Italian Postal Service

[Guest]

Have any other sellers been having problems with records 'not arriving' when sending them to Italian buyers?

In the last couple of months I've had one record take 6 weeks to arrive, one sent back to me and 4 not arrive at all. I refunded the buyers in 3 of those as the value was pretty minimal and the latest has just won a chargeback through paypal....same buyer that I refunded for a cheapie a little while back.

To be covered against chargebacks you have to send it registered at a cost of approx £5 which in most cases the buyer is unwilling to pay....can't blame them either if the record is only costing about the same amount! For bigger priced things I've started to pay for this service myself just to cover against potential chargebacks.

Seriously considering the option of just saying I will no longer send records to Italy as it's becoming too much hassle and costing me a small fortune.

Am I just having being unlucky when I post stuff to Italy or has anybody else suffered similar problems??

Adam.

[Tommaso]

Have any other sellers been having problems with records 'not arriving' when sending them to Italian buyers?

In the last couple of months I've had one record take 6 weeks to arrive, one sent back to me and 4 not arrive at all. I refunded the buyers in 3 of those as the value was pretty minimal and the latest has just won a chargeback through paypal....same buyer that I refunded for a cheapie a little while back.

To be covered against chargebacks you have to send it registered at a cost of approx £5 which in most cases the buyer is unwilling to pay....can't blame them either if the record is only costing about the same amount! For bigger priced things I've started to pay for this service myself just to cover against potential chargebacks.

Seriously considering the option of just saying I will no longer send records to Italy as it's becoming too much hassle and costing me a small fortune.

Am I just having being unlucky when I post stuff to Italy or has anybody else suffered similar problems??

Adam.

Hi Adam,

I'm from Italy and I understand what you say, can't blame you.

What I've got to say is that I've bought maybe 100 records in the last 2 years from all over Europe and Us and I received ALL of them.

Sometimes the service's been pretty slow, sometimes it surprised me: fastest item from Uk was received in 3 days, and in 5 days from the US. Talking about average time of delivery, I'd say a week from the UK.

Sounds like you've been pretty unlucky..

[Guest]

Hi Adam,

I'm from Italy and I understand what you say, can't blame you.

What I've got to say is that I've bought maybe 100 records in the last 2 years from all over Europe and Us and I received ALL of them.

Sometimes the service's been pretty slow, sometimes it surprised me: fastest item from Uk was received in 3 days, and in 5 days from the US. Talking about average time of delivery, I'd say a week from the UK.

Sounds like you've been pretty unlucky..

Hi Tommaso,

Thanks for that information and hope you are well? I think we met each other at Winsford a little while ago?

I've got some very good Italian customers and never had any problems with them or the Italian post (does seem slow sometimes but thats all) until the last coouple of months. Always eBay buyers as well that seem to cause these problems, never had a problem with Italian buyers from Soul Source or my web site. Not very often that I sell anything on eBay now but when I do and see that the buyer lives in Italy I stat to worry straight away! So really what I'm trying to find out is has the Italian post suddenly got much worse or have I just been unlucky with a few dodgy ebayers??

Adam.

[Tommaso]

So really what I'm trying to find out is has the Italian post suddenly got much worse or have I just been unlucky with a few dodgy ebayers??

I've got to receive 3 records from Uk at the moment, so I'll answer you in a week

And yes, we met in Winsford in August!

[Guest]

I've got to receive 3 records from Uk at the moment, so I'll answer you in a week

And yes, we met in Winsford in August!

Hope they all arrive with you safely and sure they will. If you could post on here when then that would be great, don't really want to stop sending stuff to Italy so I'm hoping I have just been unlucky with a couple of people.

You'll have to come back to Winsford in February for the last ever all-niter there....it will be packed out with soulies

[Guest Leonardo]

Have any other sellers been having problems with records 'not arriving' when sending them to Italian buyers?

In the last couple of months I've had one record take 6 weeks to arrive, one sent back to me and 4 not arrive at all. I refunded the buyers in 3 of those as the value was pretty minimal and the latest has just won a chargeback through paypal....same buyer that I refunded for a cheapie a little while back.

To be covered against chargebacks you have to send it registered at a cost of approx £5 which in most cases the buyer is unwilling to pay....can't blame them either if the record is only costing about the same amount! For bigger priced things I've started to pay for this service myself just to cover against potential chargebacks.

Seriously considering the option of just saying I will no longer send records to Italy as it's becoming too much hassle and costing me a small fortune.

Am I just having being unlucky when I post stuff to Italy or has anybody else suffered similar problems??

Adam.

Hi Adam,

I've noticed that there are an increasing number of US sellers on eBay who will not ship to Italy. Don't know whether it's just that the Italian postal service is inept or unscrupulous buyers taking advantage of the Paypal 'chargeback' facility. As sellers can no longer post feedback for buyers you can't rely on the feedback system for guidance either.

If I ship anything to Italy I always get a 'Certificate of Posting' from the Post Office, that way I have proof that the item was sent and have fulfilled my part of the transaction should I get into any dispute over non-receipt.

Jules56

[Tommaso]

unscrupulous buyers taking advantage of the Paypal 'chargeback' facility

Italy = spaghetti, mafia, mandolino

[Guest]

Hi Adam,

I've noticed that there are an increasing number of US sellers on eBay who will not ship to Italy. Don't know whether it's just that the Italian postal service is inept or unscrupulous buyers taking advantage of the Paypal 'chargeback' facility. As sellers can no longer post feedback for buyers you can't rely on the feedback system for guidance either.

If I ship anything to Italy I always get a 'Certificate of Posting' from the Post Office, that way I have proof that the item was sent and have fulfilled my part of the transaction should I get into any dispute over non-receipt.

Jules56

Hi Jules,

Interesting info about more sellers not willing to ship to Italy, thanks for that.

The part of your post that I've highlighted in bold.......I too always get a 'Certificate of Postage' for every record that I send out. Sadly it means nothing as far as paypal are concerned and they wil not accept it as documented evidence in any chargeback dispute. In the case of my most recent problem my Italian buyer lodged a non-receipt claim with paypal. The usual emails arrive from paypal telling me the money in my account is frozen until the dispute is solved, please provide evidence that item was posted etc etc. I faxed them a copy of the Certificate of Postage but still lost the dispute and the money was refunded to the buyer. About the fifth time it's happened that way in the last couple of years. Paypal will only accept a tracking number that can be traced online as proof of postage. Basically the seller is screwed....lose the record, lose the money, get neg feedback....not even able to leave neg feedback for the buyer as sellers are no longer allowed to leave negs....the only thing you can do is increase postage costs by £3.50 to cover registered airmail or cover the cost of it yourself, which becomes very expensive and is hardly worth it on most sales.

All of which is why for the first time in 4 years I no longer do enough sales on ebay to stay as a powerseller. After 6 years on the bay with over 5,000 positive feedback I just can't be bothered with it any more....too much hassle, too expensive and almost pointless as anything you do list is lost amongst the huge number of boots and pressings.

Adam.

Edited October 29, 2008 by Guest

[soulsalmon]

Hi Adam,

I've noticed that there are an increasing number of US sellers on eBay who will not ship to Italy. Don't know whether it's just that the Italian postal service is inept or unscrupulous buyers taking advantage of the Paypal 'chargeback' facility. As sellers can no longer post feedback for buyers you can't rely on the feedback system for guidance either.

If I ship anything to Italy I always get a 'Certificate of Posting' from the Post Office, that way I have proof that the item was sent and have fulfilled my part of the transaction should I get into any dispute over non-receipt.

Jules56

Jules ,arent the same sellers having a problem with the french postal service,and insisting on insurance even for low value items ?

[Guest marco i]

I would avoid any kind of generalisation

You can find filthy ebay sellers and buyer everywhere...

Marco

[Guest]

I would avoid any kind of generalisation

You can find filthy ebay sellers and buyer everywhere...

Marco

Hi Marco,

I'm not generalising, in the last 2 months I've had 5 parcels go missing in the post. 1 was to a UK buyer the other 4 were being sent to Italy. That's not generalising...it's just stating the facts. If you put that in percentage terms then in these two months 31% of the parcels I have posted to Italy have not been received. That's why I'm asking if there are problems with the postal service there.

Adam.

[Guest marco i]

Hi Adam, I was just afraid people could start thinking "Italy = bad buyers" as you sometimes hear "Belgium = bad sellers"...

If it can be of any help, I just received a record from UK, shipped October 21st... 8 days is a little slower than usual but still ok.

Cheers,

Marco

Hi Marco,

I'm not generalising, in the last 2 months I've had 5 parcels go missing in the post. 1 was to a UK buyer the other 4 were being sent to Italy. That's not generalising...it's just stating the facts. If you put that in percentage terms then in these two months 31% of the parcels I have posted to Italy have not been received. That's why I'm asking if there are problems with the postal service there.

Adam.

[paultp]

Hi Jules,

Interesting info about more sellers not willing to ship to Italy, thanks for that.

The part of your post that I've highlighted in bold.......I too always get a 'Certificate of Postage' for every record that I send out. Sadly it means nothing as far as paypal are concerned and they wil not accept it as documented evidence in any chargeback dispute. In the case of my most recent problem my Italian buyer lodged a non-receipt claim with paypal. The usual emails arrive from paypal telling me the money in my account is frozen until the dispute is solved, please provide evidence that item was posted etc etc. I faxed them a copy of the Certificate of Postage but still lost the dispute and the money was refunded to the buyer. About the fifth time it's happened that way in the last couple of years. Paypal will only accept a tracking number that can be traced online as proof of postage. Basically the seller is screwed....lose the record, lose the money, get neg feedback....not even able to leave neg feedback for the buyer as sellers are no longer allowed to leave negs....the only thing you can do is increase postage costs by £3.50 to cover registered airmail or cover the cost of it yourself, which becomes very expensive and is hardly worth it on most sales.

All of which is why for the first time in 4 years I no longer do enough sales on ebay to stay as a powerseller. After 6 years on the bay with over 5,000 positive feedback I just can't be bothered with it any more....too much hassle, too expensive and almost pointless as anything you do list is lost amongst the huge number of boots and pressings.

Adam.

Hi Adam,

If you get a certificate of postage and keep your receipt, whatever you send is insured for up to £36 quid with the PO. So if it gets "lost" you can claim back up to that amount from them. Not tried it though yet.

Anything pricey always goes airsure - its pricey but it is tracked and insured.

Just my fourpence worth.

Cheers

Paul