cheeky1
Active member
- Awards
- 1
I'm starting this thread for everyone that's ever been ripped off by a dodgy buyer and for those who want to know how to protect themselves in the event of a fraudulent Ebay/Paypal claim being made against them.
Thieves - I can't stand them!
I run a small business from home, selling items online privately & via ebay. Throughout the years I have encountered many ways people will try & scam a seller & in recent times Ebay has turned to protect the buyer, placing full onus on the seller to prove legitimacy.
For anyone selling & posting any items here's a few tips that have saved my bacon against unscrupulous types:
1) Keep ALL info. When selling on Ebay (or whatever e-market you use) create a folder to keep all ebay purchase order confirmation emails in, as well as the Paypal receipt. Have a backup, such as an external hard drive.
2) Insist on them paying for trackable postage. I don't incorporate post cost into my product price, my customers pay for the cost of postage & I always lodge my outgoing orders over the counter at the post office. That way they are scanned in & tracking starts the moment the package leaves my hands. Large items go by courier, which is automatically scanned & updated.
3) Photograph your parcel/post satchel. Sometimes Ebay & Paypal will provide 2 different addresses for posting to. I always go with Ebay delivery info (if that was where they purchased from) and take a photo of the delivery satchel complete with the delivery details, barcode sticker & date handwritten on there. This is important, as Paypal assessors require proof of post because...
4) ...after a set amount of time tracking numbers become redundant & are removed from the system. Some fraudsters will know this & claim 3+ months after the purchase, saying they never purchased anything or they never received the item. The tracking number may now be useless via online post tracking, but you have proof and a call to the post office may provide history of that tracking number.
5) Keep a book of sales with the name of the buyer, their Ebay ID, the product/s purchased, date, payment method, amount & the barcode sticker off the post satchel/package. It makes for easy referencing, as any claim against you will have a date of the supposed claim. Ebay will wipe/archive sales info after "x" days - I think it's 2 months, so keeping a book is very handy.
6) If it's a private sale, send them a Paypal invoice, don't just get them to send you money. I admit to getting lazy with this as it's a PIA doing up invoices for every sale. I almost got caught out recently though & it reminded me of this practice. Bank deposits/transfers are a different matter, they have to authorize the transaction.
7) Communicate with your buyer so there's a trail for any claims assessor to track if need be. Make sure you stipulate exactly what they are buying & the associated costs before accepting payment - never take for granted that what you wrote 10 days & 20 emails ago is what they want or think they have agreed to. I send all of my ebay customers a private thank you email + price list.
8) Provide a receipt if necessary, I consider my emails as receipts. Keep in mind that if you email a receipt enable the "confirm email has been read" function as anyone can claim they never received such notification.
9) If someone makes a claim for a refund due to not receiving their product, ask them to check their tracking & also do this yourself. Know your rights. Here in Oz, once the item has been handed over to Oz Post/courier the item is now in their possession & your duty as a seller has been fulfilled, until said item is delivered to the buyer. If it gets lost (after 14 days here) then the buyer must open a claim with the post office for the item to be delivered, or costs reimbursed. This is why it's so important to have the packaged scanned the moment you send it, this will also cover you against any potential theft from sticky fingered people during the delivery process. The seller cannot open a claim for lost items.
I think that's all, I hope that helps.
It looks like a lot but really if you just remember to save all correspondence, photograph the package & lodge it with the Post Office over the counter (for full tracking) you will hopefully have covered your butt.
Thieves - I can't stand them!
I run a small business from home, selling items online privately & via ebay. Throughout the years I have encountered many ways people will try & scam a seller & in recent times Ebay has turned to protect the buyer, placing full onus on the seller to prove legitimacy.
For anyone selling & posting any items here's a few tips that have saved my bacon against unscrupulous types:
1) Keep ALL info. When selling on Ebay (or whatever e-market you use) create a folder to keep all ebay purchase order confirmation emails in, as well as the Paypal receipt. Have a backup, such as an external hard drive.
2) Insist on them paying for trackable postage. I don't incorporate post cost into my product price, my customers pay for the cost of postage & I always lodge my outgoing orders over the counter at the post office. That way they are scanned in & tracking starts the moment the package leaves my hands. Large items go by courier, which is automatically scanned & updated.
3) Photograph your parcel/post satchel. Sometimes Ebay & Paypal will provide 2 different addresses for posting to. I always go with Ebay delivery info (if that was where they purchased from) and take a photo of the delivery satchel complete with the delivery details, barcode sticker & date handwritten on there. This is important, as Paypal assessors require proof of post because...
4) ...after a set amount of time tracking numbers become redundant & are removed from the system. Some fraudsters will know this & claim 3+ months after the purchase, saying they never purchased anything or they never received the item. The tracking number may now be useless via online post tracking, but you have proof and a call to the post office may provide history of that tracking number.
5) Keep a book of sales with the name of the buyer, their Ebay ID, the product/s purchased, date, payment method, amount & the barcode sticker off the post satchel/package. It makes for easy referencing, as any claim against you will have a date of the supposed claim. Ebay will wipe/archive sales info after "x" days - I think it's 2 months, so keeping a book is very handy.
6) If it's a private sale, send them a Paypal invoice, don't just get them to send you money. I admit to getting lazy with this as it's a PIA doing up invoices for every sale. I almost got caught out recently though & it reminded me of this practice. Bank deposits/transfers are a different matter, they have to authorize the transaction.
7) Communicate with your buyer so there's a trail for any claims assessor to track if need be. Make sure you stipulate exactly what they are buying & the associated costs before accepting payment - never take for granted that what you wrote 10 days & 20 emails ago is what they want or think they have agreed to. I send all of my ebay customers a private thank you email + price list.
8) Provide a receipt if necessary, I consider my emails as receipts. Keep in mind that if you email a receipt enable the "confirm email has been read" function as anyone can claim they never received such notification.
9) If someone makes a claim for a refund due to not receiving their product, ask them to check their tracking & also do this yourself. Know your rights. Here in Oz, once the item has been handed over to Oz Post/courier the item is now in their possession & your duty as a seller has been fulfilled, until said item is delivered to the buyer. If it gets lost (after 14 days here) then the buyer must open a claim with the post office for the item to be delivered, or costs reimbursed. This is why it's so important to have the packaged scanned the moment you send it, this will also cover you against any potential theft from sticky fingered people during the delivery process. The seller cannot open a claim for lost items.
I think that's all, I hope that helps.
It looks like a lot but really if you just remember to save all correspondence, photograph the package & lodge it with the Post Office over the counter (for full tracking) you will hopefully have covered your butt.
