General shipping questions, tips and answers

[odysea11]

Anyone else unable to ship this morning? I keep getting the "System unavailable" message. Just checking to see if it's me or is this system wide?

[JosephMali]

I shipped about an hour ago.

[legowalker]

Do you guys use the sticker shipping labels? Where do you guys buy them the cheapest? I hate printing it out on paper and taping it, it's too time consuming and rather put the money on the sticker labels than paper + packing tape.

I did a random search and found 200 labels for $7.99 is this a good deal? About .04 cents per label.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200-Half-Sheet-Shipping-Labels-2-labels-Per-Sheet-for-Laser-Printers-USPS-Paypal-/161497226471

Edited May 16, 2015 by legowalker

[Sprocket77]

Quick question on shipping, I'm based in Ireland, but want to send some minifigures to my brother in Australia as there's a better market for them there. (Already sending him a package, so no extra cost)

Can I just set up the items on my ebay page and change the location of the item to Australia, or would I need an ebay.com.au account for it to show up on the Australian ebay?

[comicblast]

I am selling 2 sets that are too large for me to ship in one box. From what I can tell, eBay does allow such methods of shipping, but just not in the initial listing form, only after the item has been purchased. How do you guys propose that I list the item? Used fixed cost shipping using California as the most expensive shipping would be (I'm in the Mid-West)? Thanks in advance!

[cladner]

I have someone who has purchased a set.

Their shipping address is a hotel.  Their paypal address is a hotel (millennium hotel manhattan).

They have zero feedback and account is brand spanking new.

Its a $249 sale.

Shipping is standard - its going to take 5 days to get to the hotel address.

I cancelled the sale claiming an issue with the buyer's address.

The buyer says he is staying at the hotel and gets stuff shipped there all the time (though clearly not from ebay).

Am I being overly cautious?

 

Edited July 6, 2015 by cladner

[exciter1]

You should be covered by PayPal and you have the funds in-hand.  You could also require signature confirmation for peace of mind.  An EBay buyer could also have zero feedback if they were buying via Guest checkout?  I know I've shipped to a Chinese Restaurant in California at least once.  A QAR and BP combo I believe.

[cladner]

I could see delivering to a restaurant if you own it or work there during the day.  

Was definitely going to do signature confirmation.

Hotel is a little different.  The buyer even acknowledged to me they only stay there 2 days a week but that the staff keeps stuff for him.

I'm just worried that I get the box back "UNABLE TO DELIVER- NO SUCH ADDRESSEE"   I'm out the shipping cost and box gets potentially damaged. 

 

 

[lazuli16]

I could see delivering to a restaurant if you own it or work there during the day.

Was definitely going to do signature confirmation.

Hotel is a little different.  The buyer even acknowledged to me they only stay there 2 days a week but that the staff keeps stuff for him.

I'm just worried that I get the box back "UNABLE TO DELIVER- NO SUCH ADDRESSEE"   I'm out the shipping cost and box gets potentially damaged. 

 

 

In my previous life, I would spend 3-4 months of the year at that hotel and I would get stuff delivered there as well.  He is probably a Hilton Diamond member and they bend over backwards to keep Diamond members happy. You should be safe.

Disclosure: I am not the buyer.

[exciter1]

I could see delivering to a restaurant if you own it or work there during the day.  

Was definitely going to do signature confirmation.

Hotel is a little different.  The buyer even acknowledged to me they only stay there 2 days a week but that the staff keeps stuff for him.

I'm just worried that I get the box back "UNABLE TO DELIVER- NO SUCH ADDRESSEE"   I'm out the shipping cost and box gets potentially damaged. 

 

This does sound unique, but it could also be legit.  It really just boils down to whatever you are comfortable with.

[Sprocket77]

I have someone who has purchased a set.

Their shipping address is a hotel.  Their paypal address is a hotel (millennium hotel manhattan).

They have zero feedback and account is brand spanking new.

Its a $249 sale.

Shipping is standard - its going to take 5 days to get to the hotel address.

I cancelled the sale claiming an issue with the buyer's address.

The buyer says he is staying at the hotel and gets stuff shipped there all the time (though clearly not from ebay).

Am I being overly cautious?

 

Why don't you just ring the hotel and enquire after him?

[Brick625]

An international customer made a purchase.

Payment received, order processed and shipped via Global Shipping Program earlier today.

At 8pm I received a message from the customer about a missing apartment number that he forgot to include in his Paypal address.

I advised the customer to contact Ebay to see if Ebay could do anything or to assist him with the shipment.

According to the customer, Ebay representative instructed him to contact me to call Global Shipping Program representative to amend the address; in other words to resolve the issue. 

I have done my part as a seller, I shipped the item to the address that was provide by the customer.

In this case the customer obviously made a big mistake by not checking his address. 

So my question is, should I be held responsible to contact the Global Shipping rep to amend it, and is that even possible? All help appreciated 

[Alpinemaps]

An international customer made a purchase.

Payment received, order processed and shipped via Global Shipping Program earlier today.

At 8pm I received a message from the customer about a missing apartment number that he forgot to include in his Paypal address.

I advised the customer to contact Ebay to see if Ebay could do anything or to assist him with the shipment.

According to the customer, Ebay representative instructed him to contact me to call Global Shipping Program representative to amend the address; in other words to resolve the issue. 

I have done my part as a seller, I shipped the item to the address that was provide by the customer.

In this case the customer obviously made a big mistake by not checking his address. 

So my question is, should I be held responsible to contact the Global Shipping rep to amend it, and is that even possible? All help appreciated 

I would at least try.  Worst case, if you can't resolve it after a few minutes, maybe someone on the customer service side can tell you where who your buyer needs to contact.

[Brick625]

@alpinesmaps i will call ebay in the morning, hopefully we could do something.

 

[Alpinemaps]

Can't hurt to call them and give them a try.  Worst they can do is tell you to have the buyer contact them.  Best is they take the info from you.

You are right - you've done your part by shipping to the GSP address.  But, good customer service helps.  Maybe he'll be a repeat customer because of this.

[Brick625]

my problem is that the customer has 0 feedback, and if i change the address he might file a claim saying the paypal address was changed - which by paypal regulations im not allowed to do - so if a case will be open he will be fully refunded by paypal

[lazuli16]

Sold an item on ebay, in my listing I stated I only ship to the US to PayPal verified addresses. Of all the sales I've done, all have been PayPal verified addresses, except today.  The buyer has me sending the item to the address listed for MyUS.com, which will then ship the item to his home overseas.  I'm feeling a little hesitant about going through with it.  What has been people's experience with these type of situations?  If I cancel the sale, will it affect my rating in anyway?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[hollywood0811]

Sold an item on ebay, in my listing I stated I only ship to the US to PayPal verified addresses. Of all the sales I've done, all have been PayPal verified addresses, except today.  The buyer has me sending the item to the address listed for MyUS.com, which will then ship the item to his home overseas.  I'm feeling a little hesitant about going through with it.  What has been people's experience with these type of situations?  If I cancel the sale, will it affect my rating in anyway?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I have shipped probably about 20 things to these kind of forwarding services.  I only had one complaint saying they never got it, but I uploaded tracking showing it was delivered to the address on file the forwarding service and ebay sided with me. 

[thegooch49]

Sold an item on ebay, in my listing I stated I only ship to the US to PayPal verified addresses. Of all the sales I've done, all have been PayPal verified addresses, except today.  The buyer has me sending the item to the address listed for MyUS.com, which will then ship the item to his home overseas.  I'm feeling a little hesitant about going through with it.  What has been people's experience with these type of situations?  If I cancel the sale, will it affect my rating in anyway?

Thanks in advance for any help.

This is a tough one. I'm in the US, but I have used a very similar service to get cheap shipping overseas. I use shipito.com. Essentially, overseas people can buy a bunch of stuff in the US, and it's collected there. When they are ready, they pay one consolidate shipping cost to get it all delivered. It's kinda awesome. Reading between the lines, the buyer is probably figuring that it's cheaper to go this route, than GSP.

The hard part, is that it's not a PayPal verified address. If push came to shove, you wouldn't have a lot of recourse if they claim there is an issue. I'd really trust your gut on this one. What is the buyers eBay rating? Any warning signs during correspondence with the buyer? How much is the purchase for, and could you live with the loss if there was a claim against you? How badly do you want to sell it, and how quickly could you re-sell it if there was an issue? I've done one of these before, and it worked out fine. I had good correspondence with the buyer, he had a high well established rating, and it was a $40 set.

I know it's not a firm answer, but I hope this helps. If you are worried at all, I would bail personally. 

[jay4e]

This is a tough one. I'm in the US, but I have used a very similar service to get cheap shipping overseas. I use shipito.com. Essentially, overseas people can buy a bunch of stuff in the US, and it's collected there. When they are ready, they pay one consolidate shipping cost to get it all delivered. It's kinda awesome. Reading between the lines, the buyer is probably figuring that it's cheaper to go this route, than GSP.

The hard part, is that it's not a PayPal verified address. If push came to shove, you wouldn't have a lot of recourse if they claim there is an issue. I'd really trust your gut on this one. What is the buyers eBay rating? Any warning signs during correspondence with the buyer? How much is the purchase for, and could you live with the loss if there was a claim against you? How badly do you want to sell it, and how quickly could you re-sell it if there was an issue? I've done one of these before, and it worked out fine. I had good correspondence with the buyer, he had a high well established rating, and it was a $40 set.

I know it's not a firm answer, but I hope this helps. If you are worried at all, I would bail personally. 

I have done this on smaller sets as well.  generally works out alright, and with many of these services its unlikely they will get thei stuff in time to file a case, anyway.  But I would not take the risk on high dollar sales.  

Edited July 16, 2015 by jay4e

[lazuli16]

This is a tough one. I'm in the US, but I have used a very similar service to get cheap shipping overseas. I use shipito.com. Essentially, overseas people can buy a bunch of stuff in the US, and it's collected there. When they are ready, they pay one consolidate shipping cost to get it all delivered. It's kinda awesome. Reading between the lines, the buyer is probably figuring that it's cheaper to go this route, than GSP.

The hard part, is that it's not a PayPal verified address. If push came to shove, you wouldn't have a lot of recourse if they claim there is an issue. I'd really trust your gut on this one. What is the buyers eBay rating? Any warning signs during correspondence with the buyer? How much is the purchase for, and could you live with the loss if there was a claim against you? How badly do you want to sell it, and how quickly could you re-sell it if there was an issue? I've done one of these before, and it worked out fine. I had good correspondence with the buyer, he had a high well established rating, and it was a $40 set.

I know it's not a firm answer, but I hope this helps. If you are worried at all, I would bail personally.

I have done this on smaller sets as well.  generally works out alright, and with many of these services its unlikely they will get thei stuff in time to file a case, anyway.  But I would not take the risk on high dollar sales.  

It's a $30 sale, so i'll take the risk.  Worst case scenario I lose $10.

Thanks guys!

[exciter1]

Connect via Uber and have your packages delivered to a hub or destination?

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/16/investing/uber-fedex-startups/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom

 

[lazuli16]

Connect via Uber and have your packages delivered to a hub or destination?

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/16/investing/uber-fedex-startups/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom

 

If they give me a tracking number and promise not to charge me surge pricing....I just may consider it.

[HappyHawkeye]

Here's a return shipping related question. I just received an Ebay purchase - about a dozen minifigures in a display case. Upon opening the case the cigarette smoke smell almost knocked me over. Needless to say, each minifigure reeks and the display case (which I had been planning to sell off) is completely unusable and gross.

I requested a return, and the seller says send it back. Here's my question - in this scenario who should pay the return shipping? I am considering this "damaged" because it is completely unusable and think the seller should pay for the return. I haven't asked for them to do this yet, but I don't see it going well because they balked at me using a return reason of damaged saying that these were in great condition - which they are, other then that horrible, horrible smell.

Am I being unreasonable? I suspect if I have to fight this Ebay will side with me, but wanted a second opinion being doing so.

[legowalker]

It's a he said she said case. But smelling horrible doesn't mean it's consider damaged in general. You might consider it damaged but that's not what the seller thinks. But if I remember correctly,  damaged or not as described cases opened the seller are forced to pay return shipping so you might be on the clear. Just open the case and see what happens.