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Looking for advice from any experienced eBay sellers - I’m looking to avoid getting scammed as I start to sell off loads of old stuff mostly in the £50 - £150 range.
Delivery - eBay now has “shutl” (hermes) for lower value items. As long as I have proof of despatch to the right address and it’s low value there’s no come back on me so long as a signature is captured at the other end. Is this right?
Insurance - seems to be quite limited between £50 and £150. What are the best services to use?
Getting scammed - how can I protect myself from sending the items by the right service and the seller then claiming they never received them and forcing a refund - even though the shipping info shows it was signed for?
Any other tricks / bad stuff to watch out for?
Always send with a signature required. I wouldn’t personally use Hermes. If you’re going to be doing a lot, consider an account with somebody like DPD, who I think are the benchmark for couriers. Otherwise I actually find Royal Mail very good - also easy to collect if first delivery can’t be made.
Wrap things well, with their protection in mind.
If your items have serial numbers, take note.
Your listing should have great photos anyway, but make sure to get a series of shots covering all aspects. These two points protect you from people trying it on with ‘broken’ items.
Be honest in your listing/description. The more info the better, make sure people know what they’re getting. Think like a buyer when preparing the listing. You’ll also generally get higher bids if people have fewer questions/doubts about an item.
I sold a big tranche of classic bike parts a while ago - lots of photos, including serial numbers, clear descriptions and if they were any ambiguity over condition, I'd defer to used rather than new, even if the stuff had never been fitted to a bike. I also made my postage costs clear, including insurance of using RM Special Delivery for anything over £50.
Under promise and over deliver is the general approach I use as a seller. Describe every blemish / defect and post quickly and normally at level above described (unless the final value is disappointing). Not much you can do about the cons other than what you’ve said, though I think the risk is overblown - I’ve had 1 try it on in over 200 sales - I try to take an overall view and expect some losses along the way. Always a bit nervy when you’re selling a single high value item, but lots of stuff of mid/low value is easier to see as what happens overall.
Give comprehensive descriptions with good photos and always ship registered. Payment by Paypal only.
Not been scammed in 10 years of buying / selling on there.
As above. Never try to hide condition - always be honest and point out defects. Package well so doesn't get damaged in shipping. I can be a bit slack about posting stuff but I've emailed and checked they're not in a hurry before - most people aren't.
I've sold everything from mobile phones to clothing to building materials over the years and never been scammed. I think it's tech that's most likely to be scammed but that sells at such a consistent price you can be choosy about who you sell to. if you get a bad feeling before you ship refund and don't ship.
You just can't tell which sales are going to go wrong. I sold a bike to a bloke in Texas. When I sent him the details of the shipping cost and he didn't bat an eyelid I thought it was bound to be dodgy but no, all good. Nice photo of the guy riding it and a thank you. Then I sold a bit of photography kit to a lad just down the road and he claimed I'd sent him a bit of brick (photo of the packaging I'd used with the brick and everything). A screenshot of the streetview of the front of his house and the directions for the 20min drive from mine and a 'friendly' message to do the right thing (sent to the operator of the business run from the same address. Different first name, same surename - I suspect his dad) and suddenly he 'found the correct parcel'. I think he was a youngster and had got the idea you could get away with that sort of stuff without consequence.
Always send with a signature required
It's possible to scam when there is a signature I've heard - I certainly don't bother for 2nd class as it covers you up to £20
Otherwise I've never been scammed and most folk are fine but I've had the odd hassley idiot - 2 recently in fact (my feedback 816 presently)
You can't protect yourself from Scam buyers - you can protect yourself from buyers who are 'trying it on'.
As said above description is key. Use the best postage you can get away with - if it's over 50quid special delivery or a full tracked garrenteed signed service with insurance and offer no alternative.
I was properly scamed in 2004, buyer bought a bike and did a charge back on his credit card. It took a year, and a court summons to resolve it.
Turned out a 16yr old 'borrowed ' his dad's credit card to pay for it, dad thought it was fraudulent so did a charge back. I took the kid to small claims and they settled 2days before court date was due.
Always send with a signature required
means nothing.
you get an unreadable scrawl from a delivery guys handheld. They ask for a name but they'll accept any name without ID. The signature they get isn't checked to anything.
As per the thread on here a while back - STW sending stuff to himself that never arrived that had been 'signed for' by the delivery driver.
Not sure what the current EBay requirements for seller protection are, but they always used to stipulate that you must have tracked postage with a signature. However seller protection and eBay is worth diddley squat as they will side with the buyer 99.9% of the time<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">.</span>
If it's going to sell for less than a tenner I offer 1St and 2nd class, these now come with proof of delivery, but no signature. If it's going to sell for more than 10, recorded, more than 50, special delivery. I try to charge postage at cost.
You only need proof of delivery so the courier saying its delivered. No signature required unless value of over £250
If it's unbreakable Hermes. If it's large parcel force. If it's heavy DPD. Based on price. Use parcel2go.com for booking.
Even second class now comes with proof of delivery each receipt has a number on it that will tell you it was delivered on the RM website. Someone tried it on with a pair of jeans with me the other day. I knew it was crap as he put 10! I went online fired up the tracking and said it was delivered yesterday. He went away.
I second class everything and only get a signature if it's £50 or above and likely to go Walkies
i weighed up the cost of £1 for a signature vs the likelihood of it getting lost. Cheaper to suck up the one that may get lost than pay £1 every time
I second class everything and only get a signature if it’s £50 or above and likely to go Walkies
i weighed up the cost of £1 for a signature vs the likelihood of it getting lost. Cheaper to suck up the one that may get lost than pay £1 every time
Normal second class only insures to £20. The £1 extra buys you insurance up to £50 so I usually do it and charge it to the buyer.
I do free pnp. I know that it's not 1 in 50 items goes missing, maybe 1 in 1000? I figure it saves me £950 not insuring.
But today I posted a car part I sold yesterday for £25 and I paid the pound as he'd already asked why I hadn't posted it and for proof of postage. Today I paid dickhead insurance
had a parcel being delivered to me that never turned up (Parcelforce, even sent an email to say it would be delivered in a one hour slot when no one was in.)
I checked online tracking to see where it was, and lol and behold, there was a signature that looked nothing like mine.
i phoned the sender ( a business , who then started looking into it for me ). I sent them a copy of my signature and a copy of the restaurant bill showing we were in there when it was delivered )
they asked me to ask my neighbours just in case , but they hadn't signed for it.
I just so happened to ask them if I could look in their wheelie bin , and there it was . Good job it wasn't bin day !
it was a battery for a welder that cost best part of £1700 so not a cheap item.
It takes the piss how easy it is for things to disappear
Not much you can do about the cons other than what you’ve said, though I think the risk is overblown – I’ve had 1 try it on in over 200 sales
Agree. I have sold over 1,000 items on eBay and not yet had one issue. I have only ever used Royal Mail as it is easiest for me and I have found it very reliable. I charge whatever it costs and if you want cheaper postage then don't buy my items.
Majority of my items are sold Buy It Now with immediate payment required as the biggest waste of time for me is people winning an auction but not paying. You then have to contact them raise case, reclaim costs, relist and wait for someone to buy again.