Getting Ticked Off About Claims Of Not Received On E-Bay Sales .

So sorry to hear about this problem Floortrader. I agree that there are probably buyers out there who do this often. I only asked about tracking because it is easy for a buyer to claim that an item has not arrived if there is no tracking number.

Modernstamps ---I have no problem with using tracking if we are selling a $25.00 and up item . But we have to agree it is the small transaction of under $15.00 that most of us sell on ebay that scammers are targeting and getting away with it because they know it is not tracked . That is what I am crying about .

There is not any real fix for missing tracked mail either!

I got very annoyed recently when I sold an item at, I think, £1.99 plus £2.95 postage. The guy filed a claim for not received.
Fair enough. So I refunded. But then he left neutral feedback, saying I was a problem seller!
Also, he told me I should be sending everything tracked!
Yeah, like on dollar items!
And like he would know, with a 85 feedback rating, all from buying!
And then a month later I got the item back in the post, with a PO note on it saying they had tried to deliver, but the guy had failed to collect it.
So I sent him a scan of the package -- his response: "Yeah, whatever..."
To be honest I'd prefer to be scammed -- I imagine my net loss from the bad feedback is much greater than the item cost.

I've had a couple of those buyers who win a $1.00 item then gripe at me for not providing tracking. In both cases I checked their records on ebay and to no surprise found neither has ever sold anything. So I messaged both back pointing that out. In both cases I never heard again so assume they got there.

I do not understand why folks try to sell items less than about $25 (US). ebay certainly does not want to support this. Postal systems do not want to support this. And scammer thrive on both of these facts.

If someone wants to mess with another person (for whatever reason including not 'liking' what you post on a forum or as 'payback' for some prior interaction at a stamp show, club meeting, etc.), the simplest way is to use multiple ebay accounts to buy cheap items and leave negative feedbacks.

When all of this is going against it, I do not understand why folks are still willing to continue to list inexpensive items. Why not just bundle things together into larger listings that makes tracking feasible and retribution purchases less likely?
Don

Does ebay not want sales below a certain level? I don't know, but it can always set minima if it doesn't. Does the Post Office not want business? I'm sure it does, actually, as it has since 1840. Are low-price sales the hunting ground of petty criminals? Not in my experience. Lots of us happily buy and sell low-cost items. No need for paranoia.

It is not paranoia, it is reality. It is simple math and business logic, it is the cost per transaction. The support cost is the same to mediate a bad $1 (US) transaction as it does a bad $100 (US) transaction. It costs of infrastructure are the same to put into place the worldwide network routers, servers, firewalls, and power supplies no matter what the value of the listings. The number of 'not as described' for new items is exponentially lower than for used items.

And even if ignoring the things listed above, reading any ebay's annual reports over the last 10 years and see what their direction is, which is to become like Amazon. The days of 'list your cheap stuff on ebay is over', the percentage of this kind of listing will continue to decline.

ebay will continue to transition to listings be for new consumer items (they now already are the majority of sold listings). Here are some numbers for the second quarter of 2019.




ebay is not going to implement a minimum, they are simply going to evolve the policies to make it more costly and harder to list inexpensive, used items (just like they have done over the last 10 years).

I know change sucks, folks liked the way ebay was 15 years ago; it was a good fit for people who wanted to list <$25 items. Those days are over.
If you are not changing you are standing still. If you are standing still you are not moving forward.
Don

Edit:
Speaking of ebay returns, the most brutal ebay category is diamonds; this category saw an average return rate of 19.8% (one out of five) so far in 2019. When quality and condition are important, costly return frequency jumps up.

Seems to me if there is a market to fill, there will be a supplier. Also seems like the reasoning used on the graph could also be used to say ebay dose not want very high priced sales? Also I see ads for ebay stamps in publications that seem to encourage any sale. I buy stamps in many price ranges!

Now what is the average sale price of something in the stamps category of ebay? I used this: http://averagefinder.com/averageFinder.php and it's just over $16 for U.S.

Our hobby wants to buy/sell millions and millions of very low cost stamps and covers. So the business plan would be to establish a worldwide network of routers, servers, and support people to handle millions and millions of cheap listings. I have some experience with getting technology companies started and financed; if I approached banks and VCs with this kind of business plan I would be laughed out of the room.

It does not even make sense on a brick and mortar level. Sure some stamp dealers throw a barrel of penny stamps near the front door, but they better be selling a lot more than those.
Don

To some degree, HipStamps and Stamps2Go fill these niches but of course it's impossible to put out a box of "nickel picks" online virtually. Still, if you only find one stamp you want at either of these sites you have to cover the P&H requested by the seller. Hopefully it is a $25 or $50 or group.

Agreed, but HipStamp, Stamps2Go and others who have tried to support low value listings have not lit the marketplace on fire. Heck, even the free Stamporama venue is not growing.

And the jury is out on what might happen to these venues if they started generating huge traffic like ebay. Infrastructure, support, and legal costs would skyrocket and in my opinion they too would start transitioning their policies towards higher listing values and lower cost per transaction.
Don

Studebaker says:
I do not understand why folks try to sell items less than about $25 (US). ebay certainly does not want to support this. Postal systems do not want to support this. And scammer thrive on both of these facts.
....
When all of this is going against it, I do not understand why folks are still willing to continue to list inexpensive items. Why not just bundle things together into larger listings that makes tracking feasible and retribution purchases less likely?

Well, the simple answer is that here is a huge market for such sales. People who collect stamps often want to buy the missing stamp or the missing set for their collection -- they don't want to buy an entire Glory Box or album to get at the few stamps they want. And this is the market stamp dealers have always catered to, outside the high-end auction houses and dealers. Not to mention that there is a huge profit to be made by buying big items and breaking them up (for the very same reason).

I'm sure ebay was once very happy having lots of small sales. If they abandon this market, a rival will enter it, and could then use this market to fuel its entry into the higher end if ebay migrates that way.

"When all of this is going against it, I do not understand why folks are still willing to continue to list inexpensive items. Why not just bundle things together into larger listings that makes tracking feasible and retribution purchases less likely?
Don"

Would love to see this, actually (as a buyer only.) Probably harder on sellers to bundle items, but would much rather be able to fill holes in my albums by buying small sets/lots. Hipstamp has been frustrating at times because I might find a seller with 3 stamps I want, all for a total of $1.50, but with a $2.25 shipping fee. Delete...


Have even made a few non-essential purchases just for a stock book or to maybe upgrade some lesser-valued stamps to justify the shipping.