Ebay: theft on a massive scale !!!

Mac_Sami

EXPAT wrote: »

:mad: What good is that!!!!

I'm posting here 2 days or so after my original post & things are progressively getting worse. I have several buyers pulling out of auctions & more stating non-delivery. This is out of control & I have had enough.

EBAY HAVE MADE A VERY BIG MISTAKE !!!

Clearly you're having issues, so I'm sorry to hear that.

If eBay are stating that you are charging excessive P&P, it's probably because you are.

I've yet to see a coherent argument for not sending items via Recorded Delivery, and not making Recorded Delivery the minimum option for buyers postage. At 70p more, which you pass onto the buyer, I see no cost basis argument. Buyers who are willing not to spend a little extra on your auction w/ Recorded compared with an auction without are, in my opinion, not worth it! The hassle associated with non-trackable items, getting refunds, dispute processes etc. costs a lot more than 70p.

I sound like an old record, but every item I post (albeit a few a week, I'm by no means a serious trader) is posted with Recorded Delivery - no exceptions. As a result, I've had no problems in the last 12 months (probably even more than that).

Have you stopped to consider that buyers who may have not been receiving your items before were too afraid to complain in fear of negative feedback? Now some of those can feel they can come forward without reprieve. Of course, others will just be taking advantage.

Finally, if it is causing such an issue, I'd suggest taking it up with eBay, or seeing if others are experiencing similar issues over on the eBay Community Forums.

Good luck.

FluffyFiFi

I put in my listing that all items are sent with proof of postage so as not to enter into a dispute over delivery. I've never had a problem with anyone saying they have not received the item and if I did I would state my terms and conditions. I did have an item that I returned, I did get proof of postage and the buyer disputed receipt. Ebay took my certificate of posting as proof of postage and I won the dispute.

However, I think it is very wrong that a seller can't leave negative feedback for a buyer, it should be a fair system and not one sided.

I also don't understand why we can't see who the other bidders in an auction are, now I don't know if anyone is shill bidding or whether I am bidding against my sister (who tends to go for the same things as me).

Premier_2

FluffyFiFi wrote: »

I put in my listing that all items are sent with proof of postage so as not to enter into a dispute over delivery. I've never had a problem with anyone saying they have not received the item and if I did I would state my terms and conditions. I did have an item that I returned, I did get proof of postage and the buyer disputed receipt. Ebay took my certificate of posting as proof of postage and I won the dispute...

You were very lucky. Proof of posting is not the same as proof of delivery.

eBay's own rules recommend that you must use a service that provides proof of delivery viewable online to take advantage of seller protection.

Before paypal became a mandatory option for sellers, I bought an item off eBay that failed to arrive. The seller had proof of posting together with a disclaimer such as yours in the listing. The seller failed to refund my money when I advised that the item was not delivered.

I opened a dispute (and later raised it to a claim) on ebay. The basis of my argument was that I had paid for the supply and delivery of the item, and that it was not supplied and delivered. Unfortunately because I didn't pay using paypal (seller didn't offer it as a payment option) eBay were unable to obtain a refund for me. eBay did however close the sellers account (who then immediately opened another and carried on trading)

After giving notice to the seller, I took out a County court claim. The matter was settled in full by the seller (including legal costs which doubled the amount originally in dispute) after using the courts mediation service as requested by the judge prior to the hearing. It didn't take much mediation to persuade the seller to settle in full (something which until that time he had consistently refused to do) once he realised he was facing a claim which would escalate into several hundred pounds including court costs and other allowable expenses if the matter was to be heard before the judge.

grunnie

Just back from the post office. I usually post first class with proof of posting but after the number of not received items I had recently have posted them all today at second class recorded. Will see how that goes. Most of my items are under £10 so special delivery is a no go for me.In the last month or so I have had 4 letters back from P O claims saying they got no response from the letter to my buyers about lost mail. As someone said on here already - if the buyer doesn't reply to this letter the Po won't pay out a claim. Bit harsh really as I had to do a refund.

soolin

In the past 6 months I have sent approx 600/700 items and had two losses claimed. All my items under £36 are sent standard second or 1st class post.

However in the spirit of competition I would urge all my competitors to add 72p for recorded to all their auctions so that mine look cheaper and I make the sales.

brettcta

this didn't really bother me before it came in, but i've just gone to leave feedback and the patronising message that pops up 'please be honest in your feedback' has just done it for me.

balls to ebay, they can kiss my business goodbye.

Premier_2

grunnie wrote: »

...As someone said on here already - if the buyer doesn't reply to this letter the Po won't pay out a claim...

True, unless you can obtain a written confirmation from the intended recipient that the item was not received and pass this onto RM.
RM have in the past accepted copies of emails confirming non-receipt i.e. the same emails where the buyer requested a refund due to non-delivery.

Be aware that RM sometimes also write to the intended recipient where no signature confirming delivery is available. I have had an occassion where the intended recipient failed to respond to the RM enquiry and so they initially rejected my claim assuming the item was delivered - but they later paid out when I argued the lack of signature together with no evidence to the contrary was enough for me to conclude the item was not delivered.

soolin

Premier makes a good point, regardless of whether item was sent recorded or not there is still a chance that buyer might be asked to confirm delivery as Royal Mail do not actually trust their own recorded system any more than I do. It is completely random who gets contacted, but if the buyer is asked and either does not respond or states item was received you lose your claim regardless of whether item was sent recorded or not.

One other thing to remember is that even recorded items are not covered against loss if the address does not exist in the RM data base, as I have found to my cost. I sent some documents recorded delivery to a department within a major Oxbridge university and they failed to arrive and RM refused my claim on the basis that the address and post code did not match their data base. The address I used was the exact same one listed on the university department headed paper and on their web page and the uni said they were aware that for the past 20+ years RM insisted they did not exist..whilst writing to them at that self same address!

jarrod1

at the end of the day the buyer pays for postage costs, so send your items recorded mail, if you are honest and ask the correct postage and packaging costs then you have nothing to worry about as your postage costs will be less than other sellers selling the same items as i would say 95% of sellers over charge on postage.

crank_girl

Just to add a bit of balance, out of the 11 items I've purchased via Ebay in the last two weeks two have failed to arrive...