Ebay customer shipping issues

[Nutmeg Coin]

For those sell on ebay, how do they deal with the challenge of shipping items without getting customer negatives from people who do not want to pay $7 for priorities with signature confirmation? If you do a no reserve auction on cheap items will you get enough active bidding to compensate you if you offer free shipping?

 

The way the system has developed, customers can leave negatives if they are not happy with paying shipping costs, in many cases I will pay an extra dollar in out of pocket costs on under $100 items; and there is no recourse for ebay sellers.

 

If I have to switch back between first class label downloads and priority label downloads, it is a lot of extra trouble and the ebay system will often default to the last shipping tier used. On the weekend I had to generate around 25 labels for shipping.

 

Ebay has disallowed any future bullion listings including certified proof gold because I got 7 customers unhappy with paying for shipping out of over 200.

[Raisethis2]

I sell and ship as follows:

 

Coins valued under $30 (raw) go in an envelope in card stock and mailed as "non-machinable". Around .70 which I eat with free shipping.

 

I just risk it but have never been burned.

 

Coins over $30 are mailed 1st class with tracking. Package must be 3/4 inch thick. I bill buyer $1.97. My actual cost. Mailman must sign it's been put in box.

 

Coins over about $150 get insurance too. I bill buyer $4.00. Buyer has to sign for insured packages. This might be a burden for buyers who work but they must know that signing is part of the transaction. They never complain.

 

Tracking numbers are all the evidence E-Bay needs if there's a dispute regarding delivery. If the USPS loses my package (the odds of which are 575784839299293 to 1, I'll take the chance.

 

 

I conduct all mailing activity at the window at the post office. I never use the E-Bay mailing page.

 

[RWB]

Could you make 'em pick up the items from you? --- Guess that's not reasonable.... Oh, well, the fun of ebay and cracking up and grading opinions....

[JOBESSI]

I feel ya! I lost my power seller status due to a couple negative stars on my shipping costs. (Mind you that I still have 100% overall positive feedback). The funny thing is, I only charge $4.50 for flat rate priority small box/ envelope shipping. That's a $1.50 loss per item! May not seem like much, but when you sell close to 200 items a month, it'll add up. I REFUSE to ship without some form of tracking due to false claims that they never recieve the package. I even state this in every listing, but yet they continue to complain about shipping costs.

 

I'm pretty sure eBay won't do anything about removing negative stars, but they might lift your selling ban if you email them and tell them your situation. Especially since they will be losing out on $ too.

[Nutmeg Coin]

Could you make 'em pick up the items from you? --- Guess that's not reasonable.... Oh, well, the fun of ebay and cracking up and grading opinions....

 

The Star Trek transporter beam has been down for a while (dilithium crystals), Scotty says it will be up and running soon and will be widely availble for $1 per item.

[Nutmeg Coin]

I sell and ship as follows:

 

Coins valued under $30 (raw) go in an envelope in card stock and mailed as "non-machinable". Around .70 which I eat with free shipping.

 

I just risk it but have never been burned.

 

Coins over $30 are mailed 1st class with tracking. Package must be 3/4 inch thick. I bill buyer $1.97. My actual cost. Mailman must sign it's been put in box.

 

Coins over about $150 get insurance too. I bill buyer $4.00. Buyer has to sign for insured packages. This might be a burden for buyers who work but they must know that signing is part of the transaction. They never complain.

 

Tracking numbers are all the evidence E-Bay needs if there's a dispute regarding delivery. If the USPS loses my package (the odds of which are 575784839299293 to 1, I'll take the chance.

 

 

I conduct all mailing activity at the window at the post office. I never use the E-Bay mailing page.

 

Thanks for sharing that system. Free shipping under a certain amount may make sense and then I could take my chances; and then at other price levels do tracking but not signature confirmation. No one minds eating costs if they are making a decent profit margin; but it makes no sense to subsidize below wholesale sales, where I could have sold to a wholesaler at their bids instead of gone through with an ebay auction hoping for more, or the egalitarian principle of letting common collectors buy instead of going the wholesaler route and wait for the check.

[RWB]

Dilithium --- Just opened a new mine in Antarctica. Can only work during cold weather due to its instability. Mr. Scott left a note to that effect on the refrigerator..

[e1cnr]

Not much reason for free shipping now, as far as I am concerned. You pay eBay/Paypal on totals anyway.

 

I recently raised my foreign shipping from $4 to $6 after a sticker shock one day from the latest USPS fee increase. On those items, I print label with postage printed (which usually is a little more than they paid).

 

I do not like printing price on label, especially if I do insurance. (High postage value on small package screams steal me to contract haulers).

 

I do not sell high value items - very few over $500. But I clearly state in the description what shipping cost will be - which is usually close or a little less than actual cost.

 

I do not think I have gotten any really bad scores for shipping costs yet.

[gmarguli]

I ship several hundred packages a month to eBay buyers. You're always going to get the jerks, but as long as you list the s&h costs in the auction, most people are going to be reasonable. Never let the buyers use the threat of negative feedback to alter your position. Those aren't the buyers you want.

 

Everything should go First Class if possible. You should only use Priority if needed due to weight. Otherwise it is a waste of money.

 

I ship most everything in padded bubble mailers. Minimum postage for this is $1.69 and I believe it includes the cost for Delivery Confirmation. Per eBay rules, I use Signature Confirmation if the value is over $250 - that's about $4 total cost. I charge $4.95 for shipping regardless of sale price. Don't like it, buy from someone else.

 

It'll depend on your risk tolerance, but for US shipments you can skip the insurance. It's rare for an item to get lost or damaged and with the tracking you can't have buyers play games. Just make $1-$2 on shipping each package and pay out any claims out if pocket. Use private insurance on shipments that are above your comfort level. It costs maybe 40% of what the USPS charges.

 

I generally run about .6%-.8% of 1 & 2 stars which prevents me from getting their Top Seller 'honor'. Honestly, BFD! I also can't list in Bullion. :shrug: Just list the same item in another similar category. When eBay or PayPal contacts you to ask how they are doing, just tell them that you were disappointed you couldn't list the $50K worth of bullion with them, but thankfully you found another venue for the sale and that venue took Google Checkout! They'll get the hint.

[Crohnos01]

Dilithium --- Just opened a new mine in Antarctica. Can only work during cold weather due to its instability. Mr. Scott left a note to that effect on the refrigerator..

 

I would stay away from the transporter for shipping coins. The phase demodulator can introduce contaminants into the coin which then tone and end up with an AT coin that isn't MA....

[newprepper]

I ship several hundred packages a month to eBay buyers. You're always going to get the jerks, but as long as you list the s&h costs in the auction, most people are going to be reasonable. Never let the buyers use the threat of negative feedback to alter your position. Those aren't the buyers you want.

 

Everything should go First Class if possible. You should only use Priority if needed due to weight. Otherwise it is a waste of money.

 

I ship most everything in padded bubble mailers. Minimum postage for this is $1.69 and I believe it includes the cost for Delivery Confirmation. Per eBay rules, I use Signature Confirmation if the value is over $250 - that's about $4 total cost. I charge $4.95 for shipping regardless of sale price. Don't like it, buy from someone else.

 

It'll depend on your risk tolerance, but for US shipments you can skip the insurance. It's rare for an item to get lost or damaged and with the tracking you can't have buyers play games. Just make $1-$2 on shipping each package and pay out any claims out if pocket. Use private insurance on shipments that are above your comfort level. It costs maybe 40% of what the USPS charges.

 

I generally run about .6%-.8% of 1 & 2 stars which prevents me from getting their Top Seller 'honor'. Honestly, BFD! I also can't list in Bullion. :shrug: Just list the same item in another similar category. When eBay or PayPal contacts you to ask how they are doing, just tell them that you were disappointed you couldn't list the $50K worth of bullion with them, but thankfully you found another venue for the sale and that venue took Google Checkout! They'll get the hint.

 

I pretty much agree with Greg, I don't sell alot of coins, but I sell about 75 items a month, I use 1st Class al;most exclusively, I have yet to have a problem with it. I charge about .50 over my cost because I actually have to drive to a post office, there is no house delivery or pick up. My charge for shipping a 3 oz item is 2.50, it costs 1.69 for postage with tracking, about .10-.15 for the bubble mailer, and about .10 for label, not sure of the cost for printer ink, but I do know it costs about the same as liquid gold. I have 100% feedback and 0 1's and 2's. Top rated seller, blah, blah, blah. Even with 1st Class my buyers rave about how fast my shipping is, I try to get them mailed the same day paid whenever possible. Something you might try is to offer them the shipping service they want. I would avoid the envelope stamp option for anything of value though.

 

PS.....anybody need any single point slings?

[Nutmeg Coin]

I'm just following the best counsel out there on shipping numismatic items from $50 to $4000 plus items; signature tracking with priority/express. Our concerns should be security and efficiency as imperatives, not a few bucks here or there. Another hot head left me shipping negs. because he was unwilling to pay more than $7 for a priority with four certified coins inside.

[newprepper]

ou can't please everybody, you should contact ebay if your price was in the listing and ask seller to revise feedback because they entered a contract with you agreeing to the terms. but you should weigh out the costs and I think anything under a hundred you could get by with 1st class and tracking. I understand your frustration though

[Nutmeg Coin]

The usps provides an excellent system for priority shipping. To me cheaper and cheaper is a race to the bottom. I know ebay sellers who sell a lot of under $200 items who use first class. I don't know any major numismatic sellers who prefer first class over priority.

 

 

[e1cnr]

I feel ya! I lost my power seller status due to a couple negative stars on my shipping costs. (Mind you that I still have 100% overall positive feedback). The funny thing is, I only charge $4.50 for flat rate priority small box/ envelope shipping. That's a $1.50 loss per item! May not seem like much, but when you sell close to 200 items a month, it'll add up. I REFUSE to ship without some form of tracking due to false claims that they never recieve the package. I even state this in every listing, but yet they continue to complain about shipping costs.

 

I'm pretty sure eBay won't do anything about removing negative stars, but they might lift your selling ban if you email them and tell them your situation. Especially since they will be losing out on $ too.

 

if you use eBay shipping platform, tracking is free on first class mail. With most items in air bubble mailer, the weight is under 3 oz with slab, coin, packing slip...

 

there must be many low scores, because volume overcomes an occasional ding. Are you sure it is not the 1-day handling or 14 day return option that is costing you? go to your account and seller dashboard to see.

[cpm9ball]

Dilithium --- Just opened a new mine in Antarctica. Can only work during cold weather due to its instability. Mr. Scott left a note to that effect on the refrigerator..

 

 

The mine is just a ruse. They are really looking for the Stargate.

 

Chris

[Nutmeg Coin]

I feel ya! I lost my power seller status due to a couple negative stars on my shipping costs. (Mind you that I still have 100% overall positive feedback). The funny thing is, I only charge $4.50 for flat rate priority small box/ envelope shipping. That's a $1.50 loss per item! May not seem like much, but when you sell close to 200 items a month, it'll add up. I REFUSE to ship without some form of tracking due to false claims that they never recieve the package. I even state this in every listing, but yet they continue to complain about shipping costs.

 

I'm pretty sure eBay won't do anything about removing negative stars, but they might lift your selling ban if you email them and tell them your situation. Especially since they will be losing out on $ too.

 

if you use eBay shipping platform, tracking is free on first class mail. With most items in air bubble mailer, the weight is under 3 oz with slab, coin, packing slip...

 

there must be many low scores, because volume overcomes an occasional ding. Are you sure it is not the 1-day handling or 14 day return option that is costing you? go to your account and seller dashboard to see.

 

I have gotten every parcel in the system as quickly as possible. If they do not want to pay $7 for a priority package, then they should not bid as those are the terms in most auctions, occasionally I offer free shipping. For ebay to allow negative feedback on shipping when I am following the terms of the contract and disclosing what the shipping terms are is contrary to the law. You cannot penalize sellers who violate no terms in the contract. The guy complained because an auction that ended on Saturday night and one that ended on Sunday night did not have all of the certified coins combined in one $7 parcel; I had already mailed the first parcel and could not combine his one other won lot in the second parcel.

[newprepper]

You will have to open a seller protection case and ask the buyers to revise the feedback.

[$ilverHawk]

Dilithium --- Just opened a new mine in Antarctica. Can only work during cold weather due to its instability. Mr. Scott left a note to that effect on the refrigerator..

 

I would stay away from the transporter for shipping coins. The phase demodulator can introduce contaminants into the coin which then tone and end up with an AT coin that isn't MA....

 

You need to get the newest transporter software updates. The contamination issue has been addressed. However there is still a glitch in the logic system that leads to an endless loop regarding AT vs. NT. I believe there is serious consideration of sending a Photon Torpedo into the whole mess.

 

Carl

[Deerefan8420]

I use Ebay to sell some of my things, mostly lower grade or "junk" silver coins and other items of that nature. I use Priority Mail shipping and add delivery/signature confirmation to all orders. I don't have a high sales volume like some of you do, but I have yet to have had a complaint about my shipping costs or shipping methods. And from a buyer's standpoint, I personally do not mind paying a higher shipping cost if that means my item is going to be shipped quickly and safely. I buy a good deal of my coins from Ebay and I do not let shipping costs dictate whether or not I will buy a coin from a seller. That is, if the cost is reasonable. I've someone is charging $7-$10 for standard shipping, without any type of tracking or other protection, then I will pass on that auction and look for another. But do not let the buyer(s) dictate your standards either. If you have built a strong reputation for offering excellent shipping services and pricing, then continue building on that.

[Nutmeg Coin]

The pain with shipping a bunch of proof silver eagles of various dates and grades is getting everything properly shipped so if you have several of same date and grade they don't get crossed, which would be a royal pain in the neck if it happened. Combine that with people who want you to ship first class in which case you have to download a different postage label than priority and go out and buy appropriate envelopes for the change! And if you have consecutive auctions and in this case the guy wanted me to combine shipments from different auctions and save him the seven dollars. I would have if I could. I did challenge the neutral feedback with what the original terms of the auction were so that ebay can address the issue after looking at the record of the auction and the transactions. Next time I will get the customer's phone number and speak directly to avoid misunderstanding and lose all the postal money if it makes the customer happy.

[$ilverHawk]

I feel ya! I lost my power seller status due to a couple negative stars on my shipping costs. (Mind you that I still have 100% overall positive feedback). The funny thing is, I only charge $4.50 for flat rate priority small box/ envelope shipping. That's a $1.50 loss per item! May not seem like much, but when you sell close to 200 items a month, it'll add up. I REFUSE to ship without some form of tracking due to false claims that they never recieve the package. I even state this in every listing, but yet they continue to complain about shipping costs.

 

I'm pretty sure eBay won't do anything about removing negative stars, but they might lift your selling ban if you email them and tell them your situation. Especially since they will be losing out on $ too.

 

if you use eBay shipping platform, tracking is free on first class mail. With most items in air bubble mailer, the weight is under 3 oz with slab, coin, packing slip...

 

there must be many low scores, because volume overcomes an occasional ding. Are you sure it is not the 1-day handling or 14 day return option that is costing you? go to your account and seller dashboard to see.

 

I have gotten every parcel in the system as quickly as possible. If they do not want to pay $7 for a priority package, then they should not bid as those are the terms in most auctions, occasionally I offer free shipping. For ebay to allow negative feedback on shipping when I am following the terms of the contract and disclosing what the shipping terms are is contrary to the law. You cannot penalize sellers who violate no terms in the contract. The guy complained because an auction that ended on Saturday night and one that ended on Sunday night did not have all of the certified coins combined in one $7 parcel; I had already mailed the first parcel and could not combine his one other won lot in the second parcel.

 

IMHO you are thinking logically about a system (eBay feedback) that is not logical. It's painful but you need to be aware that eBay system is set up to push sellers into a Free Shipping mode. That means that eBay customer service, their automated systems and feedback system is set up to give negatives if you dare to charge the actual cost of sending a coin to the winner of your auction.

 

That is the current reality of selling on eBay. So, unless you want to roll the dice on every listing, eBay is forcing you to make listings with a reserve that will take into account your minimal profit (less eBay and PayPal fees) and shipping costs. Basically, you either play the game eBay s way or you keep hitting your head against the wall.

 

It's kind of like opening a coin shop in a high traffic mall. You have to decide if the volume is worth the margins after all your expenses are deducted. If it isn't you go to a different location and control your business the way you want.

 

You may wish to contact Shane (Kryptonite Comics). He has seemed to solve the eBay BS barrier.

 

Carl

[Nutmeg Coin]

Dilithium --- Just opened a new mine in Antarctica. Can only work during cold weather due to its instability. Mr. Scott left a note to that effect on the refrigerator..

 

I would stay away from the transporter for shipping coins. The phase demodulator can introduce contaminants into the coin which then tone and end up with an AT coin that isn't MA....

 

You need to get the newest transporter software updates. The contamination issue has been addressed. However there is still a glitch in the logic system that leads to an endless loop regarding AT vs. NT. I believe there is serious consideration of sending a Photon Torpedo into the whole mess.

 

Carl

 

 

[gmarguli]

I'm just following the best counsel out there on shipping numismatic items from $50 to $4000 plus items; signature tracking with priority/express. Our concerns should be security and efficiency as imperatives, not a few bucks here or there.

 

I'm not sure who the "best counsel" is that you are referring to, but they sound incorrect. Priority mail is just First Class mail that weighs over 13 ounces. The only difference is that the USPS is supposed to deliver all Priority mail the day it arrives at the local Post Office. Not 100% must do, but just they try to. The reality of this is that for two packages hitting the PO at the same time, a Priority package and a First Class package, it is highly likely that both will get delivered at the same time. And since Priority and First Class all travel together, one is not more safe than the other.

 

If security and efficiency are your true goals, then use Express Mail for all packages and charge your buyer $38. However, if getting the package to the buyer in a reasonable amount of time, in a reasonably safe manner, and for reasonable cost is your goal - and it should be - then First Class with DC/SC if your best bet.

 

 

[Nutmeg Coin]

Expresses cost a little over $12 through the ebay system last I used it.

 

Numismatic auction companies have generally sent my items priority and that is the pattern that I have seen recommended as a minimum for higher value items. For lower value items, first class may be fine.

[Nutmeg Coin]

Here is a list of shipping options one of my external mail insurance companies will cover:

 

Carrier Cost/$100 Maximum

FedEx First Overnight $0.18 $75,000.00

FedEx Ground $0.23 $20,000.00

FedEx Priority Overnight $0.18 $75,000.00

FedEx Same Day $0.22 $15,000.00

FedEx Saver $0.24 $10,000.00

FedEx Standard Overnight $0.20 $75,000.00

FedEx Two Day $0.26 $15,000.00

FedEx Freight $1.35 $75,000.00

UPS Ground $0.26 $15,000.00

UPS Next Day Air $0.24 $75,000.00

US Postal Service Express $0.22 $75,000.00

US Postal Service Registered $0.11 $75,000.00

US Postal Service Priority $0.24 $5,000.00

https://www.shipandinsure.com/

 

They do not cover first class.

[gmarguli]

I'd guess they don't cover First Class as they want shipments be double boxed and measuring at least one cubic foot and that alone would likely put you at the Priority Weight.

 

Express costs an absolute minimum of $13.09 and flat rate at a little over $18.

[newprepper]

You could probably go with a priority legal envelope at a little more than 4 bucks, just wrap it well

[Conder101]

Greg is right, for lower weight items Priority is just very expensive First Class mail. First Class and Priority get the same handling and travel in the same containers.

 

Nutmeg, those insurance rates, is that per $100 or per $1000 in declared value? I suspect it is per hundred. Oh and even they know Registered is the safest. Their rate for Registered is less than half of most of the others Next cheapest is FedEx overnight at only 50% more.

[Nutmeg Coin]

It's per $100 of declared value. Much, much less expensive than usps, etc..