Covering auctions, collectibles and marketplace selling.

Tue Jan 22 2013 12:13:23 |
Successful eBay Seller Shares Anti-Buyer-Fraud TacticsBy: Julia Wilkinson |
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An eBay seller who has total sales of approximately $46,000,000.00 with a high ASP (average sales price) recently dug up some statistics that show how she has thwarted a number of buyers with mail-related claims who were likely scammers. |
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Comments (19) | Permalink |
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by: abprules |
Tue Jan 22 14:37:51 2013 |
Over the past holidays we have had an unusual amount of INR claims. Most of these were shipped via USPS flat rate priority and were insured with ebay's shipcover insurance. Because the claims were followed through and awarded to the buyer by ebay we felt compelled to file insurance claims. Personally we believe most of the claims were filed because of customs issues since most had asked us to declare as a gift and most were over $100 USD. We were then told by the insurance company would no longer insure our packages. Last year we had one Incident where we received receipt confirmation via email From the Swedish post master; eBay and PayPal said that because the tracking confirmation wasn't online they would not honor that. I do believe this is an issue that needs to be discussed. I believe there are good buyers and honorable people and there are those that have learned to abuse. |
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Tue Jan 22 18:32:20 2013 |
Now hear this! |
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Tue Jan 22 18:56:25 2013 |
I agree with the eBay seller who stated that the insurance affidavit gets results. Items mysteriously appear once the insurance affidavit is sent. It has happened to us many times. |
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Tue Jan 22 18:58:03 2013 |
I meant that "it is a record that the buyer picked up the item" in the last paragraph. (not the seller) |
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Wed Jan 23 02:43:01 2013 |
Shipsurance thru inkfrog has been great with the very few claims I have had over the years. The affidavit can be translated to most languages. I do insure most items and send out with each sale a letter that their item is covered with insurance. I believe this has cut down on fraud and most buyers have cooperated if there is a claim. |
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by: pace306 |
Wed Jan 23 07:50:28 2013 |
... we get customs ''requests'' all the time - since we ship alot of smaller items that are $100+ out of the country. I guess the Obama clones who love high taxes are creating havok everywhere! |
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Wed Jan 23 09:06:11 2013 |
Another thought......these insurance companies need to update their policies. PayPal will close out a claim on an international transaction on day 45. The insurance companies make you wait until day 46 to file a claim. A buyer who has won a claim for non-receipt will have no incentive to help you with the claims process once PayPal closes the case in their favor. Would love to see the insurance companies reach out to PayPal so that they can get on the same page. |
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by: Carol |
Wed Jan 23 10:30:45 2013 |
I have said this so many times that I feel like a broken record, but international selling is a crapshoot for the seller. |
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by: Moonwishes |
Wed Jan 23 11:41:25 2013 |
I rarely get a request for a refund or a lost item claim. Of the ones I had of 'lost' the items showed up months later, both claims I suspect had more to do with a wrong address or duty than actual lost in the mail. I too make the buyer sign the insurance claim, assuming I had insurance on it and for foreign orders UPIC requires a 45 day waiting period for foreign deliveries which I am happy about, since too many think that all items should be recieved with the speed of a fax machine or magic. Waiting the 45 days, gives the item a chance to get where it is going. Even for here in the states I think it is a 15 day waiting period. |
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by: baghera |
Wed Jan 23 12:25:52 2013 |
I used to get the occasional customs fraud request until I put a blurb in my listings stating that I will not under-value merchandise or mark it as a gift and that doing so is a violation of US & International law. I haven't received any more requests, since then. |
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Wed Jan 23 13:22:27 2013 |
Did you just lift this information from a "secret" Facebook seller's group where it was recently posted by the seller in question? |
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by: BackInBlack |
Wed Jan 23 16:55:25 2013 |
I think these are great tips, and make me want to look more into third-party insurance for sales, esp. International sales, which I've shied away from on many of my items, even knowing I'm losing about half my potential market. |
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Thu Jan 24 13:19:00 2013 |
Hi TheUglySweaterShop, I asked the person who posted this information if it was OK to use, and asked her questions to obtain futher information. In my opinion, her experience and this information is helpful to a lot of sellers, and I don't think it's compromising the secrecy of the group to post this topic (with her added info) with her permission. Thanks for your feedback and the chance to clarify that! - Julia |
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by: Abernathy |
Fri Jan 25 01:39:55 2013 |
I've had the same experience with UPic's affidavit as far as weeding out the genuine from the fraudulent shipping damage claims. In the case of damage claims, I tell buyers I will process their refund as soon as I have the info needed from them to process the claim, tell them what to expect, and work with them to make that happen as quickly as possible. I try to stay friendly and helpful even if the buyer is difficult or I suspect the claim is bogus. Most buyers cooperate immediately when they realize that their refund doesn't wait for the outcome of the claim. A high percentage of buyers with suspicious claims will try anything to get out of that affidavit--threatening, excuses, delays, offering to accept a partial refund if I'll process it ASAP without waiting for their paperwork, etc. Ironically, my most memorable shipping insurance issue involved a claim that was *probably* genuine. A buyer sent photos of a stainless steel appliance that was so badly crushed that it no longer fit within the original package dimensions. After discussing it with the buyer I opened the claim, sent him the affidavit form, and asked him to keep the item and packaging available for inspection or pickup if the insurer required it. At this point, the buyer flatly refused to cooperate with an insurance claim, saying first that my packaging was inadequate (not true) so it was my responsibility, not the insurer's. Then he said that the damage was strictly cosmetic, and that since the appliance no longer worked, I must have shipped a non-working appliance--and therefore it was my responsibility to pay the cost of repair and restoration. He demanded that I pay estimator and restoration fees well beyond the value of the item, in addition to refunding his payment. When I wouldn't agree, The buyer filed an NOD and said he would be shipping the item back for a refund, which would have destroyed any basis for recouping the item's value thru the shipping insurance. I made sure all conversation took place where it could be reviewed by eBay, and called eBay to clarify policy (yeah, I know :) before deciding how to handle it. By cooperating with the insurance claim, the buyer could have gotten a full refund without the time, cost and hassle of shipping it back. The item never did arrive, I never refunded the payment, and eBay closed the case in my favor. I still don't know whether the buyer was avoiding the affidavit, he was just angry beyond reason, or he was committed to restoring the item and wanted me to pay as much of the cost as possible. |
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by: Cassie |
Sat Jan 26 11:55:57 2013 |
I do more than utilize my own insurance with a claim form inside. I also have a video camera linked to a separate low cost netbook. I digitally record condition, packaging, (invoice, ads, warranty, insurance form, return shipping label) and show the product label and sealing - why as an international shipper you also have to contend with corrupt customs officials in foreign countries. I can take the video and post via email to show my customers or in disputes via a cloud server. I learned this years ago as corporate shipper for high end commercial business to business goods. |
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Sat Jan 26 16:46:12 2013 |
@Cassie, As a matter of interest, have you actually had success with your video system with PreyPal? I get the impression that PreyPal is not interested in offering such extended mediation as it involves human resources, the additional cost of which detract from their bottom line; they appear to prefer "the customer (the buyer) is always right (regardless)" as being the simpler and less expensive mechanism ... |
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Sun Jan 27 07:22:17 2013 |
Julia- LOVE the ransom-letter 'ebay extortion' graphic! |
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Wed Jan 30 13:13:40 2013 |
Hey perma, lol...thanks! I can't take credit for the graphic..you can thank someone at EcommerceBytes for it. ;) |
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by: ChristinaC |
Thu Jan 22 04:44:55 2015 |
Thanks for sharing! You may also use the website eBuyersReviewed to protect yourself from bad buyers! |
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