eBay

keziak · ‎03-19-2024

I don't have much in my TOS and nothing about my handling time which is 3 business days. I get too many questions from people like "when are you going to ship?" I feel bad about that but it's hard to keep up between ebay and Amazon. Anyway, do you have language in your TOS about handling time and do you recommend that? Or do people not read it anyway? Maybe your handling time is much faster than mine. I ship faster when I can manage it and also on Saturdays but I still bump up against the 3rd day a lot.

keziak · ‎03-19-2024

Why is the job of online sales to ship immediately? I'm not trying to argue, just wondering why. Even on Amazon you get 2 business days to ship.

soh.maryl · ‎03-19-2024

Not sure it's a case of online sales have to ship immediately. As I mentioned before, every listing has an estimated delivery date and the seller is more or less expected to ship so that the item arrives to the buyer before, on or just a little after that date.

Also, you will ALWAYS have the "When do you plan to ship?"
messages. Some buyers can order, pay and send that message in 10 minutes' time or less.

golfingaddict · ‎03-19-2024

You have been a seller for a long time and remember the days where you had to add everything in your description.

Now all of the information can be found in the item specifics and shipping information.

I sometimes change my handling time and I do not want to have to revise each item description. I can edit the handling time all at once. The same for calculated shipping. USPS changes their rates? Boom, that is taken care of.

Maybe it is being lazy or maybe it is remembering days of revising listings because something changed and I had the info in the description area.

soh.maryl · ‎03-19-2024

Most eBay transactions are not a life-or-death matter. If a buyer urgently needs something immediately, they need to purchase locally.

yuzuha · ‎03-19-2024

I have a 3-day handling time. I state this very clearly in my listings.

I can't even remember the last time I got a "when are you going to ship?" question.

yuzuha · ‎03-19-2024

@redlinear wrote:
I usually won't buy something if I think it's going to set there three days after I pay for it.
Part of your job as an online seller is ship asap.
For 99% of what a person sells online, it should be shipped within a day (weekends excluded).

I truly don't understand this mindset. If I need something right away, I don't order it online, I go to a nearby store and buy it there.

keziak · ‎03-19-2024

Thank you for sharing, I took the liberty of checking how you put the information in your TOS. I am going to try something similar.

yuzuha · ‎03-19-2024

Hopefully it will help! I've found that making it clear that I ship twice a week really seems to eliminate the buyers who want something NOW NOW NOW.

inhawaii · ‎03-19-2024

The statement on ALL my listings is correct no matter when I ship.

"I offer fast service. I usually ship in one day, sometimes the very same day. Please check my feedback and buy with confidence."

Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations

sin-n-dex · ‎03-19-2024

@yuzuha wrote:
Hopefully it will help! I've found that making it clear that I ship twice a week really seems to eliminate the buyers who want something NOW NOW NOW.

I have 10 days handling all the time... it means I don't have to put the store in away mode when I can't ship for a few days. I have a full time job and family commitments. I am not going to keep changing my handling time or messaging buyers with the latest on what I'm doing with regards to shipping a package.

I get when will I ship messages sometimes... but realistically, despite 10 days handling, I ship most items in about 1-2 days. I get lots of "fast shipping" feedback because items arrive a lot sooner than expected.

Perhaps there's the odd person won't buy from me because they see the long handling time... but I'm busy enough (to the point of sometimes not having time to do anything but ship packages in an evening) that I don't worry about the odd buyer who wants it "right away".

I also sell stuff people don't need... and what I'm finding is most buyers of coins and stamps are reasonably patient people. I probably get a message once every 2-3 months from someone who's angry that it hasn't "shipped yet". The last message came 11pm on Sunday night for an item he bought at 4am Sunday morning. I also find it comical the the ones who complain have accepted an offer where I specifically state I only ship 2-3 times per week (realistically I ship 4-5 times a week because of volume... but I prefer to under promise and over deliver).

C.

keziak · ‎03-19-2024

That's great. It's also the way I operate elsewhere, not on ebay. I'd like to do better but I'm done ripping myself up inside over shortcomings. I do try to at least pack carefully.

I revised my TOS but now I think maybe it's too verbose. But I'll see if it seems to help.

pennpicker · ‎03-19-2024

Had a guy, long ago, that I was disappointed with concerning packaging and time of delivery. Bought another eight or so paintings from. They later mentioned (after having a rapport) being confined to a wheelchair and had great difficulties shipping--appreciating my patience. Glad I held my tongue concerning their apparent lack of whatever one assumes to be timely service. Would have felt quite the heel.

redlinear · ‎03-20-2024

@keziak wrote:
Why is the job of online sales to ship immediately? I'm not trying to argue, just wondering why. Even on Amazon you get 2 business days to ship.

I see it as the path you chose. If you were a daycare, you would have to change diapers (as opposed to just waiting till the parents got there later...just part of the job).
For selling and shipping? Selling online / ebay means shipping. Just part of the job.
People want their stuff yesterday. It's ALWAYS been that way.
That's what happened to ebay auctions....takes too long (how much to end the auction and sell it to me now?)
If it's not going to be there the day before they bought it? Well, they have probably made other plans and expect it "asap" instead of yesterday.
The best way to do that is to get it done now, get it out of your hands, do your job now instead of later...and let USPS or FedEx mess it up. (If you ship in two days, and fedex has a delay...you're going to take the blame on that, not fedex). But if you shipped within 24hrs? You might be able to convince the customer that You Good, FedEx Bad. And keep them as a customer.
The longer you wait to ship, the less return customers you get.

I don't mean to sound harsh. I started at a salvage yard that was connected to thousands of other salvage yards all over the country. That was 35 years ago and the MOST important thing was Ship it NOW! And if you delayed a bit, you would lose accounts, BIG $$ Accounts (insurance companies, body shops, and other salvage yards).
And a delay on your part? These places would call you and chew your butt up one side and down the other. And I mean $100k a month accounts would simply go somewhere else. Somewhere that could get the job done.
As for now, and ebay? I don't know all the reasons a person chooses me/ebay over local. But if local is an option, and they choose me? I'm going to do everything I can to baffle them with how fast I shipped their stuff.
You take your car to the shop on Monday. The shop says it'll be ready Friday. They order the parts Monday or Tuesday. Parts show up Thursday all is good. Parts show up Friday, somebody's not getting a lunch break. Parts show up Monday? You may be taking your car somewhere else and have nothing good to say about that shop. If you didn't ship as soon as you could have, The shop blames you and starts ordering parts from somewhere else.

If you sell and ship, you can only assume. That assumption should be "somebody bought something from me because for some reason, they needed it". And if they actually did need it? They probably need it now.

For everybody that thinks 2 day to 10 day handling is fine?
I'm taking your sales.

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎03-20-2024

@redlinear

Auto parts for a repair? I tend to agree with you.

My kind of stuff? Most people don't NEED it right away. I send within one business day or same day, because I know my customers like to get stuff quickly. AND because it is no huge inconvenience for me. I ship USPS. My local small town PO has great staff and if I don't have much to drop off, it's within walking distance...I can drive or walk. If I also had a day job, if the PO was far away and pick up wasn't available, etc...I would probably have a longer handling time.

So , sure, better to ship quickly than slowly. But a lot depends on a seller's circumstances and on the stuff being sold.

redlinear · ‎03-20-2024

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
@redlinear

Auto parts for a repair? I tend to agree with you.

My kind of stuff? Most people don't NEED it right away. I send within one business day or same day, because I know my customers like to get stuff quickly. AND because it is no huge inconvenience for me. I ship USPS. My local small town PO has great staff and if I don't have much to drop off, it's within walking distance...I can drive or walk. If I also had a day job, if the PO was far away and pick up wasn't available, etc...I would probably have a longer handling time.

So , sure, better to ship quickly than slowly. But a lot depends on a seller's circumstances and on the stuff being sold.

I seem to think that anybody that's sold even a few things on eBay would already KNOW how customers are:
Where's my item?
Where's my tracking number?
When will this ship?
Can I pay for faster shipping?
Hey, can you ship this today? I need by the weekend.

I get those several times a week.
And the best answer is...I'm sorry, your item has already been shipped and is on the way to you.
Here's your tracking number.