Okay, due to several large bills towards the end of last month -I am finding myself broke. No problem -I have a large box containing a printer that is brand new and I never opened it… So I will just sell it on EBAY -RIGHT???
Truthfully I paid 150 dollars for this box. It has a warranty which is not transferable -so I figure that I should get about 100 dollars for it. This is great -“between paychecks” money. Just to entice people I also offer a two week money back guarantee. I figure that this will prove that my ad is legit. I’m also great at writing ad copy so I just write a small ad and wait for my money to roll in…
The problem occurs when people bidding on the object at hand start getting competitive. BuyerA doesn’t like that BuyerB outbid him -so he bids more and so on… Now the the auction is over and the box which I paid 150 for has sold for 146. Now the person who bid on it is realizing that they should have paid less.
So guess what is going to happen. They are going to return the Printer -just because they can’t control themselves when bidding. I’ve been through this before and it is ridiculous. People act like children on the internet.
Perhaps the person will keep it, honorably, perhaps not. Ask questions if the person wants to return it. (Unless you advertised a “no-questions asked” moneybackguarantee.)
Impose a 15% restocking fee for any return that’s not related to DOA damage/malfunction.
Only ship insured, and only accept insured returns from the same shipper you used to send. If there is shipping damage, require the buyer to document it before returning the item. Buyer must pay shipping and insurance both ways.
Put all of this together in the fine print and your case of buyer’s remorse gets diluted enough that they no longer find returning the item worth the trouble unless it really does arrive DOA or damaged in transit.
What MarkL says: That’s how I do it. Most of the time I just don’t accept returns. I shipped an electronic item to a guy who disputed with PayPal that it was broken. I offered a refund, PayPal dispute expired, never heard from him, 2 months later the package arrived on my doorstep with a nasty letter. I went ahead and sent postal money order for item price excluding my shipping and then 2 months later I get nasty letter saying he never got money.
I called post office they said it takes 90 days to track money order.
Nothing but a hastle! It was the only time I had a bad experience with eBay.
When it comes to selling word your auction very carefully. Paypal will always go by the wording in the auction listing. The buyer will always win when the wording can be in their favor.
You are pretty much assured of getting at least one jerk, buyer or seller, on eBay. Like has been said, word your listing carefully. Use “as-is” terms, etc. Specify return policy and who pays shipping charges. Establish a time limit. My eBay listings body text is far longer than the item’s actual description just to cover my butt. If you can, on high dollar items, always use PayPal for getting paid AND sending refunds. Document document document. I also have taken to using UPS or USPS tracking number (for what little it is really worth) to provide a “trail.” I also figure if I use Paypal to buy the pre-paid shipping label it serves as an additional proof item was sent, AND to the “registered address.” Do an official “packiing list” too.
I’ve managed to sell some items for what I consider insane amounts of money… and buyers were happy… <sigh>
Of course other items go for a fraction of their worth… (great if I’m the buyer…).
