I had an ebay auction for a little Coach card case, and it sold so I shipped the next day after the buyer paid. The buyer emailed me after I shipped and said that the case was going to be a Christmas present and she wanted a tracking number and wanted to know if it would arrive in time for Christmas. When she paid, she never said she wanted it in time for Xmas, so I just sent it in a well padded envelope first class. I have 320 positive feedbacks and I don't want to risk getting a negative feedback. I don't have a tracking number and I can't guarantee it will arrive for Christmas, what should I say to her?

When did it end? If she didn't say she needed a rush, then that's her fault. Also, what shipping service was stated in you're auction? You're not a bad seller, however, in the future, never ever send anything without delivery confirmation, or signature confirmation if it's above $250. She can claim she never got it, even if she did and paypal will refund her money because they demand some sort of delivery confirmation.

I agree with CA!
She should have contacted you about this i.m.o. and not after payment & you already shipped.

If you're friendly with or have an "in" with someone at your local Post Office, and you still have your receipt, I would call or go up there.

Reason is, USPS actually puts a tracking number on all their mail parcels whether you buy it or not. At least a majority of the time they do, from what I understand and have seen.

You may be able to sweet-talk someone into releasing that number to you.

I think they do it as a means of tracking their employees.

The case was $35, so i sent her an offer of part of a refund if the case doesn't arrive for Xmas, I won't let $35 ruin my perfect feedback. I should have gotten delivery confirmation, but I was in a hurry. I will learn from this experience. Thanks for your advice!
This is the correspondence:
Dear bethyvic,

Do you have a tracking number? This is a Christmas gift and I want to ensure I'm going to have it for Christmas.

- dcrance

Dear dcrance,

Hello
I sent the item on Tuesday. I cannot guarantee it will arrive in time for Christmas as I didn't know it was a Christmas gift. However, if it does not arrive in time for Christmas, I would be happy to refund part of the purchase price. How does that sound?

- bethyvic


Dear bethyvic,

That is disappointing, but thank you for the offer. I will let you know when it arrives. Thank you for the refund.

- dcrance

It's nice of you to offer a refund, but I wouldn't have offered it up front. Who knows? It might get there by xmas, but the buyer says no because they want the refund. You have no way of knowing since you can't track it.

Ohhhhh dear. I hope the buyer doesn't steal your money when they recieve the parcel. Hopefully they send you the funds again.

WHO shops online the week before, or the very week *OF* Christmas, and thinks they will receive the package in time for Christmas? Wow... she should have contacted you before bidding and requested that you mail it according to the methods she was willing to pay for!

Let us know how it goes!

The auction says expedited shipping with Priority Mail. That may be why they're expecting it to be delivered by Christmas. Although honestly, 1st class usually only takes 3 or 4 days. Why did she wait to pay if she was in such a hurry to receive it?

I would not have offered a thing if I were you, and I don't think she is entitled to any kind of refund although she obviously thinks she is. I would have just told her when the item was shipped - you shipped it the day after payment, which was the quickest it could possibly be shipped. You sent it with an appropriate shipping method as per the auction (priority and first class generally have the exact same mailing time, parcel is slower.) If she wanted it guaranteed be christmas is was HER responsibility to contact you and say so and to pay for a faster shipping method to guarantee that.

Yikes! I really hope she is satisfied!

Sounds like she is wanting the refund right away instead of after Christmas day by the sound of that message...

Yeah, I would have waited to see weather or not she got it.

Off topic, but we had mail delivery today! I was shocked, I thought there was no mail Christmas eve!

I dont know how buyers can expect mail to be guaranteed to arrive by xmas when they buy the item less than a week before *sigh* the post office is always crazy at this time of year You sent it the day after she paid so I really dont think there was much more you could do as regards the timing of it. I hope that the item did arrive in time, and I hope that this person isnt going to be a pain do let us know how it goes

If she wanted "expedited shipping" that would be something she should contact you about BEFORE bidding or doing a BIN. Even if she did the BIN right after messaging you about it. Plus if she only paid for first class shipping she should not expect anything different and I agree that you should NOT have offered her any type of refund.

Even if people do not contact you about shipping or anything I would HIGHLY SUGGEST using Paypal to create your shipping labels. For Priority mail you get FREE delivery confirmation and for first class you it only costs 19 cents and it sends out the shipping confirmation to the buyer.

Without delivery confirmation you have no way of knowing now if she did or didn't receive it before Christmas and she could very well have gotten it and then also want the partial refund you have told her she can have. It's really worth the extra 19 cents in my opinion. I ALWAYS print my labels online, you can even print first class international labels online from auctions now! Plus it really comes in handy around the holidays if your post office is busy as you can just go straight up to the counter and flash the click n ship label and just drop it off to a clerk instead of standing in line with 15 or 20 others.

You're not a bad seller, it just looks like lack of communication on the part of the buyer and maybe not the best choice on your part for not taking advantage of delivery confirmation. But if that's exactly what she paid for then there is not even an issue since she did not arrange anything in advance. If you offered both Priority or first class and she chose first class then she is getting exactly what she paid for. If you didn't have the option of Priority I would recommend adding it for future options but also put first class first so it shows lower shipping on the auction.

Thanks for being so supportive guys. I realize I was a push-over, and in the future I will always use delivery confirmation. I will let you know how it ends up.