Ridiculous reason to leave a neutral - re shipping time
So I sold an item on Monday December 29th. I have five days handling. I shipped the item December 30th, and he received it yesterday (January 9th).
I'm in Canada, he's in California, and he left me neutral feedback because the "shipping took long". Does he realize that anything going Canada Post is taking 2-3 weeks to clear the border because of all the tariff stuff, and I got around the tariff problem by using a cross border shipper which I knew would clear the item in 2-3 days?
Considering it takes sometimes 10 days to get an item across the country, I don't think the shipping time is unreasonable at all.
C.
34 comments
casprrr
·9 months agoI once had a buyer leave neutral feedback with the four word comment "Arrived in good condition". I left the feedback go as my 100 percent positive feedback score wasn't affected by this, and I figured that if anyone dug deep enough to find my only neutral feedback, they would also see the comment and feel that it was the buyer, not me the seller, that they might have questions about. This feedback rolled off a year or more ago.
stainlessenginecovers
·9 months agoebay used to have (up until about 6 months ago) a yellow flag (like CAUTION!) for items that had 5 days or longer handling.
Now, they don't have it at all; even on 10 day handling and the only way a buyer can see the handling is to click 'see more' on the shipping, scroll down and pay ATTENTION. Something 99% of buyers will NOT do.
The only 'resolve' is to ship out sooner or live with it.
tobaccocardyahoo
·9 months agoBuyers who care about when they get their orders should look at the estimated delivery date, They should not need to look for the handling time. Buyers who babysit their orders are not buyers some of us want or need.
Recent changes for USPS made it necessary for me to babysit many of my orders. I strongly resent that. In time I have seen the patterns in their performance and feel comfortable that my methods protect me.
I choose to decide how to waste my time.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoI don't get buyers that babysit their orders very often, but I did get one I had to BBL.
The first time he ordered, he was a new customer and I was a new seller to him, he had concerns because everything was new. He messaged me a whole lot about his order and did not want to look at tracking himself when I gave him the link. I figured this was just becuase it was his first order and he had some anxiety.
The second time he ordered he did the same thing again, messaged me every 12 hours to tell me he thought his order was lost because it was stuck in Baltimore and it's supposed to be "delivered the next day after it gets there". I was getting annoyed with this guy, told him to chill, and he says "it's your responsibility to make sure I get my order" and he was arguing with me that slow mail was a bunch of hype and he sees no evidence of this (even though my two packages to him were evidence, he said it was only my orders that were taking longer to reach him). This was during COVID when mail was a lot slower.
Anyway he got his order and started of with "for the money I spent in your store I could have gotten blah blah blah from another seller with less to pay in shipping." Enough, BBL. Go away. I don't need your $50 badly enough to let myself be driven nuts for 7-10 days while you wait for your order from my store.
I've even on occasion sold something at 2am on Sunday and gotten at 4pm "why haven't you shipped it yet?" (uh, because the post office is closed today??) That doesn't happen often, but when it does I tell those people to have a bit of patience and it will get out soon (usually I tell them when, since I make up my schedule a few days at a time, so I generally know when my next shipping will be).
C.
tobaccocardyahoo
·9 months agoI have a 5 day handling time, usually ship same or next business day.
One of the reasons for it is the buyers who are discouraged by it and buy from someone else. I do not want or need buyers who babysit their orders. Let them order from someone who wants them.
Another reason for it is the safety net it provides when USPS falls down on the job.
My goal, in every way possible. is to lower expectations and exceed them in performance. It shows in my repeat buyers.
roccotacodad54
·9 months agoThis is probably of little comfort but I only buy here and when I see a neutral or negative on a sellers feedback due to shipping delays I almost always disregard it.
I don't believe all that many buyers bother to read feedback.
I believe the new auto feedback should help mitigate any damage done to a sellers feedback score for those buyers that actually bother to look at the score..............................
hotwheelsbum
·9 months agoIf you see one or two on a Sellers Feedback that has dozens, hundreds, thousands of Feedback, that's the Buyer having an issue.
If you see 5, 10, 2 dozen on a Sellers Feedback, no matter what number of Feedback (except maybe 2 dozen on a 100,000 Feedback. Those are rare though) then that's a Seller issue. Should not be disregarded.
roccotacodad54
·9 months agoThat's just me. I don't order anything I need pronto from eBay so as long as the item gets to me in I'm a happy camper.
I buy vintage items (blades and flatware mostly) so there's no hurry. I expect oxidation and wear and tear so I'm usually re-conditioning items I have already have in posession and busy.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoSince it was shipping from Canada, with what I'm reading in the Canadian forum about packages stuck at customs for weeks and weeks, I'd say less than two weeks from my place to theirs is remarkably fast.
The addition of the cross border shipper speeds up my Customs time because there's trust between me and CBP that my items are accurately described and tariffs paid. I don't feel so bad about being very precise in my descriptions because no one except the shipper and CBP sees what I put there, so I'm free to say "Canada 1oz Silver Coin .999 Pure" in my description without worrying the package will be pinched by thieves.
I can also insure anything by the shipper that I'm concerned about (stuff with high value or high cost), but don't have to insure everything so lots of stuff just goes normal with cookie jar insurance and fingers crossed.
eBay did remove it and said they were doing so because the complaint was about shipping when they can see a carrier scan the day after it was purchased. So that was simple enough to do. Now I just have to make sure I don't earn any more from other issues and it will be OK.
C.
roccotacodad54
·9 months agoYes at two weeks I wouldn't be all upset even with a domestic (here in the US) shipment if it were coming across country.
Of course I'm not in the "instant gratification" crowd, so there's that.........................
inhawaii
·9 months agoI get antsy when a seller takes 3 days or more to ship regardless of handling time.
I won't leave a neutral/negative feedback but it does bother me and I won't buy from them again.
Why sell something if you can't ship it out in 3 days?
Yes, I admit that I am a impatient SOB.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoWhen I revise the handling, I'll change it to three days, I don't have to leave the city too often for work right now, it's just that I can sell a bunch of stuff today and have to leave suddenly before I can ship, so the extra handling time was a good buffer. But if I needed to use extra handling (beyond what people expect if they haven't read the listing), I sent the buyer a message to explain. I don't think this has happened in 2025 though so it's probably time to update.
C.
mamacassidy
·9 months agoI can't see a neutral in your feedback, so it looks like it's been removed! 🙂
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoThis just in my email now:
Sharing for anyone who might have a similar situation... the only negative comment was related to shipping time, so it was removable. (I didn't look to see if they scrubbed the whole thing or just the part about delivery, and it said I might have a delay before it shows up).
C.
az93
·9 months agoYou shipped just fine. You have no control over delivery.
ryry-jj
·9 months agoWhen I look at a seller's feedback I usually go to the negatives and neutrals. So respond in a positive way, point out it was an international shipment and you are sorry it took 9 days, and wish that it could be quicker going across borders. How you respond can make you look better than many positive feedbacks you receive. The positives are just a number, a %...the responses a seller might give can be priceless! Although, they can also be disastrous if responded to poorly, lol
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoIf it can't be removed, I will respond in a few days... I'd prefer to cool off first before answering.
I did not go to the buyer to ask for a revision because I don't think that's the best idea (it could be revised to be worse, at least this comment doesn't hurt me, or it won't when I respond). The buyer also has a tendency to leave lots of negs and neutrals anyway, so I BBL'd.
C.
grann-4629
·9 months agoAhh, feedback. When is eBay going to delete this 'feature' that causes so much distress to users?
kibble-net
·9 months agoA lot of buyers are impatient, yes.
However ..... 5 days handling time?
5 DAYS?
I'd leave you a neutral if you waited five days to ship. (Yes it's clear from your post that you shipped the next day so this doesn't really apply)
ryry-jj
·9 months agoBut why would you leave neutral if you knew from the listing it had 5 day handling?
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoThe original handling time stemmed from a time we were bringing our items from Canada to NY to ship, and we only crossed once or twice a week.
Now that we have a cross border shipper and use their services by dropping stuff off three times a week, it's probably no longer necessary, but it will be a pain to update all the listings as I use third party software that will have to sync 9000 listings. I'll update it at some time when I'm making other changes at the same time.
C.
monroe67
·9 months ago"However ..... 5 days handling time?
5 DAYS?
I'd leave you a neutral if you waited five days to ship. (Yes it's clear from your post that you shipped the next day so this doesn't really apply)"
Ummmmm -- on eBay, five (5) days is a perfectly acceptable handling time.
eBay actually allows sellers to specify handling times up to 30 days.
I suggest that OP's buyer (and possibly you, kibble-net) didn't know where to look to see what OP's handling time is.
Or where to find any seller's handling time on any listing.
Hoping this will help -- when you see a listing on eBay that you might want to buy, you will see, to the right of the main photo, the word "Shipping" followed by a dollar amount, the type of shipping (Economy Shipping, USPS Ground Advantage, FedEx Next Day, etc.), and a hyperlink in the underlined words, "See Details".
Like this, from this specific listing: "US $7.95 Economy Shipping. See details."
(BTW, that price is to me in Southern California.)
When you click anywhere within those two words, "See details", eBay shows you a pop-up window with lots of details. One of those details, near the bottom, is the seller's Handling Time. This specific listing, for this used casino gambling chip says:
"Will ship within 5 business days of receiving cleared payment."
I truly do not know if eBay removes or revises neutral feedback. But if you, kibble-net, posted neutral feedback based on something that was A Part Of The Listing (seller's handling time), I would imagine that would definitely be eligible for removal.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoI never "wait five days to ship", but sometimes I'm away for a few days for work, I set it on time away but I like a buffer. Even within my handling time I notify buyers if there's going to be a shipping delay.
Most people are actually not impatient, I see it every now an again, but usually they message to ask about their order rather than wait for it to arrive and leaving a neutral.
C.
snoopwiz
·9 months ago
) View listings‎01-10-2026 10:54 AM - edited ‎01-10-2026 10:54 AM
A lot of buyers are impatient, yes.
However ..... 5 days handling time?
5 DAYS?
I'd leave you a neutral if you waited five days to ship. (Yes it's clear from your post that you shipped the next day so this doesn't really apply
Really? A seller clearly shows their 5 days handling time, you as a buyer goes ahead and buys their item, knowing (or should know) they have a 5 days handling time and by the seller doing exactly as they say they will, you deem that worthy of a neutral feedback?
hotwheelsbum
·9 months ago5 Days Handling Time is reflected in the Estimated/Expected Delivery Date. You buy item today, on a weekend day, Delivery Date could easily be 10-12-14 days from now for a Seller set up on 5 days. Knowing this, and you still buy, you'd leave a Neutral?
Why? Explain.
albertabrightalberta
·9 months agoIt is inexcusable that you (as a seller no less!) would say that when the listing clearly discloses the handling time!
bonanza125
·9 months agoSome buyers don't realize it takes longer and there can be expected delays as well. Then they blame the seller which once the package leaves your hands it's beyond your control. You are in the process of appeal so you just have to wait until that decision is made.
ten_o_nine
·9 months agoTry to get it removed, I am sure they received their package within eBay's estimated delivery. I am in PA. and the estimated delivery to my zip code is Thu, Jan 22 and Thu, Feb 5, almost 26 days from today's date.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoI did use the tool, but no response yet. I'll just patiently wait. I only want it removed on principle, the comments don't actually hurt me at all.
Thing is, I have enough situations where I earn them (and people are nice and don't leave them) and those won't be removed, that I don't want to incur extra ones for silly reasons.
C.
monroe67
·9 months ago"Thing is, I have enough situations where I earn them (and people are nice and don't leave them) and those won't be removed, that I don't want to incur extra ones for silly reasons."
Just looking at your current feedback, I can't see how you could "earn" any neutral feedback !!
You've got more than One Thousand (specifically, 1,181) positive feedback in the last year and just this one silly little neutral.
Some people are spoil-sports who always seem to do or say something unpleasant. You can't please everyone.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoSomething crazy has gone on and I've had a rash of weird things happening... I don't want to get into it, but the B&M store and myself know what it is (and it has to do with what we sell).
Some complaints are reasonable, some are opportunistic (to take advantage of a mistake), and some are way out there... each one can result in a neg or neutral if the buyer is not happy, so I'm doing the best I can.
It is directly related to some of what I'm selling though, and most of those items have already sold... so I anticipate less trouble in the coming weeks.
C.
luckythewinner
·9 months agoHe probably does not realize that you use a cross border shipper.
I certainly would not have realized that.
If you want buyers to realize that, you need to tell them in your listing.
sin-n-dex
OP9 months agoYou mean like this?
The cross border shipper makes it FASTER... if I had shipped by mail (Canada Post) he'd get it in 3-4 weeks. This way he got it in 10 days. It already says in the listing, but it's an unimportant detail because it improves my process instead of making unexpected bad things happen.
C.
saltcar
·9 months agoI've had similar. One guy gave me neutral because he decided not to use the item he bought! Really? Another case where Ebay needs to allow feedback to be deleted or modified. Common sense would make this change easy.