Need some EBay selling advice?

[Voltron]

5 hours ago, Lordoflego said:

Couple quick questions that I hope to get answers to here before I call eBay tomorrow to ask,

1. Some listing say about shipping: fast & free - many of mine are free shipping yet none say "fast & free", who exactly qualifies for that? Does it depend on the seller's "shipping time" rating when feedback is left by buyer?

2. Many listings say "sponsored", what does that mean exactly?

thanks in advance.

You need to change your dispatch time to 1 day

[Zelgazra]

16 hours ago, Substored said:

Hey guys.. great thread. Have not had a chance to read through all of it so if this is a repeat question then im sorry in advance. My question goes out to Canadians mostly but anyone can answer. I have noticed on Ebay a few people selling their bricks but with free shipping. The sets are at competitive rates it would seem yet still offer free shipping. How is this possible? Here in Canada it costs an arm and a leg to ship boxes of stuff. What am i missing? can i get discounts if i ship larger #'s of stuff, Is UPS or other private shipping better or have some commercial shipping options that allows for unlimited shipping per year for x$. Any info on this would be great.

For information sake i ship Canada post.

It all comes down to the buy-in. Some people find great local clearances and can simply afford to competitively price and include a free shipping "fee" into their equation and still profit. If you print your labels at home through ebay/paypal's system, you do earn a small discount, usually enough to cover the cost of the shipping final value fee at least. But yea. Buy-in and willingness for small profits is what allows most of them to do it. I suppose there might be a few that have exterior opportunities they can take advantage of, like shipping through their real life workplace etc, but that's probably not the average seller. My interpretation anyway, no real data to base it off of. 

[Substored]

On 9/5/2016 at 2:39 PM, Zelgazra said:

It all comes down to the buy-in. Some people find great local clearances and can simply afford to competitively price and include a free shipping "fee" into their equation and still profit. If you print your labels at home through ebay/paypal's system, you do earn a small discount, usually enough to cover the cost of the shipping final value fee at least. But yea. Buy-in and willingness for small profits is what allows most of them to do it. I suppose there might be a few that have exterior opportunities they can take advantage of, like shipping through their real life workplace etc, but that's probably not the average seller. My interpretation anyway, no real data to base it off of. 

Thanks For the Info.. 

[gregpj]

On 9/7/2016 at 0:29 PM, Substored said:

Thanks For the Info.. 

I too believe many people use their at work business accounts (and not the small business rate offered by Canada Post that you can get in the post office -  https://www.canadapost.ca/whatittakes/conversion.html which is usually just slightly less than the ebay/paypal discount). FedEx and UPS are crazy expensive for small time use.

[gregpj]

Well it happened to me finally... a fruitcake buyer, but in this case I am not sure how to proceed.

- Buyer purchased two items... paid separately
- Messaged buyer asking about joint shipping, never heard anything.
- Sent parcels anyways.
- On delivery day, the recipient refused delivery of items.
- Messaged through eBay, asking for more information, etc. ... NO response.
- Tried again directly via the PayPal email address. NO response.

I have no eBay Cancel Request or PayPal requests for return or chargeback or anything? I picked up the parcels today at the post office and had to pay return shipping. The parcels were not opened so everything is good.

Now what? I doubt the "buyer" will respond to a cancel request and I have a "no returns" policy which means I want to charge them for shipping to/fro (it's about $80 for the two boxes) but then I have to issue two partial refunds (two separate payments were made) and then eat the cost of the fees on those right?

I'm thinking .. open return case, let it time out, contact eBay to ensure it doesn't affect my account. 

[ravenb99]

If you've already contacted him without any reply i wouldn't do anything.  If a case is open then can refund.  If you refund now and short all the shipping he can escalate and if it never said delivered you would lose.  I had one refused a long time ago that got lost on the way back and lost it as it never said delivered.  I would just keep them aside and if they ever email you back address it then.  Unless you plan on just refunding in full and sending cancel link.   If it's the new system it auto does it and no reply is needed from them.  Mine still rotates between new and old though.  Just guarantee if you refund minus 80 bucks it will cause a case for sure and if escalated and lose it will be a defect.  

Edited September 9, 2016 by ravenb99

[gregpj]

If you've already contacted him without any reply i wouldn't do anything.  If a case is open then can refund.  If you refund now and short all the shipping he can escalate and if it never said delivered you would lose.  I had one refused a long time ago that got lost on the way back and lost it as it never said delivered.  I would just keep them aside and if they ever email you back address it then.  Unless you plan on just refunding in full and sending cancel link.   If it's the new system it auto does it and no reply is needed from them.  Mine still rotates between new and old though.  Just guarantee if you refund minus 80 bucks it will cause a case for sure and if escalated and lose it will be a defect.  

Nothing is open... Nada, no communication from the buyer but I have the sets. Tracking says delivery refused and successfully returned.

I don't believe Canada is on the new system yet.

Are you suggesting full refund, let it go through or do nothing for X amount of time and wait and see what happens? At the moment I have their money and eBay has mine (fees).

[Lordoflego]

12 minutes ago, gregpj said:

 

Nothing is open... Nada, no communication from the buyer but I have the sets. Tracking says delivery refused and successfully returned.

I don't believe Canada is on the new system yet.

Are you suggesting full refund, let it go through or do nothing for X amount of time and wait and see what happens? At the moment I have their money and eBay has mine (fees).

 

I'd say wait too, not telling you to b taking advantage of people but....it's a jungle, u gotta b a beast to survive....  

anyway, at least you deserve an explanation why a fruitcake acted like a fruitcake and give you some reason even if it may be bs.

or you can just refund him and forget about this tomorrow.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Lordoflego

[ravenb99]

4 hours ago, gregpj said:

 

Nothing is open... Nada, no communication from the buyer but I have the sets. Tracking says delivery refused and successfully returned.

I don't believe Canada is on the new system yet.

Are you suggesting full refund, let it go through or do nothing for X amount of time and wait and see what happens? At the moment I have their money and eBay has mine (fees).

 

Yeah I would just sit tight for now and see what happens.  You've contacted and had no response.  You are out the money you shipped with and paid for return so wouldn't feel bad with no explanation.   I personally would normally just refund on my end and move on but you've got 80 bucks out in it so that is why I feel sitting tight is fine in this case.  If a case is opened just refund it and be done with it. Collecting your shipping will be hard in that case and if escalated would be a losing battle more times than not.  Refunding minus the shipping now will probably come to a case as well. 

 

 

[trstnkn]

Sold a new in box Star Destroyer over the weekend.  eBay has it listed as "awaiting payment".  (Yes, I now know my immediate payment was not turned on.)

Buyer is new as of 2016 with 0 feedback.

So today I receive an e-mail from paypal saying that it is "ok to ship to" as of September 12.   (So much for my next business day turnaround on this one.)

Why is eBay not in sync with paypal?  I've never had this happen before so of course it seems fishy.

Payment is indeed posted in my paypal account.

Thoughts...?

[Lordoflego]

Call both, PayPal and eBay and go from there.

[trstnkn]

Thanks as always - will do

 

[trstnkn]

16 hours ago, trstnkn said:

Sold a new in box Star Destroyer over the weekend.  eBay has it listed as "awaiting payment".  (Yes, I now know my immediate payment was not turned on.)

Buyer is new as of 2016 with 0 feedback.

So today I receive an e-mail from paypal saying that it is "ok to ship to" as of September 12.   (So much for my next business day turnaround on this one.)

Why is eBay not in sync with paypal?  I've never had this happen before so of course it seems fishy.

Payment is indeed posted in my paypal account.

Thoughts...?

So called eBay first, they said it was likely e-check clearing.  No issue on their end as long as I had money in paypal acct. 

Paypal said the payment was flagged and investigated.  No issues discovered, so I could ship.

So reluctantly I shipped...with insurance.

[longshot]

This came up today on multiple orders of mini-figures.......... Whats the easiest way to combine shipping on multiple orders especially if, as in this case, the cost for one is the same as 3-5? Thanx guys.............

 

 

[ISO8T0]

3 minutes ago, longshot said:

This came up today on multiple orders of mini-figures.......... Whats the easiest way to combine shipping on multiple orders especially if, as in this case, the cost for one is the same as 3-5? Thanx guys.............

 

 

from one buyer? have they purchased?

Usually (from a buying standpoint) you can add to cart and then "request total from seller" if seller offers combined shipping. I believe there is also a way to combine shipments in Ebay. (post order)

[longshot]

47 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

from one buyer? have they purchased?

Usually (from a buying standpoint) you can add to cart and then "request total from seller" if seller offers combined shipping. I believe there is also a way to combine shipments in Ebay. (post order)

Yes its from one buyer and yes I believe I set it up to offer combined shipping. I'll have to look into it more. For now I said to purchase everything they wanted and I would reimburse the difference in the shipping. What a PITA though.......... Has to be an easier way, invoice total etc.

[Zelgazra]

Just now, longshot said:

Yes its from one buyer and yes I believe I set it up to offer combined shipping. I'll have to look into it more. For now I said to purchase everything they wanted and I would reimburse the difference in the shipping. What a PITA though.......... Has to be an easier way, invoice total etc.

There is, as long as they haven't paid yet. They don't have to request the invoice, you can just send them one. On the invoice is a field for shipping cost. Fill in whatever is appropriate for the combined rate and send invoice. It complicates things if they've paid one by one.... I state clearly in my listings that I'll combine shipping if items are added to cart. Some people can't read, so I let them pay the extra and pocket the difference.... if they want to pay more, that's up to them isn't it? Maybe this is bad form ethically, but I've got 100% track record for service and nobody has complained. I guess since I'm shipping bubble mailer and it's cheap, people are still willing to pay double the shipping costs since it's notably less than a parcel still? Haven't thought into it much. 

[Migration]

Well it happened to me finally... a fruitcake buyer, but in this case I am not sure how to proceed.

- Buyer purchased two items... paid separately
- Messaged buyer asking about joint shipping, never heard anything.
- Sent parcels anyways.
- On delivery day, the recipient refused delivery of items.
- Messaged through eBay, asking for more information, etc. ... NO response.
- Tried again directly via the PayPal email address. NO response.

I have no eBay Cancel Request or PayPal requests for return or chargeback or anything? I picked up the parcels today at the post office and had to pay return shipping. The parcels were not opened so everything is good.

Now what? I doubt the "buyer" will respond to a cancel request and I have a "no returns" policy which means I want to charge them for shipping to/fro (it's about $80 for the two boxes) but then I have to issue two partial refunds (two separate payments were made) and then eat the cost of the fees on those right?

I'm thinking .. open return case, let it time out, contact eBay to ensure it doesn't affect my account. 

Wait till it gets returned to you and do a full refund once it's delivered. I had the same thing happen a while ago 3 items in 3 transactions all shipped separately and refused on the buyers end. Three hours after they were delivered back to me (while I was at work) they did a cc chargeback that I lost, so on top of the shipping I got hit by 3 chargebacks each with a $20 fee attached.

[Cozei]

Wait till it gets returned to you and do a full refund once it's delivered. I had the same thing happen a while ago 3 items in 3 transactions all shipped separately and refused on the buyers end. Three hours after they were delivered back to me (while I was at work) they did a cc chargeback that I lost, so on top of the shipping I got hit by 3 chargebacks each with a $20 fee attached.

Wow. Can you clarify a few things in this for me?

The charge back is them calling their credit card company and demanding reverse charge. I've never done or had this happen, so asking. The cc co. takes them just saying they refused shipment as reason/proof to reverse charge or cc uses tracking # (on return delivery) as proof of return?

These charge backs are unique to pay with cc? Does requiring PayPal payment circumvent or just with cc as PayPal payment source charge back can happen?

Did you also have to pay return shipping cost on your pick up?

This is the fruit cake thread, but curious if boxes were damaged? Was there ever any communication (why) later?

Thanks

[dougts]

sounds like a direct CC chargeback, which paypal then accepts and forwards on to you.  You can dispute it of course through seller protection (doesn't apply in this case obviously).  As for "the cc co. takes them just saying they refused shipment..." my guess is that the person never told the CC company that they refused shipment.  Either it was a fraudulent/stolen CC and the actual CC holder who disputed the charge had nothing to do with the order, or the person decided they didn't want the order anymore and just found it easier and more expedient to dispute the charge then go through the hassle of ebay/paypal/seller return request policy, etc.

I once got an order for 3 sandcrawlers from a single buyer.  I knew of course that the order was likely either fraudulent (over they years, I've shipped dozens of orders I KNEW 100% were fishy - mostly to ppl who I suspected were going to claim received damaged or not as all - and they did). But paypal says ship, and that seller protection applies, what choice do I have?  I bulk up on insurance, make sure I have maximum signature protection, and fire away.  I've gotten chargebacks and other paypal claims, but so far, I've won them 100% of the time. Sure, they hold my money for weeks while "investigating", but I have always gotten it back in the end.  Back to the sandcrawlers - this order was odd in that they ended up never getting delivered (maybe refused?), and shipped back to me.  I tried to contact the buyer to find out what was going on.  Never got a response, so I awaited the inevitable chargeback or paypal dispute.  it never came, and I ended up just keeping the money.  I felt kind of bad about it, but A: I had fronted the money myself for 3 newly produced sets that I didn't want sitting in inventory for years, and B: I didn't want to refund prematurely in case the buyer wanted them re-shipped, or some paypal dispute got started up.  I figured the buyer would eventually come asking for his $1000, but he never did.  I ended up selling off 2 of the sandcrawlers to someone else and kept the 3rd for my personal collection.

[Migration]

Wow. Can you clarify a few things in this for me?

The charge back is them calling their credit card company and demanding reverse charge. I've never done or had this happen, so asking. The cc co. takes them just saying they refused shipment as reason/proof to reverse charge or cc uses tracking # (on return delivery) as proof of return?

These charge backs are unique to pay with cc? Does requiring PayPal payment circumvent or just with cc as PayPal payment source charge back can happen?

Did you also have to pay return shipping cost on your pick up?

This is the fruit cake thread, but curious if boxes were damaged? Was there ever any communication (why) later?

Thanks

The boxes were unopened and were returned at no extra charge.

[jbacunn]

Had a buyer pay for an item but their address was not complete in Paypal. He e-mailed me and gave me the rest of the address. Only the street info was missing. Name, city, state, zip is all same.  This is a $200 item so I know that if I change the address I am voiding my seller protection. I issued a refund and told him to correct the address and then repay. He says it will not allow him to pay again and I can't find where I can send another invoice.  If I cancel the transaction and relist the item I am worried I will not get refunded my fees and it will be a defect on my account.  I read somewhere that I can send a Paypal invoice but do I get seller protection? Buyer seems legit and is cooperating. If it was a $10 item I wouldn't be too concerned but for $200 I want to make sure. Any advice?

[exciter1]

2 minutes ago, jbacunn said:

Had a buyer pay for an item but their address was not complete in Paypal. He e-mailed me and gave me the rest of the address. Only the street info was missing. Name, city, state, zip is all same.  This is a $200 item so I know that if I change the address I am voiding my seller protection. I issued a refund and told him to correct the address and then repay. He says it will not allow him to pay again and I can't find where I can send another invoice.  If I cancel the transaction and relist the item I am worried I will not get refunded my fees and it will be a defect on my account.  I read somewhere that I can send a Paypal invoice but do I get seller protection? Buyer seems legit and is cooperating. If it was a $10 item I wouldn't be too concerned but for $200 I want to make sure. Any advice?

If this is infrequent, don't sweat the metrics.  Refund and relist...

...or just send them a PayPal invoice.

[ISO8T0]

I would shy away from sending an invoice through paypal. This would take it out of the eBay transaction. Instead I would call ebay and see what they can do to straighten it out. You are after all, paying them.

[KShine]

26 minutes ago, jbacunn said:

Had a buyer pay for an item but their address was not complete in Paypal. He e-mailed me and gave me the rest of the address. Only the street info was missing. Name, city, state, zip is all same.  This is a $200 item so I know that if I change the address I am voiding my seller protection. I issued a refund and told him to correct the address and then repay. He says it will not allow him to pay again and I can't find where I can send another invoice.  If I cancel the transaction and relist the item I am worried I will not get refunded my fees and it will be a defect on my account.  I read somewhere that I can send a Paypal invoice but do I get seller protection? Buyer seems legit and is cooperating. If it was a $10 item I wouldn't be too concerned but for $200 I want to make sure. Any advice?

Let the buyer know that you will need to re-list the item (specify in the title that it is also for that specific buyer, and then send them the link), and that you will need to put through a cancel request for the 1st transaction (which they will need to accept, to cancel). Also, make sure that they have updated their shipping address as required before the 2nd transaction takes place (or it will just happen again).

Edited September 21, 2016 by KShine