As with any business, businesses that sell items online are not immune to fraud. If you utilize a service that aggregates suppliers that will dropship products, such as Shopster, you need to be aware of the risks and take steps to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud.
Shopster offers protection to retailers who sell items out of their Shopster hosted storefront. We review all orders and put them through our robust fraud process. If an order is deemed to be fraudulent we cancel it, and the retailer does not have to sacrifice their own money to pay for lost product.
Shopster is able to conduct a full review of orders placed through Shopster hosted storefronts because the customer uses the Shopster system to order and pay for the item. We receive all the information necessary on the customer to make a judgment on whether the order is legitimate or fraudulent.
But if the retailer’s dropship products are sold from another website, such as eBay, the end consumer does not use the Shopster system to order or pay. They use the retailers. Because the Shopster system was not used, the Shopster Fraud Prevention Team does not have all of the information necessary to conduct a full review.
That is why it is important for you, the retailer, to conduct your own review on orders that you accept from other sites.
A simple first step to avoid fraudulent orders is to learn more about your customer. Do a quick background check into their reputation on eBay or the site the item is being purchased from. If you want more information, or if you want to confirm their identity call the customer. Sometimes a phone call is the simplest and most effective way to verify if a customer is legit.
You should also understand how your payment service can protect you. If you accept credit cards, make sure your merchant account supports AVS and CVV2 checks. And you may want to consider only accepting PayPal transactions if the user is verified or confirmed.
PayPal is in the business of making financial transaction secure. It is one of the safest ways to transfer money, and they take fraud very seriously. For small business owners, or eBay only users, I strongly recommend that you only accept payment through PayPal.
Selling dropship products on sites such as eBay can be very lucrative. And if you are diligent, and review each order carefully, you may never experience an act of fraud. But it’s important that you educate yourself on what to look out for and take pre-cautions when ever possible.
Comments