cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?

Ive seen information a tracking number is only valid for one item, not for a combined shipping order.

 

So how you are supposed to ship them? Does it mean effectively if you ship combined, even tracked, you are not protected?

 

Im selling mostly low price items but often buyers order 5, 10 or even 20 different items, basically they get free shipping almost.

 

Not to speak you are supposed to track even 1.68 USD item, which you cant, the total received doesnt even buy tracking postage.

 

How is that possible legally, you are supposed to render a service that costs more than the total you received? On top of selling the merchandize.

 

Even for lets say Usd 20 order total, tracking the whole thing isnt economic. Need at least 60, 80 or better 100 dollars value. But for the single low price item orders, I could not use tracking (for international shipping).

 

Its a grey area and they just look over it dont want to see it. It is the risk of the seller the buyer wont open a case for not received.

 

And supposedly you track, they could say it has a scratch, something missing, its broken, damaged. Can file for this on ebay, on paypal, or do a chargeback.

 

Luckily they dont do that much because they are araid to loose their card or credit rating, overe the years, very few paypal cases at all and they all were closed by the buyer in the end.

 

There shouldnt be tracking requirements below some threshold where you actually could buy this service.

 

The chinese ship the low price items for free, no shipping charge, and rolll it into the total, other buyers pay higher prices in general, its noticeably more on many items. I can often get them on aliexpress for 30, 40 or 50% lower price.

 

Theres also free shipping but not as much, as soon as you increase quantity, youll be charged a small amount, as well they dont really do combined shipping so you have charges for each item, though only small.

 

This is the greatness of "free shipping", all other buyers pay more, on average it could be 30% more, the sellers make more, but once people notice its cheaper elsewhere, what do you think?

 

Theyre only still afraid of aliexpress because they need to give their credit card number and are afraid the seller could access it (they cant).

 

Even myself I still buy on ebay if the price is same lower or not much more, because I can use paypal, aliexpress is stuck with my old card so i need to enter the new number for each order, they made changes and its so complicated somehow couldnt get through adding a new card. Oh well. try again in a couple of months.

 

If the chinese would charge a few dollars shipping for all items, Id sell much much more, but the way it is , instead, everyone pays more for items bcz people order 0.99 + frees shipping and that DEOSNT EXIST.

 

Theres no government chinese subsidized free shipping this is urban myth, never existed. So they roll into items, and add some on top of that, poor people can get the small items at zero shipping cost but everyone pays more + sellers from Europe UK USA loose out.

 

Do you know the post office rates for international? It costs GBP 3.15 for the smallest flat envelope to USA, thats almost 5 dollars!

 

I could not use the post office anymore but was forced to use bulk shipping services. Also reduced shipping charges slightly and it had visible effects, more buyers. For the first time I m getting reasonable prices for packages.

 

But ebay, besides no chinese use the post office, only knows post office, never provided information or links to bulk shipping services. That is really strange. I had to search months to find such service provider, like oh well, try again once in a while.

 

Message 1 of 12
latest reply
1 BEST ANSWER

Accepted Solutions

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?


@dtexley3wrote:

@hitechworldtradingwrote:

I dont use post office or ebay shipping labels + normally I dont add tracking to ebay. If the order is larger value I send tracking to the buyer per messaging.

 

 


Absolutely the wrong procedure to follow these days.  You need to put the tracking information into the orders or you will be on the losing end of multiple INR claims.


More wrong info. You need to KEEP the tracking # in case of INR, but you can wait until a case is filed before uploading it. There is NO requirement to upload it in advance, unless you're trying for TRS or some other "attaboy".

View Best Answer in original post

Message 12 of 12
latest reply
11 REPLIES 11

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?

Ive seen information a tracking number is only valid for one item, not for a combined shipping order.

 

Not sure where you're going with the rest of your post, but that part is incorrect.  A single tracking number protects against an Item Not Received complaint for all the items in a combined shipment.  If the buyer doesn't get all the items, he can still file a Not As Described claim.

Message 2 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?


@hitechworldtradingwrote:

Ive seen information a tracking number is only valid for one item, not for a combined shipping order.


Perhaps you can point us to that information, because it's not correct. Just print your shipping label for one of those items, and then go back to each of the other items that are traveling in the same package, mark each one as Shipped, and add the tracking number. That's all there is to it.

Message 3 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?

I dont use post office or ebay shipping labels + normally I dont add tracking to ebay. If the order is larger value I send tracking to the buyer per messaging.

 

Ive seen this here on the message board that you only could add a tracking number to one item.

 

So if you have one number for an order thats supposed to ship combined, you are protected for INR?

 

Not that it would be an issue, I get INR cases mostly on the smallest orders.

 

Also to make this clear Im on US ebay, but located in the UK. 

My logistics provider uses different carriers, and some of them dont work in 17track though some do (for tracking), like DHL only works on their website.

 

But checking tracking (for buying) on ebay always was a problem so I always paste into 17track

 

When I receive small packages here they send me emails even "package already signed for" though I dont sign, sometimes they drop card and I have to collect, but even then, they dont take signature. Supposed to happen but it doesnt.

Message 4 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?


@hitechworldtradingwrote:

I dont use post office or ebay shipping labels + normally I dont add tracking to ebay. If the order is larger value I send tracking to the buyer per messaging.

 

Ive seen this here on the message board that you only could add a tracking number to one item.


No, you add the tracking number to each and every purchase that you put in the same package. I myself routinely ship installation setups of three components that my buyers have bought separately.

 


So if you have one number for an order thats supposed to ship combined, you are protected for INR?


Well, the tracking number is your protection against an Item Not Received dispute if it is showing a Delivered status on-line to your buyer's City and ZIP (or Post Code). Filing an INR on any item within that combined shipment would be responded to by you the same way: you upload the tracking number to the dispute where indicated. After you have done that, just to be sure, it's recommended here that you phone eBay to ensure that it's been closed out in your favor. 

Message 5 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?


@hitechworldtradingwrote:

I dont use post office or ebay shipping labels + normally I dont add tracking to ebay. If the order is larger value I send tracking to the buyer per messaging.

 

 


Absolutely the wrong procedure to follow these days.  You need to put the tracking information into the orders or you will be on the losing end of multiple INR claims.

 

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew
Message 6 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?

Mostly I couldnt because the small total received doesnt buy the tracking.

 

I do get some cases but not much, of which some are closed by the buyers.

 

For larger value I use it since it makes sense but dont see a need to add to ebay, I simply send it to buyer when they see the item is in transit they never open the case.

 

Who opens case, expats 5x as much, the rest mostly east European names, also german buyers believe the estimate has a meaning of agreed delivery date that I as a seller have entered into ebay.

 

International tracking via post office costs GBP 7.50 the cheapest, and UK orders I dont need to track since all mailings are insured by Royal Mail so they dont open the case because theyre afraid the insurance hassle will be investigated.

 

UK orders are easygoing, cheap postage ,arriving the next day not much point to track it. Well if it is high value / heavy weight I send via DPD which has tracking.

 

This christmas was a big hassle because long delays rippled through the system, Ive seen 5 weeks for international and of course some cases. They did close them mostly after receiving. But its back to normal recently.

 

Well I couldnt even add the tracking mostly because its not post office tracking so ebay doesnt recognize it. So if theres a case I could forward it to customer service.

 

Im just not sure if I need a separate number each item or one for combined is accepted + I havent seen such a case yet.

 

There was only one for combined he opened 2 for 5 items I refunded, after some time he did send the money for these, received it, was a few dollars.

 

To me it looks really strange ebay mostly only recognizes post office / retail tracking, theres several not updating on ebay (used by chinese) and also several kinds only working on the carrier websites (such as DHL). How could you add them when they dont work?

 

Sure If Id be selling the used iphones Id get a lot of cases but even with tracking they could say its broken even after some months, it has a scratch and all this. or even much better, they did not authorize the transaction. But for items the buyer really genuinely needs and actually will be using, they dont have so much time and motivation to do the scams all day.

Message 7 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?

@hitechworldtrading

You might want to ask on the UK board, as Royal Mail is different fron the USPS.

Message 8 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?

Ok thanks but Im on ebay.com and I dont use Royal Mail either for many of the tracked shipments, I do use them for domestic really over the counter.

 

Also US orders are DELIVERED by USPS and I do sell 40% of all to US buyers.

 

Im registered on US ebay though I think for the cases, the rules where the buyer is registered do apply. The case will be handled on the buyers domain.

Message 9 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?


@dtexley3wrote:

@hitechworldtradingwrote:

I dont use post office or ebay shipping labels + normally I dont add tracking to ebay. If the order is larger value I send tracking to the buyer per messaging.

 

 


Absolutely the wrong procedure to follow these days.  You need to put the tracking information into the orders or you will be on the losing end of multiple INR claims.

 


Another bit of false info.

 

If a buyer were to file an INR claim eBay asks you do upload the tracking number showing delivery (if you have it). They ask for this regardless if you added tracking at the time of shipping or not and it makes no difference whatsoever if you have or have not.

 

I do the same as hitech, the items I ship through Stamps.com (domestic) automatically get uploaded to eBay but I also ship (mostly international) via other methods that don't automatically upload. For the later I don't generally add the tracking info to eBay (but do provide it to the buyer in most cases).

 

 

 

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
Message 10 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?


@hitechworldtradingwrote:

 

Ive seen this here on the message board that you only could add a tracking number to one item.

 


You'll see all kinds of stuff on these boards. A disappointingly large % of it is 100% wrong, including what you read about tracking numbers.

Message 11 of 12
latest reply

Each item needs its own tracking number or you are not protected?


@dtexley3wrote:

@hitechworldtradingwrote:

I dont use post office or ebay shipping labels + normally I dont add tracking to ebay. If the order is larger value I send tracking to the buyer per messaging.

 

 


Absolutely the wrong procedure to follow these days.  You need to put the tracking information into the orders or you will be on the losing end of multiple INR claims.


More wrong info. You need to KEEP the tracking # in case of INR, but you can wait until a case is filed before uploading it. There is NO requirement to upload it in advance, unless you're trying for TRS or some other "attaboy".

Message 12 of 12
latest reply