I am in a little bit of a difficult situation and need some advice. I sold two comics for $25 plus $5 shipping. Mailed them off to the verified paypal address via USPS. No problems. The buyer opens a case on me for item not received. I check the tracking and it says the item was delivered. I send a message telling him it was delivered and he says he didn't get it. I tell him to call his local post office. He does and says the package could not be delivered because there was something wrong with the shipping label and it is being sent back to me and that it was scanned delivered by accident. I tell me him I'll keep an eye out for it but the tracking says delivered so that's all I know. There were no additional updates to the tracking. I do get the package back almost two weeks later and the label was partially torn off by USPS and the comics were a little damaged in their 4500 mile trek across the country and back. What do I do? If I tell him I got them back he is either going to expect me to pay to ship them again or if I tell him they were damaged he is not going to want them anymore and want a full refund leaving me with damaged product I can't resell. I'm better off just saying I never got them back because I am protected because the tracking says delivered. He would lose the case if it were escalated right? I feel bad for the guy because it wasn't his fault but it wasn't mine either.

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8 hours ago, dx0520 said:

Do you have inventory costs? I fail to understand burning money...

8 hours ago, Mgip21 said:

You just have to skip over his comments or read them for entertainment purposes only. Not much knowledge to be gained from that one 

Guys... You've got the wrong end of the stick and sorry to confuse you.

Of course I have inventory costs, if you mean buy-in. As for storage, it's free for me.

Yes, I've burned money on turkeys like the Pet Salon that just doesn't sell. Anyway, I got those at 80% off and just about broke even overall. How can I be blamed of a £0.01 auction only has 1 bid? It happens sometimes and I even bought a 60152 CITY Sweeper for £0.99 last year!

Since I now have my B&M signage centre, that also helps as I have sets on display which customers often notice and buy... for cash.

Do I have money to burn? Yes, a little bit ?

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 20196 yr by TabbyBoy

3 hours ago, TabbyBoy said:

 

 

 

I’m not confused, I know to look past your post and never take your advise.  From time to time I do enjoy/roll eyes at your silliness 

1 hour ago, Mgip21 said:

I’m not confused, I know to look past your post and never take your advise.  From time to time I do enjoy/roll eyes at your silliness 

Woteva!

I was wondering what others do for photos that they take for selling on eBay.  I was thinking of investing in a light box and wanted to see if anyone else was doing this and could offer an opinion, thanks.

4 hours ago, zaphoid said:

I was wondering what others do for photos that they take for selling on eBay.  I was thinking of investing in a light box and wanted to see if anyone else was doing this and could offer an opinion, thanks.

Those little collapsible photo kits are tempting, but most probably would only fit the smallest of sets in the cube.
I'm not recommending my unprofessionalism, but I use a 99-cent foam poster board as my backdrop.

17 minutes ago, lodibricks said:

Those little collapsible photo kits are tempting, but most probably would only fit the smallest of sets in the cube.
I'm not recommending my unprofessionalism, but I use a 99-cent foam poster board as my backdrop.

I just drape clean white or black velvet behind and use soft focus for the rear. I don't think it matters too much as poor photos taken in somebody's untidy kitchen still attract good prices. I use stock photos (with permission) for boxes from cartons and actual photos for those from store shelves.

6 hours ago, lodibricks said:

Those little collapsible photo kits are tempting, but most probably would only fit the smallest of sets in the cube.
I'm not recommending my unprofessionalism, but I use a 99-cent foam poster board as my backdrop.

 

6 hours ago, TabbyBoy said:

I just drape clean white or black velvet behind and use soft focus for the rear. I don't think it matters too much as poor photos taken in somebody's untidy kitchen still attract good prices. I use stock photos (with permission) for boxes from cartons and actual photos for those from store shelves.

I actually use a white table cloth today.  I've got issues with getting enough light and glare that I'm trying to over come.  They have some that are light boxes on eBay in the $30 range that are 60cm all the way around that that would work for 90%+ of my sets.

A lightbox will help with the glare. It's easy to make one for a few dollars with a cardboard box, tissue paper or fabric for the windows, and matte poster board for the background.

Buying or building depends on how you value time vs money and whether you want extra features like being collapsible or an all-in-one kit that includes lights, a tripod, etc.

 

9 hours ago, lodibricks said:

Those little collapsible photo kits are tempting, but most probably would only fit the smallest of sets in the cube.
I'm not recommending my unprofessionalism, but I use a 99-cent foam poster board as my backdrop.

 

I do the same.  I tried building a light box, but it wasn't worth the effort.  My setup now is to use an overhead florescent shop light for good diffusivity and (weirdly) the correct colors, and foam poster boards as a stand---sometimes with white or light brown butcher/craft paper draped over to remove the visible joint lines.  Works much better than the photo kit I failed at building.

My son posts a lot of MOCs on Flicker, and his set up is similar, but with LED light bulbs in two simple $6 desk lamps from Target.  The lamps give him better control over the highlights and contrasts.

On 2/28/2019 at 1:18 PM, Migration said:

Items can and do sell during vacation mode, you just don’t have to ship until you get back.

Can you clarify this comment? According to the ebay help: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/ebay-stores/managing-ebay-store/account-holiday?id=4090#section2  it says that you need to ship your items in your normal handling time if you don't disable them from being bought. They even have this comment:

Tip 
If you decide not to hide your fixed price listings, make sure you can still meet your stated handling and shipping times. Consider extending the handling time on your listings

55 minutes ago, skinsfan0521 said:

Can you clarify this comment? According to the ebay help: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/ebay-stores/managing-ebay-store/account-holiday?id=4090#section2  it says that you need to ship your items in your normal handling time if you don't disable them from being bought. They even have this comment:

Tip 
If you decide not to hide your fixed price listings, make sure you can still meet your stated handling and shipping times. Consider extending the handling time on your listings

That is correct (and least it was years ago) - that's why I had to figure out a work-around.

Buyer has sent me a message requesting to cancel an item after shipping label has been created (I have not dropped in the mail yet) because his son accidently hit the buy button. Should I be the one to cancel the transaction or is there a place where they can specifically request a cancellation outside of just sending me a message? Thanks.

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9 minutes ago, firstofminifigs said:

Buyer has sent me a message requesting to cancel an item after shipping label has been created (I have not dropped in the mail yet) because his son accidently hit the buy button. Should I be the one to cancel the transaction or is there a place where they can specifically request a cancellation outside of just sending me a message? Thanks.

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Since they asked, you can cancel the transaction and state the reason as Buyer requested - and then make sure to void the label (to get that $ back).

4 hours ago, firstofminifigs said:

Buyer has sent me a message requesting to cancel an item after shipping label has been created (I have not dropped in the mail yet) because his son accidently hit the buy button. Should I be the one to cancel the transaction or is there a place where they can specifically request a cancellation outside of just sending me a message? Thanks.

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It's probably buyer's remorse and this is a popular lame excuse. If they accidentally hit the buy button, wouldn't they be asked again to confirm? I'd ask them to initiate the cancellation to ensure that you get your FVF fee back, oh... and the listing fee as you'll probably have to pay again to re-list and lose all those competitors watchers ?

This is one reason why I never process shipping within eBay and wait at least 24 hours before posting anything.

It's probably buyer's remorse and this is a popular lame excuse. If they accidentally hit the buy button, wouldn't they be asked again to confirm? I'd ask them to initiate the cancellation to ensure that you get your FVF fee back, oh... and the listing fee as you'll probably have to pay again to re-list and lose all those competitors watchers [emoji6]
This is one reason why I never process shipping within eBay and wait at least 24 hours before posting anything.

In the message he said his son hit the buy button on accident [emoji19] Anyway, thanks for the help. I voided shipping label, marked as not shipped, canceled the transaction with buyer changed mind option and this prompted me to issue a refund. Relisted for $1 more to cover the printer ink, paper and packing tape [emoji12]

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30 minutes ago, firstofminifigs said:

In the message he said his son hit the buy button on accident Anyway, thanks for the help. I voided shipping label, marked as not shipped, canceled the transaction with buyer changed mind option and this prompted me to issue a refund. Relisted for $1 more to cover the printer ink, paper and packing tape

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Don't forget the $0.30 that Paypal kept ... you need to recover that too ....

How long will USPS hold a package when their reason is the following is "Notice Left (No Secure Location Available)"?  It's been about two weeks and I think this was probably a drop shipper that bought it as I got the standard "no invoice, it's a gift, send tracking, etc." so this could be interesting.

 

42 minutes ago, fuzzy_bricks said:

How long will USPS hold a package when their reason is the following is "Notice Left (No Secure Location Available)"?  It's been about two weeks and I think this was probably a drop shipper that bought it as I got the standard "no invoice, it's a gift, send tracking, etc." so this could be interesting.

 

15 days, generally.

On 3/6/2019 at 5:09 PM, skinsfan0521 said:

Can you clarify this comment? According to the ebay help: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/ebay-stores/managing-ebay-store/account-holiday?id=4090#section2  it says that you need to ship your items in your normal handling time if you don't disable them from being bought. They even have this comment:

Tip 
If you decide not to hide your fixed price listings, make sure you can still meet your stated handling and shipping times. Consider extending the handling time on your listings

I generally think that buyers don't read the fine print (if they read the description at all), so although vacation mode or extension of handling time may be the technically correct approach; it still results in an unhappy buyer which is fraught with negative outcomes.

Best way, IMO is to message the buyer directly and let them know (again) about needing more handling time and then ask if they still want the item or if they would like to cancel.

Is anyone noticing a pretty dramatic increase in first class packages arriving days outside of USPS estimated timeframe? I think nearly 40% of my recent sales that went via first class have arrived more than a few days outside of the estimate. Thankfully, most buyers haven't noticed, but my most recent buyer did and is pretty upset. I even ended up refunding a portion of the sale as a shipment credit and apologizing for USPS being late. This happens once in a while with priority, but seems like a common occurrence with first class. Any one else noticing it or have thoughts? 

2 hours ago, Mark Twain said:

Is anyone noticing a pretty dramatic increase in first class packages arriving days outside of USPS estimated timeframe? I think nearly 40% of my recent sales that went via first class have arrived more than a few days outside of the estimate. Thankfully, most buyers haven't noticed, but my most recent buyer did and is pretty upset. I even ended up refunding a portion of the sale as a shipment credit and apologizing for USPS being late. This happens once in a while with priority, but seems like a common occurrence with first class. Any one else noticing it or have thoughts? 

I sell FBM on amazon and this has happened a few times recently. It’s only a matter of time until I give in and go FBA. 

PayPal question.  I recently sold an item for $50 USD to someone is Sault s Marie, MI.  I was charged $2.50 for the fee which comes out to 4.4% + $.30 transaction fee.  I cant figure out why I was charged the international fee on a domestic transaction.

Edited April 16, 20196 yr by zaphoid

8 minutes ago, zaphoid said:

PayPal question.  I recently sold an item for $50 USD to someone is Sault s Marie, MI.  I was charged $2.50 for the fee which comes out to 4.4% + $.30 transaction fee.  I cant figure out why I was charged the international fee on a domestic transaction.

Where did the payment originate from? My guess is it's from Canada, and someone gets their items shipped to the US side.

1 hour ago, iahawks550 said:

Where did the payment originate from? My guess is it's from Canada, and someone gets their items shipped to the US side.

thats probably it.  I actually can't find where the payment originated from in Paypal.

Question for you guys. 

I've sold quite a bit on Ebay over the years and had a few weird things happen, but today I've had something strange happen that I need some advice on. 

In anticipation of all the stimulus money arriving I put a bunch of my high value sets up at inflated prices. Well above current selling prices. Not worried if they sell or not, just have them there if sales boomed. 

Well one of my Big Bens (10253) sold today for $700. $200 above the normal sell price on eBay right now. The buyer is an eight month old account with one transaction as a buyer. All of these facts together scream red flag in my mind. 

Anybody know why the buyer would do this? Are they just inept, or is there a more sinister play going on?