Anyone familiar with selling items on Amazon?

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I decided to clear off some of my old books by putting some up on amazon.com for sale. I made my first few sales and shipped them out. Today I got an email from one of my buyers who said the package arrived but was empty.

Is this some sort of common scam? I can't believe that the package would arrive empty, since it was sealed shut at the post office.

I didn't purchase any insurance on the package. Was this a mistake of mine? If I have to buy the insurance in the future, its hardly even worth selling low priced items on Amazon, since Amazon takes a cut.

 

[Lynn CC]

sounds unusual to me. I sold over 35 books on Amazon this year and I didn't have any problems. You should e-mail Amazon and see what they say. It's probably just someone trying to get a book for free.

 

[C.Ann]

I have purchased at least 60 books from buyers on Amazon (as well as many additional ones from half.com) since June and I have never received an "empty" package.. Sounds a little fishy to me.. Who in the PO would want to steal a book?

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I didn't think anyone in the post office took it. The only thing I could come up with is that the buyer received the package and is now going to say it was empty so that he can try to get the book for free?

It just kind of sucks. I am pretty sure that I am going to be the one who ends up getting stiffed on the sale.

 

[C.Ann]

I didn't think anyone in the post office took it. The only thing I could come up with is that the buyer received the package and is now going to say it was empty so that he can try to get the book for free?

It just kind of sucks. I am pretty sure that I am going to be the one who ends up getting stiffed on the sale.

You're probably right.. Always someone out there who wants something for nothing..

Not selling any Amish books, are you?

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Lol, no sorry, no Amish books. Just my Twilight books, some Neil Gaman's and old law school books. Let me know if any of those sound interesting to you

 

[C.Ann]

Lol, no sorry, no Amish books. Just my Twilight books, some Neil Gaman's and old law school books. Let me know if any of those sound interesting to you

Darn! I'm strictly all about Amish right now..LOL Thanks for sharing what you have though..

 

[surfergirl602]

I sell quite regularly on amazon, and I've never had a problem. I ship it the way I'm told... I dont buy insurance, I'm not required to. Once it leaves my hands, I'm not responsible for it. I always resell my books that I buy and I've never had a problem. I ship them out in tightly sealed shipping envelopes that would have to take quite a beating in order to go missing. Sounds like a scam to me.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I sell quite regularly on amazon, and I've never had a problem. I ship it the way I'm told... I dont buy insurance, I'm not required to. Once it leaves my hands, I'm not responsible for it. I always resell my books that I buy and I've never had a problem. I ship them out in tightly sealed shipping envelopes that would have to take quite a beating in order to go missing. Sounds like a scam to me.

Yeah, I read some other stuff online about how some scammers have been doing this on Amazon. I did have the package sealed pretty well, and I've never had a problem like this before. I think I am going to chalk it up to the buyer, and if he wants to leave negative feedback then so be it, but I don't think I'll be issuing a refund.

 

[Imzadi]

That's a shame. You didn't use a padded bubble envelope did you? Sometimes they use cheap glue and the seams split apart. Likewise, a sealed flap comes undone. You have to go around the whole envelope, even the seams with extra packing tape. I almost mummify any books I send with tape wound around several times in both directions, to ensure they can't spill out.

I also wrap them in a plastic bag first, in case they get stuffed in an open mailbox or left on the porch on a rainy day.

Also, the P.O. machines can really do a number on ripping the corners open on packages. You would think a machine that is supposed to handle rectangular objects would be built to handle envelope corners, but no, they sometimes get caught in the machinery.

 

[itsheresomewhere]

Just a thought but there is a company on Amazon (and I think on Ebay) that is buying books and then claiming no item, wrong item, etc. It seems to be only books they are buying. On the amazon forums is a quite a few threads about them and the possible multi names. Good luck

 

[librarygal]

I have sold hundreds of books on Amazon over the last five years and have never had that happen although I do hear about it happening on the Amazon seller message boards. I use only poly bubble mailers which are much more difficult to rip than the paper ones. It could be a scam or the post office could have opened it to see if it qualified for media mail then sealed it back up poorly.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

Lol, no sorry, no Amish books. Just my Twilight books, some Neil Gaman's and old law school books. Let me know if any of those sound interesting to you

Do you have the whole Twilight set? I might be interested! I sold ours and now DS and I both want to read them again!

 

[Free4Life11]

Email them back and say you are very concerned and they will need to file a "Postal Theft Claim" so that an investigation can occur. That might scare them if they are scamming you....and even if not, if the package was empty someone took it so file a claim.

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/contactUs/filecomplaint.aspx

 

[RitaE]

I haven't sold on Amazon for well over a year, but I can tell you that from my experience - unless you have solid proof that the book was delivered to the customer in the described condition Amazon will side with the buyer and charge your account. Amazon does not do very much at all to protect their Marketplace sellers.

I sold hundreds of books and did have a few Postal issues. It happens. Sometimes it is probably the post office, sometimes it is probably a dishonest buyer, and sometimes it is just who the heck knows what happened.

You just need to make the decision of whether or not the cost of insurance and/or delivery confirmation is worthwhile in regards to your the money you receive. For standard barely making any money at all type of books....most people just send it media mail and eat the occasional lost book.

 

[Geoff_M]

My wife sells quite a few books on Amazon. She's only had one delivery problem. A customer said that the book didn't arrive. They customer also said that it was likely a problem with their mail carrier as they often have problems with package delivery. Lucky, my wife had a 2nd copy of the book in question and mail him another one using the same address. That one got through to him. A couple weeks later, the original book arrived back at our house. The packaging was pretty beat up, but the address was still clearly visible. It was stamped "Return to Sender: Address Unknown".

My wife's only complaint with selling on Amazon is that they keep a lion's share of the "S&H" fee charged to buyers.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Do you have the whole Twilight set? I might be interested! I sold ours and now DS and I both want to read them again!

No sorry, I am down to only Twilight and Eclipse.