Don't You Just Love It !

They buy an expensive item or items and 2 weeks one day and you get that email that says case opened through ebay for not receiving the purchased item or items.

Not a concerned email but they open a case! Scam! Scam! Scam!

I have had a gut full of people outside Australia that play this game!

Mailing cost outside Australia is now $30.

Sorry to our USA & Canada friends.

But I can not say the same for the people of the Europe areas.

Outside Australia sales are 2 in a 100! Now it will be zero.

Sorry you're having such bad luck with ebay.

Do you send your expensive items via registered mail ?

That is why you must get a tracking number and delivery confirmation! Best of luck to you man. That's unfortunate that people do these despicable things and I hope they are ashamed! however I doubt it...*sigh*

Keep in mind, all ebay Sellers, that Registration has a maximum indemnity of roughly $45.

Hi KGV Collector

The scams are getting worse everywhere.
If I sell anything on ebay in Australia, I will only send the items by Express Post. If I can I will use Platinum Express post. So far I have been lucky.
Overseas, there are certain countries I will not post to because of the the scams that are continually being run by persons.
The only way to stop persons overseas saying they did not receive the item, it to send it acknowledge receipt, but then that increases the costs.
Regards
Horamakhet

We have had very little trouble from the Europe areas. We have had the odd minor mailed lot go missing which is to be expected.

Mailing lots over $70 we have been sending Reg mail and have had no trouble.

But in the last 3 months the amount of $30 to $50 lots that have gone missing just shows that the most of the Europe areas are sliding into being 3rd world countries and lower if possible. To the point that I am thinking of holding a large mailing cost as a mailing bond that is refundable after feedback is given. Totally at our good will.

One of our good USA buyers purchased $300 worth of mailing last night but with there honest history with us we removed the $30 honest charge to $5 for mailing.

So I favour Nuking Europe Areas! Or lifting mailing to $52.50 and refunding the $35 on feedback.

My standard answer to mailing international is now.

"So instead of selling to Australia only we are charging Mailing of $30 for international item or items. Which is Pack & Track International (Australia Post) $27.25c and $2.75c packaging & handling from us."

It is the only way for us to get protection when mailing internationally.

Checked our emails and 11 problems since 4th March. Nobody can take as many hits as we have over the past 2 months and not change so we are protected from mailing problems.

How Sad Is That! KGV

KGV: Word of warning, if shipping on ebay Australia is anything like ebay U.S., any amount you charge for shipping is completely refundable through PayPal in any event that a buyer claims that an item is not received. i.e. You can charge an extra $30, but the buyer will still get it back through Paypal if they say they didn't receive it. Also, the more you charge for shipping, the higher ebay's cut. Also buyers can report sellers on excessive shipping although I doubt ebay really does anything about it.

You might want to examine how you are shipping. Does your return address indicate that the package is coming from a philatelic business? If so, scrap the business name and make it look lke it's coming from a personal address. Are you including customs forms? For the UK, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and Nordic countries, they are not really necessary as I find their postal systems pretty solid. However, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Eastern Europe - always use customs forms no matter how small the value of the items. As for descriptions, use the word "used" if possible. I call covers "used envelopes" to make them sound undesirable and yet it's turthful. Declared value on a customs form can be tricky as at a certain point custom fees take in effect and higher declared values intice theft. To places like Italy and Eastern European countries, I regularly lower the declared values. I don't do it to avoid fees for the buyer, but to avoid theft from within their postal systems.

Yes Battlestamps we also found that customs forums were like a magnet for thieves. Also more than one stamp on cover.

In Europe we only mail to Austria,Belgium,Finland,France,Germany,
Ireland,Netherlands,Norway,Sweden,Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Thanks for your comments Battlestamps.




Pack & Track is the cheapest way for us to get proof of delivery with Australia Post at $27.25c to Europe. To the USA it is $23.25c so an adjustment of $4 would happen for the USA. The extra charge of $2.75 is really to cover for ebay costs.

Any more trouble, as we have had more than our fair share in the passed 12 months and we will be selling to Australia only.

I am really wanting to do this change to Australia only now as we have lost money on international sales over the last 12 months. But my wife has found some international lady buyers good people.

After reading these comments and you think the mailing cost is going to bring us grief Battlestamps please leave me a another comment.

One of the last times I got a Item not rec'd the buyer sent a message to me, I told him/her to recheck to see if they got it, I have never heard from them afterwards.

KGV: I actually use the customs forms as a form of theft deterrent. By labeling items as potentially undesirable and of low value, the chances of theft drops. No customs form on an envelope that is stiff appears enticing as if the possibility of cash might be present. The customs form is a way to say that "this isn't worth stealing". No customs form equals "mystery prize".

As for stamps on the cover - I've never had a problem. Just make sure the stamps are all postmarked. Just don't go crazy with massive blocks of older issues.

As for shipping, just remember Ebay/Paypal will refund the full amount of the item AND all shipping costs if they find a case in the favor of a buyer no matter the shipping amount. If it is over $250 US in total value you also need a signature from the buyer as well to prove any case. In the U.S. for an additional cost we can get Registered mail return receipts on international shipments if the item is mailed registered mail. Registered mail alone will not protect you from a Paypal chargeback.

Thanks Battlestamps! I really appreciate your time.

Now you have me thinking! Comment-Question to come!

Australia Post prices have just gone up yesterday and now we have 7 international zones instead of 3.

Contacted Australia Post and was told to look online! How sad is that!

It looks to me that there is a setting on ebay Australia that calculates mailing costs for each country.

I can not get it to work as it probably needs to be up dated?

Would really like to know if it is correct that ebay Australia calculates mailing costs for each country automatically.