eBay Business All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 3

Insuring That Your Package Arrives

IN THIS CHAPTER

Knowing your insurance options

Addressing your packages correctly

Filing a claim with the major carriers

This chapter reveals the practical link between insurance and timely delivery — and how the wise seller can use both to ensure a better experience for both buyer and seller. The key is an assumption: When someone buys an item from you, the buyer assumes that the item will be shipped in 24 to 48 hours (customers prefer a quick 24-hour turnaround). A little-known rule of the online world is the Federal Trade Commission’s 30-day mail-order rule (16 CFR Part 435) that applies to all online sales, as well as to mail-order businesses.

Unless you (as the seller) state a specific shipping time, all items must be shipped within 30 days.

Adopted in 1975, this FTC rule proclaims these buyer’s rights:

• The buyer must receive the merchandise when the seller says it will arrive, or earlier.
• If delivery is not promised within a certain time period, the seller must ship the merchandise to the buyer no later than 30 days after receiving ...