Buyer Requests Delay Shipping After Buyer Paid

[vetman90]

I'm not sure how to handle this problem. I believe eBay is going to mark a late shipment against me for delaying shipment as I don't see a way to communicate this requested delay to them.

Typical situation,

My winning bidder wants to combine shipping with another auction ending 3 days from now if they win. Problem is, they already paid for the auction they won.

I clearly state in all my listings:

I will gladly combine shipping to save you money. Please do not pay for your first auction won if you are intending on bidding on another of my auctions.
No payment is due until you have finished bidding on multiple auctions I have listed. Please wait to pay. I will send you an invoice showing the total amount due and it will reflect discounted shipping for placing multiple items in one box.

Anyone here know how I can alert eBay as to why I am NOT shipping a paid item within 24 hours ?

I hate to stress my buyer out by refunding their payment and asking them to wait and pay again later because my buyer has never sold anything so I don't expect them to understand what I'm trying to accomplish.

Advice ??????

[JamesNorth101]

No need to panic.

eBay does not decide the DSR rating for shipping time, the buyer does.

If they win the second auction, apply the shipping discount and get both items posted via your usual method.

So long as the buy is happy then you have nothing to worry about with eBay.

You can even mark the items as dispatched and inform the buyer of why it was marked as dispatched if you want to.

[MM78]

Nothing to freak out about, Ship the item when the customer wants it shipped. As long as there is an email trail you will be fine.

I had a customer who was on vacation and wanted the item shipped on a specific day which would arrive when she arrived, everything went perfect.

[vetman90]

Thanks for the advice. It's a relief. I thought eBay monitored the "expected arrival date" that shows on the auction itself and also the sellers stated handling time. I figured if eBay did not see a tracking number issued after the handling time expired that they would step in and either mark me for it or contact me and ask whats going on or both.

Stress !! That's what I get for thinking.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by vetman90

Stress !! That's what I get for thinking.

Ah, but thinking like you have means you are trying to work out how to give great customer service.

That email trail will, in fact, show ebay you were being proactive in looking after your buyer.

Good move

[GoteBay]

If your handling time is 1 business day and you ship out 3 business days, it may not sit well with eBay.

You may want to mark the item as shipped and edit tracking later. Talk to customer and see what is best.

[Dmshark25]

Print the shipping Label out , if not it will count against your percentage of uploading tracking in the designated handling time, and that is a concern if your a top rated seller or trying to gain TRS

This is interesting though because when the new rating system starts, not only will they check to see the shipping labels are printed out within that one day handling time but supposedly they will now check that they have been scanned at the post office as well, just a little more to think about in keeping a TRS account now

[vogeltron]

Originally Posted by GoteBay

If your handling time is 1 business day and you ship out 3 business days, it may not sit well with eBay.

You may want to mark the item as shipped and edit tracking later. Talk to customer and see what is best.

If you are going for TRS status. You have to have 90% of tracking uploaded within the next business day. To get TRS status you have to do 1 Biz day shipping time.

[vetman90]

Oh man, I'm stressed again. I'll have to go jump on it now.

But we're screwed when this new eBay system starts because USPS absolutely sucks when it comes to scanning their items and updating item progress.

For example, just this past week I sent out 25 items, 6 envelopes as first class package, 5 small flat rate boxes and the rest medium flat rate boxes.

Not a one of the first class package items showed any progress by their tracking number until the day the envelope was delivered. That's 2 to 5 days of no info showing when checking the package progress.

Then all of a sudden all the traveling shows up when the package is delivered.

My priority boxes started showing progress on the 3rd. day which in most cases was the day it was delivered but in some other cases it was still another day or two before delivered.

My USPS Office hates me cause I get in an argument every time I go in. I can't help it. Post Offices make me go postal.

I end up talking with the postmaster general for my area and we go round and round about how lousy there performance is and how much they are negatively affecting my reputation.

Take a look at the latest Priority Mail labels you print this year......it now says 2-Day rather than 3-Day.

Are you kidding me ?? Yeah 2 days to get it moving from the counter I drop it off at.

Last year all my priority packages were delivering steady at 3 day's rarely four.

This year I'm finding my first class package mail is traveling faster than most all my priority mail.

I just had several 2-Day priority boxes deliver on the fifth day :(

And now eBay is gonna hold us responsible for USPS ???

I gotta go take more heart meds.........

[MM78]

Do you live in the Mountains?

[vetman90]

Seriously.........yes.

I live in the mountains. I drive my packages every day to the big city PO.

So heres the deal blow by blow:

Day one:

My item sells at 2pm.
4pm I print the shipping label, box it, write a wonderful mushy letter of thank you to the buyer and leave feedback.
My PO closes at 4PM so no hurry.
By 8pm I drop off all items that will fit through the night slot.

Day two:

The item sits all day cuz USPS does not send anything out until 5:30pm.
ps, they frequently don't bother scanning what goes on the truck hence forth, no progress.

Day three:

Wow, it made it to my states central distribution hub where 8 hours later it left there.
ps, only if the central hub scanned it. Otherwise still no progress showing.

Day four:

Weather permitting it made it to another hub one or two states away from me where it has left on another truck.
Usually by now it gets scanned showing the current status but sometimes not.

Day 5:

It is out for delivery.



Hey it's not just my state thats slow. This bs continues across the US.

The only items I ever see delivered on time are in neighboring states.

I frequently get positive feedback from my buyers BEFORE THE TRACKING NUMBER SHOWS ANY PROGRESS.

How do I keep a good shipping rating? (and it's perfect.....so far).

I write each and every buyer thanking them for their purchase, thanking them ahead of time for leaving me great feedback as I have left them, giving them their tracking number and finally telling them exactly when their package was handed to USPS.

I check my tracking numbers 3 times a day.

As soon as day 3 hits if the package has not been delivered or is not out for delivery I write each and every buyer under this circumstance another detailed letter explaining my disappointment to see their package has not been delivered yet.

I then go on to inform them that I am checking their tracking number 3 times per day and they need not worry about their item getting lost because I have their back. I assure them that I will generate a full refund including shipping cost should their item be lost and then I will worry about filing a lost item claim.

I get so many nice messages from most all my buyers telling me they have never received such great service and communication that I always score a full 5 all the way down the line even from those that had to wait a week and half to get their package.

This is not as much extra work as it sounds when you create these messages as a template and then just add the specific buyers criteria to make sure it is personalized and does not appear to be auto-generated bs like I usually get from sellers on Amazon when I buy there.

Now surely I can't be the only one seeing this issue with USPS.

Maybe its a cover up and I can get Jesse Ventura to do an inside look ay USPS ??

[laur4852]

It's not just you..I had the same problems with USPS. They are terrible at updating the tracking info, if they do at all! And I have had it take a week for a priority mail 2-day package to arrive! And it was not because of snow..

[bjammin]

My USPS office does pretty well, but I live in the city. I rarely just drop my stuff off. I have it scanned at the counter, or the guy brings a hand held scanner and I watch them get scanned. This is especially when I have over 150 packages after the weekend. Them scanning my stuff in front of me is the only proof that I took it to the PO. I'll be damned that I let some well paid derelict who hates his job screw up my performance because he decides not to give a crap while handling my packages.

[vetman90]

You just brought up a good point.

Yes the reason I hand carry as often as I can is because I will wait in the line to get the packages scanned in and I was under the impression by doing so progress is instant.

NO it is not.

I have a pile of USPS receipts sitting right next to me here from packages dropped off at the counter, scanned and then a receipt is printed.

I come home, check on the tracking numbers around 10 at night.......... NOT SHOWING AS ACCEPTED.

Nothing.


USPS scares me. Really.

I had a big argument a month ago with the director of my local PO regarding first class packages.

She tells me that they are NOT REQUIRED to track any first class mail packages or letter or what ever. She says what I'm calling a tracking number
is only an in-house handling number and not a tracking number.

She says only Priority Mail and above offer tracking service.

I'm trying to show these people their own dam labels and whats printed on them and then I get asked to leave.

Yep, they scare me........... because they believe their own bs.

[vogeltron]

Yea, it can be tricky. I live in a large enough area there are about 4-5 post offices in about a 15-20 mile radius. So I have learned were to drop off and were not to.

I agree though it is a headache when they don't at least can them. Have had several impatient buyers hounding me about it. Then all of a sudden like you said it shows up in their area for delivery.

[Lost in the Supermarket]

Originally Posted by vetman90

I'm not sure how to handle this problem. I believe eBay is going to mark a late shipment against me for delaying shipment as I don't see a way to communicate this requested delay to them.

Typical situation,

My winning bidder wants to combine shipping with another auction ending 3 days from now if they win. Problem is, they already paid for the auction they won.

I clearly state in all my listings:

I will gladly combine shipping to save you money. Please do not pay for your first auction won if you are intending on bidding on another of my auctions.
No payment is due until you have finished bidding on multiple auctions I have listed. Please wait to pay. I will send you an invoice showing the total amount due and it will reflect discounted shipping for placing multiple items in one box.

Anyone here know how I can alert eBay as to why I am NOT shipping a paid item within 24 hours ?

I hate to stress my buyer out by refunding their payment and asking them to wait and pay again later because my buyer has never sold anything so I don't expect them to understand what I'm trying to accomplish.

Advice ??????

Print the shipping label and then come back and void it a few days later and print a new one. Sometimes you just have to swag it.

[vetman90]

Lots of helpful responses here thanks !!

[MM78]

Originally Posted by vetman90

Seriously.........yes.

I live in the mountains

[vetman90]

And the whole family,

images.jpg

[rsot]

Communicate with the buyer(s) - keep them happy and well-fed - show them kindness and careful shipping - get the good feedback and DSRs. Don't worry - all the best

[neonfossil]

As far as the USPS is concerned, their employees are very hit or miss when it comes to focus and reliability. When I first started out, I was having a few shipping problems with items not being scanned in, my weights being a bit off, and general shipping ineptitude that caused me headaches. Here is what I did:

I buy each clerk (3) at my PO a $10 gift card to Starbucks every month. I give it to them personally and thank them for their hard work and let them know how important their job is to me and my business.

Since I started that, all of my packages get scanned in by the time I make it back to my office, they catch my shipping errors for me, and if I ever have an issue with another post office or a depot, they help out. All of that for a measly $30/month.

Something Something more flies with sugar than vinegar.

[vogeltron]

Depending on which PO I got to. Don't matter what I gave somebody. Some of them are just to incompetent. Unfortunately, I no longer have a regular mail carrier so it is suspect handing over packages to a some of these people. I have found 2-3 diff rent post offices I feel comfortable dealing with.

I drive about an extra 8 miles each way to drop packages off at night in one of the 24 hour boxes. I basically fill it up every night. Thankfully the gym franchise I belong to is nicer and right across the street and I although not recommended by many members on here Senior Members none the less. I run a few accounts off near by WIFI been doing it for 4-5 years. Got my system down.