To everyone putting their store on Vacation during the storm
I just wanted to remind everyone who is putting their store on vaccation mode during this storm.
Do not send out offers.
Offers are not included in the vaccation mode and you will still be required to send out on time.
Offers last for 4 days.
I made this mistake once and didn't know better.
I will be doing the same starting Friday afternoon. Hoping it's not going to be as bad as they say.
38 comments
hafizmabdullah328
·8 months agoGreat reminder!
Vacation mode doesn’t stop offers, and that can cause issues if not handled properly.
Appreciate you sharing this
keziak
·8 months agoshould we decline, not accept, any offers from customers? If I am correct while there is an offer on a listing we can't just edit the price to match the offer, right?
wirkaholic
OP8 months agoI don't think you can edit a listing that has offers on it. If you accept the offer it also depends if you have immediate payment required on your listings . If you don't they have a few days to pay and that can run into a problem if you can't make it to the post office in time.
I'm not sure where you are located or if you will be able to make it to the post office. It also depends on what your handling time is set to. Sunday will give you an extra day. Prepare for the worst and if it doesn't turn out so bad you can resume normal selling.
I live out in the country in a small town so anytime there is a storm like this it could be days until they clear the roads. Vacation setting you will still make sales then ship when you can. You can end the mode anytime you want or even ship if you can during. Be sure to communicate with your customers. Most of them will know what is going on and don't mind waiting. For those that don't they will appreciate the update.
keziak
·8 months agoI put myself on time away for a week so I won't need to ship the first half of next week. But I get a lot of offers and I am not sure about accepting them, will the time away apply?
I guess I could tell the customer that I need to end the listing and relist it with their offered price so they can buy that way and the time away delay will apply.
aeparts1
·8 months agoNo Time Away for me, I'm hoping for good sales as everyone is going to be homebound looking for something to do. Like spending $$$ with me on eBay!
gurlcat
·8 months agoWith all the excitement I got kind of jealous because it looked like Mobile wouldn't quite be affected. But then I contacted the President and he totally hooked me up, I can't believe it!!!
christworks
·8 months agoI'm going to make a decision on what I am doing Friday night. I plan to ship on Saturday so I am going to at least allow sales through Saturday morning.
keziak
·8 months agoBut what if those sales aren't paid for before you go to the PO? Will your handling time mean having to ship next MOnday or Tuesday?
dhbookds
·8 months agoJust a note if you are planning to take stuff to the PO Sat morn.........here, southern PA, they are predicting will chill of -10 Sat morn...... We cut off sales tonite to avoid having to go out in that....
adamcartwright
·8 months ago@wirkaholic
I'm not affected this time, but great reminder. Thanks.
lakefor94
·8 months agoWell.... I ended up moving handling from same and next day to 3 days.
I can still ship tomorrow, no problem for orders that come in before noon or so.
Anything sold after that, and Saturday and Sunday, if I have it figured right, does not have to ship until Wednesday at the latest.
I am correct?
(my guess is the carriers will take Monday off and go back to work Tuesday in North Texas)
jdbelt1960
·8 months agoYou are right. Offers are an intent for sale. I have items eligible and if I receive any will not accept as of tonight. Tomorrow will be the last day for postal service as Saturday they close at noon. The storm is scheduled for Saturday afternoon through Sunday until Monday. I hope it is not the heavy wet snow.
keziak
·8 months agoI'm hoping for no power outage. Based on the arctic blast next week and historic pattern of (barely) plowing here we could be socked in for days. I'm still shipping through Saturday despite being on time away but being on time away means I won't be forced to ship weekend sales Weds. I'll probably go off time away sometime Monday.
simply-the-best-for-you
·8 months agoVery thoughtful of you! I learned this one the hard way, a few years ago when I was off in another state. Well, I should say my husband learned it b/c he was at home & suddenly had to package a bunch of stuff for me LOL.
keziak
·8 months agoyikes, thanks. I'm on time away but just sent an offer.
keziak
·8 months agothe offer was accepted and I can ship tomorrow. whew
meme6253
·8 months agoGood Advice for all sellers in those regions, Hoping it won't be as bad as they say!, Stay Safe everyone.
kickin.assets
·8 months ago@evry1nositswindy
Tomorrows high is supposed to be -7 here. You won’t find me sledding. A hot toddy by the fire though?! Yes, definitely. 😉
wastingtime101
·8 months agoevry1nositswindy
·8 months agoThis storm is going to affect a lot of sellers. We should all put our accounts on time away and go sledding!
dhbookds
·8 months agoDid the WM run and saw one rubber/plastic sled being loaded into the car...........
chapeau-noir
·8 months agoVacation - one C.
wirkaholic
OP8 months agoLOL....Thanks @chapeau-noir I just noticed that after you pointed it out.
Spelling was never my strong suit.
wastingtime101
·8 months agoGood reminder @wirkaholic . Gonna tag on with some general info.
Here's the page about Time Away settings:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/time-away?id=5137
If you allow sales while away, make sure you read all the exclusions carefully.
Plan to have any auctions or offers end a week before you leave. If you have automated offers enabled, turn them off here.
There's an option to set up an out of office auto-response within the Time Away settings.
Keep in mind you're still responsible for handling any return requests, claims or payment disputes that are filed while you're away. You may want to check in via the app or through a web browser on your phone every couple of days.
wirkaholic
OP8 months agoThanks @wastingtime101 for those helpful links. There were a couple points I missed. You were the one that pointed it out to me when I went on vacation. Trying to pass on a little knowledge.
keziak
·8 months agoI have auctions ending this weekend but when I read about time away it seemed to say this is OK, I won't have to ship until time away is over.
Is that correct?
If not, I need to end those auctions now.
wastingtime101
·8 months agoEdit: See this post for correction.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/To-everyone-putting-their-store-on-Vacation-during-the-storm/m-p/35450330#M2658155
keziak
·8 months agowhat does this mean then?
Auction listings: When you pause item sales, buyers will still be able to see and buy your auction-style listings but they'll see a message at the top of the listing informing them that you're on time away. The estimated delivery date will also be updated in the Shipping and Delivery section.
wastingtime101
·8 months agoEDIT: I take this back. I viewed some of your auction listings and they DO show extended delivery estimates. So maybe eBay changed this at some point.
The biggest problems with auctions and time away are with auctions that:
- end before time away and buyer doesn't pay before you go on time away because those have to ship within the normal handling time once the buyer pays
- have bids before time away is activated because handling time is fixed when that first bid is placed as far as I understand it
Thanks for asking me to look at this more closely @keziak .
keziak
·8 months agonone of mine have bids so I could just end them and relist for next week. However, I am working my rear end off listing all my "lots" and have no space to keep these going and add more. I want to give them a shot at auction in order to clean house faster than putting them all just in my store at fixed price.
Of course maybe just having that message on my auctions will kill sales and I'll have to relist them anyway.
keziak
·8 months agoIt's clear that we can't SEND offers during time away.
But what about accepting orders from buyers? If accepted will those be covered under TimeAway?
wastingtime101
·8 months agoIf the buyer makes an initial offer and you manually accept, it will auto-extend your handling time per your time away settings.
Counter offers, auto-accepted offers, seller initiated offers are all exceptions and would require shipping within your normal handling time.
Don't know why eBay makes it so confusing. In my opinion it should be all or none - either all offers get an extended handling time or none do. 🤷
(Once again @kyle@ebay I ask you to pass on feedback about how confusing and frustrating this is for sellers. Please extend handling time with time away settings for ALL new /open /pending offers.)
dhbookds
·8 months agogood point!!!!
dirk12955
·8 months agoGood and very timely advice.
Thanks to the OP!