How can you protect yourself from a buyer claiming to have not received an item?

Auction ended on Thursday. I shipped on Saturday. Tracking said it was delivered Monday. He messages me today asking for the tracking number. Fool me once... I don't even sell much or often; just enough buying/selling to keep the cost of whatever my hobby happens to be down. But I've been forced to refund a delivered purchase and was out a $300+ item before, too. I'm hoping I should've just known better before and you guys have some insight to help me out this time around.

 

You need to upload tracking through eBay, better yet purchase shipping through eBay and it will upload automatically. For any item under $750 if tracking shows delivered you should be covered. As the buyer has already contacted you I would call eBay and let them know what's up. Also if you shipped USPS don't be surprised if the item gets delivered in the next few days, sometimes they get ahead of themselves with marking packages delivered.

Sorry to rehash the shipping w/ or w/o signature debate, but I wanted clarification.

I'm just now starting to sell some items over $500.  

I will buy insurance to cover myself and ship USPS priority mail.  

I believe paypal requires signature over $750.  But I believe USPS requires over $500 if you purchase insurance.  (If their site's search function wasn't down, I would be able to find this info!)

So do I automatically require signature over $500 and state as such in the item description.  Also, I will notify buyer before I ship that this was the stated terms and be on the lookout for package to sign for?

Advice appreciated on best methods to handle high value items.  Do not want to get scammed...

 

 

I've read in other threads about items getting "stuck" in USPS sorting facilities.  After how many days do you report the item a no show?I ordered item on 10/2.  It has been tracking in my hometown sorting facility for the past 9 days.

I sell more than I buy on eBay, and this is a first for me.

3 days for me. You can email USPS directly. They don't ever email back but every time I've sent an email it's started moving within 24 hours...

What's the email address?

31 minutes ago, jbacunn said:

On 10/21/2015, 9:06:10, dcdfan said:

On 10/21/2015, 8:00:51, trstnkn said:

I've read in other threads about items getting "stuck" in USPS sorting facilities.  After how many days do you report the item a no show?I ordered item on 10/2.  It has been tracking in my hometown sorting facility for the past 9 days.I sell more than I buy on eBay, and this is a first for me.

 

 

 

3 days for me. You can email USPS directly. They don't ever email back but every time I've sent an email it's started moving within 24 hours...

 

What's the email address?

 

Go to usps.com & I think it says help/contact us or something like that. I'm not at a computer right now.

Edited November 4, 201510 yr by dcdfan

32 minutes ago, trstnkn said:

So do I automatically require signature over $500 and state as such in the item description.  Also, I will notify buyer before I ship that this was the stated terms and be on the lookout for package to sign for?

I would

32 minutes ago, jbacunn said:

 

What's the email address?

 

30 minutes ago, dcdfan said:

Go to usps.com & I think it says help/contact us or something like that. I'm not at a computer right now.

Yes, help/contact/email. then enter tracking info, etc...

Is anyone having problems with printing USPS shipping labels on eBay today?  I am getting a connection timed out issue in both Chrome and IE.  Anyone know how to fix it?

8 minutes ago, Spelunkin_Paul said:

Is anyone having problems with printing USPS shipping labels on eBay today?  I am getting a connection timed out issue in both Chrome and IE.  Anyone know how to fix it?

I had the same thing happen yesterday afternoon...
They must be bogged down due to higher traffic.

Click on "More actions", then "Print Another Label..."
You'll get a warning at the top.
Click on "Shipping Labels".
Then click on "Reprint".

 

10 minutes ago, kunfuzd said:

I had the same thing happen yesterday afternoon...
They must be bogged down due to higher traffic.

Click on "More actions", then "Print Another Label..."
You'll get a warning at the top.
Click on "Shipping Labels".
Then click on "Reprint".

 

I tried that, rebooted computer, tried it again with no luck.  What other options are there besides waiting for eBay to fix the issue?  

4 minutes ago, Spelunkin_Paul said:

I tried that, rebooted computer, tried it again with no luck.  What other options are there besides waiting for eBay to fix the issue?  

You could try paypal.com/shipnow and then upload the tracking number to eBay.  You won't get the eBay shipping discounts but you can at least get the item shipped for your customer if you are worried about the delays.

24 minutes ago, BrickLegacy said:

You could try paypal.com/shipnow and then upload the tracking number to eBay.  You won't get the eBay shipping discounts but you can at least get the item shipped for your customer if you are worried about the delays.

I voided the ebay label since it wouldn't reprint after 10 times.  If I do a paypal label, should I go in an marked item from 'shipped' to 'in process' and delete tracking info and will that allow me to print a label?

4 minutes ago, Spelunkin_Paul said:

I voided the ebay label since it wouldn't reprint after 10 times.  If I do a paypal label, should I go in an marked item from 'shipped' to 'in process' and delete tracking info and will that allow me to print a label?

I'm not sure about that.  I will defer to others on that question...

59 minutes ago, BrickLegacy said:

I'm not sure about that.  I will defer to others on that question...

Spent a few minutes on eBay customer service.  Had to purchase another label and it worked that time.  Just have to wait for the refund from the first label.  Updated PayPal transaction with correct tracking number.  Must have been a temporary glitch as they had no reported issues with this.  I hope it is my only Calgon moment today.  LOL

On 11/19/2015, 11:38:01, Spelunkin_Paul said:

Is anyone having problems with printing USPS shipping labels on eBay today?  I am getting a connection timed out issue in both Chrome and IE.  Anyone know how to fix it?

having the same issue now two times since you posted this.  just now printed one label - fine printed through ebay, got the ebay discount.  go to print the next label, its off to paypal and the shipping discount is nowhere.  this happened 2 days ago as well and then back to normal and now this.  shipping will have to wait til this afternoon.   argh.  

EBay shipping is frustrating for that reason especially. I know some use Stamps.com just to avoid the EBay front-end. This issue has been going on for at least 2 years and it's sporadic, but seems to act up during busy times.

Didn't have any problems last night printing a Priority Mail label.

 

anybody else having an ebay labels issue or is it just me?

17 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

Didn't have any problems last night printing a Priority Mail label.

 

i didn't have any problems last night or at 7:53 am this morning.  At 7:55 no longer working and sending me to paypal which is annoying.  oh well, just take a breather.

Edited November 25, 201510 yr by cladner

7 minutes ago, cvail8 said:

anybody else having an ebay labels issue or is it just me?

http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/11566-ebaycom-shipping-questions-and-answers/?do=findComment&comment=524317

11 minutes ago, cvail8 said:

anybody else having an ebay labels issue or is it just me?

It won't let me do any relisting or editing right now. Frustrating....

Via eBay's System Board November 25, 2015 | 06:33AM PST/PT We are aware that some users are currently experiencing intermittent errors with listing, checkout, and printing shipping labels. Our teams are urgently working to address these issues. Our highest priority is our members' trading success. We apologize for any inconvenience this interruption causes. We will share additional information with our community as it becomes available.   Regards, eBay

17 minutes ago, pstebbing said: Didn't have any problems last night printing a Priority Mail label.

 

i didn't have any problems last night or at 7:53 am this morning.  At 7:55 no longer working and sending me to paypal which is annoying.  oh well, just take a breather.

I did print one this morning.

39 minutes ago, cvail8 said:

anybody else having an ebay labels issue or is it just me?

I cannot even pay for anything right now....

I you change any value after the sale it throws an error. For example, I had 12 oz in my listing but after selling and packaging i noticed it was 13 oz so I had to change the weight. I got the "System Unavailable Error Please Try Again Later" error 10 times in a row. Took me 35 minutes to print one first class label. This bug has been going on for years and years. Ebay never fixes bugs they just introduce new ones with their "features" no none asked for.

If I don't change any weight or dimension it works 100% of the time on the first time every time.