advice? for selling during time away
I am planning on a staycation next months for reasons. I don't want to list or pack but I am nervous about going cold turkey on sales. I'm thinking of the first week being on time away Sunday- Friday, then package over the weekend . But I'm not sure about the second week. Do a new time away starting Sunday and lasting until the following Friday?
Please point out flaws with this plan. thanks.
22 comments
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoMy "time away" is approaching three months - somehow, I haven't missed it, even though I check in.
ETA: @keziak I say this in all respect - you're overthinking all of this. Free yourself for two weeks. See what happens.
keziak
OP1 year ago"I overthink, therefore I am" should be my bumper sticker.
gloryglorygifts
·1 year agoI like to put the store on vacation mode for the full time I'm away and allow sales. If I can ship them earlier than when time is up, I will. Other ones, I'll wait. You can always end your time away early if you want. Just mention it in your time away message that it may take some time for you to respond or ship.
Enjoy your time off!
movieman630
·1 year agoAll I can say is I just took off the last two weeks of December. When I came back online Jan. 2 my impressions dropped to a historic low. From Jan 2 to today my sales and impressions are down more than 50% from where they were.
IMO taking "time away" is risky right now. Something is broken at ebay.
inhawaii
·1 year agoI've never understood why people would want time away, yet still continue to sell and ship.
What's the point of being away?
keziak
OP1 year agoIn case my post was not clear: I want to be "away" during the week, collect orders, and spend the weekend shipping. Not sure how to do that the second week. I guess back on "time away" Sunday for another week.
No matter what I do I am definitely going to have the time to tend to many fires such as getting a passport finally! Updating family financial records, getting a new driver's license, whipping the basement into shape and reading a lot. I have hobbies now as well, mostly needlework and other art.
slippinjimmy
·1 year agoIf you are going to be home and willing to at least check for messages from buyers but only want to ship once a week then just change you handling time to 5 days (or 6 or 7). With 6 days anything sold between today and Feb 2nd could be shipped "on time" on Feb 3rd.
I have 5 day handling, I normally ship twice per week but I can meet my commitments to eBay by shipping once every 6 days.
keziak
OP1 year agoI have 3 day handling and get way too many inquiries " when will you ship?". So now I am trying to ship faster. When on Time Away there is a banner with the return date but do people notice it?
sin-n-dex
·1 year agoYou can do your time away and pack and ship when you want to during that time, the customer will just get their stuff sooner. Or you could have it for a week at a time with one day at the end of the week to pack and ship.
You might get a decrease in orders if your stuff is something they can get faster from someone else. I sell collectibles and don't have problems making sales during time away (with listings visible). I opt to hide my listings so I don't have a slew of packages to do the day I get back (and it's not a staycation where I can keep checking my messages and replying to people... sometimes I'm without internet and only checking email in case a request/case is opened).
C.
dnasilver
·1 year agoWe close down every year from a month up to six months. We put a note on our listings about a month or so in advance. We have never had any negative effect on sales. The majority of times when we get back sales pick up for the first month or so. We end our listings, then while away we will relist as similar, save to our drafts. Then we just list them new when we are back. Seems to work at least for us. Check out a listing as an example of our note. under conditions
luckythewinner
·1 year agoWhen I am unable to pack or ship, I simply end all my listings and then re-list them when I am back.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoFrom a purely personal perspective, the only flaw I see with this plan is the part where you take your store OFF time away for the weekend. Why not just leave it on for the two weeks and enjoy yourself?
keziak
OP1 year agoOut of seller remorse from losing that many sales. On the one hand, who cares? ON the other hand, sales. I've gone on trips many times and shipped when I got back because people could still buy. I would get online and alert them to my return day. But do I want to do that during my staycation? Nobody knows but me.
I am looking forward to both getting recreation and tackling many projects around the house which I can't get to (ie bother with) normally. I am trying to move everything I can in the family room to a room with a door so I can avoid looking at unlisted stuff.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoYou could pay to delay your new listings. There is an option for that on your Sell Your Item page.
But it would be easier just to put your entire Stock on Time Away starting two days before your staycation and ending one day after.
And while some may tell you to leave your TA listings available, from the customer's point of view the seller is saying "yeah, I have it, and yeah, you want it, but you can't have it, nyaah, nyaah, nyaah."
And some buyer won't notice the Time Away and make a Claim for Item Not Received or leave a neg because the parcel didn't arrive yesterday.
sin-n-dex
·1 year agoIn the few times I've been time away with listings showing (which is usually a pretty short time, like over a long weekend), I've messaged the customer to tell them I'm visiting family or whatever it is, and I'll ship when I get back. That way if they didn't see the away message they can ask me to cancel if it's time sensitive.
C.
keziak
OP1 year agoYes, exactly. I guess it wouldn't upset my time much to send emails. People often don't read listings completely. My challenge will be to find other things to do because check email incessantly.
The main problem with February is that it isn't gardening season. I want to spend a lot of time gardening but find it hard when working. Though it's a killer for my knees anyway, best done a little each day not weekend warrior.
lakefor94
·1 year ago@keziak
My suggestion is to do your time away without allowing buyers to buy anything. That way, ebay is not sneaking to the forefront of thoughts. Sounds like you want to focus on some other endeavors. Don't allow eBay to get in the way.
Don't forget that auctions don't shutdown when you do time away.
Enjoy.
keziak
OP1 year agoThat is right, I am on hiatus for auctions. I have some stuff I want to list in my store next week. My ebay customers have always been so sweet about waiting. I think they feel more comfortable when we take the time to message them.
buyselljack2016
·1 year agoPost deleted by me
It was non-applicable to a seller allowing sales while on "time away".
keziak
OP1 year agoMy staycation is in February for at least a week and probably two. So I have next week to get some stuff listed and out of the family room. It will be Fixed Price, no auctions. My current auctions end Monday.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoWhat does that mean @reallynicestamps ?
Are you referring to scheduled listings? If so, there is no fee for that.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoThey dropped that? Good.
Never used it, so I'm out of date.