Away time and not all items show up as seller away, buyer buys and eBay has other ideas
What's the deal with away time not showing up on all items? I just had a buyer buy something when away time was active and eBay wanted me to still ship the item within my handling time of three days. The buyer requested a cancellation and I approved.
The item auto relisted and the same program, still shows up as seller not away.
I go back in and end away time and re-enter time away and now it's a waiting game and hope no one buys anything in the next two hours before it kicks in. I still don't even know if this will work.
20 comments
paxilill
OP2 years agoI found the error, if you list something during away time, that item will not be marked as if you're away. This is just insanity how badly eBay sets stuff up
pjcdn2005
·2 years agoYou're right, your newly listed items show an eta of May 2 - 6 and do not show a time away message.
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years agoYes. Also, if you send offers while you're away, it will not be included & your normal handling time applies.
In this case, I agree with you, they shouldn't assume that you aren't going to do certain things just cuz you're on vacation, but it is actually quite the improvement over the previous system!
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years ago@slippinjimmy Yes, it really DOES work the way it's stated. I proved it approx a year ago, when I did both extend my handling time AND set Time Away & couldn't figure out why on earth my estimated shipping dates were 2 weeks out. It was b/c you ONLY have to set Time Away now.
As you noted & I also posted in Post 11, there are a handful of exceptions. I am happy to report that as of 2 weeks ago when I set Time Away again, those are now ON THE PAGE where you set Time Away, so they're very obvious b/c a year ago, they were buried deep & I got caught with some of those since I sent Offers while I was away.
But I confirmed that it works as advertised, last May. That time I allowed sales. This month when I was gone for 2 weeks, I turned off sales & that all worked as advertised too.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years ago@paxilill
It looks like you scheduled your time away but didn't take the next step in pausing your listings.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/time-away?id=5137&st=3&pos=1&query=Time%20Away&intent=time%20away&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1600
You can either Allow item sales or you can Pause item sales while on time away.
If you pause item sales, they won't show up and buyers won't be able to purchase items. It'll save you from getting late shipping defects if you don't extend your handling time.
jjddmwi
·2 years agoI thought Ebay automatically adjusted your handling time while on time away? Is that not true?
Could the 3-day handling be from the date time away ends?
Unavailable member
·2 years agoThe 3 day handling time is 3 business days from date of purchase, if you are on time away you will need to extend the handling time or hide all listings until time away ends.
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years ago@ebooksdiva That is no longer the case & hasn't been for over a year. Please see my post 11. You absolutely should NOT update the Handling Time if you are doing Time Away, with the exception of a handful of cases, which are outlined on the screen & I c/p'd into Post 11.
Unavailable member
·2 years agoRegardless....with all the glitches eBay has I wouldn't trust that with a ten foot pole.
I still would extend handling time or hide listings to be on the safe side.
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years agoIt works fine & has for over a year now. Granted, glitches can always occur, but this has not been glitchy & I cannot reccomend what you're suggesting, as that can easily double or more your handling time. I guess if you're ok with that, that's up to you. But when I discovered it had changed, I was aghast that it took the 10 days I thought I had to enter as a handling time & added it to my Time Away return date, making my delivery dates over 20 DAYS out! Not only was that not what I'd intended, but IMO, a 20 day handling time is pretty outrageous for what I sell & NOT okay. I would NEVER want that.
Not to mention, the change is what most sellers had been saying is how it should have worked back when it was Vacation Settings & they were correct. eBay changed it with Time Away, to the way we'd all been saying it should work & now there are several people here saying not to do it that way. Frustrating.
This is a change they made that was good & it works fine & has for over a year. I can't promise there won't be a glitch in the future, but that's true for anything on eBay 😄 I don't understand why ppl would reccomend not using a new feature b/c it could glitch in the future.
Keep in mind though, that there are still EXCEPTIONS & they are now listed on the Time Away page, which is an improvement as well, since those exceptions were well hidden before.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoIn theory they do auto extend, it is stated that they will adjust (with specified exceptions).
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/time-away?id=5137
I don't know if they really do so as I always hide my listings when using Time Away.
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years ago@jjddmwi You are correct! You absolutely should NOT adjust Handling Time in addition to Time Away. See my post #11. I did this a year ago & experienced DOUBLED handling times.
There are a couple of exceptions & they are on the Time Away screen, but I also c/p'd them to Message 11.
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoI think you've adjusted something. Now I see "The seller is away until May 04, 2024. If you buy this item, expect a delay in shipping." Did you tick 'Do not allow sales', @paxilill? Because I'm still seeing that it could be bought, and still see 3-Day Handling Time... and I don't know exactly what that means for a seller. 🤔
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoYep.
OP needs to either select do NOT show items OR change their handling time to when they WILL be able to ship again.
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoYep.
@toomuchstuffagain35
So I do know what that means for a seller. You need to make one more tweak, @paxilill. Enjoy your Time Away... 😎
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoIf you leave your items still available to be purchased, you HAVE to ship within your handling time- so you ALSO need to 'revise' your 'handling' time to coincide with your 'time away'.
Best as suggested by another- click 'do not show' your items for purchase as that only upsets customers because
a.) they don't see it
b.) sellers (like yourself) do NOT adjust the 'handling time' so the 'estimated delivery date does NOT update to the 'new' date.
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years ago@stainlessenginecovers Hey, just FYI, that is NOT true any more! Hasn't been for over a year!
In fact, you absolutely do NOT want to adjust your handling time as well! I learned that the hard way a year ago, when I was did both (cuz we used to have to) & it DOUBLED my handling time. So, nowadays, JUST set the Time Away & eBay will AUTOMATICALLY take care of the handling time!
What most likely happend to @paxilill was either an error in setup OR, there are 3 or 4 exceptions to Time Away! They are listed now when you set it up (I know b/c I just did it 2 weeks ago). The exceptions used to be more hidden. Here are the exceptions:
Delivery dates may not update for select items on Time Away
Whether you choose to allow sales or pause them, you may want to change the shipping format or the handling times on the following items while on time away: Second Chance Offers, Auto-accepted offers, Pending counter-offers, Seller initiated offers, items with local pickup, in-store pickup, and digital items.
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years ago@simply-the-best-for-you
I'd say it 'used' to work that way (the most 'recent' way), but with glitchy mcglitch, I would NOT take the chance..but even WAY MORE importantly- it is best to
a.) not go on vacation with 'auctions'- Just END them
b.) ALWAYS just 'BLOCK' views/sales when 'gone'
As for the most part, a seller is looking for trouble because as I stated, MANY won't/don't see that 'mention' of 'seller is away and won't ship anything for 3 weeks' (or whatever it says.
JUST BLOCK sales when doing 'Time Away'.
simply-the-best-for-you
·2 years ago@stainlessenginecovers Well, you can do it whichever way you want 🙂 I usually agree with you, but in this case, I disagree with you on all these points.
It DOES work the way I posted & I haven't encountered any glitch with it. Though, ofc glitches can always happen, but if you do both, as you're suggesting people still do, you are ADDING the handling time you changed to the return date. Since I was gone for 10 days, I would up adding 10 days to my return date, for an effective delay of 20 days, which is NOT at all what I intended, nor is it reasonable IMO.
I know it USED to be you needed to add them, but that is quite old info at this point & has an undesirable outcome now.
I also completely disagree that you should BLOCK sales when you are on Time Away. That's very much a personal choice. I routinely leave my sales active when I'm gone for 10 days or less (and have for years) & I've never had an issue with it. I make lots of sales while I'm gone. I've never had a buyer not see the message & I used to write them a quick note after a purchase just to make sure they knew. I finally stopped that, cuz they always had.
In fact, a few weeks ago, is the first time I've ever blocked sales just b/c of the length of time I would be gone & I had more confused buyers when I blocked sales LOL. People must have had them on their watchlist & wrote me b/c they couldn't buy & couldn't figure out why. They even read the message, but said "it didn't say I couldn't buy".
I'm not advocating for one or the other, I'm just saying that both are valid choices! I'm sure the choice will partially depend on your selling category. In mine, my buyer's tend to pay attention to detail & I have no problem keeping my items active while I'm gone.
caldreamer
·2 years agoI just checked your items and do not see any "time away" message. When you turn on "timeaway" be sure to select "do NOT allow purchases". Otherwise, when customers purchase items you are required to ship right away.