[time-nuts] Be aware of test equipment seller orzel-enterprises oneBay

[Paul Flinders]

On 11/09/2012 13:17, David Kirkby wrote:
>
> If a buyer changes his mind, he will usually have to pay shipping both ways.
>
> I say "usually", because under the Distance Seller Regulations in the
> UK, if an individual (non-business) buys an item at a fixed price from
> a business, and they get it and don't like it, the seller is legally
> obliged to pay the shipping both ways.
Just to correct a small error here - the seller is not legally bound to 
pay postage both ways, the DSR allows the seller to specify that the 
buyer pays the return postage - as long as they do so before the sale.

As someone who occasionally manages to sell items on ebay for 
(extremely) modest profit I would never "try to wriggle out" of my 
obligations under the DSR but paying for the postage one way can wipe 
out any revenue from an item, even if re-sold. Paying both ways is 
unfair to small sellers if it's purely a "change of mind", although I 
agree I should pay IF it is my mistake or an item actually manages to 
arrive faulty despite the considerable care I take to test and, if 
necessary, repair items before sale.

Larger "distance sellers", can factor a few percent returns into their 
sales - I just don't do the volume to do so without pricing myself out 
of the market.

As to the packaging for your item I feel your pain - I hate it when 
items arrive poorly packed. Fortunately I've been lucky so far and 
nothing has been signifcantly damaged. Sending I always use "fat" bubble 
wrap to give about 2" coverage, then peanuts packed into bags so that 
they can't "flow" around the item, for heavier items I us expanded 
polystyrene if I have it to hand and I've been toying with the idea of 
experimenting with expanding foam to give custom moulded support.