eBay

scotgiesbrech9 · ‎05-13-2023

My account is restricted for not having tracking on every item that was sold. The buyers have given positive feedback that the item was received but USPS tracking has apparently died. It's been over a month since the item(s) were delivered to the buyer and tracking still shows In Transit or in some cases not even shipped yet. eBay will not unlock the account until all items show delivered but there is no way to prove that. Yet the buyers say they have the item in hand. eBay's response to every query for help is the same, prove you have delivered every item and we'll unlock your account.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎05-13-2023

Sorry, but can you clarify? Did you use tracking or not? Or are you saying the items tracked do not show delivered? How many don’t show as delivered?

scotgiesbrech9 · ‎05-13-2023

Yes tracking was used, but the tracking provided by USPS is not accurate. There are currently 11 items that have issues. It's extremely confusing for a new seller here.

Focusing on one item, it was sold March 30, handed to USPS on March 31, tracking # 9400108205497788676919 shows that it's not even in transit yet. But the buyer gave positive feedback, quoting here """...Fast shipping well packaged. Thanks""" I can't see the date on the feedback but it seemed to be typical shipping times. That was over a month ago. How do we resolve this?

ckimodog · ‎05-13-2023

@scotgiesbrech9

New sellers who start off selling multiples of the same item will raise a red flag with Ebay. How did you come into these items you sold? Were they a long time collection? If you have the tracking numbers, remit them to Ebay as requested.

Also, don't be surprised if they ask you for receipts of some kind for those sales. With all the fraud and stolen merchandise that is being sold on Ebay as well as other sites, Ebay is just looking out for their buyers. That is their priority here. Not saying this is your issue here, but feedback means nothing other than a comment of someone's experience as a buyer. It won't help your situation at all.

Good luck

femmefan1946 · ‎05-13-2023

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that mean giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.

 https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/ — Message button in upper right on landing page.
 https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en

 https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.  
The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.

You need to give the Chat rep the tracking numbers.

They may have ways to look things up that are not available to you. Or maybe not.

But it never hurts to repeat pertinent information.

Before you start your Chat, write out the timeline for each transaction, including reference to feedback if any, and those all important tracking numbers.

Best wishes.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎05-13-2023

According to the tracking number you gave, i show that the item could not be delivered because of an incomplete address on May 13. See screen shot below.

That tracking number is unlikely to be the same as your buyer’s package.

If you have 11 tracking numbers with issues, then you are the unluckiest person on the planet. Unfortunately there is no way to resolve your issue with eBay if it involves delivery proof. It is one of the basic tenets of selling here. Online viewable tracking from an integrated carrier is a requirement to prove delivery has taken place.

You are a new seller who sold 42 mostly high dollar goods for mainly under market prices in a short time. That got you on the eBay radar. Nothing to do for it now but see it through.

dbfolks166mt · ‎05-14-2023

According to the tracking number you gave, i show that the item could not be delivered because of an incomplete address on May 13. See screen shot below.

I see different information checking that tracking number but USPS may have recycled the number.

That tracking number is unlikely to be the same as your buyer’s package.

If you have 11 tracking numbers with issues, then you are the unluckiest person on the planet. Unfortunately there is no way to resolve your issue with eBay if it involves delivery proof. It is one of the basic tenets of selling here. Online viewable tracking from an integrated carrier is a requirement to prove delivery has taken place.

Agreed and if there are issues with the tracking numbers that is a USPS problem not eBay's. The OP needs to work with their local post office or interact through the USPS online site to resolve each of the individual issues.

You are a new seller who sold 42 mostly high dollar goods for mainly under market prices in a short time. That got you on the eBay radar. Nothing to do for it now but see it through.

the-hook-and-the-loop · ‎05-14-2023

If you post the other tracking numbers, we can sort through them to see if there's some type of pattern.

dhbookds · ‎05-14-2023

3 of the expensive items shows feedback from same buyer:

Item not received due to packing/shipping problem, but ultimately refunded. They were not negs, presumably because refunds were given...

so not "all" items were delivered according to the buyer....

So the serious question becomes: Did you voluntarily refund or did ebay refund for you?

If you had 11 items not show an acceptance scan at the PO (which is what that tracking # shows to me), you need to talk to the PO.........and find out why........

Frankly, I doubt you can get out of this.......if you have 11 items not showing proof that you mailed (an acceptance scan)........even if some buyers state items are received....... Unless you can get a statement of some kind from USPS.... That's an extraordinary # to most of us that use USPS all the time.

scotgiesbrech9 · ‎05-14-2023

@ckimodog
The items were collected over years of time. Selling because of a need of cash Understand feedback means nothing, just verifying that the items (at least some of them) have for sure been delivered even though tracking doesn't show that.

@femmefan1946
Thanks for the advice. Yes the phone reps have been terrible to work with

@fashunu4eeuh
That is interesting, how come I am not able to pull up that same info with that tracking number?

@dhbookds
I voluntarily refunded the items those items you are referencing
You say you doubt I can get out of this, that sounds serious, there is over $5,000 of my money tied up right now.

Some general info about what all happened here

As a new seller I wasn't aware of how this all worked. For the first dozen or so items that sold I went to Staples and purchased prepaid packages. Packaged the sold items in those and delivered them to a local post office. That PO did not give me any tracking number for those items. Was there something on the prepaid packaging I should have saved? Anyway, another ebay seller suggested something that seemed like it should work. We got certified envelopes and wrote a letter explaining the situation and mailed those to the addresses of those first item buyers. Then we put that tracking numbers for those envelopes in eBay on those sold items. I need to check but I believe all of those items are cleared now thanks to that.

The 11 items that are giving issues now I believe I shipped via another post office and got tracking numbers from them but I need to take careful inventory and figure out for sure.

I understand that mistakes were made here. But the confusion generated from eBay's way of operation is difficult to overcome. Is it really likely that the only way out of this is simply to refund every single item, over $5,000 worth, and start over? That is a difficult thing to do.

Let me dig deeper into this and verify each item that has tracking/shipping issues. The help and suggestions received here are 1,000x more helpful than what I've got from eBay so far.

slippinjimmy · ‎05-14-2023

I've had a similar issue in early April, no Acceptance scan from USPS and then nothing until May 9th when it suddenly Popped up in Chicago which is not the normal routing from my location to Texas, delivery after that was quick but in the interim my tracking showed only label printed.

For the ones that are not even showing an acceptance scan you are going to have to have a conversation with eBay.

I suggest you contact eBay support via their facebook page, for this type of complex and rather unusual situation one on one is the only way to proceed, csr you get via facebook can actually go off script. The bots that look at this stuff just see a delivery scan lacking.

scotgiesbrech9 · ‎05-14-2023

@slippinjimmy @femmefan1946

What level of authentication is required to work with the Facebook group? I have someone helping me on this issue that would likely be the one using Facebook so it's going to come from a different person. They have my permission to do whatever needs to be done, just unclear on if this might confuse things.

yuzuha · ‎05-14-2023

@scotgiesbrech9 wrote:

As a new seller I wasn't aware of how this all worked. For the first dozen or so items that sold I went to Staples and purchased prepaid packages. Packaged the sold items in those and delivered them to a local post office. That PO did not give me any tracking number for those items. Was there something on the prepaid packaging I should have saved?

Okay, I'm confused. What do you mean by "prepaid packaging"? I have honestly never heard of such a thing-- you would still have had to purchase postage at the post office, yes? In which case they would have given you a receipt that would have the tracking numbers for each package on it.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-14-2023

I have honestly never heard of such a thing-- you would still have had to purchase postage at the post office, yes?

No.

Go look at one of the notices you got for selling an item.

Near the top, towards the centre there is a blue link/button that says Print Packing Slip and more.

Click on it -> the drop down will include Print Shipping Label.

There are several choices at different price points. Pick one.

You will then be led to print a shipping label.

The cost of the label (which is discounted from counter rates usually) will be taken from the payment your customer made.

Note that while your customer's payment is being Held for up to 30 days while you prove yourself, the shipping label can still be purchased from the Held funds.

Now just tape the label onto the package and -- well I drop mine into the nearest mail box, but I understand USPS is more suspicious of packages.

Easier than lining up at the PO, and as mentioned, probably cheaper.

It's worth clicking on all those buttons. You will find all kinds of useful information and links there.

scotgiesbrech9 · ‎05-14-2023

sorry yes, I guess I was meaning the flat rate boxes, not prepaid. Postage was paid at the local post office. Now the issue is this particular post office is really low buck. They are not well liked at all. The only thing I got was a credit card receipt with a line item with amount for each shipment, no tracking number or anything. I went back there some days later to ask about tracking and they claim they cannot provide anything more. I'm just as confused as you.