MBE Mail Boxes etc, a very interesting service to protect the seller
Good evening everyone
following a tip from a friend, I discovered a very interesting service that increases the seller’s protections: it’s called SafeValue, and it is offered by MBE stores.
In a nutshell, you hand over the item at the store, and the staff handles the packaging while photographing every step, finally applying a custom MBE tamper-evident tape that guarantees the seal.
You can choose the courier depending on prices and needs, and you can insure it.
In the event of a sale, for the insurance they may ask for the sale amount as possible proof for the appraiser: I showed the transaction on the platform.
To give you an idea, I sold a watch worth about 650 euros and the buyer spent € 35,00 for the service, including photographed packaging, shipping and insurance for the amount of the transaction.
It’s natural that it is designed for items of a certain value.
As sellers, it’s impossible to protect yourself 100%, but I believe this service greatly increases peace of mind, at least as proof that the sold item was actually shipped.
mocer-75
·1 year agoI still don’t see any tangible advantage.
Okay, the buyer is happy. Great!
They received the package in two days. The same thing can be achieved with any courier; in fact, BRT (which for a while was the cheapest using the shipping service linked to eBay, usually delivered the next day).
The packaging was adequate. Does that mean the seller wouldn’t have been able to provide adequate packaging? That seems like a subjective limitation, not an objective one.
The rest is just theorizing, eBay could... we’ll see in practice whether these €35, which either the seller pays in full (reducing margins) or the buyer pays in full (if they’re willing to), will be of any use or just an exercise in style.
anleona20
OP1 year agoForgive the frankness, but we’re talking about increasing the seller’s chances of self-protection, and if I can boost them with a service (at a cost obviously proportionate to the item for sale, and optional), all the better.
Yes, the packaging was objectively adequate, while some sellers (often private individuals) do not do the same or, worse, declare that they have done it. Subjective or not, it is an incontrovertible fact. And if I ship a rare watch like in my case, I can’t replace it in the event of damage, but at least I can prove that I shipped it with the proper characteristics.
And I don’t understand the difficulty in grasping the obvious advantage of having an official third-party entity with a very well-known brand that officially "certifies" the shipment of an item and its packaging.
Then to judge in advance the reliability of the same without any track record seems to me at the very least risky.
I’m not insisting on the two days because that’s not the point, I thought I had made that clear, but on the term ramblings I’ll leave any comment aside because it’s a simple suggestion for Ebay to implement the service, at their absolute discretion.
Just to avoid any misunderstanding, I’ll make it clear that I have no tangible benefit in "promoting" it, other than helping other users who, like me in the past, have been screwed at least once.
mocer-75
·1 year agoMaybe it's because I'm a practical person, I'll wait for confirmation (or denial) in case of problems as to whether this greater protection, paid for handsomely, will serve any purpose. The rest is just speculation that isn't worth the time spent on it.
I still think that if problems come up, eBay won't behave any differently because there's a third party involved.
Just curious, will you pay these €35 out of your own pocket? Or pass them on to the customer?
I hope you don't have any problems with sales, but if you do, let us know!
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoShipping a watch with packlink and ups (which is a fairly reliable courier) costs about 8 euros with 75 euros of insurance included in the price.
100 shipments a year are 800 euros instead of 3500 euros with the service you propose.
So in order to make up for this EXTRA expense, 6 watches would have to be stolen from you.
Statistically, 6% theft seems rather excessive to me.
We could safely estimate that we are at zero point % theft if some WISE rules are followed.
For example, the rule of packing parcels well so as to make them rather difficult to open (the courier focuses on parcels that are easy to open).
For example, the rule of not writing the actual contents of the parcel, such as watches, jewelry, iPhones...... because the courier cannot afford to open random parcels and risk his job for having found some low-value Chinese trinket in a parcel.
0.1% means one theft every 1000 parcels; if you consider that a courier can deliver even 150 parcels a day, it's not like they are going to steal / open one parcel a day..... their job would not last very long 🤣😂
But it also all depends on what goods you sell.
If you can afford to make the buyer spend 35 euros on shipping, it means it's worth it and your items can't be found elsewhere at better prices or in better condition or with a better service.
Mine is a GENERAL discussion; a lot also depends on the type of items being sold.
Best regards.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoPacklink for coverage of 650 euros takes 18.45 euros + 6~7 euros for shipping costs.
All in all, considering that for 35 euros they do shipping, insurance, packing, and you deal with a real person, it might even make sense.
But let's not get our hopes up when it comes to the insurance issue because:
Shipping insurance usually also involves the buyer, who once they have obtained the refund from ebay .............
Shipping insurance is subject to many constraints.
MBE would simply be a посредник in the event of compensation, so if the courier doesn't cover it, MBE doesn't cover it.
Kind regards.
anleona20
OP1 year agoYes, 100% security doesn’t exist, you can only increase it by protecting yourself as much as possible.
The buyer of this watch, once he had asked about the service, agreed through his lawyer that, for a price that is objectively affordable in relation to the purchase price, it increases protection by a few points, knowing that the item is inspected and packed by a third party at an official shop and agreeing with me that it makes the carrier more "attackable" in case of problems.
In this specific case the buyer was very satisfied with the packaging and the shipment with TNT, which arrived in 2 days, so I can’t report any particular problems to you.
Thinking out loud, Ebay could also welcome positively the fact that a seller offers this service because it increases reliability and reduces doubts that he may have made some mistake in the packaging or worse, shipped something different from what was advertised.
Regarding scams on some marketplaces, the head of the Postal Police in Genoa, who was here for a couple of years, is a friend, and one evening she had fun (in a bitter way, obviously) telling us about some scams that objectively show creativity from minds with superior intelligence, even if criminal. And she reminded us that the people who report them are not all the ones who were scammed because some are ashamed or have their own personal issues that they don’t want made known.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoMBE is not a charity, and from what I read from the other posters there are the “usual” clauses specifically designed to make any possible claim for compensation difficult if not impossible.
Maybe the only positive thing would be the possibility of dealing directly with a real person, since the parcel has to be brought to one of their stores.
In conclusion, as I wrote yesterday, the seller remains the one who has to take all the burden on their shoulders in the event of unexpected issues.
Kind regards.
anleona20
OP1 year agoIt is absolutely clear, as you wrote, that the seller must be aware of the risks they run when selling online, and on a platform like this, which protects the buyer much more than the seller.
Even on this topic there could be plenty to say, given the many posts from sellers dissatisfied with the lack of protection toward them, because if there is no supply, demand (which is always there) is useless, as a professional seller rightly pointed out.
In short, and in response to all the comments above, I reiterate that today one can only raise the level of self-protection, and I do not agree with those who consider the service "completely useless", because it removes the step of doubt that the seller may have put a different or non-working item in the package than the one sold (and paid for) and/or that they may have used unsuitable packaging.
That said, if the buyer states that they received the item damaged or defective, the carrier's liability increases for the reasons above, so I really don't see it as useless at all.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoTo ebay,paypal and visa/mastercard it doesn't matter if MBE photographed the item and recorded a video showing that he shipped exactly that item and then sealed it with tamper-evident tape.
If the buyer claims to have received a different item, this is exactly what happens:
Ebay refunds the buyer, and MBE washes its hands of it.
You end up exactly back at square one, with the buyer sending you back another item and with the payment reversed to the buyer by drawing on your funds.
In your opinion, are the people at MBE idiots ?
I am in Rome, a friend of mine is in Milan.
We make an arrangement and I ship him a watch worth 650 euros and use the service you mentioned.
My friend declares that he received a different, broken or defective watch, he goes through the whole ebay process and then I, the seller, go to MBE to claim, getting 650 euros that I will split with my accomplice friend....
I imagine you have no idea how many scams are orchestrated by users every day.....
I repeat, be aware that online sales are risky for the seller.
Kind regards.
mocer-75
·1 year agookay let us know if the service turns out to be useful in case of problems with the shipment or the buyer
milotemesvar
·1 year agoIn my opinion, a service like that would only work if eBay itself managed it.
technopartsbay
·1 year agoTaking a quick look at the many (too many...) terms and clauses of the service, I notice that the recipient's full cooperation is required in order to receive any compensation.
Something very difficult to obtain with eBay sales, where the buyer only needs to file a dispute according to the platform's rules to get a refund.
So, as Mario says, it's basically useless for selling on this platform and on almost all the others like it.
mocer-75
·1 year agoProof that is worth nothing if the buyer declares that they received a tampered package or something else.
It seems to me like a good way to throw money away, given that mbe only does that and then a third party (courier) comes into play, which has nothing to do with mbe.
marioelegio
·1 year agoIt would only work if MBE's insurance then reimbursed the seller, in the event that eBay sided with the bad-faith buyer.
hi
mario