How many of your items go missing with RM

chickaroonee

madmonkey01 wrote: »

if you dont send items recorded. Scammers can always get their/ your money back via paypal.

Yes I do know that, but it's overkill on a lot of items. For instance I bought a tiny hairclip for my daughter, that the seller insisted on sending RD..ridiculous really. I do believe most people are honest on ebay, and when I sell higher value items I always use SD or a courier, but for things under £10 it seems over the top, and in many cases, a waste of money.

Pembroke

madmonkey01 wrote: »

if you dont send items recorded. Scammers can always get their/ your money back via paypal.

Sorry but the name of the service says it all. Recorded Delivery is JUST a record of delivery, there is no tracking involved, the items go out with the normal postal service, this service is NOT good enough to win a dispute in Ebay / Paypal. The cheapest Royal Mail Tracked Service is called Special Delivery, this is the one you need to win an Ebay / Paypal Dispute.

The problem with recorded is that it needs your customers to be at home for a signature but achieves very little in terms of Ebay service.

In answer to the OP I've been selling on Ebay for 3 years now, haven't lost a single piece of mail even when sending to Italy and other high risk destinations. I've never used Recorded delivery and only used SD when the value of the item has been higher than the compensation paid by RM for lost mail. Most of my items have been china and glass and I've not even had a breakage.

ACon

I had an item being sent back to me, Special Delivery, go missing. In the middle of a dispute now and has put me off selling on Ebay again paypal and RM are refunding him. He gets double, I ge tnothing, and no item.
My postie signed for it and lost it somehow, stolen off my step or by him, who knows, but hes sounding dodgier by the day.
First excuse to me was he thought I was home, so left it as there was a wedding up the road that could block him in. (online tracking says he was here 8.30am ish, neighbour tells me wedding started at 11am!!)
Excuse to RM was that I had told him to sign for it through the door as I lost my key!!
Hmmm....

martindow

Pembroke wrote: »

Recorded Delivery is JUST a record of delivery, there is no tracking involved, the items go out with the normal postal service, this service is NOT good enough to win a dispute in Ebay / Paypal. .

I don't think this is right. If a signature is obtained it is good enough to defend an INR claim. The problem is that a large proportion are delivered without a signature being obtained. It also adds an additional 77p postage to each item for no more insurance than normal 1st/2nd class.

custardy

Pembroke wrote: »

Sorry but the name of the service says it all. Recorded Delivery is JUST a record of delivery, there is no tracking involved, the items go out with the normal postal service, this service is NOT good enough to win a dispute in Ebay / Paypal. The cheapest Royal Mail Tracked Service is called Special Delivery, this is the one you need to win an Ebay / Paypal Dispute.

The problem with recorded is that it needs your customers to be at home for a signature but achieves very little in terms of Ebay service.

In answer to the OP I've been selling on Ebay for 3 years now, haven't lost a single piece of mail even when sending to Italy and other high risk destinations. I've never used Recorded delivery and only used SD when the value of the item has been higher than the compensation paid by RM for lost mail. Most of my items have been china and glass and I've not even had a breakage.

so tell me
what shows up differently on the RM site when you put in a delivered SD tracking number and a delivered RD tracking number?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Paypal will accept RD for proof of delivery but if the item is over £150 a signature must also be provided and I believe it must be the buyers (if you send to Barry and it's signed Dave you won't win).

However a business seller has to decide whether if they get a signature for RD is that the end of the matter or not. Posties do sign for parcels and leave them outside or in some cases just hand it to the first person who answers the door (such as a house converted in to flats) and if you was a buyer who genuinely didn't get their item but the seller said tough I've got a signature you wouldn't be very happy with that.

Recorded Delivery can offer the seller piece of mind but you must add up the cost again the loss. For every 1000 parcels sent RD it will cost £740, if in 1000 parcels you only have one go missing for £20 and Royal Mail refund £15, 740 is a lot of money to prevent the very slim chance that customer was lying and cost you a fiver of profit (which technically you never really had to begin with).

There are chancers on eBay claiming non-receipt when they have the parcels (I've come across one, claimed 4 parcels didn't arrive from me and then 2 from another seller also, either very unlucky or not too truthful) but most people are honest.

If a parcel goes missing stick in a claim with Royal Mail every time, even if you only get a book of stamps, as they will record that a non-delivery has taken place at that address. They look for problem areas and problem addresses and do prosecute people for postal fraud.

martindow

ludovico wrote: »

Paypal will accept RD for proof of delivery but if the item is over £150 a signature must also be provided and I believe it must be the buyers (if you send to Barry and it's signed Dave you won't win).

If this is the case no delivery method is safe as they all deliver to an addrress and take a signature from whoever opens the door.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If this is the case no delivery method is safe as they all deliver to an addrress and take a signature from whoever opens the door.

Basically yes. I've had a customer live in a house converted into flats, first parcel was signed by postman and stolen from the hall way, replacement parcel had a note on the front to say 'must be signed by addressee' but the customer said someone else signed for it and gave it to him. The guy was a repeat customer so I don't think he was pulling a fast one.

When I phoned the delivery office to complain I was told tough and it's classed as a 'multi-drop' address and the postman is entitled to give the post to the first person at the door, whether that be someone who lives there, is visiting, the gas meter reader or some guy putting leaflets through doors, after all how would the postman know any different?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Paypal's Seller Protection policy states:

Proof of delivery
Proof of delivery is acceptable documentation if a buyer files a claim, chargeback, or reversal for either an unauthorised payment or merchandise not received. You need online tracking information from a posting company that:

...

4. For items valued at $250 USD (or local currency equivalent) or more, includes proof of the recipient’s signature to confirm delivery.

Westin

I also seem to have a high record. Since February I've had claims of 4 items gone missing (3 UK and 1 USA) in 75 sales.All items well packaged, correctly addressed, with return labels (none ever have come back to me). All send 2nd class with the excpetion of the overseas one which was regular Airmail.