What is the expectations from the seller if an item was lost during the shipping process?

Is the expectation is to refund the buyer? or do what? during the COVID-19 limited air travel a number of normal postage mail was lost!
I am unsure of the process on Hipstamp.

I would appreciate your comments

Comments

  • 28 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • I'm just a 71 year old buyer - I expect a refund -if small in dollar even at my age i wouldn't claim non-receipt - if expensive stamps like ebay allows, if possible add xtra $ for ship and send so you can trace or whatever - also if "buyer" does more tnan once - cut him off and post he does this if hs allows
  • There is no question in my mind that the buyer deserves a refund. If a sufficient amount of time has passed, I issue a refund (including shipping) as soon as I hear from the customer. The postal service does not guarantee delivery on any
    type of mail except the very expensive Priority Express. It is the sellers responsibility to get the purchase to the buyer. As a seller I am admitting that I do not know IF the package will ever arrive by using USPS. I have to take ownership of that and make an immediate and full refund. By the same token if a customer does this more than once or twice, I'll report that person to Hipstamp.
  • Total agreement with Wayne, altho since I started selling stamps in 1985 I can only remember maybe half a dozen "lost" orders. You say "a number of orders were lost". was this shipments within the US ?
  • We have always issued a full refund to our Customers. No questions asked (well, depending on the time since the order was placed, we may request to hang on for a week or 2 due to Covid & the Postal System right now). Things do take a little longer to arrive to their destinations.
  • I just had a customer message me that he had only received 1 of 2 envelopes I had sent from the same Post Office at the same time. I asked a customer to wait another since the Post Office has been having delivery problems. He waited just over a week and said he had not received the other envelope. I refunded his money and half the shipping charge. That was about a week ago. I received a message today that the second envelope had arrived an was postmarked April 8. He said he would send a check tomorrow. I told him to just keep the stamps gratis for the problems he had. This tells me the Post Office is still having problems.
  • I just got a return to a US address with a sticker has "Non deliverable / Non Existent Address" This took 7 weeks to get back to Canada. I contacted the buyer, which I had mailed several orders in the past with success. The address was still valid, I mailed it back...and it took a week to get there.
  • Just to clarify. I ship from South Africa to the US. I only lost one letter so far. I just wanted to establish the process that is followed in Hipstamp from other sellers. Thank you for comments.
  • During the pandemic, I made the mistake of making purchases too close to the day I moved. I had 3 or 4 stamp orders that should have been forwarded, lost. Never received, it's been months now. Anyways, I emailed the sellers, explained the situation and took responsibility. I also told them that I didn't want a refund, as it was my fault but if the stamps were returned, I still wanted them and would pay s&h again. I received refunds from 2 sellers. My experience is that most sellers do their best to satisfy customers and that's a good thing.
  • If you are not satisfied with any lot, Please return it for a full refund or credit - plus your postage cost - Please email me if you are returning any lot. I try my best to provide good sound stamps. But once in a while I do miss something.
    If you have any questions please email me. A.P.S. Member since 1988.
  • I will refund the buyer. but if it happens more than once or twice. Nope
  • i sent a tracked item to the usa, it arrived 10 1/2 weeks later, i had since refunded the buyer however when he eventually received it, he refunded me the payment, diabolical service from royal mail
  • What do you think of a buyer that receives an order, and among it there is a MNH set of 8 stamps, but one of them has a defective gum (or blemish/missing part of gum) To make a long story short I offered either full refund of the one defective stamp or refund the set and postage fees. He said he would leave a negative feedback and make a claim through PayPal. What would you do!
  • What does he want?
  • @Jacques Famery
    This is unfair to you. Especially after offering a full refund. Apparently you cannot refund the commission deducted by Hipstamp as well, their resolution options are limited to one month from the date of purchase! This is unfair during a pandemic that is affecting the whole world postal coverage!
  • As a buyer, since covid, I've had several packages not show up, and I am not trying to cheat any seller!. I am currently waiting for one from Texas (I live in WA), that was ordered and sent April 2. I am also waiting for a package from Canada
    that was ordered April 1. A seller from the Philippines sent me some stamps with tracking. They made it to Pasedena CA
    but no further and the seller later reported that they were returned to him by USPS with a "no such address label" The seller kindly sent them back to me and a did receive them. The current postmaster also seems to be undermining the whole USPS.
  • There we go! I'm glad someone finally broached the subject. The current postmaster is a loose cannon rolling around
    destroying everything the
    USPS is trying to do. This is a political fiasco and it is hurting all of us. "We" threatened to walk out of the UPU unless "we" got a better deal. Ok, we got a better deal that has strangled international first class business to death. Thank you very much. Now we are being told that making USPS a viable business is more important than actually delivering the mail, especially if mail-in ballots are concerned. I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but this is all a plate of crap. I'm trying hard to refrain from getting political or partisan, but enjoy all that crap you want. I will pass.
  • ok - here is my 3 cents - I live in SF bay area (CA) and thru Ebay ordered, paid on a Wed and rec'd that Saturday coming from VA. He used a 55 cent stamp. I have Never had anything take longer than 10 days thru ebay or HS except if from Kansas buying from 15-20 diff dealers - maybe it's your state?? and not postmaster completely ??
  • edited May 2021 1 LikesVote Down
    To your question, anything I can report would be only incidental. The dealer I most frequent is in Las Vegas. His returns to me have gone from 5 days to 10 or 12 days. A recent order was returned to him as "undeliverable." He was kind enough to
    send it again, and I got the order after
    about 6 weeks.
    Did the postmaster do this to me on purpose? No. Did he do things to make a bad situation worse? Yes, I feel he did.
  • I have been waiting for 2 months for a shipment from right here in the US. I hate to leave a negative report, I figure it’s not his fault the postal service lost it. I am thinking of offering to split it with the seller, that way we both lose a little and then reorder the stamps again
  • "offering to split it"

    I understand that sentiment, but think of it as if were the payment. If I send cash and it doesn't show up, I can't just blame USPS and expect the seller to send me half the stamps for free. I can send a check instead to have better tracking, or I can register the mailed payment... Or, I can use PayPal and call it good. I have done my part.

    I will now only settle for product as described, a full refund, or a negotiated settlement that I agree with. I did not throw money down a hole. If you don't offer tracked shipping, you as seller take the risk of making me as happy with your service as you were with my PP payment. And I think I have HS, PP, and AMEX on my side.

    Since I don't think PP holds my payment in escrow, I'M the one taking the real risk.

    So it's a bit of a "gentleman's" agreement (-person's?). But it's pretty simple: I send you money, you send me stamps. Just because my payment method is more secure than your fulfillment method isn't my problem, it's yours.

    Personally, the sellers on HS have been courteous, communicative, and quick to ship stamps to me from, so far, five continents, and I am grateful for the access to the market, and will continue to do my best to remain one of the "good guys."
  • @John Maloney To answer your question. Because of 1 stamp having partial gum (why I don't know) He wanted the whole MNH set of 8 stamps for the price of a MH set. If not he was going to make a claim to PayPal for full refund and would leave Negative feedback. (Finally he didn't)
    These days strange things happen... I had another customer return his order by marking the enveloppe "Return to Sender" and wrote saying the MNH stamp was actually MH....except that he never opened the enveloppe! Thats why I hate leaving feedback before the whole selling/shipping/delivered is finished. These people end up having 100% feedbacks based on just one thing, they made an order and paid for it through PayPal which means that it MAY be a final payment.
  • The very easy solution would be to allow a seller to respond to a buyers negative feedback. Most venues allow for this, even the BBB allows for a business to explain it's side of the story. I believe Ebay used to but have not sold on there in quite a while.
  • edited May 2021 2 LikesVote Down
    No problems on this site YET!

    On eBay I get just a few buyers stating "item not received" usually on untracked lower value orders (they know they can use the eBay money back guarantee) It's funny though even although ALL of these packets have my return address on them........not one has ever been returned to me?

    I never refund tracked postage orders, usually they do eventually turn up. In fact the record has been posted to the United States from England taking 3 months (during the beginning of 2021).

    With untracked orders I refund the buyer. If it happens to the same buyer a second time then I send them a message saying that their address is "not Safe" and don't trade with them again and on eBay add them to my Blocked Bidder list.

    Some may say that's "harsh"........... but that comes from being an eBay seller!
  • We should be able to respond to feedback since piratically every other site has that. We should also have a block bidder list since again practically every other site does this.
  • I second the last comment. We should be able as sellers to respond to negative feedback. How can we pass this as a request to Hipstamp?
  • The seller I mentioned earlier finally after 3 months refunded my purchase in full. So to show I didn’t hold a grudge I ordered more from him but much smaller. Well it has been a month and no stamps again. I worry if I give him a negative report he will do the same to me, but how many other people are having this problem
  • Caution to All Sellers and Buyers, there is a process for a refund and that is thru Pay Pal. Pay Pal is more for the Buyer than the seller.
  • Yeah, I'm a little disappointed there isn't a "block buyer" feature here. Haven't been burned (yet), so that's all well and good, but even people who waste my time with ridiculously low-ball offers on good material (and I'm talking offers like $50 for a $750 asking price on an already $1,400 CV item)... After 3 or 4 of those from a buyer, I would prefer they just look elsewhere, and not waste my time.
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