Why NOT to use recorded?

pinkgem

I am considering sending everything by recorded, international signed for or airsure.

I currently have 5 'lost' items! 2 to Italy, 1 to Cyprus and 2 in the UK (1 ebay and 1 amazon) previously to this I only had to make one claim for loss in over 2000 items sent and now its about 5 in the next 500 items sold?!

1 of the Italy ones was a paypal dispute but it has since timed out, I filed a claim with royal mail a couple of weeks ago but haven't heard from the buyer since.

The other Italian one was started as a paypal dispute after 2 weeks, I told the buyer I can't refund them yet as it is too early. They said they would wait another week but didn't and just escalated to a claim. I emailed them yesterday to ask if they had received the item yet and they just replied "no, why?" so I gave paypal permission to refund them as I didn't have the option to do it myself.

The person from Cyprus keep asking for a tracking number even though they chose to just pay standard airmail and didn't add the optional amount for insurance/tracking. I have explained to them twice that it was sent standard airmail with no tracking. I think this one has been 2-3 weeks from sending now.

The uk ebay missing item has been 2 weeks. I asked buyer to check with sorting office but they just said no card had been left so they haven't missed any deliveries.

The uk amazon one is from a week ago, I asked buyer to check with sorting office and they replied immediately stating that they already had and there was nothing there. I asked them when they checked but did not receive a reply.

So I'm getting a bit fed up of this at the minute as every other email I receive is either "where is my item?" or returns requests!

I'm pretty certain that if I sent all my items by recorded etc then I wouldn't be getting the "where is my item?" emails, and I could do without the hassle.

I offer recorded as an option on all items, some people just like things to be sent by recorded and choose to pay the extra themselves, none of those have ever gone missing.

StaffsSW

@pinkgem - what do you sell? Feel free not to disclose, but you need to consider your target market.

Since I moved out of DVD's, my loss rates have almost vanished. I don't think I ever had a successful delivery of Fast and the Furious.

Desperately unlucky film title, or just indicative of the typical buyer of said film?

cyberbob

pinkgem wrote: »

I offer recorded as an option on all items, some people just like things to be sent by recorded and choose to pay the extra themselves, none of those have ever gone missing.

Its up to you to get the item there so if they dont choose recorded it not there problem Your better off just not giving the choice and make it all recorder

pinkgem

cyberbob wrote: »

Its up to you to get the item there so if they dont choose recorded it not there problem Your better off just not giving the choice and make it all recorder

i don't think you understood the point of my comment.

i know i have to refund if item doesn't arrive. i do and then claim back from royal mail. i was just saying that none of the items i send by recorded ever go missing.

i won't be better off financially if i send everything by recorded. i am currently sending about 200 items a month so it will cost me an extra £150 a month to send them all recorded. my losses per month don't come to that, and even if they did i can claim it back from the royal mail.

i just don't like it that some of these people are probably receiving their items, claiming they are lost, and getting a refund. I also don't like the hassle involved with buyers constantly emailing that their item still hasn't turned up and the hassle of chasing up the royal mail for all the claims.

pinkgem

stevew8975 wrote: »

@pinkgem - what do you sell? Feel free not to disclose, but you need to consider your target market.

Since I moved out of DVD's, my loss rates have almost vanished. I don't think I ever had a successful delivery of Fast and the Furious.

Desperately unlucky film title, or just indicative of the typical buyer of said film?

i mostly sell in the clothes, shoes and accessories category. you might immediately think that i am mostly selling to teenagers/young adults, but my seller report that i had in the post from ebay yesterday said the average age of my buyers is 36.

I have been selling on ebay for 7 years now and only ever had to make a couple of claims a year in the past, but these past few weeks are just getting ridiculous, with a claim already made to royal mail, another claim form to be posted today and looking to be another 3 in the next week or 2

3 out of the 5 current losses are international, so i may start charging extra for postage and sending international signed for/airsure. i could just sell to uk only but 20% of my buyers are outside of the uk so i would lose a lot of business

StaffsSW

I've stopped selling internationally. When I added up the losses over the last couple of years, it outstripped the profit on the successful sales.

I may sell less now, but I'm making more money from it.

It may be worth considering this option if you have the data to back it up.

pinkgem

stevew8975 wrote: »

I've stopped selling internationally. When I added up the losses over the last couple of years, it outstripped the profit on the successful sales.

I may sell less now, but I'm making more money from it.

It may be worth considering this option if you have the data to back it up.

I won't be making a loss on the missing items because i can claim it back from royal mail (after sending claim forms with proof of postage, re-sending claim forms with copies of proof of posting because the originals got lost in the post, and chasing them up to actually issue the refund)

I just don't like some people getting things for free and i hate the hassle.

I guess if I put the international postage up to include ISF or airsure I will sell a few less items internationally but it will be a lot less hassle.

Smart_But_Casual

Believe me, the hassle of putting tracking numbers into paypal is outweighed by the deterrence factor.

kerrydrobertson

i very rarely send things by recorded, unless the customer asks me to or the item is of value. ive been selling and buying on Ebay the past coulpe years and have not had anything go missing. saying that i dont sell a huge amout of stuff maybe 50 items a month and send them all 2nd class and get POP. hope i dont jinx it now!
have to say it does make you feel a but better about the purchase when a seller is offering recorded as i bought my son a pair of sandals last week for only a couple pound and seller sent recorded.

soolin

pinkgem wrote: »

i don't think you understood the point of my comment.

i know i have to refund if item doesn't arrive. i do and then claim back from royal mail. i was just saying that none of the items i send by recorded ever go missing.

i won't be better off financially if i send everything by recorded. i am currently sending about 200 items a month so it will cost me an extra £150 a month to send them all recorded. my losses per month don't come to that, and even if they did i can claim it back from the royal mail.

i just don't like it that some of these people are probably receiving their items, claiming they are lost, and getting a refund. I also don't like the hassle involved with buyers constantly emailing that their item still hasn't turned up and the hassle of chasing up the royal mail for all the claims.

Pinkgem do watch the overseas signed for options though. Only International signed for is fully tracked and that only covers a few countries. If you use airsure it only guarantees to track in the UK, so not really suitable for paypal chargebacks.