What if a package gets lost?

In my last post, I quoted eBay's new policy on insurance:

The insurance option creates the perception that buyers need to purchase shipping insurance as a protection on eBay, an experience they're not accustomed to on other ecommerce sites. In fact, sellers have always been responsible for their items until they arrive safely in their customers' hands. That's why shipping insurance will no longer be included in the purchase flow as either an option or requirement for buyers.

I then made the following statements:

Many sellers are upset about this. The sellers that are upset are the ones who think that they are not responsible when the buyer does not receive the merchandise. If you are one of those people, consider this: When you buy from Amazon and do not receive the item, do you expect Amazon to reply, "We are not responsible for items not received. Once the item leaves our warehouse, we cannot guarantee delivery. Speak to the carrier about the whereabouts of the item."? Or, do you expect Amazon to send another one at their expense? I am sure that most people would expect Amazon to send another.

This issue is getting debated at length on various message boards. No seller wants to refund a buyer's money when a package goes missing, and most sellers would always wonder whether the buyer did receive the package. This is why a seller should always use delivery confirmation.

On a side note, I am surprised at how many of my sellers still do not use PayPal shipping or delivery confirmation. With PayPal shipping, delivery confirmation is free for priority mail and much cheaper than at the post office for other services. All a seller needs is a digital scale so that the package can be weighed. Digital scales can be bought inexpensively on eBay, or at a higher price on Amazon. I bought mine on Amazon because eBay sellers normally send items like scales in bad packaging causing them to get damaged. I buy all new items anywhere other than eBay, even if I have to pay more.

To go back to delivery confirmation, it will save sellers from most scams, but it is not foolproof. I once received a neighbor's package that had delivery confirmation. If I had not given it to my neighbor, the recipient would not have received it, but the delivery confirmation would have shown it as delivered. Another time, I found a package stuck in my mailbox hours after the mail arrived. I checked the delivery confirmation online and found that it had been delivered seven hours before, but not to me. It was not a cheap purchase, either. I'm lucky my neighbor was honest enough to put it in my mailbox.

I do feel that a seller is responsible for a package until the buyer receives it (per my Amazon analogy above). I'm sure my opinion is not popular among many people reading this blog, but it is reality.

Consider this: What if you have a buyer who does not receive a package from you, and you decide not to refund the buyer's money because you are not responsible? How do you think your buyer will feel?

I can tell you exactly how your buyer will feel. A couple of years ago, I had a package go missing from a seller with whom I had had multiple previous successful transactions. Around four weeks had passed, and I had not left the seller any feedback because I did not have my purchase. This was an international transaction, so four weeks was not too long to wait.

The seller sent me a message requesting that I leave feedback and wondering if anything was wrong with my purchase. I replied, saying that I had not received the package yet, which is why I had not left feedback. The seller did apologize and hoped I would still receive my package. The seller did not offer a refund, and I did not request one. I never did receive the books.

How do I feel? I will never purchase from that seller again. I do not believe it was her fault, but she should have refunded my money. I can understand why she did not offer, since international postage is quite expensive. The problem is that I have a lingering bad feeling about her and that transaction, so I have passed on her auctions ever since that time. Think for a moment if you feel that you are not responsible. What if a package does go missing? Do you want to risk losing a customer?

I agree that when a seller packs well, then it is not the seller's fault when a package goes missing. But how does a buyer know that the seller packed well? All the buyer knows is that a purchase was made and not received. The buyer will blame the seller instead of someone else.

Should a seller refund a buyer when a package goes missing? Yes, yes, and yes. A seller never knows when a buyer may have friends who would later make purchases. It is also true that all a buyer has to do is file a PayPal claim to get their money refunded, but do you really want your buyers to do that? With the direction that eBay is going, a seller has no room to allow a buyer to file a claim when the seller can settle the problem directly. Nobody wants a black mark on their record, besides the fact that the buyer will have a bad feeling about the seller.