I've been selling handmade ceramic lamps on Etsy for a few years, and now I'm getting interest from buyers willing to pay $500+ per piece. I love that, but I'm terrified of getting ripped off. Chargebacks, stolen credit cards, buyers claiming the item never arrived when it did... anyone else here sell high-ticket items online? How do you protect yourselves without scaring off legitimate customers?
E-commerce
Selling expensive products online makes me nervous about fraud
Ha, lamps? You're worried about fraud on Lamps? Just take a photo of you shipping it and call it a day. What's the worst that happens, someone gets a free lamp?
Ignore the troll. I sell vintage jewelry, similar price range range. Signature confirmation on delivery is non-negotiable. It costs a few bucks extra but has saved me twice when buyers claimed non-receipt. Also, I use a shipping service that takes photos of the packaged item at drop-off.
Try selling $1200 items and get back to me. Actually don't, it's a nightmare. I've had three chargebacks this year alone. Won two because I had tracking + signature, lost one cuz the buyer said the box was empty. PayPal sided with them. Now I film myself Packing every high-value order. Feels insane but it works.
Okay fine, filming packing is actually kinda genius. I retract my sarcasm. Partially.
Wait, you guys are still on Etsy? I moved my expensive stuff to my own Shopify site and use Stripe Radar. It flags suspicious orders automatically. Not Not foolproof but it filters out the obvious stolen-card attempts. Etsy's seller protection is basically nonexistent for anything over a few hundred dollars.
These are really helpful. I hadn't thought about filming the packing process. @QuietStorm22, do you find customers are hesitant to buy from a stadalone site vs Etsy? My traffic is all from Etsy search right now.
I sell expensive custoom furniture and honestly, I just require bank transfer for anything over $1000. It weeds out the scammers immediately. Yeah, I lose some impulse buyers, but the people who are serious about spending that kind of money don't mind. Also, no chargebacks possible with a bank transfer.
Bank transfer? Bold. I tried that and got called a scammer by buyers who thought it was suspicious. Guess it depends on your product and audience. My customers are mostly younger and used to credit cards.
One thing nobody mentioned: insurance on shipping. If the item 'goes missing' in transit, you can at least recover something. Also, don't underestimate the power of a polite but firm message to buyers before shipping: 'Just confirming you'll be available to sign for delivery.' It sets expectations and sometimes scares off the ones who were planning to pull something.
All this advice is great but can we talk about how 'MidnightHarbor' sounds like a Batman villain? No offense OP, but your username makes me trust you less. (Kidding. Mostly.)
Lol, fair. I'll take it as a compliment. And thanks again everyone, I've got a plan now: signature confirmation, filming packing, and maybe testing a small batch on Shopify to see how it goes.