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Problems with buyers as a new seller
Hi there,
I am a relatively new seller to brickowl this year. After a few teething problems in the beginning I have now listed lots of inventory and slowly getting sales.
The problem I have found more than a few times now already is that the buyer either pays the wrong postage for the dimensions of the item( only paying for Royal Mail large letter when parcel due to dimensions was needed and stated on the listing). When I contact they either don’t respond so I issue a full refund…is that the correct way to go?
Also today is my first “not received’ item posted on the 6th…3 days ago and today 9th telling me item is missing. I fear this is going to become a problem. I get proof of posting but I cannot get tracking as buyers are only paying for the standard post.
Is this a regular occurrence with other sellers in the UK…. As I am now thinking maybe I should just close my store. It was going to be a hobby but don’t need it turning into a headache for me.
What do I do with all my stock if I closedown… are their sites that will buy it as a job lot??. I am only on brick owl.
I am a relatively new seller to brickowl this year. After a few teething problems in the beginning I have now listed lots of inventory and slowly getting sales.
The problem I have found more than a few times now already is that the buyer either pays the wrong postage for the dimensions of the item( only paying for Royal Mail large letter when parcel due to dimensions was needed and stated on the listing). When I contact they either don’t respond so I issue a full refund…is that the correct way to go?
Also today is my first “not received’ item posted on the 6th…3 days ago and today 9th telling me item is missing. I fear this is going to become a problem. I get proof of posting but I cannot get tracking as buyers are only paying for the standard post.
Is this a regular occurrence with other sellers in the UK…. As I am now thinking maybe I should just close my store. It was going to be a hobby but don’t need it turning into a headache for me.
What do I do with all my stock if I closedown… are their sites that will buy it as a job lot??. I am only on brick owl.
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Comments
Ask the buyer who reported 'not received' to be patient, as with recent strike action the Royal Mail is still likely playing catch-up. Also, they will not consider an item lost until several days have passed (I can't remember exactly, maybe 14?). Eventually though you may have to refund the buyer in full, and submit a lost package claim to Royal Mail. You might only get a few stamps in return but it's better than nothing.
Such claims are not that common in my experience.
I think it's 10 days past the expected delivery date before you can query, but clearly some people aren't keeping up with strike action news.
If, as @Hoddie mentioned, you have shipping dimensions this sort of scenario should be avoided. At the moment the onus is on the customer to see and act (honestly) on this information, but if you set dimensions, then you are forcing (in the nicest possible way!) them to pay the correct amount so that you don't have any issues further down the line, by being out of pocket and having to issue unnecessary refunds.
There is also the possibility that public notes are not so obvious if someone has bought through a wishlist function, although I have a recollection this has cropped up before and may have been addressed at an admin/site level, so may not be as much of a problem.