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Disclaimer: I haven't read your Bartertown threads so this advice is general advice on packing and posting coming from my experience buying and selling on Amazon Marketplace and eBay.
The general point about trading is that if both partners are honest it will be fine. If one of them is dishonest there are likely to be problems. You can protect yourself by taking the steps I outline below.
Start by making sure to describe your items accurately. Disclose any defects, and provide photos of the real items if you can. If you link in a photo of a representative item, point out that it is taken from another source.
I always put the dimensions and weight of the item into my description. This can help the buyer work out postage cost.
Once the deal is finalised, you may notice some defect you had over-looked, or perhaps you may break something while packing it. It’s much better to admit this straight away and offer to cancel the trade, or give a discount, than to send the stuff off and let it be a nasty surprise.
Estimate postage in advance by weighing the item and take into account the weight and cost of packing materials. The customer should expect to pay for delivery, and he needs to know in advance what the total cost of the transaction will be.
Small variations in postage are unavoidable. If the item is a few pence more than expected to post, just absorb the difference. If the postage is a bit lower than expected, that helps pay for packing materials. (A Jiffi envelope can cost 50p.) Most people don’t care about a few pence this way or that.
If you have an unexpectedly large variation in postage cost, perhaps due to heavy packaging, it’s fine to contact the buyer and ask for a bit more postage. If the variation is in your favour, send them a refund of the difference.
Always pack stuff carefully using bubblewrap or other suitable padding -- wadded tissue paper or polystyrene chips -- to make sure it won’t rattle around or get crushed. A hardshell box gives extra protection for large or fragile items. Individual figures can be wrapped in tissue to stop them rubbing together. Jiffi envelopes lined with bubblewrap are light and give good protection in many cases. Paperback books should be sent with a cardboard stiffener to prevent them being folded.
These materials can be expensive so I try to recycle materials from work and from parcels I have received. You don’t always have to buy boxes. You can adapt or make them by cutting down larger boxes.
A well made parcel needs to properly taped up. If it’s a bit of a hack job, consider wrapping is in brown paper. A good parcel looks professional and the customer will enjoy opening it. Good packing gives customers confidence in you. This will be reflected in your feedback in case of future trades.
The address can be written on with marker pen or printed and glued on. It doesn’t matter as long as it is clearly legible.
Always write your return address on the back of the parcel, in case it gets lost.
If the parcel contains anything of significant value, send it by registered post (signed for delivery.) I have never had a parcel 'get lost' which was sent registered. In the UK, registered post is only 70p extra and gives you insurance up to a value of £35. Higher value items can be sent with extra insurance or by special delivery.
I use registered delivery for any parcel worth £10 or more. You should make it a condition of sales to use registered post and pass this cost on to the customer, but inform them about this in advance.
If you don't send a parcel registered, ask for a recipt of posting and write the item identity on it. This will be proof of sending which allows you to make a claim against the PO if the item 'gets lost'. I’ve done this once and got a refund of the value and postage.
Having sent the parcel, email your customer to tell him you have sent it, by what service, when it is likely to arrive, and give him the tracking number if applicable. That way he can check that the parcel has been posted and you can check it has been delivered. In general, keep in communication with your trade partner. Bad news (for instance, that posting is delayed because you fall ill) is much better than no news, as long as it's honest.
If you are posting internationally you have to fill in a customs form which is stuck to the parcel. It declares the type of items, their weight and value. The description doesn’t have to be minutely accurate -- for example, just write in 10 Model Soldier Figures, 0.2Kg, £20. The value is the important bit.
The post office will give you one of these forms. This form allows customs officers to decide if they have to charge import duty on the parcel, which they do according to the value.
Make your international customers aware that you will declare the items -- I had a Norwegian get very angry at me because his customs charged him a lot of import duty for some figures he bought from me.
The customs liability on international items can be reduced by posting them in smaller consignments. For example, the UK customs office does not charge duty on parcels worth under £18. You can check these limits for each country on the relevant government website.
Be aware that customs officers may still open a parcel to check if it has been accurately described. So it’s bad policy to lie about the contents.
I have made many dozens of trades using the above principles and as I say, things have only gone wrong three times -- once with the Norwegian guy, and twice with parcels that weren’t registered and got lost, and one of them I successfully claimed for.
Finally, expect that some people are never satisfied and you can’t get perfect feedback all the time, no matter how hard you try. For instance, I sent a brand new item ordered on Amazon Marketplace, and the recipient gave me only 4/5 in feedback because they didn’t open the parcel to check the contents, as it was a present, so they weren’t sure it worked.
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