eBay sellers: what are your rules & fine print?

[laurafergie]

I have been selling online since 1999 worldwide. The simpler the better. The more professional you sound, the less problems you will get from people. It has been years (knock on wood) since I have had a major issue with a customer.

Terms of sale. (This is across the board.)
"Any and all questions are welcomed! We ship DAILY via USPS with Delivery Confirmation. Next day shipments are by FedEx.

Credit cards via Paypal. Payment is expected upon purchase or no later than seven [7] days. Canadian and International orders accepted and are responsible for any extra duty or fees incurred upon entry into their country. "

Return Policy. 30 days Money Back
"Satisfaction guaranteed. Please contact us within a reasonable time period if you are not satisfied. At times, we may ask that the item be returned at buyer's cost before refunding. Shipping cost will only be refunded if description in listing varies greatly from item received."


Now I DON'T say I insure, but I always have self guaranteed my books. In 10 years, I can count on one hand how many have gotten lost or damaged enough that I have had to refund.

HOWEVER - if I sell a book that over say $200, I would feel uncomfortable taking the risk - so to speak, so I insure through U-Pic .com (NEVER NEVER use the USPS insurance, worthless) U-Pic is easy, cheap and they pay up quickly if needed.

 

[Silent1CB]

OK, I've learned so much already. Shipping was defintely my foggiest area. Can someone explain what was meant when someone said to ship thru PayPal? How is that done?

And the delivery confirmation thing. Someone said they do that online before going to post office? More info on that too if possible.

Sheesh, I was just going to wrap it really well, stuff it in a box, tape it shut good, slap a label on it, and head to the post office & ask for cheapest FAST shipping.

 

[laurafergie]

To sell on eBay you must have a seller's account at PayPal.

You can print out your shipping labels on PayPal for free (you still pay the cost of postage) and Delivery Confirmation is automatically included on the label.

PayPal and Ebay are linked. You can access printing out the shipping label in several ways. Here are a few:

1. Directly from My Ebay, in the sold items list - it will say Print Shipping Label - this will take you to PayPal.
2. Log in to PayPal and on your 1st Page where it lists all the account history, beside the person's name you sold to, it will say Print Shipping Label.
3. Directly on the transaction page of your sold item at PayPal at the bottom there is a link to Print Shipping Label

You MUST have weighed and packaged your items correctly. Adequate padding, taped tightly, blah, blah....

You can schedule a next day pick up of your boxes if at least one is Priority - but I just take mine to the PO. Every PO is different. Mine will let you put my boxes on the counter and bypass the line. Some WILL NOT and they DON'T have to let you. It is up to that PO's manager.

Regarding the methods of shipping:
Parcel Post only saves money if the buyer is near you or in the same shipping zone. I never use it.

Use Priority Mail if you are OVER a pound and 1st Class if you are UNDER a pound. There is a misconception the Priority will be the fastest. The speeds are the same.

Media Mail may be used for books/media and can be slower as it is a lower class of mail.

The bottom line: I have shipped 10s of thousands of packages. The more uniform your package is, if you use computer printed labels with Delivery Confirmation - you will have minimal problems and your package will get there in a reasonable amount of time.

READ READ the shipping board on Ebay (Ignore the horror stories) and concentrate on learning and you will do fine.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I'm not a power seller or anything, but I've completed more than 500 auctions and have had only 3-4 problems that I can recall. My fine print says that I do not take returns and that all items will ship with delivery confirmation. I think this keeps away 99% of the scammers.

 

[The Iron Giant]

I'm not a power seller or anything, but I've completed more than 500 auctions and have had only 3-4 problems that I can recall. My fine print says that I do not take returns and that all items will ship with delivery confirmation. I think this keeps away 99% of the scammers.

I used to think that too, but since eBay forces you to use Paypal you can't rely on the fact that you have "no returns" listed in your auction.

Paypal almost always sides with the buyer and will refund their money even if you have a no return policy.

I had almost zero problems on eBay when I could accept money orders from people. Now that eBay double dips on its fees because they own Paypal I have had a lot of problems. Too many people that get buyers remorse and then make up some phony reason to get Paypal to refund their money.

Its too bad because eBay had a good thing going and then they got greedy and ruined it.

Anyway... good luck to the OP

 

[DMRick]

I have very little fine print. I say we ship within 2 business days. I list the s/h with what ever type of shipping I want, and let eBay figure out the cost, and I add .50 to $1 to the cost (except for a few items that I have a fixed amount). I ask for payment within 7 days (since eBay insists on Paypal payments only now that's reasonable). If they write and ask if they can send a check, or MO, I say sure. My Paypal account is my business account, although I've never had an iota of a problem.

I love eBay. They have made it so simple, I know longer have classes (where people paid me) to learn how to use it.

 

[Silent1CB]

The bids are starting to roll in on our first auction. I'm really enjoying this.

I've done yardsales & Craigslist where both people want to offer you less. I think I could get addicted to people fighting over your item & offering you more. hehehehe

I know not all auctions will be like this, but I picked an item that would do well at holidaytime, and it is.

 

[Juliet25]

OK, I've learned so much already. Shipping was defintely my foggiest area. Can someone explain what was meant when someone said to ship thru PayPal? How is that done?

And the delivery confirmation thing. Someone said they do that online before going to post office? More info on that too if possible.

Sheesh, I was just going to wrap it really well, stuff it in a box, tape it shut good, slap a label on it, and head to the post office & ask for cheapest FAST shipping.

Log into your paypal account and find the transaction. There will be a shipping option available. Delivery confirmation is automatic and costs $0.18. If you did it through the post office, it will cost $0.55 for first class and $0.45 for priority mail (though don't quote me on the exact figures). Delivery confirmation is free for priority shipping.

As for TOS, keep in mind that you're held to eBay's standards. You can say payment is due in 3 days, but eBay says that buyer's have 7 days to pay. You can't do anything about non-payment for 7 days. Well, you could sell an item to the next highest bidder, but good luck not getting a negative when you inform your first buyer of the situation.

My TOS spell out my combined shipping rates, mention that I don't ship internationally (though this needs to be set up through eBay to ensure I don't get non-U.S. bids), and spell out my return policy (basically, all sales final unless I make a mistake in listing). Just keep it brief. People don't read it anyway!

 

[Juliet25]

I used to think that too, but since eBay forces you to use Paypal you can't rely on the fact that you have "no returns" listed in your auction.

Paypal almost always sides with the buyer and will refund their money even if you have a no return policy.

I had almost zero problems on eBay when I could accept money orders from people. Now that eBay double dips on its fees because they own Paypal I have had a lot of problems. Too many people that get buyers remorse and then make up some phony reason to get Paypal to refund their money.

Its too bad because eBay had a good thing going and then they got greedy and ruined it.

Anyway... good luck to the OP

That is true that buyers have recourse thorugh PayPal. However, buyers are responsible for shipping the item back to the seller. The seller has to refund the buyer's original purchase price and shipping. However, the buyer has to pay for the return postage, so that's somewhat of a deterent in cases of buyer's remorse.

I do agree that eBay owning PayPal is a huge conflict of interest for sellers.

 

[rflorek]

As for TOS, keep in mind that you're held to eBay's standards. You can say payment is due in 3 days, but eBay says that buyer's have 7 days to pay. You can't do anything about non-payment for 7 days. Well, you could sell an item to the next highest bidder, but good luck not getting a negative when you inform your first buyer of the situation.

Someone pointed on the first page of responses that you can file a non-paying bidder report after 4 days now (I found that on the help screens to verify).

 

[kristennn]

I am a silver level powerseller on ebay and I have NO fine print. I only include what I need to in the auction text and I use all large print because I want to make sure people don't miss anything.
I give a very basic description - being careful to note any flaws. I put in shipping costs to the US/Canada and international. I let people know that I ship twice a week and that payment is due within 7 days. My home is pet/smoke free but I don't include that in my listings - of people care they will ask. I don't take returns - but ebay makes you check whether you take returns or not. And by sayign i don't take returns - that means I don't take them if say someone changes their mind or whatever - if someone is unhappy with thier itemand feels it was misrepresented - than you Do have to take a return - paypal will make you if they file a claim - so you can write as is or no returns or whatever you want - but the fact is - if your item is misrepresented - than you have no choice. Misrepresented could be as simple as a flaw that wasn't noted in the description.

Really the only thing you need to do to protect yourself - is make sure you list your item correctly and note any flaws - pack it well - ship it within a reasonable time frame to a confirmed address and use delivery confirmation so you can prove they received it.