Ebay's new policies.

All true, but the point I wish to make is, if you can't afford to absorb those aberrations as a cost of business, you're selling the wrong stuff. That said, Ebay is afflicted with a higher percentage of freak buyers than any other type of retail, so the equation about what is and is not profitable to sell has to include an even greater component for loss than regular retailing.

 

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It is odd though since I started cancelling transactions that didn't feel right, I have not had a single claim from anyone they hadn't received a coin. Of course some don't sell coins without tracking which is a pain on a coin that costs
$5. I think some people buy so many coins in a month they don't know what they got or not and just say they didn't get it. Others of course find low cost coins with free shipping that they know will not use tracking. No business likes loss through theft, why do you think department stores have security and call the policy. Of course on Ebay, you can steal and get away with it.

 

I don't see that as odd. You know what you're doing and have every right to trust your gut. And the people you're blowing off are thieves, who will just move on to an easier target.

 

I thought ebay required tracking and even if they don't, sellers for their own protection should use it. And I know that we buyers want tracking to be included with our purchases

 

Ebay doesn't require tracking. Some people will just use a stamp for small, less expensive coins. I did have one person send me 9 large cents without tracking, I wouldn't recommend that.

 

Gold level power seller.... yes, I have sold enough coins.

 

Personally I would just spend or deposit anything worth so little that it had to be shipped with a stamp to make any money on it if the local shop didn't want it. Just not worth the time and effort type thing.

Exactly. Their discount is highly overrated anyway for the sellers constantly bending over backwards for the extra 20 percent. That extra 20 percent is 20 percent off 6 percent if you have a store or in other words 1.2 percent. If you don't have a store its 20 percent off 10 percent or 2 percent. One con job stealing an item can easily cost more than losing that discount would.

 

Of course if your selling a coin worth $25-$50 you have to provide tracking it is just coins that are $5-$10. People like to buy them but a few con jobs can take away any profit at that level. People on Ebay are looking for a bargain. I had one guy asking about tracking on a dime he paid $3.50 with free shipping. I would be giving it away for free if I paid for shipping with tracking. Might be better off doing like you said on coins at that level, just sell it to a shop for its silver when it is up then deal with that nonsense.

 

That's the point, though. $5 coins are_not_profitable.

 

I used to tinker with some of those 15 dollar coin sales too just to get rid of stuff laying around. That was actually the group of buyers I ended up having the most problems with. It is just not worth it especially for the under 10 now that free shipping is expected and under 5 is a no brainier for me to just spend or take anything over face from a shop. After packaging and shipping you maybe made a fe cents if you're lucky. Nothing wore me out quicker than people trying to get a lower price on a 5 dollar coin that has free shipping.

 

That's the down side of Delivery Confirmation, as long as it is delivered somewhere, anywhere, ebay considers it to have been delivered. And it is pretty much an automatic win for the seller in the case of a non-delivery claim. (About the only sellers protection there is.)

Ebay doesn't require tracking, but they do recommend it. And if a sellers doesn't use it he automatically loses in a non-delivery claim.

 

You think it happens a lot to us? Try being Amazon.

Aberrational behavior happens in retail. People like to steal. I'm in big-box retailing, and the subsection of the store I'm in ships $3500 out the door some weeks in theft. There are many weeks where Shrink is the third-largest P&L entry after Gross & Cost of Goods, even exceeding payroll. Labor being the #1 controllable, we wouldn't be profitable if we manned the place sufficiently to stop them all. If you want to sell stuff, you have to plan for losses. It's going to happen.

 

Correct, if a buyer claims they didn't get the coin and there was no tracking, the seller loses the case automatically so you have to refund them know matter what the case is.