posted on July 16, 2013 10:23:26 AM new
Buyer in Australia buys a large item that can't be shipped via USPS. They said they would have it shipped to a logistics center in the USA for forwarding. They make payment, but used their Australia address. I issue refund, resend invoice, they attempt to pay and cannot do so. eBay suggests I just send invoice through Paypal. Did so, buyer pays again. Address is unconfirmed now. Item is $200 and I won't take the risk on it. eBay suggests I refund payment, relist item and have buyer repurchase it using eBay invoicing. Why does it have to be this difficult???
Had eBay invoicing just allowed the buyer to repay using the 2nd invoice this wouldn't happen. I wouldn't have an irritated customer, and I wouldn't have to waste endless time emailing them, calling eBay, issuing refunds, etc.
We used to be able to resend invoices when eBay didn't handle the shipping, Seller/Buyer Protection. They changed it for no obvious reason. I am convinced it is one of their stupid glitches. eBay CSR said buyer can't pay for it again because the buyer paid for it already... but at the same time they show the payment was refunded on the order info in eBay. Seriously??? Grrrr.....
[ edited by shagmidmod on Jul 16, 2013 10:25 AM ]
posted on July 16, 2013 02:02:53 PM new
The logistics center is unconfirmed. Yes, obviously insurance will cover the package if it is lost or claimed "not received" but it does not cover fraud if the buyer files a chargeback.
If the item was $20, no worries, but a $400 loss is not worth the risk for us. We'd lose the $200 payment, lose the $200 item and then get charged a chargeback fee of $10.
posted on July 16, 2013 02:26:16 PM new
I have a serious question: You seem to have a number of difficulties with eBay sales. Have you figured what percentage of sales wind up with issues?
I haven't sold on eBay in quite a while, and every time I am ready dip back in, I am reading either horror stories or more eBay rule changes/fees/search issues, and so put it off again.
For the past few years, I have been selling on Rubylane, and have had no real issues with customers to speak of. I sell antiques, which would appear to be a safer/saner world than iphones or designer handbags, so am wondering if I am worrying over something that will probably not affect me. Is it that bad out there in the antique world of eBay?
posted on July 16, 2013 03:44:53 PM new
Shag,
Your loss would not be 200 payment,200 item and 10 dollars chargeback fee if buyer files chargeback with his cc issuer.
You loss would be the item and the 10 dollars fee,the 200 dollar is just sales you never made,it came from the buyer and is going back to the buyer.
Thats why I would insure the item for 200 so if I lose the item ,I still have the sales of 200.
posted on July 16, 2013 03:55:59 PM new
Damar,
some of the issues Shag posted here are just potential problems he forsees,like this one with the forwarding service with unconfirmed address.
The one he talked about several times where he sold an item he bought from office depot and resold on EBAY and the buyer returne a broken version,he was reimbursed by Ebay seller protection.
But Ebay is turning into a scamville USA ,with sellers afraid of getting a neg,losing its ranking and Top rated seller status,we will refund in full,pay for return shipping or give as much as 50% discount.
We cant leave neg ,we cant say anything negative when leaving positive feedback,the only one thing we can do is to block the buyer from buying from us again.
I am seriously thinking of quitting Ebay,I would like to have a shop,not just a bunch of listings on a venue with over 100,000 rules.
posted on July 16, 2013 04:16:34 PM new
I sell quite a bit. The invoicing issue happens whenever a buyer wants to change the address or uses a PO Box instead of physical address or some other reason that I have to issue a refund. I can send another invoice to the buyer, but the buyer can't pay for it. Instead of eBay fixing the problem with this (allowing the buyer to pay for the item that they show is refunded) they make us jump through a bunch of hoops. It really doesn't have to be this difficult.
Most of our transactions go smoothly, so there is rarely an issue to report. My beefs with eBay are more often issues like this or the occasional difficult buyer, or a new situation that hasn't arisen. I do take the input received here with much appreciation.
One of my most recent issues was a problem we created on our own by simply mixing up labels, one of which was an international shipment. Because it was handled through Global Shipping, it did create a bit of confusion largely because we never had a problem like this using their service and an eBay CSR gave us erroneous information. Looks like we are at the end of that disaster.
We make our fair share of good money on items we sell. There really isn't a venue that provides the volume we get out of eBay for the prices we get. While they have created more headaches, they have managed to streamline so much of the buying experience. This isn't to say that we don't have our complaints with them though.
