.
i have all of my high dollar stuff (non-numismatic) on 14 days but the days for that option are numbered. if you aren't living/dying by the TRS dicounts, for the potential peace of mind it may give, you could just TRY no returns if returns are a problem and/or ride out the 14 day policy to the end. (i forget the specifics but you can do re-stocking fees to discourage unjust returns but there are caveats)
really the biggest issue i have against returns for 30/60 days (besides being insane) is there have been a couple times where things bottlenecked and it can put a unnecessary financial squeeze (kinda get used to this being a reseller but like to prevent them) on the situation. it's rare but does happen.
@jmlanzaf said:
Yes. I have a second account I use for stamps. Those were always going 1st class anyway.
If they had eBay standard 10 years ago, I'd probably be retired. Lol
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so you forewent what by your description was a respectable amount of money over a little bit of tracking? or you just being facetious?
If you lose "top-rated seller" it is 10% of ALL of your fees which amounts to 0.9% of total sales. It is a couple bucks on the one item but it is a couple thousand dollars in lost discounts over the course of a year. It would be "penny wise and pound foolish" to try to save $2 in shipping on the one item.
Perhaps your inventory is different. When I did the free return shipping for 30 day returns I had the unscrupulous taking advantage and using my inventory for free for 30 days. If ebay would reduce the return timeframe to 14 days I would try the discount again.
@jmlanzaf said:
Yes. I have a second account I use for stamps. Those were always going 1st class anyway.
If they had eBay standard 10 years ago, I'd probably be retired. Lol
.
so you forewent what by your description was a respectable amount of money over a little bit of tracking? or you just being facetious?
If you lose "top-rated seller" it is 10% of ALL of your fees which amounts to 0.9% of total sales. It is a couple bucks on the one item but it is a couple thousand dollars in lost discounts over the course of a year. It would be "penny wise and pound foolish" to try to save $2 in shipping on the one item.
i read it as you would have sold more if you had the tracking option (i presumed for peace of mind/loss prevention) but didn't sell as much, by choice, therefore missing out on a HUGE amount of sales because of the risk no shipping w/o tracking over a decade or so not by the savings of some fees because of not having the TRS disount(s).
not a big deal either way but now i'm curious which analysis you are aiming at. never know; may come up with a new/better way to doing/looking at this.
I meant that I would have saved $2 in shipping on tens of thousands of items over the years. I mean, I sold them anyway, but I had to pay $3 to ship them.
I did have a second account for really inexpensive items that were shipped 1st class, no tracking, no discount. But there was no Top-Rated seller discount there and the average sale price was around $5, so it didn't much matter. On my main account, however, it was TRS and I sold a LOT of $10 to $20 items over the years that I could have shipped more cheaply.
I was mostly being facetious about retiring on the extra $10k or $20k. But it was a lot of money over the years.
@jmlanzaf said:
I meant that I would have saved $2 in shipping on tens of thousands of items over the years. I mean, I sold them anyway, but I had to pay $3 to ship them.
I did have a second account for really inexpensive items that were shipped 1st class, no tracking, no discount. But there was no Top-Rated seller discount there and the average sale price was around $5, so it didn't much matter. On my main account, however, it was TRS and I sold a LOT of $10 to $20 items over the years that I could have shipped more cheaply.
I was mostly being facetious about retiring on the extra $10k or $20k. But it was a lot of money over the years.
thanks for explaining! - i do like to hear others good ideas/analysis. never know where some gem may pop up and i completely concur, that would have been a LOT of saved dough.
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i have all of my high dollar stuff (non-numismatic) on 14 days but the days for that option are numbered. if you aren't living/dying by the TRS dicounts, for the potential peace of mind it may give, you could just TRY no returns if returns are a problem and/or ride out the 14 day policy to the end. (i forget the specifics but you can do re-stocking fees to discourage unjust returns but there are caveats)
really the biggest issue i have against returns for 30/60 days (besides being insane) is there have been a couple times where things bottlenecked and it can put a unnecessary financial squeeze (kinda get used to this being a reseller but like to prevent them) on the situation. it's rare but does happen.
I've said it before, so I'll say it again: there have NEVER been "no returns" on eBay because anyone could at anytime file a chargeback on their credit card. Often, that chargeback option extends for 180 days! PayPal also had their own chargeback period which allowed for two possible rounds of chargebacks along with a SNAD on eBay. So many of your "no return" sales actually had THREE built in options for forcing a return.
By the way, last week I was notified by eBay that a customer who received a slabbed silver Kruggerand in late November had just filed a chargeback with their credit card company. eBay told me that I'm covered and they were just letting me know as the credit card company did their thing. At no time did the customer contact me, ask for a return, file a SNAD or a claim with eBay. They went straight to their credit card company and filed a chargeback 4 months after they received the item.
@jmlanzaf said:
I meant that I would have saved $2 in shipping on tens of thousands of items over the years. I mean, I sold them anyway, but I had to pay $3 to ship them.
I did have a second account for really inexpensive items that were shipped 1st class, no tracking, no discount. But there was no Top-Rated seller discount there and the average sale price was around $5, so it didn't much matter. On my main account, however, it was TRS and I sold a LOT of $10 to $20 items over the years that I could have shipped more cheaply.
I was mostly being facetious about retiring on the extra $10k or $20k. But it was a lot of money over the years.
thanks for explaining! - i do like to hear others good ideas/analysis. never know where some gem may pop up and i completely concur, that would have been a LOT of saved dough.
I agree. I learn a lot around here just from listening to people and tossing around thoughts.
The only returns I've had (which aren't many) have been from buyer's mistakes...at least they were honest. When I was doing the free returns my return rate was substantially more and on much more expensive items. What would really gripe me was when I would ship a coin registered due to the value and it would come back uninsured with an ebay generated label. I recently had a less expensive PCGS coin returned...I never received it. Evidently the PO put it in someone else's box. And Yeap, you guessed it...ebay wouldn't cover it because it showed delivered. You would think for good will ebay would cover the $40 for a seller of almost 25 years who pays them 5 figures a year in fees! It was luckily the only time that has happened to me.(knock on wood!)
@jmlanzaf said:
Yes. I have a second account I use for stamps. Those were always going 1st class anyway.
If they had eBay standard 10 years ago, I'd probably be retired. Lol
.
so you forewent what by your description was a respectable amount of money over a little bit of tracking? or you just being facetious?
If you lose "top-rated seller" it is 10% of ALL of your fees which amounts to 0.9% of total sales. It is a couple bucks on the one item but it is a couple thousand dollars in lost discounts over the course of a year. It would be "penny wise and pound foolish" to try to save $2 in shipping on the one item.
Perhaps your inventory is different. When I did the free return shipping for 30 day returns I had the unscrupulous taking advantage and using my inventory for free for 30 days. If ebay would reduce the return timeframe to 14 days I would try the discount again.
@amwldcoin said:
The only returns I've had (which aren't many) have been from buyer's mistakes...at least they were honest. When I was
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there is an option (i've have to look to find that page again) where you check the RMA? box at the bottom of that page which prohibits auto-returns (which ebay switched to a while back) from being shipped WITHOUT the seller providing a label (until that option gets changed again in the future)(also forces an opportunity to chat about what the problem may be).
it really serves drop-shippers where returns go to a different address than what is on file with a seller. (along with those of us/me that use external shipping services connected to ebay) ie: drop shipping amazon items vis-a-vis ebay. i only go into that as there are a few different reasons to stop a buyer from being able to automatically have ebay print a label when a return is started (not easy to catch this with multiple accounts) to ensure an item comes back to the correct address AND via the correct shipping method.
some sellers do such large direct volume they PREFER buyers ship w/o communication as the time/effort is not worth bothering because it averages out over thousands/tens of thousands of items a month. (this is not me lol)
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i have all of my high dollar stuff (non-numismatic) on 14 days but the days for that option are numbered. if you aren't living/dying by the TRS dicounts, for the potential peace of mind it may give, you could just TRY no returns if returns are a problem and/or ride out the 14 day policy to the end. (i forget the specifics but you can do re-stocking fees to discourage unjust returns but there are caveats)
really the biggest issue i have against returns for 30/60 days (besides being insane) is there have been a couple times where things bottlenecked and it can put a unnecessary financial squeeze (kinda get used to this being a reseller but like to prevent them) on the situation. it's rare but does happen.
I've said it before, so I'll say it again: there have NEVER been "no returns" on eBay because anyone could at anytime file a chargeback on their credit card. Often, that chargeback option extends for 180 days! PayPal also had their own chargeback period which allowed for two possible rounds of chargebacks along with a SNAD on eBay. So many of your "no return" sales actually had THREE built in options for forcing a return.
By the way, last week I was notified by eBay that a customer who received a slabbed silver Kruggerand in late November had just filed a chargeback with their credit card company. eBay told me that I'm covered and they were just letting me know as the credit card company did their thing. At no time did the customer contact me, ask for a return, file a SNAD or a claim with eBay. They went straight to their credit card company and filed a chargeback 4 months after they received the item.
FWIW
I had that happen a few years ago with a proof gold eagle going to Montreal. Probably the thieves think that they can get away with it but if there is any prior history of that sort of fraud, they will surely deny, will probably deny it anyway with tracking proof.
I tried sending cheap stuff via envelopes but you are as those here have said risking the 10% discount as well as the buyer claiming they did not get it.
I worked for the PO as a clerk for 35 years and have seen many dishonest postal employees walked out and be fired. There are more than you think. One woman was sneaking envelopes into the bathroom and stealing the contents and flushing the envelopes down the toilets. How did she get caught? The toilets kept clogging up and they traced it to her. Another guy got caught stealing change out of Christmas and birthday cards. They actually thought they could get away with it because they were little amounts. Really, stealing coins from kids birthday cards? This just goes to show you that some people will steal anything, even though it means losing their jobs. There were many others and this is just from the office that I worked at.
I think that the ebay standard envelope worked better when it first started and when PO employees figured out something of value was in them, more theft took place.
I use the eBay standard envelope a lot also. I had no problems up until about a month ago. Some are out for delivery and never delivered. I have used the insurance only once so far but now have two more that I need to apply for the insurance. It does save me a lot of money and allows me to sell the lower priced coins for a profit.
The tracking helped me one time when a buyer claimed he never received the item. The tracking said it was delivered to his address. He was trying to scam me for a refund, but it didn't work. Some buyers still do not know that tracking is provided.
The thing is, if you sell lower priced coins in the $1-$20 range, what alternative do you have? A lot times when you sell coins in this range, your profit after selling fees is low to begin with, and if you charge $3-$4 for shipping you may not sell many coins in this range or even lose money on a lot of sales.
@rec78 said:
I worked for the PO as a clerk for 35 years and have seen many dishonest postal employees walked out and be fired. There are more than you think. One woman was sneaking envelopes into the bathroom and stealing the contents and flushing the envelopes down the toilets. How did she get caught? The toilets kept clogging up and they traced it to her. Another guy got caught stealing change out of Christmas and birthday cards. They actually thought they could get away with it because they were little amounts. Really, stealing coins from kids birthday cards? This just goes to show you that some people will steal anything, even though it means losing their jobs. There were many others and this is just from the office that I worked at.
I think that the ebay standard envelope worked better when it first started and when PO employees figured out something of value was in them, more theft took place.
I use the eBay standard envelope a lot also. I had no problems up until about a month ago. Some are out for delivery and never delivered. I have used the insurance only once so far but now have two more that I need to apply for the insurance. It does save me a lot of money and allows me to sell the lower priced coins for a profit.
The tracking helped me one time when a buyer claimed he never received the item. The tracking said it was delivered to his address. He was trying to scam me for a refund, but it didn't work. Some buyers still do not know that tracking is provided.
The thing is, if you sell lower priced coins in the $1-$20 range, what alternative do you have? A lot times when you sell coins in this range, your profit after selling fees is low to begin with, and if you charge $3-$4 for shipping you may not sell many coins in this range or even lose money on a lot of sales.
Any pointers on not getting coins stolen? Thanks for sharing your experience. Postal thieves are going to look for ways to fence their quarry without getting caught, probably pawn shops, etc.. One owner said when I was looking for a $5 Indian I had swiped locally "they all look the same to me", and though a nice issue does not turn up often in local pawn shops they probably have ways to avoid interdiction. How can we recover stolen coins in the mail locally?
An observation on eBay standard envelope, for anyone concerned about "Top Rated" status...
If you send a lot of "eBay standard envelope" items, there's not much you can do about your "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" rating, since the counter clerks can't scan the envelopes for you when you ship.
@MasonG said:
An observation on eBay standard envelope, for anyone concerned about "Top Rated" status...
If you send a lot of "eBay standard envelope" items, there's not much you can do about your "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" rating, since the counter clerks can't scan the envelopes for you when you ship.
An acceptance scan is not required for the standard envelope.
@MasonG said:
An observation on eBay standard envelope, for anyone concerned about "Top Rated" status...
If you send a lot of "eBay standard envelope" items, there's not much you can do about your "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" rating, since the counter clerks can't scan the envelopes for you when you ship.
An acceptance scan is not required for the standard envelope.
Ok. But some sort of scan is required somewhere along the way and there is no way to ensure you get one. I haven't shipped anything without tracking for a long time now. Why is my "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" rating 93.98% when it was over 95% two days ago?
@MasonG said:
Ok. But some sort of scan is required somewhere along the way and there is no way to ensure you get one. I haven't shipped anything without tracking for a long time now. Why is my "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" rating 93.98% when it was over 95% two days ago?
im pretty sure it will show the problem transactions so you can analyze that. (get report)
if you had sales since it was 95% that didn't get tracking uploaded to ebay on time, that it what decreased rating %. - i don't THINK it has to do with verified delivery or acceptance scan.
did you have an item that wasn't standard envelope as a sale?
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
im pretty sure it will show the problem transactions so you can analyze that. (get report)
Knowing which were problem transactions won't help me. The shipments all have labels but there's nothing I can do to ensure they get scanned and reported to the eBay Shipping Police.
edited to add... There's a slot in the wall at the post office for depositing mail. What happens after that is totally out of my control.
On the tracking uploaded thing. I have noticed from casual observation if it doesn't show up in the system on the 2nd day you get a late ding. If it gets scanned delivered it's removed. That's my experience so far.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
im pretty sure it will show the problem transactions so you can analyze that. (get report)
Knowing which were problem transactions won't help me. The shipments all have labels but there's nothing I can do to ensure they get scanned and reported to the eBay Shipping Police.
edited to add... There's a slot in the wall at the post office for depositing mail. What happens after that is totally out of my control.
if you can figure out what specifically triggered the drop in %, you can untangle that and talk with customer service, if you are that dedicated to the TRS program. hope it helps and good fortune on it.
edited to add, there is a link within seller performance to "appeal a defect."
IF standard envelope is absolved from having to be scanned since they know that the usps doesn't scan them at the counter (at least in locations w/o the proper scanners?) then you being dinged isn't from that but perhaps you uploaded later than you thought you did or shipped something non-standard envelope?
if you can figure out what specifically triggered the drop in %, you can untangle that and talk with customer service, if you are that dedicated to the TRS program. hope it helps and good fortune on it.
I'm not that dedicated. I would prefer that eBay made allowances for these sorts of things, but I'm not surprised they don't.
if you can figure out what specifically triggered the drop in %, you can untangle that and talk with customer service, if you are that dedicated to the TRS program. hope it helps and good fortune on it.
I'm not that dedicated. I would prefer that eBay made allowances for these sorts of things, but I'm not surprised they don't.
they do; you don't have to maintain a 100% rating on these categories and it gets re-evaluated monthly and usually we don't lose our TRS over one bad cycle. pretty sure they gave me 2 (when i actually cared). since i stopped caring since i'm not selling enough for it to be on my mind (plus the return war duration i have with their system right now), i mainly keep up-to-date-ish for conversations like this and/or my selling situation changes either in quantity of items or significant dollar increase per item.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
they do; you don't have to maintain a 100% rating on these categories and it gets re-evaluated monthly...
I rarely get above 95%. Don't know why.
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its from one of 5 categories. i THINK less than 5 star ratings can ding us as well. i haven't tried but i have read/heard that we can see what people left even for these. canceling a transaction, returns etc. i think EVEN sales amounts in quantity and overall dollar amount comes into play.
I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with scanning by my local PO. The most likely place any scanning would be done is about 25 miles from here. And if not there, the next closest location(s) would be over 250 miles away. For the amount any discount would be, it's not worth investing that much effort.
if you can figure out what specifically triggered the drop in %, you can untangle that and talk with customer service, if you are that dedicated to the TRS program. hope it helps and good fortune on it.
I'm not that dedicated. I would prefer that eBay made allowances for these sorts of things, but I'm not surprised they don't.
Idk. I'm at 99%. BUT, 5 out of 6 shipping days I drop them at the main post office which is also a sort facility.
My rating hangs around 95% (+/-), not that I can do anything about it. What's silly is that I've sold over a half million dollars worth of coins on eBay and not a single buyer has lost a single penny buying from me. eBay knows this. The items in question are worth less than $20 each. Does eBay think I'm looking for a way to cheat somebody out of a $5 coin?
My rating hangs around 95% (+/-), not that I can do anything about it. What's silly is that I've sold over a half million dollars worth of coins on eBay and not a single buyer has lost a single penny buying from me. eBay knows this. The items in question are worth less than $20 each. Does eBay think I'm looking for a way to cheat somebody out of a $5 coin?
Well, it's all just automated. Their system really doesn't consider people like us selling large volumes of inexpensive items. If you call and ask them about any defects, they tell you to ship priority or express in the future.
The thing I hate most is their day ends at midnight West Coast time rather than business hours where I am. So, if someone buys something at 2:59 a.m. my time, I have to pack and ship before I go to work or in a day late.
The thing I hate most is their day ends at midnight West Coast time rather than business hours where I am. So, if someone buys something at 2:59 a.m. my time, I have to pack and ship before I go to work or in a day late.
My rating hangs around 95% (+/-), not that I can do anything about it. What's silly is that I've sold over a half million dollars worth of coins on eBay and not a single buyer has lost a single penny buying from me. eBay knows this. The items in question are worth less than $20 each. Does eBay think I'm looking for a way to cheat somebody out of a $5 coin?
if one spends enough time looking through various items sold, you can see some items just don't make any sense and sometimes these are scam accounts building feedback or perhaps someone cleaning out a room/garage or a death in the family and trying not to throw stuff away but at least move it forward but SOMETIMES it is people selling random low dollar crapola for cheap to build feedback/stats to average things out.
some people do sell enough that the discount matters and/or they just want the higher rating for better listing placement etc and it takes a lot of positives to offset negatives in the TRS system and if my feedback on my accounts is ANY indication, people LOVE not leaving feedback and therefore the corresponding stats so when someone DOES leave anything less than stellar, it really hurts the ratings despite having actually done a good job and having MANY more satisfied customers than what the feedback states.
i think i meant to a while back suggest to ebay that a person has 30 days after the return period ends (not after receiving item) and if no feedback is left, positive feedback with all the highest ratings are automatically left. - i really should submit this either for the first time or again? seems like i MAY have done it long ago. it is such a good idea, i really dislike that i'd let something like than languish.
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
and if my feedback on my accounts is ANY indication, people LOVE not leaving feedback and therefore the corresponding stats so when someone DOES leave anything less than stellar, it really hurts the ratings despite having actually done a good job and having MANY more satisfied customers than what the feedback states.
Yep. I've left over 25,000 feedbacks and received less than 15,000.
The thing I hate most is their day ends at midnight West Coast time rather than business hours where I am. So, if someone buys something at 2:59 a.m. my time, I have to pack and ship before I go to work or in a day late.
Well, it's all just automated.
True. Lol. But why isn't it automated around a business day?
@LanceNewmanOCC said:
and if my feedback on my accounts is ANY indication, people LOVE not leaving feedback and therefore the corresponding stats so when someone DOES leave anything less than stellar, it really hurts the ratings despite having actually done a good job and having MANY more satisfied customers than what the feedback states.
Yep. I've left over 25,000 feedbacks and received less than 15,000.
The thing I hate most is their day ends at midnight West Coast time rather than business hours where I am. So, if someone buys something at 2:59 a.m. my time, I have to pack and ship before I go to work or in a day late.
Well, it's all just automated.
True. Lol. But why isn't it automated around a business day?
I guess they figure since their website is open, you should be, too.
The thing I hate most is their day ends at midnight West Coast time rather than business hours where I am. So, if someone buys something at 2:59 a.m. my time, I have to pack and ship before I go to work or in a day late.
Well, it's all just automated.
True. Lol. But why isn't it automated around a business day?
I guess they figure since their website is open, you should be, too.
I'm down to ten dollar items for the low cost shipping. No less than four buyer's claims for not receiving silver half dollars over the past few months has caused me to distrust and not use low cost shipping. If it's less than ten bucks I will eat it. But four walking Liberty halves getting to the door but not making it inside ? Cheaters never quit gaming the system.
@TwoSides2aCoin said:
I'm down to ten dollar items for the low cost shipping. No less than four buyer's claims for not receiving silver half dollars > over the past few months has caused me to distrust and not use low cost shipping. If it's less than ten bucks I will eat it. But > four walking Liberty halves getting to the door but not making it inside ? Cheaters never quit gaming the system.
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for sure, larger coins will have more inherent risk.
so you are saying the tracking shows delivered while buyers claim to NOT have received said item(s)?
aside from the emotional part (frustration/annoyance etc) IF, you can look at the benefits over the costs as it doesn't take very many standard envelopes to have offset the cost of higher shipping methods ($3 minimum?), then you will STILL be in the black, financially anyway. it is possible you could try and group 2-4 together and see if the sales are enough to justify going that route. (people LOVE buying singles so it may not work) this would justify the expense of the higher shipping level of first class non-standard.
i do have to believe it is possible for the postal employees to scan and item and make it look delivered and/or family members/friends/neighbors/kids (snag it once in the mailbox before the actual buyer can get to it) or some of these people also scamming the buyers and of course the dishonest buyers themselves. (not sure i worded this is properly)
it is reasons like this i have noticed that some people have buffers between them and their businesses and/or certain parts of it (for customers/employees alike) as it is tough for any one person to sustain long-term ALL the aspects required to handle all aspects of a business, even a small one. be a good buyer, good seller, friendly, patient, calculating etc etc etc. in the face of virtually anything that comes their way. (this is not actually a common ability i see amongst older coin dealers and it is understandable to a point) why you all have that why coin dealers drink thread(s). (i've been in PLENTY of shops/shows and for a seemingly dry hobby, it SURE has its' fair share of emotional roller coasters.
perhaps some of you, if the finances support it can consider hiring someone, even part time, to handle customer service issues freeing up your emotional/psychological energy for the more meat and potatoes of it all. (nothing like quality of life) most of the time i can do it but to say it never wears me down would be a lie. sometimes it is a lot of balls to juggle and do it gracefully.
@TwoSides2aCoin said:
I'm down to ten dollar items for the low cost shipping. No less than four buyer's claims for not receiving silver half dollars > over the past few months has caused me to distrust and not use low cost shipping. If it's less than ten bucks I will eat it. But > four walking Liberty halves getting to the door but not making it inside ? Cheaters never quit gaming the system.
.
for sure, larger coins will have more inherent risk.
so you are saying the tracking shows delivered while buyers claim to NOT have received said item(s)?
aside from the emotional part (frustration/annoyance etc) IF, you can look at the benefits over the costs as it doesn't take very many standard envelopes to have offset the cost of higher shipping methods ($3 minimum?), then you will STILL be in the black, financially anyway. it is possible you could try and group 2-4 together and see if the sales are enough to justify going that route. (people LOVE buying singles so it may not work) this would justify the expense of the higher shipping level of first class non-standard.
i do have to believe it is possible for the postal employees to scan and item and make it look delivered and/or family members/friends/neighbors/kids (snag it once in the mailbox before the actual buyer can get to it) or some of these people also scamming the buyers and of course the dishonest buyers themselves. (not sure i worded this is properly)
it is reasons like this i have noticed that some people have buffers between them and their businesses and/or certain parts of it (for customers/employees alike) as it is tough for any one person to sustain long-term ALL the aspects required to handle all aspects of a business, even a small one. be a good buyer, good seller, friendly, patient, calculating etc etc etc. in the face of virtually anything that comes their way. (this is not actually a common ability i see amongst older coin dealers and it is understandable to a point) why you all have that why coin dealers drink thread(s). (i've been in PLENTY of shops/shows and for a seemingly dry hobby, it SURE has its' fair share of emotional roller coasters.
perhaps some of you, if the finances support it can consider hiring someone, even part time, to handle customer service issues freeing up your emotional/psychological energy for the more meat and potatoes of it all. (nothing like quality of life) most of the time i can do it but to say it never wears me down would be a lie. sometimes it is a lot of balls to juggle and do it gracefully.
The ebay standard is NOT scanned at the point of delivery.
I do not have significant numbers of items reported not received. I also don't care. They are insured by eBay, so my risk is near zero.
@jmlanzaf said:
The ebay standard is NOT scanned at the point of delivery.
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i believe this to be true since my information is that the normal scanners can't or they simply choose not to scan them. i do wonder how close to the destination they are scanned.
do any of you use the special tracking site link or do you just click the ebay listings? ( i have posted the link a couple times at least fwiw)
anyone know if there are self-scanners yet out there for specific items? flat envelopes SEEM like a good candidate as a person can put anthrax in an envelope just as easily in a drop box, self scanner or handed over to a postal employee although there won't be the added benefit of seeing someone face-to-face but there isn't that with drop boxes either. ok, i'm rambling.
@jmlanzaf said:
The ebay standard is NOT scanned at the point of delivery.
.
i believe this to be true since my information is that the normal scanners can't or they simply choose not to scan them. i do wonder how close to the destination they are scanned.
do any of you use the special tracking site link or do you just click the ebay listings? ( i have posted the link a couple times at least fwiw)
anyone know if there are self-scanners yet out there for specific items? flat envelopes SEEM like a good candidate as a person can put anthrax in an envelope just as easily in a drop box, self scanner or handed over to a postal employee although there won't be the added benefit of seeing someone face-to-face but there isn't that with drop boxes either. ok, i'm rambling.
They have to go through a sort machine. So the last scan ("delivered") would occur at your local sorting center. That's why there is sometimes a day or two lag between the scan and the actual delivery.
The postal person's scanner is a bar code reader. They are unable to scan eBay standard s it is a QR code not a barcode.
@jmlanzaf said:
The postal person's scanner is a bar code reader. They are unable to scan eBay standard s it is a QR code not a barcode.
fair enough but i gotta believe they have access to handheld qr code scanners. my iphone6s can do it and has been able to for many years. so i guess i do take SOME liberties when thinking about some of these things. something along the lines of just because they don't seem to doesn't mean they can't.
actually you do make me think to recheck some more scanning apps. it is pretty impressive what innovations take place (in may areas/fields) while we are unaware. i've been personally shocked at my lag many times. a lot of balls to juggle as an adult and some things just slip right by. i'm not quite a codger but i think i am flirting with fogie. lol
@jmlanzaf said:
The postal person's scanner is a bar code reader. They are unable to scan eBay standard s it is a QR code not a barcode.
fair enough but i gotta believe they have access to handheld qr code scanners. my iphone6s can do it and has been able to for many years. so i guess i do take SOME liberties when thinking about some of these things. something along the lines of just because they don't seem to doesn't mean they can't.
actually you do make me think to recheck some more scanning apps. it is pretty impressive what innovations take place (in may areas/fields) while we are unaware. i've been personally shocked at my lag many times. a lot of balls to juggle as an adult and some things just slip right by. i'm not quite a codger but i think i am flirting with fogie. lol
But the scanner needs to be integrated into the postal system database. They are not set up for remote QR scanning. They don't need to be since standard tracking is a barcode.
The postal person's scanner is a bar code reader. They are unable to scan eBay standard s it is a QR code not a barcode.
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They are not set up for remote QR scanning. They don't need to be since standard tracking is a barcode.
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come again?
I'm unclear on the question. Is it "standard" that is causing confusion? I just meant that normal postal tracking is a barcode. At the moment, it is only the ebay tracking which is in the QR code.
Most postal employees don't even know its there as it is also the "stamp".
The postal person's scanner is a bar code reader. They are unable to scan eBay standard s it is a QR code not a barcode.
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They are not set up for remote QR scanning. They don't need to be since standard tracking is a barcode.
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come again?
I'm unclear on the question. Is it "standard" that is causing confusion? I just meant that normal postal tracking is a barcode. At the moment, it is only the ebay tracking which is in the QR code.
Most postal employees don't even know its there as it is also the "stamp".
P.S. do you even want your postman QR scanning every 1st class letter? You'll get mail about once per week if they start doing that.
@jmlanzaf said:
I'm unclear on the question. Is it "standard" that is causing confusion? I just meant that normal postal tracking is a barcode. At the moment, it is only the ebay tracking which is in the QR code.
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so the service that uses the QR code for people without a printer or just want to do it at the post office for whatever reason, uses the regular barcode printing label and not the QR code printed on the label? i haven't tried it yet but have seen it advertised as QR scan for regular mail but it may be they scan the QR code on our phone but that prints out a normal barcode. (i was kinda also using this as a premise they can scan QR codes but i hadn't said it yet)
@jmlanzaf said:
They have to go through a sort machine. So the last scan ("delivered") would occur at your local sorting center. That's why there is sometimes a day or two lag between the scan and the actual delivery.
This causes confusion for buyers. They check the tracking, see it says "delivered" but they don't have it.
@jmlanzaf said:
They have to go through a sort machine. So the last scan ("delivered") would occur at your local sorting center. That's why there is sometimes a day or two lag between the scan and the actual delivery.
This causes confusion for buyers. They check the tracking, see it says "delivered" but they don't have it.
Undoubtedly... but that is the way it is. I had a buyer email me just last week. I told him to wait a day or two and, sure enough, it arrived.
@jmlanzaf said:
They have to go through a sort machine. So the last scan ("delivered") would occur at your local sorting center. That's why there is sometimes a day or two lag between the scan and the actual delivery.
This causes confusion for buyers. They check the tracking, see it says "delivered" but they don't have it.
Undoubtedly... but that is the way it is. I had a buyer email me just last week. I told him to wait a day or two and, sure enough, it arrived.
Yeah, I know- I tell them the same thing and they always turn up. It would be easier (for me, anyway) if people stopped obsessing over checking the online tracking.
@jmlanzaf said:
I'm unclear on the question. Is it "standard" that is causing confusion? I just meant that normal postal tracking is a barcode. At the moment, it is only the ebay tracking which is in the QR code.
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so the service that uses the QR code for people without a printer or just want to do it at the post office for whatever reason, uses the regular barcode printing label and not the QR code printed on the label? i haven't tried it yet but have seen it advertised as QR scan for regular mail but it may be they scan the QR code on our phone but that prints out a normal barcode. (i was kinda also using this as a premise they can scan QR codes but i hadn't said it yet)
The ebay standard shipping has NO barcode ever. The tracking is done through the QR stamp.
Normal 1st class package or priority mail tracking is done through a printed barcode on the package. The postal delivery folks carry a barcode scanner only, to my knowledge. The clerks scan the QR and a barcode prints.
@jmlanzaf said:
The ebay standard shipping has NO barcode ever. The tracking is done through the QR stamp.
Normal 1st class package or priority mail tracking is done through a printed barcode on the package. The postal delivery folks carry a barcode scanner only, to my knowledge. The clerks scan the QR and a barcode prints.
i don't ship a lot of them so i had to go into my saved shipping labels folder (it is pretty quick and easy to d/l all my ebay and pirate ship labels with the open in new tab AND d/l label being right by each other) and i looked at the standard envelope label. the thing above the date IS NOT a barcode as i thought i had recalled it was. i do see the QR stamp like you said. fwiw i have my apps recognize the QR code on the standard envelope and it works but as you said, like with carriers/office workers, w/o a back end connection to the database, nothing happens.
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i have all of my high dollar stuff (non-numismatic) on 14 days but the days for that option are numbered. if you aren't living/dying by the TRS dicounts, for the potential peace of mind it may give, you could just TRY no returns if returns are a problem and/or ride out the 14 day policy to the end. (i forget the specifics but you can do re-stocking fees to discourage unjust returns but there are caveats)
really the biggest issue i have against returns for 30/60 days (besides being insane) is there have been a couple times where things bottlenecked and it can put a unnecessary financial squeeze (kinda get used to this being a reseller but like to prevent them) on the situation. it's rare but does happen.
I rarely get any returns.
I meant that I would have saved $2 in shipping on tens of thousands of items over the years. I mean, I sold them anyway, but I had to pay $3 to ship them.
I did have a second account for really inexpensive items that were shipped 1st class, no tracking, no discount. But there was no Top-Rated seller discount there and the average sale price was around $5, so it didn't much matter. On my main account, however, it was TRS and I sold a LOT of $10 to $20 items over the years that I could have shipped more cheaply.
I was mostly being facetious about retiring on the extra $10k or $20k. But it was a lot of money over the years.
thanks for explaining!
- i do like to hear others good ideas/analysis. never know where some gem may pop up and i completely concur, that would have been a LOT of saved dough.
.> @LanceNewmanOCC said:
I've said it before, so I'll say it again: there have NEVER been "no returns" on eBay because anyone could at anytime file a chargeback on their credit card. Often, that chargeback option extends for 180 days! PayPal also had their own chargeback period which allowed for two possible rounds of chargebacks along with a SNAD on eBay. So many of your "no return" sales actually had THREE built in options for forcing a return.
By the way, last week I was notified by eBay that a customer who received a slabbed silver Kruggerand in late November had just filed a chargeback with their credit card company. eBay told me that I'm covered and they were just letting me know as the credit card company did their thing. At no time did the customer contact me, ask for a return, file a SNAD or a claim with eBay. They went straight to their credit card company and filed a chargeback 4 months after they received the item.
FWIW
I agree. I learn a lot around here just from listening to people and tossing around thoughts.
The only returns I've had (which aren't many) have been from buyer's mistakes...at least they were honest. When I was doing the free returns my return rate was substantially more and on much more expensive items. What would really gripe me was when I would ship a coin registered due to the value and it would come back uninsured with an ebay generated label. I recently had a less expensive PCGS coin returned...I never received it. Evidently the PO put it in someone else's box. And Yeap, you guessed it...ebay wouldn't cover it because it showed delivered. You would think for good will ebay would cover the $40 for a seller of almost 25 years who pays them 5 figures a year in fees! It was luckily the only time that has happened to me.(knock on wood!)
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there is an option (i've have to look to find that page again) where you check the RMA? box at the bottom of that page which prohibits auto-returns (which ebay switched to a while back) from being shipped WITHOUT the seller providing a label (until that option gets changed again in the future)(also forces an opportunity to chat about what the problem may be).
it really serves drop-shippers where returns go to a different address than what is on file with a seller. (along with those of us/me that use external shipping services connected to ebay) ie: drop shipping amazon items vis-a-vis ebay. i only go into that as there are a few different reasons to stop a buyer from being able to automatically have ebay print a label when a return is started (not easy to catch this with multiple accounts) to ensure an item comes back to the correct address AND via the correct shipping method.
some sellers do such large direct volume they PREFER buyers ship w/o communication as the time/effort is not worth bothering because it averages out over thousands/tens of thousands of items a month. (this is not me lol)
I had that happen a few years ago with a proof gold eagle going to Montreal. Probably the thieves think that they can get away with it but if there is any prior history of that sort of fraud, they will surely deny, will probably deny it anyway with tracking proof.
I tried sending cheap stuff via envelopes but you are as those here have said risking the 10% discount as well as the buyer claiming they did not get it.
I worked for the PO as a clerk for 35 years and have seen many dishonest postal employees walked out and be fired. There are more than you think. One woman was sneaking envelopes into the bathroom and stealing the contents and flushing the envelopes down the toilets. How did she get caught? The toilets kept clogging up and they traced it to her. Another guy got caught stealing change out of Christmas and birthday cards. They actually thought they could get away with it because they were little amounts. Really, stealing coins from kids birthday cards? This just goes to show you that some people will steal anything, even though it means losing their jobs. There were many others and this is just from the office that I worked at.
I think that the ebay standard envelope worked better when it first started and when PO employees figured out something of value was in them, more theft took place.
I use the eBay standard envelope a lot also. I had no problems up until about a month ago. Some are out for delivery and never delivered. I have used the insurance only once so far but now have two more that I need to apply for the insurance. It does save me a lot of money and allows me to sell the lower priced coins for a profit.
The tracking helped me one time when a buyer claimed he never received the item. The tracking said it was delivered to his address. He was trying to scam me for a refund, but it didn't work. Some buyers still do not know that tracking is provided.
The thing is, if you sell lower priced coins in the $1-$20 range, what alternative do you have? A lot times when you sell coins in this range, your profit after selling fees is low to begin with, and if you charge $3-$4 for shipping you may not sell many coins in this range or even lose money on a lot of sales.
Any pointers on not getting coins stolen? Thanks for sharing your experience. Postal thieves are going to look for ways to fence their quarry without getting caught, probably pawn shops, etc.. One owner said when I was looking for a $5 Indian I had swiped locally "they all look the same to me", and though a nice issue does not turn up often in local pawn shops they probably have ways to avoid interdiction. How can we recover stolen coins in the mail locally?
An observation on eBay standard envelope, for anyone concerned about "Top Rated" status...
If you send a lot of "eBay standard envelope" items, there's not much you can do about your "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" rating, since the counter clerks can't scan the envelopes for you when you ship.
An acceptance scan is not required for the standard envelope.
Ok. But some sort of scan is required somewhere along the way and there is no way to ensure you get one. I haven't shipped anything without tracking for a long time now. Why is my "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" rating 93.98% when it was over 95% two days ago?
im pretty sure it will show the problem transactions so you can analyze that. (get report)
if you had sales since it was 95% that didn't get tracking uploaded to ebay on time, that it what decreased rating %. - i don't THINK it has to do with verified delivery or acceptance scan.
did you have an item that wasn't standard envelope as a sale?
Knowing which were problem transactions won't help me. The shipments all have labels but there's nothing I can do to ensure they get scanned and reported to the eBay Shipping Police.
edited to add... There's a slot in the wall at the post office for depositing mail. What happens after that is totally out of my control.
On the tracking uploaded thing. I have noticed from casual observation if it doesn't show up in the system on the 2nd day you get a late ding. If it gets scanned delivered it's removed. That's my experience so far.
if you can figure out what specifically triggered the drop in %, you can untangle that and talk with customer service, if you are that dedicated to the TRS program. hope it helps and good fortune on it.
edited to add, there is a link within seller performance to "appeal a defect."
IF standard envelope is absolved from having to be scanned since they know that the usps doesn't scan them at the counter (at least in locations w/o the proper scanners?) then you being dinged isn't from that but perhaps you uploaded later than you thought you did or shipped something non-standard envelope?
IF you have a desire to untangle it, we are here.
I'm not that dedicated. I would prefer that eBay made allowances for these sorts of things, but I'm not surprised they don't.
they do; you don't have to maintain a 100% rating on these categories and it gets re-evaluated monthly and usually we don't lose our TRS over one bad cycle. pretty sure they gave me 2 (when i actually cared). since i stopped caring since i'm not selling enough for it to be on my mind (plus the return war duration i have with their system right now), i mainly keep up-to-date-ish for conversations like this and/or my selling situation changes either in quantity of items or significant dollar increase per item.
I rarely get above 95%. Don't know why.
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its from one of 5 categories. i THINK less than 5 star ratings can ding us as well. i haven't tried but i have read/heard that we can see what people left even for these. canceling a transaction, returns etc. i think EVEN sales amounts in quantity and overall dollar amount comes into play.
"FRAGILE - GLASS"
I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with scanning by my local PO. The most likely place any scanning would be done is about 25 miles from here. And if not there, the next closest location(s) would be over 250 miles away. For the amount any discount would be, it's not worth investing that much effort.
Idk. I'm at 99%. BUT, 5 out of 6 shipping days I drop them at the main post office which is also a sort facility.
My rating hangs around 95% (+/-), not that I can do anything about it. What's silly is that I've sold over a half million dollars worth of coins on eBay and not a single buyer has lost a single penny buying from me. eBay knows this. The items in question are worth less than $20 each. Does eBay think I'm looking for a way to cheat somebody out of a $5 coin?
Well, it's all just automated. Their system really doesn't consider people like us selling large volumes of inexpensive items. If you call and ask them about any defects, they tell you to ship priority or express in the future.
The thing I hate most is their day ends at midnight West Coast time rather than business hours where I am. So, if someone buys something at 2:59 a.m. my time, I have to pack and ship before I go to work or in a day late.
Yeah, I get it.
Well, it's all just automated.
if one spends enough time looking through various items sold, you can see some items just don't make any sense and sometimes these are scam accounts building feedback or perhaps someone cleaning out a room/garage or a death in the family and trying not to throw stuff away but at least move it forward but SOMETIMES it is people selling random low dollar crapola for cheap to build feedback/stats to average things out.
some people do sell enough that the discount matters and/or they just want the higher rating for better listing placement etc and it takes a lot of positives to offset negatives in the TRS system and if my feedback on my accounts is ANY indication, people LOVE not leaving feedback and therefore the corresponding stats so when someone DOES leave anything less than stellar, it really hurts the ratings despite having actually done a good job and having MANY more satisfied customers than what the feedback states.
i think i meant to a while back suggest to ebay that a person has 30 days after the return period ends (not after receiving item) and if no feedback is left, positive feedback with all the highest ratings are automatically left. - i really should submit this either for the first time or again? seems like i MAY have done it long ago. it is such a good idea, i really dislike that i'd let something like than languish.
Yep. I've left over 25,000 feedbacks and received less than 15,000.
True. Lol. But why isn't it automated around a business day?
Yes, it's about 35% for me.
I guess they figure since their website is open, you should be, too.
LOL. Yes, apparently they do...the bastards.
I'm down to ten dollar items for the low cost shipping. No less than four buyer's claims for not receiving silver half dollars over the past few months has caused me to distrust and not use low cost shipping. If it's less than ten bucks I will eat it. But four walking Liberty halves getting to the door but not making it inside ? Cheaters never quit gaming the system.
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for sure, larger coins will have more inherent risk.
so you are saying the tracking shows delivered while buyers claim to NOT have received said item(s)?
aside from the emotional part (frustration/annoyance etc) IF, you can look at the benefits over the costs as it doesn't take very many standard envelopes to have offset the cost of higher shipping methods ($3 minimum?), then you will STILL be in the black, financially anyway. it is possible you could try and group 2-4 together and see if the sales are enough to justify going that route. (people LOVE buying singles so it may not work) this would justify the expense of the higher shipping level of first class non-standard.
i do have to believe it is possible for the postal employees to scan and item and make it look delivered and/or family members/friends/neighbors/kids (snag it once in the mailbox before the actual buyer can get to it) or some of these people also scamming the buyers and of course the dishonest buyers themselves. (not sure i worded this is properly)
it is reasons like this i have noticed that some people have buffers between them and their businesses and/or certain parts of it (for customers/employees alike) as it is tough for any one person to sustain long-term ALL the aspects required to handle all aspects of a business, even a small one. be a good buyer, good seller, friendly, patient, calculating etc etc etc. in the face of virtually anything that comes their way. (this is not actually a common ability i see amongst older coin dealers and it is understandable to a point) why you all have that why coin dealers drink thread(s). (i've been in PLENTY of shops/shows and for a seemingly dry hobby, it SURE has its' fair share of emotional roller coasters.
perhaps some of you, if the finances support it can consider hiring someone, even part time, to handle customer service issues freeing up your emotional/psychological energy for the more meat and potatoes of it all. (nothing like quality of life) most of the time i can do it but to say it never wears me down would be a lie. sometimes it is a lot of balls to juggle and do it gracefully.
The ebay standard is NOT scanned at the point of delivery.
I do not have significant numbers of items reported not received. I also don't care. They are insured by eBay, so my risk is near zero.
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i believe this to be true since my information is that the normal scanners can't or they simply choose not to scan them. i do wonder how close to the destination they are scanned.
do any of you use the special tracking site link or do you just click the ebay listings? ( i have posted the link a couple times at least fwiw)
anyone know if there are self-scanners yet out there for specific items? flat envelopes SEEM like a good candidate as a person can put anthrax in an envelope just as easily in a drop box, self scanner or handed over to a postal employee although there won't be the added benefit of seeing someone face-to-face but there isn't that with drop boxes either. ok, i'm rambling.
They have to go through a sort machine. So the last scan ("delivered") would occur at your local sorting center. That's why there is sometimes a day or two lag between the scan and the actual delivery.
The postal person's scanner is a bar code reader. They are unable to scan eBay standard s it is a QR code not a barcode.
fair enough but i gotta believe they have access to handheld qr code scanners. my iphone6s can do it and has been able to for many years. so i guess i do take SOME liberties when thinking about some of these things. something along the lines of just because they don't seem to doesn't mean they can't.
actually you do make me think to recheck some more scanning apps. it is pretty impressive what innovations take place (in may areas/fields) while we are unaware. i've been personally shocked at my lag many times. a lot of balls to juggle as an adult and some things just slip right by. i'm not quite a codger but i think i am flirting with fogie. lol
But the scanner needs to be integrated into the postal system database. They are not set up for remote QR scanning. They don't need to be since standard tracking is a barcode.
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come again?
I'm unclear on the question. Is it "standard" that is causing confusion? I just meant that normal postal tracking is a barcode. At the moment, it is only the ebay tracking which is in the QR code.
Most postal employees don't even know its there as it is also the "stamp".
P.S. do you even want your postman QR scanning every 1st class letter? You'll get mail about once per week if they start doing that.
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so the service that uses the QR code for people without a printer or just want to do it at the post office for whatever reason, uses the regular barcode printing label and not the QR code printed on the label? i haven't tried it yet but have seen it advertised as QR scan for regular mail but it may be they scan the QR code on our phone but that prints out a normal barcode. (i was kinda also using this as a premise they can scan QR codes but i hadn't said it yet)
This causes confusion for buyers. They check the tracking, see it says "delivered" but they don't have it.
Undoubtedly... but that is the way it is. I had a buyer email me just last week. I told him to wait a day or two and, sure enough, it arrived.
Yeah, I know- I tell them the same thing and they always turn up. It would be easier (for me, anyway) if people stopped obsessing over checking the online tracking.
The ebay standard shipping has NO barcode ever. The tracking is done through the QR stamp.
Normal 1st class package or priority mail tracking is done through a printed barcode on the package. The postal delivery folks carry a barcode scanner only, to my knowledge. The clerks scan the QR and a barcode prints.
i don't ship a lot of them so i had to go into my saved shipping labels folder (it is pretty quick and easy to d/l all my ebay and pirate ship labels with the open in new tab AND d/l label being right by each other) and i looked at the standard envelope label. the thing above the date IS NOT a barcode as i thought i had recalled it was. i do see the QR stamp like you said. fwiw i have my apps recognize the QR code on the standard envelope and it works but as you said, like with carriers/office workers, w/o a back end connection to the database, nothing happens.
we really ran this thing to ground!