How I try to protect myself from loss on ebay

[richards*collection]

Hi folks, I have been selling on ebay for several years, and I have found it is best to send things with the usps priority. It has up to 100 dollars loss or damage insurance built in, and the 20% restocking option should recoup any return postage you pay. That being said, we as sellers must realize that buyers sometimes want to return some things, and we must be passionate about pleasing our buyers and give good pictures and many, plus good descriptions, honesty and integrity will be apparent in all of our business experience with ebay, and we will suffer only a minimum loss.

[partial*eclipse]

The automatic insurance that is included with Priority Mail is $100 for sellers who pay the Commercial Plus rate, i.e., Top Rated Sellers and those who average 300 shipments per month.  But the coverage is $50 for retail and regular online postage, which is what other eBay sellers pay.

[mistwomandancing]

I absolutely agree about putting up listings that are honest, accurate, and complete.. with plenty of good pictures from all sides/angles.  There is no reason a buyer should ever be surprised about what they find when they open your shipment as opposed to what they thought they were buying when they looked at your listing.   Even those who don't read English well, or don't read at all, should get a darned clear idea of what you're offering.

Then package really, really well with plenty of stuffing to assure your item will be able to safely withstand the bumps and drops that it may encounter along the way.  I agree that Priority is great.  Love it, and use if for about 95% of what I sell.

I can count returns over all these years on one hand, but have no problem at all if a buyer would ever request one.

And, I have had so many years of brick and mortar store retail selling too, so know business needs to have a column for LOSS on each page of their bookkeeping ledgers.  Rarely have to make an entry there, but it's an unhappy fact of retail on occasion, so price merchandise to take this into consideration overall, just like *real* stores do. 

[richards*collection]

good, I would like to hear more, if you have any other ways that you know to keep loss down to a minimum, lets discuss, that's what the forum is all about, thank you

[richards*collection]

Kudos to you, thank you!

[lex-talon]

You need to revise your return policy. At least 14 days would be fine. Also, refund only when you receive your item back.

Don't be a pushover. 

[ozarkjoe]

I thought that the standard PM insurance was raised from $50 to $100 for everybody when postal rates went up about a year ago?  I would swear that I would see the $100 figure whenever I printed out a shipping label in the past year and chose PM.

[18704d]

https://www.usps.com/ship/insurance-extra-services.htm

Priority Mail Express & Priority Mail

With some exceptions, Priority Mail Express shipments include up to $100 of insurance and Priority Mail shipments may include up to $50. For more valuable shipments, additional coverage is usually available.

Lynn

[anthemshop247]

You're a top rated seller that's why you see $100 insurance for PM. Like what partialeclipse said, it is only $50 for other sellers. 

[richards*collection]

this is good and goes without saying, you must inspect the item before issuing a refund, if damaged, it must be reported. To utilize the top rated seller badge you must have 30 day returns, thank you

[luckythewinner]

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@richards*collectionwrote:

Re: How I try to protect myself from loss on ebay

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I do not have an issue with loss on eBay - I average elss than 1 dispute per year. However, that has not stopped me from taking prudent steps to manage my risk.   

Here are some things I focus on to minimize risk, eliminate hassle,  and reduce costs: 

• items that ship for less than $4
• items that cost $1 or less
• items that can be combined at little additional shipping cost
• items that require minimal packaging (i.e. catalog envelopes or bubble mailers)
• items that can be packaged quickly
• items that other sellers do not sell 
• underdescribing and over-delivering
• low shipping charges (I charge 75% of the cost and move the rest into the item price)

[richards*collection]

This is great, and I can use these guidelines when and if I decide to try selling my Marbles again, thanks! Kudo's to you, very informative!