What to Do When Buyer Requests Delay Shipping Date
Summary: The discussion seeks advice on how to handle situations where a buyer requests a delay in the shipping date. Various participants engage in the conversation, but specific strategies or outcomes are not detailed in the provided content.
For the first time in selling on ebay I received a request from a buyer to delay the shipping until a week or two after he paid. Actually I had two buyers do this to me in the past week. Both buyers paid first and then requested the shipping delay because they were on vacation. I talked the one buyer into accepting immediate shipment but the other buyer still wants item shipped after July 6, 2023 which will mean the shipping will be over a week late. I talked to an ebay agent and they assured me if I am penalized they would fix it if I contacted them. They said they put a note on my item but the interesting thing is that after doing this the original message from the buyer asking for shipping delay disappeared from my messages. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
yanhyy051
·Jul 21, 2026 at 2:04 AMthis happens, especially if you have repeat customers and they rely on you to work with them rather than accommodating whatever rule ebay fabricates.
trust your repeat customers and work with them - deal with eBay afterwards.
gwenscupboard
·3 years agoYou can mark the item as "Shipped". You will not get a defect for that.
When the date comes to actually ship the item, take the box/package to the post office and buy the postage over the counter and send it that way, (do not upload a tracking # or it will go in as "Late shipping").
No late shipping, no defect.
They will not fix the defect for late shipping (I have had it happen).
dryophelia
·3 years ago@jimmybear17406
Save all the back and forth and unknowns with these buyers.
Ship within YOUR handling time.
It is not up to you to keep track of your buyer’s availability and reschedule at THEIR convenience/direction.
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoI talked to an ebay agent and they assured me if I am penalized they would fix it if I contacted them.
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@jimmybear17406
That used to be an eBay policy, but the ship has sailed on that. It will not happen.
ic_detective
·3 years agoMark as shipped in the drop-down column of the sales order. No penalty.
buyselljack2016
·3 years agoOh so wrong.
There will be a ding for not having a carrier scan within the designated time frame.
oldwestcoins
·3 years agoNever ever delay shipping an item to a buyer. This only opens a whole can of worms for you the seller with eBay. You must ship within eBay guidelines or you may risk having to refund or receive a ding from eBay for not shipping on time. The buyer knew all too well that they would be out of town for a week, so that's on them.
dbfolks166mt
·3 years agoI talked to an ebay agent and they assured me if I am penalized they would fix it if I contacted them. They said they put a note on my item...........
Don't put too much faith in anything customer support tells you these days. They often tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone.
itsjustasprain
·3 years agoJust for yucks you might try calling CS again and ask whoever answers if they can see and read you that 'note' that a previous CS person claimed to have put on your item.
It has been pointed out in the past that one late shipment ding will not mathematically harm your account - but of course that should not deserve a ding in the first place if the buyer has requested the delay in writing.
sfau
·3 years agoI have done it before. I also ask them to pay when the day before they want it shipped if they have not already paid.
itsjustasprain
·3 years agoThey can (and should) have their mail held at the post office while they are away. You can ship as usual and the package will be safe at the PO until they come to pick it up. There is no charge for holding your mail up to 30 days.
As for the disappearing message it is probably still there but the messaging page has issues with showing messages that you have replied to. Try clicking either 'All messages' or 'From members' to see if you can get it back that way. Also check the off-Ebay email account that you have tied to your selling account and you should find a copy of the original message there.