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Just got dinged on shipping...
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Posts: 3,127
Ugh! I've had perfect 5.0 on shipping time and shipping charges until today. I know it's not a big deal to most, but I pride myself on excellent customer service. Had a guy buy a card from me and didn't pay. Had to finally let eBay step in and then he immediately paid. Charged him $3.00 for shipping and sent it out the day he paid. So I get a message from him today saying that he loves the card, but it took him too long to receive it from the time he won to it getting on his doorstep. He also said $3 was too much for shipping. So I replied back asking if $3 was too much for a card in a penny sleeve, top loader, then placed in a team bag, in a padded envelope, plus what I pay USPS to ship it? He said I should have shipped it for free. I also reminded him that the reason it took so long is because it took him forever to pay.
Again, first world problem, but still frustrating.
Again, first world problem, but still frustrating.
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What's the ID so we can block him?
<< <i>What's the ID so we can block him? >>
+1
If you open a case against some people you're putting a target on yourself to get dinged.
Be happy you didn't get a neutral/negative.
Don't worry about the ding. If you get a neutral/negative feedback, let t go. Perfect ratings and feedback are overrated and not worth the stress to maintain. In business you will not make every person happy. Reminds me of the kids in college who have the added stress on maintaining a 4.0 GPA. Once they earn a B life sinks in, they relax and end up having a better time in school.
<< <i>Ebay feedback is pointless....the best thing is to ignore the stars, ignore the feedback and not play the feedback game. >>
Gotta disagree; I appreciate the 20% discount in fees for keeping top rated status and feedback or star dings in that case cost more $ than likely the entirety of the sale of the item which resulted in the ding. Not that 20% less fees on the sale of the one item is much, but if you lose your rating and give up 20% discount on all items sold, that can add up quickly.
IMF
<< <i>
<< <i>Ebay feedback is pointless....the best thing is to ignore the stars, ignore the feedback and not play the feedback game. >>
Gotta disagree; I appreciate the 20% discount in fees for keeping top rated status and feedback or star dings in that case cost more $ than likely the entirety of the sale of the item which resulted in the ding. Not that 20% less fees on the sale of the one item is much, but if you lose your rating and give up 20% discount on all items sold, that can add up quickly. >>
Be mad at ebay for giving the discount in the first place. A discount shouldnt be given based on judgement call ratings by moronic buyers. A discount should be based on your ability to sell and ship quickly, not on how fast the USPS delivers a package
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Ebay feedback is pointless....the best thing is to ignore the stars, ignore the feedback and not play the feedback game. >>
Gotta disagree; I appreciate the 20% discount in fees for keeping top rated status and feedback or star dings in that case cost more $ than likely the entirety of the sale of the item which resulted in the ding. Not that 20% less fees on the sale of the one item is much, but if you lose your rating and give up 20% discount on all items sold, that can add up quickly. >>
Be mad at ebay for giving the discount in the first place. A discount shouldnt be given based on judgement call ratings by moronic buyers. A discount should be based on your ability to sell and ship quickly, not on how fast the USPS delivers a package >>
The discount is really up to the sole discretion of the buyer. One can destroy a seller's account and eBay has given that power to people. The percentage-off scheme eBay employs is nothing but a scare tactic to make sellers their lemmings.
It's not a game that I play. If I get dinged, I get dinged. Not losing sleep over it. I generally use eBay as an avenue to liquidate inventory when I can't move it elsewhere. Definitely not my first choice for a selling platform.
Imagine if a brick and mortar business lost a percentage of sales due to ratings left by customers in a customer-complaint box. Terrible concept.
<< <i>Imagine if a brick and mortar business lost a percentage of sales due to ratings left by customers in a customer-complaint box. Terrible concept. >>
That actually sounds pretty good...
<< <i>
<< <i>Imagine if a brick and mortar business lost a percentage of sales due to ratings left by customers in a customer-complaint box. Terrible concept. >>
That actually sounds pretty good...
...on second thought....
<< <i>
<< <i>Ebay feedback is pointless....the best thing is to ignore the stars, ignore the feedback and not play the feedback game. >>
Gotta disagree; I appreciate the 20% discount in fees for keeping top rated status and feedback or star dings in that case cost more $ than likely the entirety of the sale of the item which resulted in the ding. Not that 20% less fees on the sale of the one item is much, but if you lose your rating and give up 20% discount on all items sold, that can add up quickly. >>
Is it even possible to keep top rated status without offering free shipping? I know technically it's possible, but I would think eventually the star dinging on shipping would make it unlikely. Seems to me one can either take in a few extra bucks by charging for shipping, or one can bite the bullet, offer free shipping (ensuring 5 stars for shipping), and keep the top rated status and thus the fee discount.
I also package well (team bag, cardboard reinforcement, painter's tape instead of scotch, and business card and bubble mailer). I combine shipping on multiple items for free ($1/card extra makes no sense). And I always ship within 24 hours of purchase. I think those factors help a lot in the overall customer experience.
<< <i>I charge $3.50/card shipping in the U.S. and $8.00 shipping to Canada. I think that is on the high side. I have TRS and 4.9/5.0 on shipping.
I also package well (team bag, cardboard reinforcement, painter's tape instead of scotch, and business card and bubble mailer). I combine shipping on multiple items for free ($1/card extra makes no sense). And I always ship within 24 hours of purchase. I think those factors help a lot in the overall customer experience. >>
Very well said. When I sell my books I charge a bit higher too and offer good customer service. Never had a complaint about shipping charges.
<< <i>Due to lame eBay 'rules', I have a hard time understanding why anyone would not offer free shipping (besides maybe a consignment service), considering eBay charges final value fees on shipping. It increases customer satisfaction and almost all buyers factor the total cost into a purchase. Buyers who are unable to comprehend this concept are usually the star dingers. I wish eBay had competition. Maybe Google or an aggregator of all consumer to consumer and even b2b sites...one day, where people are able to register contact info and circumvent eBay, Amazon, Paypal, etc.? >>
I've thought about it. Shipping to multiple countries with far different costs makes it tricky. I suppose I could do "free" shipping to the U.S. and charge $5 to Canada, building that into my prices. Something to consider going forward.
<< <i>
<< <i>Due to lame eBay 'rules', I have a hard time understanding why anyone would not offer free shipping (besides maybe a consignment service), considering eBay charges final value fees on shipping. It increases customer satisfaction and almost all buyers factor the total cost into a purchase. Buyers who are unable to comprehend this concept are usually the star dingers. I wish eBay had competition. Maybe Google or an aggregator of all consumer to consumer and even b2b sites...one day, where people are able to register contact info and circumvent eBay, Amazon, Paypal, etc.? >>
I've thought about it. Shipping to multiple countries with far different costs makes it tricky. I suppose I could do "free" shipping to the U.S. and charge $5 to Canada, building that into my prices. Something to consider going forward. >>
I think there should always be a value on shipping. What if the seller wants to return an item, no questions asked?
<< <i>What if the seller wants to return an item, no questions asked? >>
I take the loss and chalk it up to the cost of doing business.
<< <i>Due to lame eBay 'rules', I have a hard time understanding why anyone would not offer free shipping (besides maybe a consignment service), considering eBay charges final value fees on shipping. It increases customer satisfaction and almost all buyers factor the total cost into a purchase. Buyers who are unable to comprehend this concept are usually the star dingers. I wish eBay had competition. Maybe Google or an aggregator of all consumer to consumer and even b2b sites...one day, where people are able to register contact info and circumvent eBay, Amazon, Paypal, etc.? Ya, we can all dream
I disagree. I charge for shipping because it encourages multiple purchases one one invoice with cheaper combined shipping. Example:
I could do it your way and put the shipping cost in the price and charge $10.00. Or I could list it for $7.50 with $2.50 shipping and offer free combined shipping. A buyer would rather buy three or four cards from me at $7.50 each than pay $10.00 for every one through you.
When I buy from someone like Greg Morris, I'll often throw a few extra cheap items in the basket because his shipping policy is $3.00 for one or a hundred. If he factored that $3 into every price I would buy less.
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<< <i>What if the seller wants to return an item, no questions asked? >>
I take the loss and chalk it up to the cost of doing business. >>
I'd do the same.
Just the other day a woman bought a $75 item from me and paid $6.00 shipping. I use flat rate padded envelopes for this particular item which costs me $5.70. She contacted me and said it's for her boyfriend that's on duty. He's home for the holiday and she'd like to try to give it to him in person before he leaves and offered to pay extra for USPS Express.
I checked the rate for USPS Express Flat Rate Envelope and it's $18.11. Since she already paid $6 I paid the $12.11 out of pocket for her and thanked her for her boyfriend's service.
Losing a little bit of money here and there is just part of the business. It's important, for me, to give each customer the best experience possible.
I think you do the same and it shows in your DSR.
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<< <i>What if the seller wants to return an item, no questions asked? >>
eBay Money Back Guarantee, ''Get the item you ordered or get your money back. Covers your purchase price and original shipping.'' You can say the buyer is responsible for return shipping but this is not the case...''If the item is damaged or not as described, sellers must cover return shipping costs. When you're responsible for return shipping charges, we'll charge your PayPal account if the item is shipped with an eBay label.'' >>
Eh. I admit, I don't sell a lot on eBay. It's more of a site for me to liquidate inventory. Wasn't aware they'd get all shipping charges back.
<< <i>Coachnip---that makes sense. The flip side is that when someone DOES buy multiple items from you, you make more because you're factoring shipping into each item. If they buy 3 cards and you ship once, you're making an extra $5-$6. The question is, which nets more: additional sales or the higher price. I also find that "free combined shipping" gets a lot of additional purchases. I message every buyer after they commit to buy pointing out the free shipping option and would say I get multiple purchases from every 3-4 buyers. >>
I used to have a section called: $5 and Free Shipping for my inexpensive paperback books. Most of the time I'd sell only one book and shipping would run me approximately $1.75 to $2.25. I'd really make out when they buy multiples in one order. I'm bringing this section back after the holidays. Was very, very popular in my store and brought in a lot of traffic.
<< <i>I used to have a section called: $5 and Free Shipping for my inexpensive paperback books. Most of the time I'd sell only one book and shipping would run me approximately $1.75 to $2.25. I'd really make out when they buy multiples in one order. I'm bringing this section back after the holidays. Was very, very popular in my store and brought in a lot of traffic. >>
+1. Makes sense. Maybe 2 different sections with different rates? This is all a very helpful discussion. Even though I've been happy doing it the way I have been, I am always open to change and improvement.
<< <i>
<< <i>I used to have a section called: $5 and Free Shipping for my inexpensive paperback books. Most of the time I'd sell only one book and shipping would run me approximately $1.75 to $2.25. I'd really make out when they buy multiples in one order. I'm bringing this section back after the holidays. Was very, very popular in my store and brought in a lot of traffic. >>
+1. Makes sense. Maybe 2 different sections with different rates? This is all a very helpful discussion. Even though I've been happy doing it the way I have been, I am always open to change and improvement. >>
I was thinking about a $6 or $7 free shipping section for hardcover books.
<< <i>"I checked the rate for USPS Express Flat Rate Envelope and it's $18.11. Since she already paid $6 I paid the $12.11 out of pocket for her and thanked her for her boyfriend's service. "
+1
<< <i>How come fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing? >>
they are both descendants of the ice cube's chance in hell.