posted on January 11, 2001 06:03:24 PM
I won an auction last week. I got the letter of congratulations, yada yada yada and it stated, please include 4.75 for priority shipping and insurance. Well, I got the package yesterday and it was not insured NOR sent priority. Thankfully none of the pieces were broken, but I wonder what he would have done if they were. I paid for insurance, I paid for priority, and it came first class uninsured. Total price a little over a dollar. Thought buyers were usually the pain in the butt, but now I see it is sellers too.
posted on January 11, 2001 06:07:56 PM
I think I would send a friendly e-mail suggesting that perhaps he got your package confused with someone else's, and suggest that he send you the rest of your money that he did not use for the purpose for which it was obtained..
posted on January 11, 2001 06:13:29 PM
no insurance? just because it wasn't marked with PO insurance it doesn't mean it wasn't insured. Many sellers use other insurance providers.
now, the priority shipping charge and then not shipped priority, that's another story. i would email them and NICELY let them know you may have misunderstood the mode of shipping.
something i learned a long time ago was to make everything seem your fault -- without being a doormat about it -- and the other party will take it a lot easier.
posted on January 11, 2001 06:20:41 PM
I'm on a personal crusade (as a buyer) against outrageous shipping charges, so I'm having a bit of a different take on things at the moment. I will gladly pay full priority shipping and insurance for many items that warrant that kind of treatment, and of course I expect to get what I pay for. I hope you DO take it up with the seller. Charging that kind of money and then sending it first class with no insurance is gouging pure and simple. And cheating, too.
Recently I won two small items. One weighs about six ounces, and the other weighs probably less than two ounces. Neither is fragile or destructible, and neither one needs anything more complex than a bubble wrap envelope. One seller insisted that I pay $4.50 "shipping and handling" for priority mail (this is the two-ounce item). I wrote and politely suggested that I would be delighted if he would just mail it to me first class in a bubble envelope, but he would not. Of course, I paid the price he requested because them's the rules...but I did at least let him know I thought it was overkill for this small, inexpensive item.
The other item is something that I myself have sold many times, and shipped very successfully in a bubble wrap envelope. The seller would not budge...it MUST go UPS! The charge for a six-ounce package including insurance is something like $4.75...almost as much as I bid! (I can send this identical item for under $2.00 via first class mail, also including insurance.)
Anyway, I am trying to do my bit to alert sellers that many of us will not let overcharging on shipping go by without a comment. Usually, I don't bid at all if shipping is not mentioned or the cost is way out of proportion. In both these cases, though, it was a last-minute bid on something that I was certain could not cost more than $X to mail. Boy, was I surprised!
i have a question for you. you bid on a person's auction knowing what their shipping terms were. why? if you didn't like their shipping terms, you don't need or have to bid. you are an honest seller. you only charge for a bubble envelope. your two sellers didn't.
there were plenty of times i wanted an item and didn't bid because of shipping terms (and other parts of their TOS, also.) i'll go to the next seller whose terms i do agree with. those sellers will get my business.
as long as people bid on sellers' auctions who have outrageous terms, sellers will keep those terms.
posted on January 11, 2001 09:11:38 PM
Most of my books are not priority, but the random buyer will prefer it.
On a couple of occasions, I mismailed them as bookrate. I always discover my mistake when I do the "Your package has been mailed" e-mail.
I always rebate the difference (in cash) and tell the buyer when to expect their now delayed shipment.
There maybe another reason why your seller would only ship priority,it maybe because they did not have access to bubble envelopes.
It may have involved an extra trip and an additional expense that the seller was not prepared for.
I ship all items priority mail as it is the easiest way and quickest way to ship.
Otherwise I have to spend extra time packing and then stand in line at the PO to get it weighed.When you ship over 100 items a week you always look at what is best for your business.
This may not be best for the customer,but what is best for the business has to be taken into consideration as well.
posted on January 12, 2001 05:01:26 AM
I would definitely contact the seller in a friendly way. I don't know about the rest of the sellers here, but with a toddler running around my house distracting me, I occasionally make mistakes in shipping. Last week I got a friendly email from a buyer letting me know that he paid for insurance but that the package wasn't marked for insurance. I promptly emailed an apology as well as a refund on shipping, and assured him that if anything would have happened to the package it would have been my responsibility. I'm thankful he wrote beofre negging me!
posted on January 12, 2001 08:44:32 AM
I do not offer insurance because my items cost me less than what it would cost to insure them, yet sometimes someone does pay for insurance, and I go ahead and insure it - occasionally it has slipped by me and I promptly refund.
I just have a hard time figuring out what to insure it for... I pay .54 for the items, and they sell for anywhere from $5 - $9.
If there was a claim, I would probably just send out a replacement than make a claim - or is it the buyer that would make the claim? Do I insure it for their bid amount?
posted on January 12, 2001 09:04:00 AM
[i]The private insurance company I use is U-PIC.
U-PIC advises NOT to mark packages "insured" so as not to attract thieves.[/i]
I have a question before I get involved with U-PIC:
How does the buyer know that her/his parcel was insured? Is there something which can be Emailed to customer?
I too, have had packages with Insurance, Priority Fee and Return Receipt, at my request, and agreed upon by Seller, only to receive package by UPS ground with only the free first $100.00 Insurance provided by UPS. If a multi hundred $$$ item were to have broken, wonder what seller would have done!
When at fault, many sellers will ignore follow-up E-mails..
posted on January 12, 2001 09:56:51 AM
dthmj. When a buyer insists on inurance I do insure. I also make sure an invoice for what he paid is included, and pack carefully. Now let us say he has a claim for damage. GREAT. I file the claim under the amount he paid (less cost of insurance and postage), have the check sent to me and send him new item which cost me maybe $.50. Chalk up two sales, second one with no eBay costs. Works well for me. I only do it if I am ASKED to insure for these cheap items however.
posted on January 12, 2001 10:15:16 AM
I generally use the USPS insurance for packages. On occasion, I have used U-Pic on some higher priced items. Because many buyers are not familiar with them, I always include a note to the buyer when I notify them that the package has been shipped. I state that I am using U-Pic and that they recommend that insured not be labeled on the outside of the package. I tell them to rest assured that their package is, indeed, insured.
posted on January 12, 2001 10:16:49 AM
I generally use the USPS insurance for packages. On occasion, I have used U-Pic on some higher priced items. Because many buyers are not familiar with them, I always include a note to the buyer when I notify them that the package has been shipped. I state that I am using U-Pic and that they recommend that insured not be labeled on the outside of the package. I tell them to rest assured that their package is, indeed, insured.
posted on January 12, 2001 10:21:58 AM
I recently received a very nasty email from a bidder complaining that I charged her $2.50 s/h. She did not want to pay priority. I paid $1.00 for large padded envelope, shipping was $1.61--I'm out eleven cents. She thought I should have sent her a check for the difference. That would mean $.89 check, $.25 check fee, $.34 postage.
I sent her an email asking for the $.11 I absorbed and explained the cost of the special envelope I used to save her $1.00.
posted on January 12, 2001 10:27:45 AM
I do what Dixiebee does as far as notifying buyers their package is insured via U-PIC.
On packages valued higher than a set amount, I don't charge buyers for insurance. I pay for it. U-PIC is so reasonably priced, it's well worth it to me.
If buers request insurance on packages below that set amount, I quote USPS insurance rates and U-PIC rates and give them the link to the U-PIC site so they can see it's for real.
In these cases, the buyer pays for the insurance and I will use whichever insurance they choose.
Some select U-PIC, others select USPS.
One seller here at AW had a an "insured" stamp made up and uses it on packages insured by U-PIC.
Someone else uses the word "assured."
