Missing items

charlies_mum

I currently have one Ebay account with feedback of almost 6000, and have opened a new one to sell a completely different type of item.

I have posted 10 items on the new account, and so far 2 buyers have advised that their goods have not arrived. Both items were sent first class, the first on 24th Feb, and I have refunded, and the second was sent last Friday.

I have never had this problem before, and wonder whether anyone else is having problems, or could this be a case of buyers taking advantage of a 'new' seller ?

I have now put a line in all listings to say all items are now sent by recorded delivery, but wonder whether this will put people off.

tryingtogetsolvent

First class seems to be taking about 4 days for my items at the moment

custardy

Ive just done a small glut of purchases on eBay and from various online stores
1st class items have all been 1-2 days
eg chain reaction cycles in Co. Antrim took 24 hours to deliver a 1st class packet

tillycat123

I was waiting for an item I bought, it was posted 1st class on the 28th Feb and only arrived today.

hermum

Saying that you post items recorded could open you up to more scammers if they know that RD rarely gets signed for so won't update online as delivered. I recently bought an item for a couple of £ that was sent recorded if I could have got it from another seller who posted without recorded I would have done as that really added to the postage costs.

charlies_mum

hermum wrote: »

Saying that you post items recorded could open you up to more scammers if they know that RD rarely gets signed for so won't update online as delivered. I recently bought an item for a couple of £ that was sent recorded if I could have got it from another seller who posted without recorded I would have done as that really added to the postage costs.

On a lot of items, I give free postage so the buyer wouldn't incurr any extra costs. I would only send by recorded if it is over £10.

Really don't know what to do, I can't afford to keep having things 'lost'.

chancesare_2

If they are lost then you will have to reclaim from Royal Mail.

soolin

As this is a new item have you looked carefully at your packaging and labelling to see if any changes you have had to make actually work? Could the packaging be wrong and the items get ripped by the RM mmachinery which means a dealy in getting to the buyers, could th elabels be coming off?

charlies_mum

soolin wrote: »

As this is a new item have you looked carefully at your packaging and labelling to see if any changes you have had to make actually work? Could the packaging be wrong and the items get ripped by the RM mmachinery which means a dealy in getting to the buyers, could th elabels be coming off?

Hi Soolin,

The first was packed in exactly the same way as the items on my other account. In a box with brown paper wrapping, customer name on the front and my return address on the back. The second was a bulky item, wrapped in pallet wrap, then brown paper. Address was clearly written on the front, and again my return address on the back.

Both mails from customers have been very polite, asking when their item was posted.

Maybe I have just been very unlucky.

The other problem is feedback, I have left feedback for all my buyers, but they are extremely slow in leaving theirs. Not going to risk upsetting them by asking for feedback, but how on earth are you supposed to get a new account up and running.

soolin

Do you normally wrap your other established items in brown paper as to me that would automatically raise a 'tearing' issue. I've had some items delivered here very late because the edge of the brown paper has been lifted by machinery and the address partly lost and I wonder if it could be that?

porto_bello

charlies_mum wrote: »

could this be a case of buyers taking advantage of a 'new' seller ?

My thoughts exactly. From my own feedback, it is clear that 2nd class mail is often arriving next day - not just locally, but often travelling across the country in under 24 hours, and I have found items rarely get lost in the post.

However, I have found that buyers who make INR claims sometimes make a (statistically unlikely) high number of INR claims ... if you get my drift.

I recall recently reading on another thread that one seller took the precaution of attaching a completely bogus tracking number to everything despatched ... and the INR claims crashed! I think that kind of statistic speaks volumes!