Shipping Question
Summary: zva is seeking advice on shipping methods for winning lots, debating between using USPS First Class, which saves customers money, and Ground Advantage, which impacts their 'on-time' shipping score on eBay. christworks suggests using eBay Standard Envelope for inexpensive items, as it includes tracking that satisfies eBay's standards, although it requires compliance with specific requirements. duffy4444 advises marking items as shipped immediately in the Seller Hub to avoid performance dings, sharing personal success with using USPS First Class without receiving any penalties. zva appreciates the advice and acknowledges needing to use discounted postage through eBay for compliance.
Newbie here, I’ve offered two methods to ship winning lots. Ground Advantage works well with $100+ orders, but for low-dollar shipments, I’ve utilized 1st Class postal service because it costs a fraction compared to Ground Advantage, and I haven’t had any delivery problems. I’m sure it will happen at some point.
Without tracking, eBay dings my “on-time” shipping score. So my question is, should I continue to save my customers money or shift everything to Ground Advantage? And does getting a customer’s (First Class shipment) review satisfy eBay’s requirements or, in other words, is eBay listening to the buyers?
Thanks for your comment
ZVA
duffy4444
·1 month ago · EditedIf you do use USPS First Class (assuming you meet all its requirements), be sure you immediately go to your Seller Hub > Orders > Awaiting Shipment > find the item you just shipped > click Mark as Shipped in the circle with 3 dots on the left. That will transfer the item to Paid and Shipped, which is what you want. I've done this on about a thousand USPS First Class sales, and have never gotten a ding on my account for shipping on time.
If you don't mark the item as shipped, you'll get a performance ding on your account.
Cheers, Duffy
zva
OP1 month agoThanks Duffy - I figured that out up front.
christworks
·1 month ago@zva Many of those inexpensive stamps can be shipped using eBay Standard Envelope. This is a first class service, but comes with a tracking number. The tracking is limited as it is machine scanned rather than being scanned by a human. However, because eBay generates the label, the tracking number satisifies eBay's metrics standards.
Before changing your listings over to that, make sure to carefully read this page and this page. There are specific requirements the envelope must meet as well as the listing (i.e. category). If you have questions come back here and ask. You are welcome to tag me so I see the post.
zva
OP1 month agoThanks!
Seems like this will work for the under $20 lots or $50 for combined shipments.
As a collector, I have face value postage begging to be used but it appears for full circle compliance with eBay I’m stuck using discounted postage bought through eBay.