posted on June 21, 2001 05:57:28 PM new
Greetings and salutations fellow AWers!
In my opinion sellers should not "offer" insurance - it should be included in all transactions. FYI & TTBOMK, you are responsible for damage or loss EVEN IF insurance is refused. And, most likely, you will get negative feedback from an uninsured buyer with a damaged or lost item. Fabulous double standard isn't it.
I've found the very best way to quote shipping costs is something like this:
Fixed shipping including guaranteed delivery is $X.XX
Nobody picks apart my shipping, handling, or insurance fees because they DO NOT KNOW what the itemized costs are. The single figure is accepted or not, hence bid or no bid... Yippie!
Sellers, why open yourself up to more misery than necessary?
MTown
UBB
[ edited by morgantown on Jun 21, 2001 05:59 PM ]
posted on June 21, 2001 06:13:51 PM new
On the last batch of items I sold, I said "insured Priority Mail shipping is $X.XX" and I had no complaints about high charges. I sell breakables, so I figured it was better to make them pay for it rather than hassle with uninsured breakage (even though I pack very well).
posted on June 21, 2001 07:37:11 PM new
I agree Mtown. Most of my items are above 3#. For the past month or so I've been running my auctions with shipping ranges that include DC and insurance plus a "handling fee" built in (which is discounted if paid with cash or m.o.). So far no complaints, and my auctions have been doing quite well.
I've had only three packages go missing completely--and I have my suspicions about those. All were first-class packages for which I could purchase no delivery confirmation. Nothing with delivery confirmation has ever gotten lost. Sometimes slow, but never lost. But anyway, those three that got lost--so what! They were insured! I won't take PayPal payments at all on shipments that can't be tracked, so maybe my next step is omitting F/C shipment altogther, especially since so few of my packages fall into that weight.
posted on June 21, 2001 08:08:27 PM new
What gets me are the sellers who say if YOU don't buy insurance I am not responsible -- like that means something to the postal inspectors.
They will find out a sale did not HAPPEN until the buyer had reciept of the goods in good condition.
They can say they have to do this and you have to do that like they are the Pope telling the captains what part of the new world was theirs and the judge is going to be real impressed with them.
If they bought a new TV from JCPenny and it came crunched we would hear them yelling from
miles away if JCP tried to tell them it was not their problem if no insurance was bought.
posted on June 21, 2001 08:23:09 PM new
What about those $5 to $15 items? I see no good reason to require insurance on those. I've only ever had one package lost and that was my fault for writing the zip code incorrectly. It came back to me eventually. Only two packages damaged, both items were glass and insured. So, out of all the packages I've shipped, only three had any problems and one of those was my fault.
On items that I'm sure will go over $15 or so I require insurance. The cheaper items I give them the option. Most people would not appreciate being being forced to spend an extra $1.10 on a cheap item. The exception of course would be if a more expenisve item just happened to go for cheap.
posted on June 21, 2001 08:43:23 PM newLooseCannon on my last eBay run I had a few items [relisted stuff] that closed at 1 cent. The winning bidders paid the fixed shipping per the auction description without being problematic.
posted on June 21, 2001 11:33:17 PM new. FYI & TTBOMK, you are responsible for damage or loss EVEN IF insurance is refused.
dubyasdaman posted on April 13, 2001 01:33:20 PM
If a buyer refuses insurance when I offer it, it's his problem if the item never arrives or arrives broken. This has been hashed out on these boards forever and I have seen nothing to prove me wrong. I do have personal experience which has proven me right several times however.
posted on June 21, 2001 11:58:51 PM new
If Gravid's position were correct the post office would not be running ebay auctions that say if the buyer doesn't buy insurance the post office won't be responsible for lost or damaged merchandise.
If it is legal for the post office to do this it is also legal for us
posted on June 22, 2001 12:13:23 AM new
I agree with loosecannon. I buy more than sell, and I normally buy low dollar items. Before I bid I do the math. If an item is worth $10.00 to me, and S/H is $5.00, I will bid $5.00. If S/H is $3.00, I will bid $7.00. So how much of my $10.00 do you want to give the post office? Sellers that insist on my paying for insurance are giving money to the post office that they could be putting in their own pocket.
Sellers that insist on insurance may not realize it, but it more of it is coming out of their pockets than they think.
Say, for instance, you sell one hundred $10.00 dollar items to people like me. $110.00 will go to the post office that could be in your bank account instead. Of those 100 packages how many are likely to get lost before it eats up that $110.00? IMHO, on low dollar items it is best to let the buyer decide if they want insurance.
[ edited by BlondeSense on Jun 22, 2001 12:17 AM ]
posted on June 22, 2001 12:23:57 AM new
Forcing insurance on small items can lose sales, especially when there are competing items. Sometimes lowballing shipping is the best way to sell.
If it is naturally fragile, then I might insist on insurance and clearly state it though. For normal items I simply keep it an option.
For uninsured damaged items, play it by ear. On one I refunded since it was our partner's item and he neglected to tell me that some parts could come off if held upside down. On another I simply remeided the buyer that the item should have been insured, and being a lawyer, he got the hint.
Strangely, my 'transaction-from-hell' came with a fully insured item that was damaged.
The buyer kept demanding a full refund while refusing to file a claim correctly.
