What measures do I have to take when selling expensive items on either amazon/ebay, so that I don't get raped by some loser filing a claim, trying to swindle me, saying the item is damaged, or any other excuse to screw me over?
I just want to prepare myself, as the first item is $200+ and the second item is almost $500. Obviously I'm going to get shipping insurance, signature confirmation, etc... but I just need some pointers on how to guard against scammers/swindlers/etc.
I've had no issues selling stuff in the past on ebay or amazon (probably have 300-500 sells between the two), but I've never sold anything over $300 either...
Signature confirmation is only required on items where the payment, including shipping charges, is equal to or more than $750. This is a change from the previous threshold of $250.
Signature confirmation provides no protection for items under the $750 threshold; in fact you may risk upsetting your buyer if they have to travel to the P.O. to pick their item up, and wait in these long seasonal lines.
It comes free with express shipping and I almost always waive it for the buyer unless they expressly ask me to include it.
Nothing is fool proof. Most scammers are lazy or dumb and go away if you call them out, assuming you have taken precautions to protect yourself.
Weigh your item and record it on the invoice (I print the payment invoices from PayPal and file them). Write down the size and description of the packaging (All carriers use size (DIM) pricing so you should be measuring your items anyways; something going from one coast to the other in 14 x 14 x 14 box is going to cost significantly more then something of the same weight in an 8 x 6 x 4 box.
^ This is important because I've had buyers claim they received empty boxes on what would have been heavy items. I can prove that I shipped something of let's say 9lbs because again this gets recorded on the carrier end (you have to dig a little bit to get USPS to release that information but I live in a small town and am on good terms with my Post Master so she has no problem printing that information for me).
Then at that point the buyer would have to cooperate with the insurance claim and many don't want to because they require a signed affidavit and in the case of USPS claims, it's federal mail fraud for laying. I have had eBay side in my favor as the seller when buyers won't cooperate with an insurance claim. Even if it's on an item that doesn't have insurance, I still send them a generic affidavit from my insurance company or from the postal inspector just to see if they'd cooperate.
It's also helpful to keep track of item size/weight if you ever run into a situation where a buyer needs to return something (no such thing as "no returns").
I had a buyer in India state they received a broken Xbox One. They sent back a PlayStation 1 console in a poly bag. I was able to show eBay customer service that the package they shipped by DHL weighed only 2KG ( ~ 4.5lbs) and that an Xbox One weighs almost three times that and would never fit in a poly bag.
I guess it comes down to being thorough and prepared and understanding that you're never 100% protected.
The big things to watch out for that many new sellers forget:
NEVER EVER under ANY circumstance alter the shipping address at the buyers request. You will lose an Item Not Received (INR) or Unauthorized (UA) chargeback if a buyer files it and you will have zero recourse to defend yourself. If a buyer claims they entered the wrong shipping address either take that risk OR refund them (tell them PayPal doesn't allow you to change the shipping address after receiving payment (white lie)) and have them repurchase the item.
If you are selling digital items and you do not ship, you will lose any INR or UA chargeback because for INR you need proof of delivery to the zip code on the PayPal invoice and for UA Chargebacks you need "Proof of shipment" (delivery helps speed up the process). eBay doesn't care about your eBay messaging or e-mails.
I would read the seller protection sections of the eBay and PP User Agreement and just make sure what protections you need against claims and then practice due diligence from there on out.