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I just updated my terms of sale for the first time in a long time and i want to make sure it doesn't sound bad or leave me open to abusive buyer. Be honest and thank you in advance:

Payment:
I only accept PayPal with <b>confirmed addresses</b>. Winner MUST pay within 7 days of auction close.

Shipping:
I ship to <b>CONFIRMED ADDRESSES ONLY</b>. I also <b>do not ship to APOs</b> because Delivery Confirmation does not work once it arrives at the base. If you pay before 4:30 pm eastern time on a business day I will send it out that same day. Make sure you contact me quickly after auction if you have any special packaging requirements or questions because once I receive payment I am usually out the door. No PO Boxes if using anything other than USPS.

Contact Us:
Feel free to contact me anytime using the eBay "Contact Seller" link. I am online a lot, so it shouldn't take long to get an answer.

Terms of Sale:
I sell all of my items AS-IS with no warranty. I do, however, <b>guarantee</b> the item will arrive to you in the condition that I have stated in the listing. If the item arrives in a condition other than which it was described please contact me within 48 hours. The payment for the item will be refunded, but you must pay to have it shipped back to me via service of your choice. Only after I receive it and verify its condition will I refund your shipping and item cost.
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quote:
AS-IS with no warranty



Well as both a buyer and seller the thing that catches my eye is "AS-IS with no warranty" and this is a big turn off in my book.

As a seller I offer at least a 14 day warranty.
In the 11+ years of online selling I have only had 3 items returned. \

By offering a warranty you can greatly boost buyer confidence with very little to no extra costs to yourself. I think you will find that by offering quality products with good descriptions and photos along with a good warranty will boost your sales. Keep in mind your warranty is like a buyer "security blanket" and if done correctly your warranty will almost never be used by the buyers.
quote:
By offering a warranty you can greatly boost buyer confidence with very little to no extra costs to yourself. I think you will find that by offering quality products with good descriptions and photos along with a good warranty will boost your sales. Keep in mind your warranty is like a buyer "security blanket" and if done correctly your warranty will almost never be used by the buyers.


Not to mention it is the FTC LAW. If your item fails to arrive in the condition it was advertised then by law, you must replace the product, or refund the customers money. If an item is not in working order, be sure to state this in your listing.

A sellers return policy for other reasons, is at the sellers discretion. But I agree...something a bit more generous than two days would not hurt. I would not state in your terms of service that shipping must be paid by the buyer, because if it is your fault, then good customer service policy would be for the seller to refund the shipping as well.

On my verbiage for payment terms of service, I state, "payment is expected within five days of close of auction, unless other arrangements have been authorized in advance."

I like to set the expectation up front, in my terms of service, but I will allow exceptions for my customers, if they ask nicely. The key is communication.

If they have not paid in that time frame, I send a reminder invoice, and if they don't reply within a week, than I open a non-paying bidder claim, recoup my selling fees, relist and move on.

I think many of the terms in the shipping paragraph are overkill. Too many negatives. Try barking less and wagging more.
Do you really want to limit sales to APO addresses? Especially since they are so far and few between anyway? So what if delivery confirmation isn't available? It doesn't prove anything anyway, and it may cost you a sale, and a happy customer. I would simply assert, "I ship next business day, after receipt of payment." (if you manage to ship SAME day, then you have "exceeded the service expectation." Kudos to you.) Service to PO Boxes is only available using USPS.
I personally have never had a customer request special packaging, and I wouldn't want to give the idea that such an option was available. As the seller, I am responsible for providing adequate packaging. (with the resources I have at my disposal)

Also, if I'm not mistaken, the improved PayPal policies no longer penalize for unconfirmed addresses for seller protection. Check the PayPal site. This is also at your discretion. Depending on the value of your item, shipping to an unconfirmed address may be a non-issue of risk. I've never had any problems with shipments to unconfirmed addresses. But my shipments tend to be low dollar items.

For whatever its worth...Hope the points are well taken, and happy selling to you.

LDC
I have actually had a person want to use UPS and they give me a PO box. Delivery confirmation has saved me on INR chargebacks so i am willing to risk not shipping to APOs. Plus of the 4 APO orders i've had i never got feedback and it kept me worried. I think you are right about the packaging instruction part because the only special instruction they could really have is gift wrapping or a different address and i do neither. As for the confirmed addresses the new Extended seller protection SAYS it is all equal now but i bet it would still help to have a confirmed address on there if i did have to fight it with the CC company. At least if the CC knows i shipped it to the confirmed address and it's unauthorized it will raise red flags for fraud on the buyers end. I bet they changed the policy because fraudsters know to do a SNAD instead of a INR now anyway, and paypal never helps on SNAD they just have the buyer send a brick back with delivery confirmation :P

Thanks again for your advice.
quote:
Assuming you pack your items well, items that arrive "in a condition not as described" should have maybe been insured. I put in my listings that I am not responsible for lost or damaged packages when insurance is waived.


The problem is...
You can "assert" these terms of service all you want, but it isn't supported by law. As an internet retailer, you cannot bind persons to a contract which is unlawful to begin with. That is FRAUD. The seller is the party responsible for insuring their product.
Under Federal Trade Commission law, you must replace the product or refund the customers money, within 30 days, if it fails to arrive, or is not as described. And if you do not comply willingly with the law, then you can be forced to do so. Which is why PalPal often will enforce these claims against sellers, because they KNOW that in a court of law, these assertions will be laughed out of court. It is much more prudent to willingly comply with the law, then to be forced to do so judicially. And for sellers who believe that just because they are an "individual" selling on eBay, somehow exempts them from these laws, they can end up in legal hot water. If you are listing items on eBay, then you are setting yourself out as an "internet retailer" and are subject to all commerce laws, including legal liabilities as a retailer. So, as a seller, if you cannot afford to absorb a loss, in the event of a delivery mishap, then YOU should be purchasing insurance to protect yourself from legal liabilities. Auctiva makes it easy to include this insurance as mandatory, with a simple click of a button. Each seller must determine what their personal "risk" limit is. For some it may $50, and another $500. Whichever one you are, it behooves YOU to buy insurance, if the product exceeds that value.

This is not an opinion of a seller, but a clarification of what the LAW states. And understanding the premise of these laws, can forestall a seller becoming a victim of their own ignorance of the law.

It may not seem fair...but that is just the way it is under law.

LDC

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