Now that the euro is on the rise in Europe, many international customers wish to purchase from American sellers.  There is a few pitfalls that come along with international sales.  First off many international customers who pay via PayPal do not have a confirmed address and the seller is not covered under PayPals' protection policy for this reason.  So if there is fraudulent activity you may be out of a lot of money as a seller.  Second the customer could claim that he/she never received the item.  The third pitfall would be a defective item.  If someone around the world contacted you and said their item was damaged and/or defective and wanted to send it back for a refund, they may have a problem sucking up the cost to ship it back, which means they may want you to pay to have the item shipped back.  Within the U.S. were only talking a few buck, but if it is a customer in Tailand, the shipping costs are steep. 

That being said there are options for sellers to avoid much of this.  First off you have the option of not selling to international customers.  Some sellers flat out will not sell to international buyers or they limit there sales only to Canada, UK, Australia and so on.  If you decide to sell to internation customers who don't have confirmed addresses or an eligible status with PayPal you should have what I call a "red flag" system.  Certain things can alert you to a fraudulent buyer.  First off check feedback and check the profile of the person.  Compare the address on Ebay to the address on PayPal and make sure it matches.  If they don't match, that is a flag.  Second look to see when the account was opened.  If the account was opened in 01 and they have 50 positive feedbacks, that is usually ok, but if they opened the account last week and have 0 feedback that should also be a flag.  One huge flag is if the customer is in a hurry and/or money doesn't seem to be an issue with him/her.  For example Joe Smith wants you to FedEx overnight your item to Jonney X in Jakarta by tomorrow night.  He gives you an extra $100 to get it there.  This is most likely a scam.  Another flag is a phone number provided to you but is out of service..  An anxious customer will say call me if there is any problems and give you a false number.  Another flag is when trying to confirm the customers identity he/she becomes very defensive and/or threatening.  For example, you politely tell them that they will have to confirm there address with PayPal first, and they tell you that they don't have to do anything and that if the item isn't sent on time, they will leave a negative feedback.  This tactic is used to rattle new sellers into "just sending the item".  This is a big mistake.  If there is more than two flags you should politely request that the buyer verify themselves with PayPal first. Most importantly put into your policy that you will not sell to buyers who can not or will not verify there identity.  This puts you in a position where you can then nulify the transaction. 

Another problem with international sales is the possiblility of an item becoming lost or stolen.  There are several way to ship an item internationally but the cheapest and most dangerous way is through First Class International shipping via USPS.  Using this method will increase a lot of sales, but the first problem is there is no tracking number and this method sometimes takes 2 or 3 weeks.   A customer may become impatient and want to know where their item is, and you will not be able to tell them because USPS First Class International does not have any tracking number.  This can lead to weeks of dealing with the same customer over a missing item.  You will not know if the item was lost, stolen, destroyed, seized or held by international customs, and you won't have any answers for you customer.  A customer can also receive the item and claim he/she didn't receive it.  The best method to get around this is to ship only USPS Priority Mail International.  This may cause sales to drop but can also result in a lot less headaches.  First off you  get a free box from the Post Office, and if anything happens to the item you can track it and keep the customer informed.  Also you should add insurance just in case the item is seized, destroyed, etc.  Also the tracking number will tell you if the item was delivered, so if a customer claims not to have receive their item you will be covered under the PayPal policy.   Of course if they claim the item arrived damaged you can also put in a claim provided you have insurance. 

Now for items arriving to an international destination; if the item is defective it may be hard to put in a claim with the post office because as far a I know USPS insurance covers items that were damaged in transit.   A music CD that has a scratch may not be considered an item that was damaged in transit unless there was a hole in the box or the jewel case was broken.  Another example may be headphones that don't turn on but physically look fine.  In a case like these where the Post Office will not cover a defective item under the insurance your best bet is to first to have the customer contact the manufacturer(if the item was sold as new).  Usually the tech support will work with your customer and sometimes it is something simple like the item just needs some calibration, or the customer isn't using it correctly.  Other times the manufacturer will replace the item for the customer.  Sometimes these options aren't practical because the item is old, used, etc.  If the item is worth a lot of money your better off just instructing the customer to return it.  If the item is cheap, let's say an old record sold for $2.00 that you just wanted to get rid of a.k.a. junk, you may just be better off just giving them what little money they paid you for the item and consider it a loss. 

We'd love to hear you experience with international sales, and pointers if you have them.

Thanks

Tom Collison

Space Station Video Games

You know some sellers claim to make a lot of profit by buying goods at garage sales and flea markets, then sell at a huge profit on Ebay.  Now when considering this I came up with several pros and cons with this approach.

The Cons:

First off it will be difficult to maintain a steady supply of a popular item.  You may have picked up 2 rare model airplanes for $1.00 each and sold them for $12, but chances are you won't find that item again.

Second there is a lot of junk out there that may look like it might sell but won't.  For example you may see a Star Trek TNG mug and think someones gonna want this, only for it to sit in you store for 3 years.  It  may be a popular brand, but if there are over 200 just like it on ebay selling for .99, your chances are slim.

Third there is a danger of foul goods.  I am taking about counterfiet, defective, and/or goods that weren't made with quality material.  You may end up selling junk thinking it is genuine goods only to find out after the buyer contacts you about it.  Remember at large flee markets there are a lot of crooks looking to sell you beach front property.  Many items being sold at flee markets are items that stores and manufacturers were going to throw out, but instead sell or give away to whoever wants it. 

Fourth, shopping at flee markets and garage sales are very time consuming.  Also setting items on ebay, finding the right box for each item, and figuring out the shipping cost for each item is also time consuming.  It may be alright for a few items, but if you are looking for a largely stock store, sourcing at flea markets could take forever.

The Pros

One big pro is that there are items at garage sales that can be resold for a huge profit.  Items that are rare and in high demand sometimes show up in a garage sale or flee market for a dollar or two.  The problem is knowing what to look for.

Second, the item is in hand.  You can now look over this item for any flaws and decide what to do with it.  Also a defective item was probably purchased by you dirt cheap so if it is broken or lost in the mail, your loss won't be that much. 

Third, sellers at garage sales are usually anxious to get rid of there stuff.  This makes them more likely to come down in price.

Fourth, people usually like to buy items that are first hand photos by the seller.  If it is a good photo, it gives the customer a feeling that what they see is what they will get.

We'd love to hear your opinion and stories on this topic

Tom

Space Station Video Games

Just recently my perfect score of 100 positive feedback got ruined by 2 negative feedbacks and 2 neutrals.  In this article I will explain some of the options you have when you receive negative feedback.  From my experience most negative feedback that is given is warranted such as in cases where an item never arrives at a location and the seller never responds to the buyers emails.  On the other hand there are some people out there who are quick to leave negative feedback as soon as there is a problem without first contacting the seller.  There are also others who are impossible to satisfy.  Then there are those few who are just vindictive and will leave neutral or negative feedback even though you really tried to help them.  This can be distressing to the hard working ebay seller.  Especially now that sellers can not leave Negatives of there own.  When this happens first off don't dispair.  Studies have shown that most ebayers don't really show that much concern for 1 or 2 negative comments. 

First off you need to see if the comments violate Ebay Policy.  Usually threats, foul language, or personal information in a comment is grounds for removal.  

Second contact the buyer and ask them if there is anything you can do to make the situation right and would they consider leaving a follow up reply that is positive.  Unfortunately right now a buyer can not remove a negative the left even if they really feel they made a mistake in leaving it in the first place.  This should change in October or November sometime.

Third, if the buyer is not responsive or cooperative, leave a reply yourself.  Now this is the most important part of dealing with a negative.  This reply must sound professional.  If it sounds defensive, angry, or derogatory in any way attacking the buyer, this will make other potential buyer uncomfortable dealing with you. Remember the potential buyer doesn't know all the details, and they don't know who's right or wrong.  So things not to say are "Buyer very unreasonable and rude!!!"  or "Has a very bad attitude!!!  Avoid this buyer if possible!!!".  What should be said are things like "There was a delay by the post office.  We(I) apologize for the incovenience."  or "We have resolved this issue and the buyer has been properly compensated."  These remarks show potential buyers that even if things do go wrong, you will help them and in my opinion can actually be an asset. 

Fourth, after having gone through the three steps above, if the customer does not want to leave a positive reply and the comment (see step 1) has violated Ebay policy, put in a request to have that comment removed.  Unfortunately if you are called names like 'thief" or "incompetent" Ebay will not remove these comments.  They will also not remove comments that aren't true.  For example a package was delayed two weeks but the buyer left a negative comment saying it was delayed 2 months.

Now if your stats are damaged there are somethings to do to heal your record.

1.  You can purchase items for a dollar each on Ebay.  Although this doesn't affect your DSR, it can "drown the negative".  Coupons for things you are going to buy are a great thing to purchase on Ebay.  For example, you are planning to eat at Applebees sometime next week.  Someone may be selling a buy 1 meal get 1 free coupon for .99 w/ free shipping.  You purchase it, get it 4 days later, and get a meal for free, plus one positive feedback. 

2.  You can sell items for next to nothing.  For example you have hundreds of baseball cards, or other very light inexpensive items, you can sell them for .99 each + free shipping.  Now even thoiugh you won't make any real money, this also can generate a lot of positive feedback.

3.  Most importantly, learn from your mistakes.  If you didn't clearly state your shipping policy make adjustments.  If you described an item as mint and the customer was in strong disagreement with you, get opinions from other.  If you dropship and orders can become backordered, clarify this to the customer in your item description.  Sometimes you may have a bad source of goods and seriously need to consider a new source of goods.  Remember communication key.  It start when you first list an item.  If everything is explained from the very start, a buyer can make an informed decision when buying your products.

Lastly just keep rolling.  You can satisfy some of the people some of the time, but you can not satisfy all of the people all of the time.

Best of Luck

Tom Collison

Space Station Video Games

You order your item on Ebay, paid and waited.  You continue to wait and then it arrives, but it isn't the right item.  All of a sudden you get this feeling of panic.  You feel that no matter what you do you got ripped off and that you will be fighting an uphill battle to set things straight.  You become blinded by your rage and really want to give someone a piece of your mind.   But where do you start?  Here are some steps to handling this situation.

1.  Calm yourself.  You don't want to make any decision when angry.  Do what works for you to calm yourself even though you want to go straight to the computer or phone.

2.  Compare the item to the item listing and take note of discrepancies.  Write down everything that is wrong with the transaction from shipping costs to condition, etc.  If it is a totally different item than what you order make a list of what you ordered and another list of what you got.

3.  Contact the seller.  There is a very good possibility that it was an honest mistake, especially if the seller has good feedback and has an account that has been around awhile.  Tell the seller in a very professional way what is wrong with the transaction, from shipping to packing to the condition of the item itself.    Avoid threats or foul language.  Show the seller you are a rational individual.  This will make him or her more likely to cooperate with you. 

4.  Give the seller 2 days to respond to your e-mail.  After 2 days follow up with an e-mail.  If after a week of no response open a Buyer Dispute with Ebay.  If you paid with Paypal open a dispute with them as well.  If you paid with a credit card, you may have to contact them for a chargeback.  Now if you paid by check or money order, it may be necessary to stop payment right away.  You would need to go back to the financial institution where it was purchased and it would most likely cost a fee to place a hold.  This will at least secure your money if the seller is uncooperative.

5.  Explain to Ebay and Paypal if applicable in detail exactly what the problem is.  If it is your word against the seller, you may have  a hard time winning your case if you provide a vague description as to what is wrong.   

6.  Give the seller a timeline as to when you expect the situation to be resolved.  Don't let a seller string you along.  Remember you have up to 60 days to open a Buyer Dispute with Ebay.  With Paypal if you open a dispute, it has to be escalated to a claim within 20 days.

7.  Document everything that happens from emails from the seller to phone calls to Paypal, record everything that happens in a timeline fashion.  If you mail anything back record the postal tracking number as proof that you sent it back.  Take pictures of the item you received pointing out what is wrong with it.

8.  If it is a case of not receiving your item, ask the seller for proof that it was sent.  If proof is sent, check the date it was sent.  It could be a case where the seller forgot to send the item.  Also check the mailing date to the number of business day the package should arrive.  Ask neighbors if they have the package.  You should also check customs if it is coming from another country. 

9.  Feedback should be given only when the situation is over for better or worse.  Leaving negative feedback really isn't necessary for honest mistakes that were made, or for shipping delays outside the control of the seller.  Sometimes very well packed items get damaged anyway.  Feedback is really a warning to other buyers that the seller is uncooperative and/or dishonest, and that the seller will not work toward resolving a problem.

The thing to remember is that you want to be polite and professional, but you also must remember to hold the seller accountable for a bad or wrong item.  Most time a resolution can easily be reached. 

Best of luck

Tom

Space Station Video Games

This post is dedicated to those of you who have junk in their basement and /or garage/ attic etc.  When looking through old stuff sometimes it is hard to tell if something is worth selling or not.  You don't want to throw it away but you do not have room for it and most importantly you have no use for it.  Most people want to just throw it up on the internet and get rid of it.  When it all starts to sell and you ship it all, all is fine except when you get those dreaded emails later saying stuff like "pages are missing, the item isn't the right version as advertised, it's in as good of condition as you stated, etc."  Now you have new problems, what do you do?  They could be scamming you but most likely not.  You could have them send it back, but they may insist you pay to have it shipped back.  You could just let them keep it and refund the money.  Or you could do nothing and ignore the repeated emails until that negative feedback appears and a Paypal claim is put in against you.  Any way you look at it it is a LOSE LOSE situation.  To avoid this are some simple steps.

1.  Look at the item condition very carefully and be honest with yourself.  If you ordered it, and took it out of the box, would you be happy with the condition if it was described as excellent or mint condition?  If there is doubt you probably should down grade it.  It is better if you exceed the customers expectations rather than fall short of them. 

2.  Check the item for hidden scratches, marks, rips, writtings, stains or any other conditions that shouldn't be there.  If it is a record or CD play it if possible to check for skips.  Check book or magazines page by page.  Test equipment.  Check to see if all the parts are there, or if there is anything missing at all that should be there.  There is not a problem if there is a flawed item like missing pages, but any deficiency in the item  MUST be stated in the listing.

3.  When describing your item, make sure you use the correct name for the item and the correct description.  This may involve UPC code research.  Make sure the description is the right description.  There is nothing more frustrating to a customer than ordering the Special Edition series and receiving the Regular Version.  Take the time out to look online, or ask a friend or family member about the item itself in order to give a detailed and accurate description. 

4.  Research the cost of the item.  You can check other Ebay seller selling the same item.  You can search online stores and forums.  If you think there could be real value to your old item, bring it to an appraiser first.  This will help you decide whether you should put it up for auction or put it in your Ebay store or set a reserve.  You don't want a $700 coin to be auctioned and sold for $100 due to poor description or the unluck of not running across enough buyers interested in your item.

5.  Pictures can tell a thousand words.  Get a digital camera that takes detailed photos.  Customers want to feel like they can reach out and touch it.  Also for high valued items take several pictures all from different angles.  

Best of luck and clear out your junk.  There are people all over the world who want it.

Tom

Space Station Video Games