I always write to thank buyers for their purchase after they pay and if the item has flaws I gently ask if they were able to read the description where the flaws are noted. A number of buyers realize they missed that info and ask to cancel. I would rather have them do that than have an unhappy buyer or a return case.

I love listening to your videos! You and Melanie are my kind of people. I started selling in January of this year. I have learned so much from you. All along I have felt that you are honorable and give good honest caring information. Yes, you are absolutely right, Integrity and Honesty is everything!!!! Keep doing what you are doing.

I always thank my customers right after their purchase and immediately let them know when I ship. I treat them like I want to be treated. I also include a hand written thank you card. Thank you Scot. Many Blessings, K.T.

Great tips! I see so many people assuming that a buyer might be a scammer for various reasons, and while it may be true I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. HOWEVER, I can protect myself and help prevent potential scams with these tips! I'll make sure to have them all in place :)

Yup. I've sold books that were in such bad condition but I let them know what they're getting in the title, description, pics of every flaw there is and a low price. And guess what? They still buy them. I don't offer returns but they seem to be okay with them. Great vid, sire!

Thank you for referring me to this video, I will edit this comment after I am done watching the video! I think adding the side of “where can eBay help prevent this” would have been good I really like your videos, and you are quick to watch comments and if you are as diligent running youtube as you are eBay I can see how you dont have a lot of issues Also I think the “showing the flaws” approach is better than trying to hide them, your buyers will have more confidence in buying an item from a seller who maintains showing things instead or hiding them. I love the transparency in your videos, thank you for referring this one!

I have had issues with USPS this month. I shipped the packages and they are lost 6 packages and I had to refund all six and I still don't have the product back. It's so humiliating to tell the buyer that the post office lost the item. I changed every listing to UPS. I do not have faith in the post office any longer. Really makes me look bad and I'm out all this money. Talk about a nightmare.

this is a great video! I always sent a note to my buyer to let them know when I’m shipping and to thank them. I received many positive responses from buyers because of this.!

I remember buying a set of VHS tapes advertised as "new" on eBay, but when I received them, they were clearly RESEALED and one of the tapes needed REWINDING! Clearly not "new" but USED. I reported the seller to eBay and PayPal immediately and eventually got a refund.

I believe that we should all stand with integrity and pride in everything that we do and i'm really glad that you made this video it is phenomenal... Thank you for being so informative and doing so much for us..❤❤❤

The problem I've been having is buyers coming back after they bought it saying something to the effect of "it's not what I expected" or something is not working as expected - especially with electronics. The problem I have with that is how am I supposed to know what to look at with everything? I'm not a guru in everything. In both recent cases they are just trying to get a partial refund. People suck!

As a buyer I don't buy anything if it's stock photos. I want to see pictures of the actual item I'm buying. Also I always read the descriptions. I just assumed all buyers read descriptions. Thanks for sending me this link. I gave you a thumbs up.

Hi Scott and Melanie, Thank you for all the information. I do appreciate it. I usually do not comment because I watch usually on the TV. God Bless, and thank you so much. 💕💕😊😊

Why are there promoted listings on my listings for the same items? How do I handle this? This is not right. So, I promote my store, customer chooses an item, and then decides not to purchase said item because seller has a lower price. So now I have to list my items at the bottom price or I will never sell anything? Grrrr! Love the feed!

Thanks for the information.

Great video!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

Hey Scot: I ship items out every day...I will send this message out to the buyer most of the time within an hour of purchase...Hello (Buyers first name), Thank you for your purchase and super-fast payment your item is on the way. Most clients received their package within 3 to 5 business days. You can track your package along the way, see tracking information on eBay. Shipped first class in a 6 x 4 x 4 eBay box. Regards, Seller... I will also track the package and once the package has been delivered I will send this message out: Hello (Buyers first name), According to the Tracking number your item has been delivered. Thanks again for your purchase a Positive Feedback has been left on your account. Hope all arrived safe & sound! Welcome back Anytime! Enjoy! Regards, Seller... Great information...keep up the videos...Garry

Thank you for taking your time to teach all of us..no matter how long we have been selling there is always something new we can learn❤❤❤❤

Great video. I am always surprised when some vloggers say to not waste time on the details when making listings. To me it just makes sense to make a quality listing. I get that you shouldn't spend eons on one listing though. I haven't spent loads of money on my set up either. I have white boards and I lucked out purchasing something that came in a large black lined box that I use when I need a black background. A few lights that I can manipulate and my camera. I think I take great detailed photos and I get positive feedback about my detailed photos. I care about transparency. I want my customers, like Scott said, to receive their item and it looks better in person and they end up quite happy. ☺

I did a purchase - tracking was working as it should - then two days later - no package. It showed on tracking that it had an address change through shipper and sent somewhere else. Lucky the tracking proved I did not get it and E-Bay refunded me. Seller dissapeared off the platform.

This was helpful advice to protect buyers and sellers. Thank you!!! Russ😃

Thanks again Scot for another great informational video! I really appreciate the amount of time & effort that you take in identifying & explaining these common online scams, from both the buyer's & the seller's viewpoint, plus how these scams ultimately impacts both sides! You have given us some very good tips & common practices, that we really need to be including with each sale we make. I believe it's very important to remember, that no sale is complete until the product has been received by the buyer! As you have emphasized so well, communicating with your buyer, after the sale & throughout the shipping process, is a key component to a successful sale & a happy buyer! All of which helps to build trust between you & the buyer, minimizing the amount of returns received, plus another buyer who may want to buy from us again! Another excellent point you made, is to take photos of all flaws or imperfections, be honest & transparent in the item description as well! Thanks again Scot for sharing your experiences with all of us, you're the best! Keep up the great work & doing what you do best! ❤️

Another great video. 🍻

Well how did you fair with the storms Wednesday. My cousins in Fairfield got hit hard no water or electric. We had a storm come thru Spring Wednesday and made a mess in our area 100 mile winds snapped a lot of pine trees. We had a lot down from our trees but were blessed that they landed all around in the yard but not house or car. Even our street was blocked with tree and light pole. No cell internet just got back today but no electric possibly Sunday night. Was tolerating heat ok until last night when tripped and broke little toe. Just unhappy and grumpy today.

ANOTHER GREAT ONE.

I actually just had a seller send an email with photo of “ my box”. My first thought was “ is this a scam?”.

What return policy do u recommend for a new Seller? Is it also Better for Best Offer as a new seller, sorry to ask all this but as I'm eldery not Wise on this ,Thanks

Very bad eBay seller wedding07-26 I ordered a cassette tape that you can plug into any headphone jack and I ordered it 3 weeks ago and still never received it yet and it stuck in New York still

Hi Scott, Thank you for this informative video. I started out as an eBay buyer approximately 12 years ago. I started selling on eBay about 2 years ago and was the victim of a scan that cost me approximately $700. I sold a set of encyclopedias which was not my first transaction of that type. To make a long story short the buyer in this matter claimed that the books I shipped were damaged and even sent photos to eBay. The "minor" damage he submitted could definitely be caused in transit by the U.S. Postal Service. These books were not insured because I used the cheapest rate to ship (library) because shipping first class would have been a small fortune. Nevertheless, as a new seller, I was baffled and turned to eBay's customer service for assistance. I was totally misinformed by the telephone reps. I called myself writing a letter to the corporate headquarters to no avail for intervention, I did not issue a refund at first. In the meantime, my books were not returned. This matter went on for months and in the interim I checked out the buyer's track record and found out he was dishonest in other sales transactions. I never got my books back which I requested and was forced by eBay to issue a refund or be faced with actions from a collection agency. For many months I refuse to even deal with eBay but now I'm back at it because I have so much inventory to move out. Some of which, I got for free and others I paid for to resell. My questions to you and the readers of this grievance are the following: 1. Can I specify in my listings that the buyer will be responsible for the return shipping cost for any reason? 2. Can I specify in my listing that all buyers will be vetted to confirm that they are in good standing with eBay and their account is at least 3 to 6 months old? 3. Shipping expensive books via U.S. Postal Service can be expensive but I will have the option to insure the items if I use a different more expensive postal rate. Have you ever had to file a claim with the USPS for items damaged or lost in transit? Since most of the books I sell are either free or I pay cash, there is no receipt confirming that I paid for the items. I really need to expedite the sale of the items I have in inventory since I am now paying storage for them. Any advice that you or your readers can provide will be welcomed.

Yes I was asking help with Mercari but since you don’t use it I will try to ask someone that uses Mercari thank you

I unknowingly purchased counterfeit DVD's which did not work, and even sent my PC into the red screen of death. I started a return for refund, so far so good. But the shipping label Ebay provided for the return was bogus ( on google maps it was sent to a Cafe in Florida even though the items were originally sent to me from Illinois). So the return items were sent back to me because (seller) addressee was unknown. Does Ebay not even check to make sure of the seller address before generating a return label? Ebay or the seller paid for the label, I just printed it out, so why does Ebay not make sure the address is correct? before giving it to you to print out.

Awesome video thank you and my regards to Meldy your wife. Question how to answer to another seller that literally harassed and threatened me that my item worth nothing and I’ll never sale it also accused me of stealing the buyer money because I posted guitar accessories which that’s his store all about. 🙈

We finally have power it was rough. I am having trouble with Mercari and just can’t seem to troubleshoot. I cannot loads pictures I can do everything but it won’t let me load pictures. How do I get thru to support. I am frustrated

A great video, but there are too many scammers on ebay, buyers and sellers. I have had genuine feedback I have left, removed by ebay for both buyers and sellers. Much distrust with ebay and it does seem that the sellers have better protection, as the seller is the one providing the funds for ebay. It is now a scary platform.

Scott, thank you for such great ideas and information. Seems like ever time I watch your videos, I learn something new!! Thank you and I can't wait for the next one!