Ebay can help you sell items you no longer need or want, and Half.com can certainly help quickly move items such as books and DVDs. It can certainly be worth your effort if the transactions go smoothly because the sales provide you with money to purchase other items. The big trouble comes when a transaction fails to go smoothly because it can get quite costly for the seller (and possibly even the buyer). Here are some problems you may encounter when selling on Ebay or Half.com:
Slow payment or nonpayment. Half.com helps you get your payment quickly, but it may not come so quickly with Ebay. A buyer often waits for you to send a request for payment, so make sure you do that if the buyer does not instantly pay for the item. Do not simply assume the buyer plans on not paying if you fail to secure quick payment. Email the buyer and give the buyer some time to respond. Life happens. Family deaths and sudden illnesses happen on a daily basis, so show some compassion for a time. File against the dead-beat buyer only after you can safely say the buyer plans on not paying.
Claims against items. You may get some claims against the items you sell. This may happen for a variety of reasons. The one important point to know here is how to differentiate between valid claims and bogus claims so that you will know how to handle the claims. You certainly want to take care of the legitimate buyer, but you certainly do not want to reward the buyer who makes a bogus claim to get something for free. How can you determine the difference?
*A valid buyer may receive an item damaged during shipment, or you may even send the wrong item to the buyer. A valid buyer will certainly contact you, and you need to take care of the buyer. Provide an immediate refund and have the buyer ship back the item. Send the buyer a money order for return shipment cost once you receive back the damaged item. You can then make a claim on shipment if you insured the item. You still have the damaged item even if you didn’t insure the item.
*A bogus claim can easily happen on books or DVDs. Some buyers want to read a book or watch a movie for free, and they can do this by paying for the item, using the item, and then making a claim against the item. The buyer counts on the seller refunding the money for the item (while allowing the buyer to keep the item) just to avoid negative feedback. Do not fall into this trap. Do offer to refund the money for any book or DVD, but refund the money only after the buyer sends back the item and do not offer to pay for return shipping. This forces the bogus buyer into some cost for the effort of trying to get something for nothing.
Lack of correspondence. Determining the validity of the buyer can easily come in the correspondence you get from the buyer, and correspondence includes feedback on your account. Treat all personal correspondence with the respect it comes with. Do not engage with hostility. Turn any hostile emails in to Ebay. Do your best, however, to resolve the issues that come from courteous emails. If the correspondence comes in feedback, rather than email (through the Contact Seller feature), respond in the same manner. Reply to absurd claims by calling them absurd. Offer to refund the money for return of the item. End of story. This will help stop bogus buyers.
The bottom line is this: Things happen. Sellers make mistakes with shipping. Items sometime get damaged during shipping. Resolving the issue begins with the buyer showing the seller some respect by respectfully contacting the seller through Ebay or Half.com. The seller needs to show the buyer the same respect the buyer shows the seller. No more. No less. Transactions are a two-way street. Reward legitimate transactions, not dead-beat transactions.
