Since i have started using ebay again, only one person said they hadn't got the item i sent... and surprise surprise that was the ONLY one i hadnt sent recorded out of the lot of them! grr
Also- whats all this about claiming back the 75p if the item isnt on the website as delivered (or something like that)? I have all my millions of tracking numbers, so how do you claim, and for what reasons?
Thanks!

cyril82

Sometimes if you work it out the cost of sending every item recorded works out far more expensive than just factoring in a budget for losses to fraudsters or claims you can't dispute.

it's a risky strategy on high end goods but can be viable on lower priced goods, i used to employ this strategy when selling books for a time, they have low appeal to scammers so it is a good product to do it on.

I think soolin works to a similar rule but we are not exactly bussom buddies at present so i would hate to speak on her behalf, i'm sure she'll be along soon to post a reply.

frivolous_fay

These would be my reasons not to:

- Makes your postage prices uncompetitive
- Does it still have a big orange sticker? (Been a while since I bothered with it) Highly visible and a good indicator that the contents could be of value
- There is no insurance advantage of recorded over a proof of postage. Exactly the same compensaiont level.
- The biggie: it has a low chance of being signed for and / or correctly logged in the system, which means it's useless in the event of a dispute

soolin

It is my personal business model not to use recorded. If I send an average of say 100 parcels a month at an additional cost to myself of 75p per item that will cost me £75, I would have to lose a lot of parcels to cover that. I am currently running at around 1 loss in every 500+ packages.

Not one of my items sent recorded in october 2008 ever showed as received, so again that makes it useless for paypal protection.

Also buyers see a total price if they do a basic search on ebay, so you would have to reduce your item cost by 75p to accomodate your extra high postage, so basically that means you are paying the 75p from your profits, not your buyer.

AS for the claim, if you have any that do not track to delivery then you can claim back the notional cost of the 75p service that was not supplied by RM. In reality they give you a book of stamps so it cna be very cost effective. If you do have recorded items that don't show as delivered but were, you have just proved why it is not worth paying extra for.

cyberbob

I use recorded for items over £15 ( I think I picked that figure out of thin air) I dont think the extra 75p make my postage uncompetitive as going by the amount of people who grossly overcharge for postage i'm at the lower end for postage costs.

Hintza

cyberbob wrote: »

I use recorded for items over £15

You would need to lose more than 5% to make this the viable option (@ £15).

cyberbob

Hintza wrote: »

You would need to lose more than 5% to make this the viable option (@ £15).

I know but its what i'm happy with (i know its not logical) and my postage is still very competitive

Percy1983

As mentioned it sometimes isn't worth the cost, I haven't had an item go missing for a while so I am doing well, most items I sell are £10 or less and I have posted just short of 200 recently so the risk is paying off in my case.

Smart_But_Casual

I send 95% of my ebay items, priced below £39 RD. I log the numbers into paypal so it generates an email from paypal, to the buyer.

Since adopting that model 2 years ago I haven't had one claim for non reciept.

I still undercut my competitors on P&P and my DSRs are up in the 4.9s for P&P so it works for me.

Above £39 it goes SD, with no exceptions.

Everything overseas goes ISF or AS.

It's about knowing your market.

StaffsSW

I only use Recorded on a few items that I may get a bad vibe about - losses are built into my business plan at around 1%, but it;s currently running lower than that so I do not see any advantage to using recorded across the board.

If I get someone asking too many questions after a sale for example, or if someone pays up after an unpaid dispute is opened, then it's Recorded every time.

I have added it as an option on all my listings though, and the take-up rate is negligble.

Hintza

stevew8975 wrote: »

I only use Recorded on a few items that I may get a bad vibe about -

I think this is the sensible option, its amazing sometimes how you get these bad vibes.