For sellers, however, there are desirable button clicks (for instance, the “Pay Now” button) and less desirable button clicks (for instance, the “File a Dispute” button). To ensure you have a great holiday season, you have to make sure you get a lot of the former and less of the latter. Fortunately, we’ve found if you follow some very simple tips, it’s easy to do.

First, make it super easy for your buyers to contact you. Communication is the number one way to prevent the buyer from clicking that “File a Dispute” button. Send lots of shipping updates, put your contact information (phone, email, Skype, mobile) up front on all your communication, and above all, be responsive. Buyers come to PayPal when they think their seller isn’t there for them. If you make it clear that you take your buyer’s satisfaction seriously, and that you’ll get back to them as soon as they reach out to you, then they won’t feel the need to involve PayPal at all.

Second, set reasonable expectations by communicating delivery times. Sometimes buyers have no idea how long it takes for an item to get from you to them. They may not even pay attention to where you’re located or where you’re shipping from. As crazy as it sounds to you for a buyer to expect an item shipped First Class mail to go from Florida to Washington State in two days, buyers often genuinely don’t know what to expect. So you should proactively tell them. Help to set reasonable expectations, and then you head off any concerns before they take root. Even better, get tracking and share the number with your buyer, so they can get the updates themselves.

Third, be scrupulously accurate when you describe your items. Provide lots of pictures, and don’t downplay scratches or item discrepancies. While it may seem easier to gloss over those issues on the front end, doing so can undermine buyer confidence and satisfaction, and line you up for more costs downstream when your buyers are dissatisfied and disappointed. Remember that on the internet, the buyer has nothing more to go on than your pictures, so make them honest and make them count!

Fourth, be clear about your return policy. It’s much harder to negotiate a return after a problem arises, than to be proactive and specify it up front in the original listing. Buyers pay attention to return policies when they shop online, so be specific as to how long you’ll accept returns, whether you charge a restocking fee, and who will be responsible for return shipping. Then if an issue arises, your buyer has clear expectations and a well-defined roadmap as to how their issue will be resolved.

Fifth, take the necessary steps to help make sure you’ll be covered by PayPal Seller Protection. Here’s a handy checklist to help you take advantage of this benefit for eligible transactions. You can also see all eligibility criteria and requirements here. Also, as our Seller Protection policy may vary regionally, please make sure to check the specific guidelines for your country:

• Always ship to the address PayPal provides on the PayPal Transaction Details page and ship to a confirmed address (unless you’re selling on eBay).
• Make sure you ship within 7 days of receiving payment – though we encourage you to ship to your buyer as soon as possible!
• Use a shipping service with online tracking, and save your shipping documentation like tracking numbers, proof of shipment and delivery.
• When you’ve sold an expensive item for $250 or more (including shipping fees and taxes), make sure you use a shipping service that provides signature confirmation upon delivery.

Also, we’ve heard some cases lately of buyers offering to let sellers use the buyer’s shipping account (e.g. FedEx, UPS) to handle shipping. This can seem like a win-win, but please beware of this. Because the buyer “owns” the shipping, you could send an item to the buyer’s address on file, and then mid-shipment, that item could be re-routed to another address. If the buyer subsequently files a dispute saying they never got the item, you won’t have delivery confirmation showing that the item was delivered to their address on file with PayPal, so you’ll lose the claim. So beware when a buyer offers to let you use their shipping account, because it may mean some additional liability for you.

Remember, following some simple guidelines can mean more profits and less headaches for you, so we hope you’ll follow our top tips:

1. Communicate!
2. Give buyers realistic delivery times
3. Describe your items accurately
4. Provide your return policy upfront
5. Follow the PayPal Seller Protection checklist

Buyer expectations for convenience and support in online commerce are more aggressive than they’ve ever been before, but that just means more opportunities for great sellers. We hope this is a great holiday selling season for you, and we’re delighted to be your partner!

And please feel free to share any tips you may have for successful holiday selling by posting them below.

Quelle: thepaypalblog.com