Community Chat, Feb 7th @ 1pm PT - eBay Guaranteed Delivery

[alan@ebay]

We made some updates to eBay Guaranteed Delivery to improve the program for sellers:

• First, using eBay labels is no longer a requirement for the handling time option of eBay Guaranteed Delivery.
• Second, through June 30^th eBay will make it right for your buyer if they receive their item late, even if you miss your handling time or the carrier scans the package late. This means that if a buyer receives their item past the guaranteed date and raises a case, eBay will either reimburse their shipping cost or provide a free return label, buyer’s choice.
• Also, have you tried out the Guaranteed Delivery bulk editing tool? It shows you which of your listings aren’t yet guaranteed, and how to update them. Use the “Updates” filter on the left to see which listings aren’t meeting specific program requirements, then update them in bulk.

We’re working toward opening up the program to more sellers in the coming months, and will email sellers when it’s time to opt in.

Any questions on eBay Guaranteed Delivery? Join this chat with the Shipping team and let us know.

About this chat:
This chat thread will be open from 1-2pm Pacific on Wed Feb 7th. The thread will close at 2pm, and the eBay team will continue to answer questions after the hour is up if there are questions that we do not get to during the hour. 

The topic of the chat is eBay Guaranteed Delivery - please be aware that off-topic posts will be removed. 

[Anonymous]

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Our issue with this program is the shipping tables. Ebay has estimated delivery times and USPS, Fedex and UPS ALL have different NO Guarantee estimates.

We are also in Georgia and have yet to figure out how long it will take from Ga to ANYWHERE due to the above estimated delivery times.

We can't even tell a buyer in our state that the item will be delivered in 1 day or 20 days.

Until we figure the above out it's like a boat anchor. It hangs on the side of the boat and may not get used often.

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@automotivepartsrecyclrs Hi - Sounds like you're in the door-to-door option of GD, which is intended for sellers with multiple warehouses in various locations. I highly recommend switching to the handling time option if the rate tables are proving challenging...it's a much easier way to go! Go to ebay.com/GuaranteedDelivery, click Opt In Now, then click I want to switch to a handling time guarantee. Then visit ebay.com/GDBulkEdit to see which of your listings need to be updated to meet program requirements, and you can edit them in bulk. 

[fern*wood]

Does this June 30th extension have anything to do with the recent problem with ontime shipping metrics?  There have been a plethora of sellers being hit with shipping late on their dashboard,  even if they ship within hours of payment and obtain the acceptance scan.  I'm sure many on GD have been unfairly hit with paying the shipping costs themselves on late deliveries.

Has this problem been fixed or is the June date when they hope to have this fixed?

[mongoose26]

Here is the real question for the shipping team: When will ebay contract with shipper like Amazo does and have ebay packages as a priority for those shippers?  Surely ebay is the #2 shipper behind Amazon, why have you not used that leverage to your advantage and to help your sellers?  As an Amazon seller as well, my sales over there have priority, even delivery on Sundays and holidays. That is where real guaranteed deliveries happen.

Instead of hyping that the shipping team negoitated for 3 days to get the exact same rates every one else gets, let's announce that using ebay labels (where ebay makes money) will prioritize your packages in the shipper system.  USPS, Fedex, or UPS should be receptive towards a volume shipper like ebay.

I remember after the last USPS rate increase last year that Amazon told its sellers that they had negotiated the use of the old rates for 6 momonths, a real savings for its sellers. Where was that from ebay's team? If you want to be Amazon, you have to work harder.

[vrykalak]

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Under the June 30th change, if ebay recompenses one of my buyers due to late delivery, will I be notified by ebay that they did so? 

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques For the June 30 news, the short answer is no. Usually you would be able to go to Account Activity to see if you were being charged any make it right fees based on late handling. Since eBay is covering that through June 30, it won't be reflected in your Account Activity. However, in the GD performance dashboard (under the Seller Hub Performance tab), you can see your on-time handling performance to know if/when that needs improvement. 

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And, of course, you will get a "late shipping" defect, and maybe also a "tracking indicates late delivery" defect, which may cost you your TRS status...but you won't have to refund the buyer's shipping costs. Yippee.

[automotivepartsrecyclrs]

We are not in the door to door feature. Not sinking my own ship

[go-bad-chicken]

I am a book seller.

All of my listings have a Handling Time of 1 Buisness Day

Almost all of my listings (95%) offer 3 types (options) of USPS shipping for domestic buyers.

1 - USPS Media Mail Shipping - Estimated 4 - 8 Days

2 - USPS Priority Mail Shipping - Estimated 1 - 3 Days

3 - USPS Priority EXPRESS Mail Shipping - Estimated 1 - 2 Days

I just noticed that USPS Media Mail was just added to the

Eligible Carriers and Services List for the "handling time option".

How will this program work for book sellers like myself who offer 2 or 3 USPS services, but Media Mail is the first and most economical method of shipping offered?

So if a buyer uses the GD filter will my listings show up when I offer all 3 USPS shipping services ?

1 - USPS Media Mail Shipping - Estimated 4 - 8 Days

2 - USPS Priority Mail Shipping - Estimated 1 - 3 Days

3 - USPS Priority EXPRESS Mail Shipping - Estimated 1 - 2 Days

USPS Media Mail has an Estimated Delivery Time of 4 - 8 Days by the USPS, since all Media Mail first gets routed to a regional USPS Media Mail sorting facility first before it even begins to head in the direction of its intended shipping address.

Even if the buyer lives in the same city that I do, for my region my Media Mail shipments would have to travel all the way to Des Moines, IA which is over 450 miles away, get sorted and then come back to be delivered. This can take up to 5 days. I have had many these types of orders in the past.

I do not want to give up offering USPS Media Mail as my first shipping option for buyers, just so I can participate in eBay's GD Program (handling time option). I believe that most of the media sellers here on eBay would agree with me on this as well.

[theshoppingmom2]

alan@ebay @Anonymous

Most of my members in my facebook group and meetup groups are complaining that they cannot get the post office to scan the packages  or the scan sheet at drop off. 

I am glad that eBay is taking steps to protect sellers with this issue

Can I suggest  for eBay to add some links on how to file a complaint with the USPS when they failed to scan the packages upon pick up and drop off.

Thanks for your consideration

[labs118]

Does ebay protect sellers when site glitches affect a sellers ability to  print shipping labels?
If you look at the boards it appears for over a week there has been a glitch with ebay labels, sellers are wasting hours on the phone trying to figure out issues with a Paypal billing agreement only to find out 
it is an ebay glitch & sellers must issue labels via carrier or other means.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/eBAY-Technical-Issue-Unable-to-Create-New-eBay-Shippi...

ebay response on some posts

I wanted to let you know that we are currently working on an issue where the Billing Agreement cannot be renewed. While I don't have an estimated date for a fix on this, I'm happy to touch base once there is more information to share. For the time being, you may need to purchase labels directly from the courier site. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused and encourage you to contact Customer Service if you run into any specific complications related to this issue so we can get those reported as well!

[mallontown]

During the holiday rush when ebay decided to use its own shipping metrics over USPS stated holiday delivery dates I had 19 or 32 items arrive after ebays stated delivery date. all items were shipped within the 1 day handling.

So with Guaranteed delivery would ebay cover all 19 if buyers requested coverage in this program?

[Anonymous]

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I echo the question of how to get in.......seems like you are sweetening the pot.....but some of us have never been allowed in, despite signing up first time it was announced.......

Just to check on one thing.......If we adjust handling time to further out for some reason........weather, vacation, etc.  I presume when the handle time is adjusted back to comply, the items will be put back in search.......there's no having to opt back in? 

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@dhbookds Hi - We're working to expand the program to many more seller in the next couple months. Please do keep an eye out for that news. Regarding your handling time question, you are correct - once you reset your handling time to same- or 1-day, your listings will automatically be part of GD again as long as they meet the other listing requirements. No need to re-opt in. 

[mam98031]

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I have been monitoring my eBay stated GD estimates vs the USPS estimates (I ship using FC package)  It seems as if the ebay estimates generally 1-2 days to the USPS estimate.  This essentially knocks my listing out of qualifying for the 3-day delivery.  Even going to 1 town over and going to 1 hour away from me.  

I check 4 zip codes regularly:  My own,  1 town over, 1 hour away and across the country.  The discrepancy happens quite often.

Also are there plans for GD to become default search?

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Hi coolthings... you ask a great question. eBays delivery estimates rely on lots of data input and are actually in very high 90's in terms of accuracy % on average. USPS are generally just a simple best case estimates and at times arent as accurate as we would like (again generalizing). Because accuracy is important we may show longer estimates to protect buyers and sellers.

My suggestion when checking those 4 zips is to chose 4 zips that are also where most of your buyers are located. That will give better idea of the experience you buyers are seeing. 

Also if you dont already but are able to - if you set same day handling your estimates will be shortened by a day.

Lastly - no there are no plans at this point to make GD search the default.

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What?  Why would anyone that wanted REALISTIC expectations use something that is "simple BEST case estimates"????????  That is setting people up for failure.  

For example, I consistently ship the next business days.  But on a BEST CASE ESTIMATE, I might get it shipped the same day.  So does that mean I should be advertising that I ship the same day??  Of course not.  The best customer service is to under estimate and over deliver.  That gives our customers a real feel good thing about their seller and about Ebay.  To OVER estimate and UNDER deliver is a recipe for trouble plain and simple.

[greg_shipping]

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Also want to know why my store is on the waitlist. I have been waiting for 6 months to get into the GD program. My store has 100% spotless shipping and 1 day handling record and hundreds of sales. Please explain how you choose who gets it?

The thing that really pushed me over the top was the recent announcement about not having to use eBay labels and that GD is the 2nd most important factor in making sales below free shipping!   It seems odd to make such pronouncement while still holding back so many sellers from the program.

Please provide stats on who is in, who is out, and how long we wait.  Those who are in are perhaps  being given a significant unfair advatage.

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Hi babclassics..  thanks for you question. In the first phase we kept the seller list very small as we rolled out at the end of last year. Reason being that such a big program coming out at such a busy time of year could have the wrong impact if too many sellers were involved. Doing so has helped us fix a number of bugs, and take feedback on what needs to change. Now specifically to your question - the first phase of sellers was mostly limited to businesses with history of perfect shipping, and also the type of shipipng options those sellers had available. In the next phase we will welcome sellers with an average of over 100 transactions per year and good shipping record. Hope this is clearer. Thank you.

[mr_lincoln]

@automotivepartsrecyclrs  Awesome post ... totally agree ... it may mean the eBay Team has to make an adjustment at their end ...

[Anonymous]

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Is there a sound reason why the second point here---about the June 30th thing---has not been posted to the Announcement Board?

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques This is hot off the press news. We're working on getting a Seller News Announcement up asap, but didn't want to hold back from letting you know here too. 

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What does that mean?  Will Ebay give ADVANCED notice via "Seller News Announcements" on upcoming changes or will it be AFTER Ebay has made the decision on a change?  I'm talking about changes in general, not specific to Guaranteed Delivery.  

From my point of view, Ebay makes many changes that affect sellers without any notice at all.  Sometimes they announce it at the time they implement and sometimes they don't.  Sometimes we are left to run across it ourselves and then go crazy if it is something that affects the way we conduct business.  Certainly some changes affect sellers differently across the site.  But these unannounce changes in general are problematic for sellers and certainly shows a lack of respect for the job sellers do.

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@mam98031 Seller News Announcements are used for upcoming changes as well as changes that have recently occurred. We will aim to keep you updated on Guaranteed Delivery news through as many channels as possible. The June 30 decision is brand new, and we hope it is helpful to our Guaranteed Delivery sellers. 

[labs118]

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wrote:

Does ebay protect sellers when site glitches affect a sellers ability to  print shipping labels?
If you look at the boards it appears for over a week there has been a glitch with ebay labels, sellers are wasting hours on the phone trying to figure out issues with a Paypal billing agreement only to find out 
it is an ebay glitch & sellers must issue labels via carrier or other means.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/eBAY-Technical-Issue-Unable-to-Create-New-eBay-Shippi...

ebay response on some posts

I wanted to let you know that we are currently working on an issue where the Billing Agreement cannot be renewed. While I don't have an estimated date for a fix on this, I'm happy to touch base once there is more information to share. For the time being, you may need to purchase labels directly from the courier site. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused and encourage you to contact Customer Service if you run into any specific complications related to this issue so we can get those reported as well!

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And will ebay refund any label discount money lost because of these issues, Be it difference in label cost to purchase via courier site & or any late shipments for sellers in the guaranteed delivery progarm?