Did I Just Get Scammed?

[Former_Member]

I also have a shop on another site and through this other shop I sold a item. The seller said they never received it, the tracking number shows that it was received. I sent another one. Now the seller is saying the the item isn't what they though, and they want their money back.

I'll refund the money when I get the item back, but I wonder if they actually received the first one.

Are we training buyers to take advantage of our willingness to provide good customer service?

[Former_Member]

Unfortunately, it's the risk we run having an internet business. You may have been scammed, you may not have been. I'm beginning to find it worth it to make sure items have insurance on them. That way if a package is lost, the money comes from the insurance, not your pocket. I haven't had too many problems with this shop or the jewelry shop, but the USPS has lost too many of my soap packages lately. It's extremely frustrating.

You might also consider signature confirmation - my mom does this for her vintage jewelry, and it just saved her butt in a Ruby Lane transaction.

[seemomster]

Cost of business. Hasn't happened to me yet...but it will. If yours was a bricks-and-mortar shop you'd be padding prices a bit to cover the cost of shoplifting. (Or you should be.) I "self-insure" so I add a little to the price of each piece to cover costs should something go awry.

On my really expensive pieces I do signature confirmation.

[Former_Member]

i agree with erin, insurance is something to think about and i did it. i only lost 1 item in the mail but it was a custom order and it got on my nerves quite a bit that i had to refund the money (not because the customer was unfriendly but just because it was lost).
so i took the chance and started to insure my mail and know what?? not a single thing got lost. well duh but at least i won´t loose any more money and the insurance is paid by the customer..

[waterwaif]

another thing to remember is that insurance won't cover it if the package scans as delivered.

[Former_Member]

I think in my mom's case, they did cover the insurance - she'd gotten signature confirmation, and the PDF of the slip showed that the postal guy DID NOT make anyone sign for the package. But my mom and the customer raised mortal you-know-what with the PO about it, too.

[Former_Member]

Thanks guys for the support and the good information. I guess I just needed reminded that this is the exception, not the norm, and that there are things I can do to make it "safer" for myself.