Sellers Absolution from Delivery Responsibility

jstyles

Someone once told me that it's the seller's responsibility to ensure delivery of an item and, in the even of problems, also the follow-up claim for refunds from the delivery company (eg, Royal Mail). I heeded this comment (as a seller) and have always taken this stance too.

However - more and more sellers are stating in their auctions that they refuse to take responsibility of any items lost or damaged in carriage - though some will 'assist' the buyer by supplying COP etc for the buyer to pursue.

Can anyone confirm if they are allowed to do this? Does it form a clause as part of a seller's T&C - and, if so, is it Ebay-legal? Do the rules differ between 'private' and 'commercial' sellers?

It bugs me when I see this and I move straight on to another auction!

soolin

The situation is different depending on how you pay. If you send a cheque or postal order you are basically relying on the seller to ensure safe delivery of your item and refund you if it does not arrive. You can always of course make a claim of non performing seller to ebay but that doesn't get your money back, it just marks the sellers card.

With paypal it is a bit different. Paypal allow a buyer to make a chargeback claim if the item is not received. The only way the seller can stop that chargeback going through is to prove delivery (not posting).

I know some people have real problems with paypal, but personally as a buyer I will not ever buy unless I can pay by paypal and get some protection. I no longer trust sellers that require me to send a cheque and then rely on their good will to ensure my items arrive. I prefer to have a little leverage.

Soo

Hintza

I think sellers are just trying to muddy the waters a little and deter fraudulent claims. Assuming you have paid by paypal there is really not much they can do bar stop trading on EBay and empty their PayPal account.

As a seller I am sometimes concerned that some buyers do try it on and claim non delivery. But since I send with COP on cheap items there is not a lot I can do apart from send out again. I demand that they send me their name; address etc (required for claim form) to check it against their paypal address if there is an error then its tough on them (none yet though).

I do notice that claims for non delivery jump around the holiday periods of Xmas (esp) and Easter. So my advice is around those times as a seller to take extra precautions. The rest of the time one in a a hundred or so goes missing and is not a real problem.

For items below £28 In will generally use COP as the extra cost of registered would be too onerous a cost. If I have any concerns I might pay the extra.

Cat72

I always get a COP but due to a flood lately of people saying thay have not got their stuff, the first time it has happend to me after 500 odd deliverys. I now insist on sending it 2nd class recorded. Just to prove to myself that they have never recieved it. The other problem I have with the COP is that the post ofice take forever to process the claim. I have been waiting a month for one claim and when I phoned the royal mail thay said they are snowed under at the moment. With the casual summer postman season coming up it will probably get worse. So recorded for me from now on.

Hintza

The thing is though CAT 100 items posted 64p for recorded that is suddenly £64 added costs.

For sure it depends on the cost of the items you are selling but I couldn't take those extra costs.

I have actually stopped claiming on my COP as its just too much hassle for the odd one. Over Xmas I claimed on about 6-7. £ were paid out and others were still within the Post Offices delivery time frame.......did I get my COPs back..NO. I mainly fill them in as a check for me. And a precaution against a big hit.

Cat72

Did you not get any money from the claims then ?

I just add the 64p on the postage to the customer and send it second with the option if they want to upgrade to first. If it is too heavy for first I just send it parcel . If the buyer wants it they pay the postage and my postage costs are still a lot cheaper than others I see. It has worked out ok,and i have not lost a single sale because of it. As it comes to about the same price as sending it first, but hoping it will stop people trying it on.
I do this on my account were I sell books between £ 2 - £ 8.

soolin

I've always got my claims with the post office reclaimed with no problems at all. Just before Christmas I had a real problem with parcels going astray left right and centre, all recorded delivery.

The post office actually called me really early one morning (about 6.45am) to chat about it and they admitted they knew they had a problem in one specific area of the country. I got all my claims refunded, all my postage costs back and a cheque for compensation on top!

Since then I suppose I have had to claim about three times just on a COP and each time it has taken about two weeks and I get the full amount back.

I always get a COP on everything I send. For more expensive (up to £30) or items that are obviously DVDs I automatically add the 65p to my p and p charge and send it recorded. For the smaller items I tend not to bother with recorded as I know I can get a refund from the PO and it saves 65p per listing and makes my p and p look good.

Soo

shelly

I don't agree with people when they say its the sellers responsibilty to make sure an item gets delivered.IMO as soon as I hand it over the counter at the PO its their responsibility.All I can do is make sure its got stamps on it and an address.Short of hand delivering it how can a seller make sure an item gets delivered?
Having said that I also understand the buyers point of view.When a parcel recently went missing I asked at my PO for a claim form and was told that the buyer has to make the claim!!?? Different threads on here suggest the same...some buyers make the claim whilst some sellers make the claim.At the end of the day everyones opinion is different on the subject of post and you must do whatever you and your "customers" are happy with.

Hintza

Shelly as an ebay seller it is your responsibility to ensure delivery. Beginning and end of story!!

If you wish to circumvent this you would need payment by means other than PayPal.

Tojo_Ralph

Hintza wrote:

Shelly as an ebay seller it is your responsibility to ensure delivery. Beginning and end of story!!

If you wish to circumvent this you would need payment by means other than PayPal.

.....Ditto.....

soolin

Hintza wrote:

Shelly as an ebay seller it is your responsibility to ensure delivery. Beginning and end of story!!

If you wish to circumvent this you would need payment by means other than PayPal.

And ditto again...

If I ever saw a seller with a neut or neg for goods not received I would avoid them big time.

When I buy from ebay I expect to get what I have paid for. Due to sellers who believe they give up all responsibility once they put the package in a post box I never now buy unless I can use paypal.

Soo