Ever have a big hiccup in your eBay Business?
Just wondering if anyone else suffered a big hiccup in their eBay business (and how they overcame a big obstacle in selling).
My big hiccup came to a head last night with an announcement from my shipper that they were closing a bunch of branches in Ontario. I called to give feedback that us Ontario customers would probably like if they did here what's done in Nova Scotia with "drop spots" available all over the place. In Ontario they opened branches everywhere to expand, and in the past year there's been a decreased demand, so everywhere that's not profitable is closed (which are the two closest to where I live, one of which is 2 miles from where I work).
Two months ago the full time person at the branch I use the most often either quit or got canned (I was in Africa, so I have no idea what happened, just that someone from Burlington was coming in to open the branch at reduced number of days per week). Burlington is third closest to me, and open late, so I was driving my packages there on Mondays to make up for the Monday closure of my local branch.
The customers protested so much that last Thursday they announced they would open Monday-Wednesday-Friday. Seemed like victory and I was feeling very proud of myself for speaking up and being one of the voices that made this change... so they were open yesterday, and last night after their first day of new hours/days, they announced on the 29th the Branch would close permanently.
So now I'm back to square one of having to figure out how to get packages to Burlington. There's too much stuff for it to be cost effective to courier boxes there (that's what I did before, but I had much fewer listings and sales, so we only did one box a week). Now I need 2-3 boxes of stuff, and some packages are just too big to courier there.
So the next option is driving there (3 hours round trip during rush hour), and doing that twice a week. I have auctions ending on Sunday night, so I want to be sure people who pay late Sunday or Monday don't wait too long for their package, so I figured I'd drive there after work Monday and Thursday. (Won't matter if I'm working from home, work and home are equally far from Burlington).
I looked into eBay.ca to see of shipping rates there and some of the rates for single things like coins are so good, if I can't drop stuff off nearby, there's no point in even dropping stuff off there at all, I can just switch to Canada Post. Today they've announced rate changes on Sept 3, 2024, so I want to see how that affects eBay rates before I do drastic things like updating my shipping location and rates on 12000 listings.
Shipping coins and coin sets will be comparable between eBay's Canada Post rates, and USPS with the Chit Chats (my shipper) fees. Things like postcards though are 3.19 to ship from Canada well protected, and I've been shipping them for 88 cents with USPS using eBay labels, plus the 3.19 does not come with any tracking, and eBay's labels do. So the question is the advantages of using this metered mail worth driving for 5-6 hours every week to drop off packages, or am I better to take the occasional loss? I don't tend to have many problems with people who buy postcards and stamps (what will be most negatively affected by switching back to Canada Post).
So this is my big crisis in getting things shipped, and I'm trying to figure out how to manage it until I can figure out what to do as a permanent resolution. I don't think driving in the dead of winter for 3 hours in a snow storm (which happens often here) is a good solution, so I've given myself until September (when I find out what Canada Post is doing) to sort things out, meanwhile it's spring/summer and weather is nice, so the drive isn't so bad... but 3 hours in the evening in the car is 3 hours I'm not processing and listing stuff, which is necessary to make sales.
Anyone else feel like sharing some of the drama they've had selling here?
C.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoMight be appropriate to consider whether it is appropriate to continue selling items as inexpensive as some of your offerings, and in the process take the pressure off in terms of number of shipments. And consider relying on Canada Post and even tracked shipments.
The analysis would probably be worthwhile, even if you make no change.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoAnything under $50. doesn't need tracking....
I hope you're not doing tracking for cheapie items. Your not into the TRS program?
And you realize items with no tracking and just using postage stamps get to buyers quicker.
You can list high end items where items are mailed every Friday...some sellers do that...on the item for sale.
I haven't lost anything last year or this year yet. Why?
"Repeat buyers"...those who say item has not arrived but did...will be "blocked" by a seller.
Buyers are afraid of being blocked by a seller because buyer might see something in the future to buy from the seller. You are lucky to be in the class of buyers afraid of saying item not arrived.
sin-n-dex
OP2 years agoAll coins and banknotes are tracked (I use GA for coins, they get caught in the sort machines in Canada, so I don't want to chance it with shipping them as ESE via USPS).
The buyers who say their stuff never arrived but it did create new accounts and try to scam again. I have a serial scammer that has been trying to buy from me since 2013 when he first said his stuff didn't arrive. Now that I know he's been kicked off eBay I just report him if he resurfaces and eBay will take care of it.
Most of the INRs I get are on ESE, but I think that's partly due to tracking show it's delivered and the buyer hasn't received it yet.
C.
dhbookds
·2 years agoAny chance of "networking" with other Ebay sellers near you? Might see if there's an Ebay group on facebook in Canada in your area.......just to see how others are handling it..........
sin-n-dex
OP2 years agoI guess I'd have to do something with my FB account... aside from messaging eBay on the rare occasions, I haven't used FB in like 10 years...
USPS lost a bag of mail once (it boarded a truck in Niagara and wound up in LA without a single scan enroute) and one of the ladies who uses my shipper was busy yelling at the agent about it. I showed up in the midst of it and talked to her about what I found out about the bag of mail, and she's ranting that she has one day handling and how unacceptable that is (like it's our shipper's fault USPS messed up). I think they'll be lots of whining if I find the lot of them who used the shipper... there is no other shipper like it anywhere nearby, the closest is in Mississauga (other than the one I use, which is now operating out of Burlington).
C.
toysaver
·2 years agoLife is nothing but change. First one problem appears that must be solved and then another... until you die. That sentiment comes from the grandmother in Downton Abbey. I have faith you will get it figured out. I hope you don't have to drive 3 hours.
sin-n-dex
OP2 years agoMight have to do it for a little bit until it gets sorted out in some way shape or form... it was kind of lousy driving 3 hours once a week on Mondays to deal with this, but now it's going to be twice a week (I will not do packages more than twice a week).
Lots of things in listings will need to be updated, but another poster in my other thread gave me some help to manage. I will work on that while waiting out the problem. It will eventually be resolved.
C.
frodobagginskennedy
·2 years agoso sorry for your mail issues. It must be a PITA! Look at the bright side though. You are having great sales so with the overall picture it is a GREAT problem to have!!
Best of luck !
sin-n-dex
OP2 years agoThanks for the good wishes 🙂
There could be a downside... had I only a handful of sales each week, this would be an expense not justified (and I might end up like that other Canadian poster with not enough sales to solve the shipping conundrum with tracking and all that). When I shipped without tracking, there were numerous things I refused to sell because they frequently went "missing". The store would need a big cleanup if I ever went back there...
The round trip drive to Burlington costs me $25 per trip in fuel. I have a fairly new car now, so I don't predict lots of breaking down and repairs anytime soon... driving to work only 2-3 times a week cuts back on mileage.
C.