How do you protect yourself as a seller on eBay 0

[Knightsofold]

Only send to verified paypal addresses.  Always require tracking and signatures, make sure you qualify for seller protection.

usps registered mail is the safest.  You can also buy dealer level private insurance. 

I learned recently to NEVER accept paypal if you offer local pick up.  No proof of delivery, no paypal sellers protection.

But even with all that a buyer can always “not as described” and force you to give refund even if u state no returns.

[Knightsofold]

Buyers can also refuse a package to force a refund...

That one ties up your $ and your book for x2+ weeks...

[justafan]

Low feedback buyers.  Every new ebayer has to start somewhere which is always (0) feedback and some seller will have to take the risk on them.  I've had several in my lifetime as a seller and each time I've always felt that twinge of hesitation but so far all have been legit.  Most often these are the types of newbie buyers who ignore the best offer and click the buy it now on the newly hyped book (NM 98, MOS 18, NM 87, ASM 300, etc.). To protect myself with ANY ebay buyers I always perform the following:

1. Review their address to confirm it is a residence.  If it's a business I'll usually try and look up the business info and contact them.

2. Review their buyer/seller feedback if any are available.  Others have outlined on here how this is helpful.

3. Always pack it extremely well (I do this for all buyers, but with low feedback buyers I might add a redundant layer of protection which is more for USPS insurance claims adjuster than for the buyer)

4. Always ship Priority Mail and insure it for the full amount for anything over $50 but under $500. Anything over $500 gets registered mail.

5. Always use signature confirmation and in some cases restricted signature confirmation

6. Always include a note that reminds them/instructs them on saving the packaging for initiating an insurance claim.

7. Always include the additional costs of shipping in the price or the shipping price.  Or you can play the numbers game and risk a package if you sell at high volume.

That will pretty much provide you with the most protection you can expect and if something seems wrong after the transaction is completed, always be the first one to call ebay and open a case relaying your concerns. 

[01TheDude]

If you do go the route of requiring a signature, it would be a good idea to inform the buyer that you have done this so they understand they will need to have someone sign for the package.

I recall some people getting upset when this item was not included in the item details and it caused delays and other delivery headaches.

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

8 minutes ago, 01TheDude said:

If you do go the route of requiring a signature, it would be a good idea to inform the buyer that you have done this so they understand they will need to have someone sign for the package.

I recall some people getting upset when this item was not included in the item details and it caused delays and other delivery headaches.

 

That is an interesting point. I have asked this question of seller's as a buyer myself to make sure, as it has never been volunteered to me...

I usually am able to sign, but as it is usually different with every seller at what price range they would like signature confirmation, it's a good idea to always give a heads up!  otherwise the buyer might not assume one way or another....

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by ADAMANTIUM

[jsilverjanet]

9 hours ago, lizards2 said:

[01TheDude]

13 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

9 hours ago, lizards2 said:

kind of shocked Trojan hasn't used the "Their pleasure" phrasing instead of "her pleasure" - wait, how old is that condom?

[lizards2]

30 minutes ago, 01TheDude said:

45 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

10 hours ago, lizards2 said:

kind of shocked Trojan hasn't used the "Their pleasure" phrasing instead of "her pleasure" - wait, how old is that condom?

I think Hector just gave up her real sex....., 

[rogue14]

Good question.

I find myself in this exact situation currently. Have a book on sale that I received a best offer for, but the buyer looks to be new since they have “0” feedback. It’s an offer on a book for just over $110. Been thinking it over and waiting to see if anyone else is interested. It was just listed yesterday no rush to sell. 

Funny, just got another offer from another “0” feedback person from the same area.

Edited March 8, 2018 by rogue14
Verbiage added

[01TheDude]

5 hours ago, rogue14 said:

Good question.

I find myself in this exact situation currently. Have a book on sale that I received a best offer for, but the buyer looks to be new since they have “0” feedback. It’s an offer on a book for just over $110. Been thinking it over and waiting to see if anyone else is interested. It was just listed yesterday no rush to sell. 

Funny, just got another offer from another “0” feedback person from the same area.

If it were my listing, I would probably block both and reject the offers. Trust your gut-- if it seems fishy, it most likely is exactly that.

[rogue14]

41 minutes ago, 01TheDude said:

If it were my listing, I would probably block both and reject the offers. Trust your gut-- if it seems fishy, it most likely is exactly that.

Yea, I’m probably not going to go with either just to be safe. The names are also kind of similar too.

[OrangeCrush]

IMO, the best way to protect yourself as a seller is to simply learn how to properly package things up and get insurance if its something valuable. I can't even tell you how many damaged shipments I have received over the years, for both comics and art prints, where the damage could have EASILY been avoided if the seller had only learned how to properly package items up. I can package up comics and art prints to the point where they are bomb proof (the term used in the shipping industry to represent a package that is packaged up EXTREMELY well). You could literally drop them off a 10 foot roof and chances are they wouldn't be damaged at all. 

Its basically the same premise for both comics and art prints (shipping prints flat). All you do is get 2 pieces of cardboard or foam core that is at least 1" larger in diameter (both horizontally and vertically) than the comics or print. You then secure the comics or print in a comic bag or print bag centered on one of the pieces of cardboard and then sandwich it between the 2nd sheet of cardboard and tape the 2 sheets of cardboard/foam core together. That extra 1"+ of cardboard will be what winds up taking the hit if the edge of the package does take a serious hit during shipping. In all my years of buying off of eBay, I have yet to recieve a single damaged comic or print that was shipped in this manner. All of the damaged comics and prints I have received from eBay were ultimately damaged due to weak packaging skills.

[lizards2]

54 minutes ago, OrangeCrush said:

IMO, the best way to protect yourself as a seller is to simply learn how to properly package things up and get insurance if its something valuable. I can't even tell you how many damaged shipments I have received over the years, for both comics and art prints, where the damage could have EASILY been avoided if the seller had only learned how to properly package items up. I can package up comics and art prints to the point where they are bomb proof (the term used in the shipping industry to represent a package that is packaged up EXTREMELY well). You could literally drop them off a 10 foot roof and chances are they wouldn't be damaged at all. 

Its basically the same premise for both comics and art prints (shipping prints flat). All you do is get 2 pieces of cardboard or foam core that is at least 1" larger in diameter (both horizontally and vertically) than the comics or print. You then secure the comics or print in a comic bag or print bag centered on one of the pieces of cardboard and then sandwich it between the 2nd sheet of cardboard and tape the 2 sheets of cardboard/foam core together. That extra 1"+ of cardboard will be what winds up taking the hit if the edge of the package does take a serious hit during shipping. In all my years of buying off of eBay, I have yet to recieve a single damaged comic or print that was shipped in this manner. All of the damaged comics and prints I have received from eBay were ultimately damaged due to weak packaging skills.

I've gotten damaged comics packaged like this several times.  If they use scotch tape to secure the books, it breaks and the books fly down into one corner and get crunched. 

You need to use good, strong tape, and put an extra oversized bag over the books, or wrap them in newspaper / craft paper, or both, then secure this inner package snugly, then tape it to the sandwich boards.  

[OrangeCrush]

8 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I've gotten damaged comics packaged like this several times.  If they use scotch tape to secure the books, it breaks and the books fly down into one corner and get crunched. 

You need to use good, strong tape, and put an extra oversized bag over the books, or wrap them in newspaper / craft paper, or both, then secure this inner package snugly, then tape it to the sandwich boards.  

Once again, this goes right back to having the proper skills and using the proper techniques. Using scotch tape is completely inadequate and people who are experienced with packaging should absolutely know this. You have to use shipping tape and one of the best techniques is using the back end of a pair of scissors in a back and forth motion over the tape once its applied. You do that and you literally cant get the tape off without it tearing part of the box/cardboard off with it. 

Edited March 9, 2018 by OrangeCrush

[James J Johnson]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 10:41 AM, lizards2 said:

What's this? "Her" pleasure, "His" pleasure lingo? I thought 2018 was the year of nonspecific gender? No more his and hers, men and women, etc., etc., and other sensitivities related to gender that may confuse some people?

[porcupine48]

14 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

What's this? "Her" pleasure, "His" pleasure lingo? I thought 2018 was the year of nonspecific gender? No more his and hers, men and women, etc., etc., and other sensitivities related to gender that may confuse some people?

It's a typo.Should read 'herpes leisure'

[Poka]

On 3/8/2018 at 5:26 AM, darkstar said:

Also if a low feedback buyer calls foul on a purchase, eBay is likely going to eat the cost themselves as opposed to passing that on to a good seller with a significant sales history.

Keen to see examples of that as that is not my experience

[rogue14]

So another weird eBay situation.

Is it possible to have feedback listed but not possitive feedback percentage? I checked the feedback and they seem legit but think it’s odd. Doesn’t look like they’ve been active since 2015 either since that’s the last feedback date provided.

Edited March 15, 2018 by rogue14
Pic added

[ADAMANTIUM]

It could have been more than 12 months ago? Maybe no feedback as a seller? It is possible, I think, to leave feedback in stars without labeling it positive, but with a 46 feedback surely 1 of them would have said "positive"

[James J Johnson]

Let's face facts. As a seller, if you accept paypal, your buyer holds all the cards, and even in the event that you dotted every I and crossed every t, taking the most responsible precautions and exerting maximum due diligence, in the case of buyer vs. seller, paypal will side with the buyer every time. If anyone has had a different experience, share it, because although I've never encountered a problem with this on ebay, I've heard many seller's horror stories about how a buyer managed to defraud them by using PayPal's rules.

Now right in the paypal user agreement, which you have to agree to in order to sign up, the language is clear. "If a buyer wants to, he can use the system to defraud you" is written between the lines, and this is true. It's the cost of doing business using paypal, and in business, what's known as "leakage". A percentage of your gross that will fall prey to foul play, like thievery, spoilage, or if you had a bank or accountant or lawyer that occasionally steals from you

And here's the takeaway. Paypal is not a bank. Banking laws do not apply. When you sign the user agreement, you have agreed that they can freeze your money/account for any reason at all, for up to 180 days. That's 6 months. Frozen. Of course, you can continue to accept payment for merchandise, but the kicker is, you can't spend the money or transfer it, to others or your associated account unless a refund to a buyer! Nice, right?

You would think that Paypal will only do this in cases where gross negligence, thievery, or rule breaking is the cause, and if you're of that assumption, I urge you to google "Paypal 6 month account freeze", where you can find innumerable horror stories of merchants who were literally put out of business and bankrupted by this practice, which can be triggered by anything at all. Even a return from a buyer that you dispute!

This is why I don't use paypal and sell infrequently using paypal. They literally can do anything they please, as can buyers using paypal. They are a payment facilitator and not a bank, and there's nothing you can do but wait 6 months when you're money is put into 6 month deep freeze.

Edited March 15, 2018 by James J Johnson