Things You Need to Do to CYA

As a seller, you will need to continually be one step ahead of your buyers. Did you even wonder why the official rules of any game or contest can cover pretty much half of a bedroom door of tiny print? That's the contest operators' way of CYA. You need to be doing the same thing. Why? Because the minute you let your guard down, there will be someone who will try to take advantage of you.

Now, there are plenty of ways to CYA. I will list some of my tricks here.

Most of your CYAing will be done in your listing description. You will need to be extremely descriptive in your listings. Sizes, colors, dimensions, included accessories, shipping methods, whether or not you are including batteries, whether the item being listed was tested for operability, etc.

If the toy you are selling takes two AA batteries, it helps to mentioned that "this toy takes two AA batteries (not included)..."  

If you are going to offer free shipping on a listing, it doesn't hurt to state something to the effect of "... Free shipping will be at the most economical rate I can find. If you need the item expedited, please be prepared to pay for an expedited means of delivery..." 

If you simply were to say, "Free shipping on this item.", well, who's to say just what free shipping means? You might get a buyer who thinks free shipping means overnight delivery. Unless you specify and be extremely clear in your description, you will be opening yourself up to a whole new can of worms each and every time.

There have been times when I have listed an item, but shown two identical items in a picture. I've done this on occasion to show a buyer that the item is available in blue and red, for example. I needed to be extremely specific and had to mention "... although there are two items shown in the first picture, the listing is for ONE ITEM ONLY..."

Many times I will place a small ordinary item (a quarter, ordinary AA battery, empty can of Coke) next to the item I am selling. Doing this is an excellent way for your buyer to judge just how big or small the item is, because who, after all, doesn't know how big a quarter, AA battery or can of soda is? I have to be specific and say that such size-comparison items are shown for size-comparison only, and are not included.

Your return policy is another area where you will need to be extremely specific. Here is an exact copy of my return policy:  "Returns generally only accepted if we made an egregious error in the listing (for example, if we described an item as red and we shipped a blue item). Most of our items are vintage, antique, or used, and therefore cannot be expected to be in brand new or perfect condition. Items are described to the best of our ability. It is the buyers' responsibility to ensure that the item as described meets his or her approval or requirements BEFORE purchase. It is not acceptable to return an item that we described as being in excellent condition, if the buyers' opinion differs over trivial matters. An older, vintage or antique item can reasonably be expected to have a few very minor dings or minor blemishes and still be considered to be in excellent condition overall. The buyer has every opportunity to ask questions about the condition of items and/ or ask to see additional pictures of items BEFORE making a purchase. Additionally, buyers pay for all return shipping & insurance costs. We will reimburse if we were responsible for the error. We do not accept returns on damaged or broken items, as that is what shipping insurance is for. Any non-damaged or non-broken items MUST be returned in the same condition as listed in the original listing. Any questions, please ask before purchase."

It sounds reasonable enough. The intent was to convey that I fully expect buyers to buy responsibly and think clearly and rationally before buying something. I am not WalMart. I do not want buyers buying something and returning it a week later because they didn't like it. That's WalMart's policy... not mine.

Clearly stating that the buyer will pay for return shipping unless it is my error, and in such cases I will pay for return shipping. Of all the thousands of items I've shipped, I've only had to pay for return shipping twice due to an error on my part.

Now, as of late, ebay's made some changes and kind of put us sellers in a corner by pretty much  forcing us to have a return policy. And, it really doesn't even matter if you do or don't have a return policy anyways. If you say that you do not accept returns, and a buyer actually returns an item to you, and can prove that you received the item back, you will either refund the buyers' full payment, or ebay will do it for you.

Additionally, one of my stipulations is that I fully expect the item to be returned to me in the same exact condition as when it left my possession. There's no reason why any seller should expect any less. I mean, if I am going to offer a refund, the least I would expect is the item returned in the same condition such that I can re-list it and try to sell it to another buyer for the same amount as the first paid. That will be awfully hard to do if the item is returned in any less shape than when I first shipped it out.

Although it's kind of rare, you may get a buyer who's bought your nice item with the sole intent of replacing yours with his old beat up item, and then trying to send you his old beat up identical item back to you for a refund. It's happened to me. Here is where all the pictures you took of the item will come in handy. Chances are, you are going to know within 10 seconds of opening up the returned item whether or not it's the same thing you shipped out three weeks ago or not. If it clearly isn't, take lots of pictures, and get a hold of ebay, and tell them what your buyer is up to, and that you have no intention of offering a refund. They will likely want to see the pictures of the item your buyer sent back to you claiming it's the same thing you shipped out.

Always be one step ahead of your buyers, and always CYA!