Who is right? USPS tracking or eBay shipping information?
I am a buyer with a bit of a different problem. eBay claims my item has been shipped, however, when I click on 'track package' it says that only a shipping label was created on Aug 9, at 7:25 pm, but that USPS has not received the package. It said this yesterday, so contacted the seller who reassured me she took package to post office. I check on the status again this evening(Aug 11) going to the USPS tracking site to find the same details....only a label created and no receipt of the package...still waiting. The site suggests to contact the shipper, so again I have messaged the seller.
This is not a case of me trying to claim that I have not received my widget when it has been delivered. So, what is the action that should take place now that USPS is claiming they have not received the package and seller claims to have taken the package to the PO? Another question, is how does eBay determine whether a package has indeed been shipped or not?
continentalcollectibles
·2 years agoIt's a Sad but Constant Problem we have with USPS. at least once a week sometimes More and Having to explain to the buyer that the items were shipped that following day puts you in a position of trying to convince them Your not lying and that USPS is just not doing their job. the amazing thing is in 98 percent of the time the item gets delivered then incredibly all the tracking seems to get posted . But what's worse is once a case is filed by the Buyer against the seller for nonreceipt it's up to the clock. if it's not resolved in the Short amount of time eBay allows to resolve the complaint its automatically ruled in the buyer's favor against the seller for a issue that the Seller did not cause. I can not count on my hands the amount of times the items end up delivered and only once or twice has the buyer actually contacted us and offered to pay us And when we call or visit USPS they tell us the information that we can see is the same information they can see. So its obviously a glitch in their tracking system. You can see both sides of the issue here since no one but the seller knows whether the items was truly sent eBay has to rule in the favor of the buyer. wish eBay would set up a system of placing the funds into a escrow account for a reasonable period to prevent eh Seller from losing their funds for a problem of USPS
gurlcat
·2 years agoA seller's best defense against INR's when they know they shipped the package but the carrier is fumbling it is this: keep an eye on all your recent shipments that haven't been delivered yet (takes only a few minutes to check each day). Any that have gotten no scans for more than 3 days or so .... reach out to the buyer before they reach out to you, and just let them know you're watching with them, that you've noticed the pause in their tracking, express empathy that they're having to wait longer than expected, but reassure them that it's not terribly unusual and you'll continue to watch and file a missing package case if necessary.
I think a lot of sellers either don't even bother checking their tracking once they've done "their job" of buying and attaching the label and giving it over to the carrier, OR they do watch but think it's a better idea not to contact the buyer because that might just draw attention to the issue, when they might not have even thought about it before. If you think that, think again. I couldn't guess how many times my buyers have replied "Thank you so much, I was wondering what was going on." And I have never had one file an INR on me, not even in the fall/winter of 2020 when the MAJORITY of packages were moving slowly and strangely, and tons of sellers were even closing their stores until it straightened out, because they couldn't afford all the refunds they were having to give out, and all the negs they were getting in feedback.
Simply put: Never forget your people while you have their money and they have nothing in return. If you do, they will show you how easily they can get Ebay to take their side, and all the pouting and raging about it not being fair won't matter. Get your people to feel like you're on their side, and do it EARLY, BEFORE they get worried and frustrated.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoWhen a seller buys a label from Ebay or adds a tracking number and marks the order shipped, Ebay says it is shipped.
Until it is scanned, USPS does not have the package and does not take any responsibility if it is insured and lost.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years ago@gurlcat Wow, your success with that was amazing! I'd be scared to sell anything live. That said, in 27 years of selling, I've had a whole 2 pkgs that were SERIOUSLY delayed, only 1 that went completely missing & another one recently that we are 99% sure was misdelivered & the neighbor kept it (she was a regular customer & every other one of her purchases both before & after, got there fine). Basically only 1 gone in 27 years. As much as I hate my station & the sub carrier mess, they process most everything well & VERY quickly (center of country helps).
I also recently learned that my station & home is "rural" except it's not & hasn't been for 30 years, my subdivision alone is something like 2500 homes & growing, but it seems that the legal rigamarole to convert it to what it should be is even worse than the ridiculousness of all the sub carriers, etc & involves every employee losing their jobs (or at least every carrier) & starting completely over, so nobody wants to do the work in making that happen. Therefore we're stuck with these weird "rural" rules for an area that is the most populated area of an almost 1M sized town. No wonder it doesn't work. They don't have the right tool for the job.
The current USPS rivals the 2 worst, most disorganized messes of Fortune 100 co's, I ever saw when helping them to troubleshoot their systems, was my business. At least the publicly owned co's WANTED to fix the situation.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years ago@gurlcat You give them WAY too much credit LOL. A LOT of subs don't even know how to do an Acceptance Scan, also don't know when they're notified of a pickup & don't know how to read the scanner to see it (it's actually highlighted on the scanner, in purple IIRC, like a lilac Sharpie lol) & a lot of them don't even know they're s'posed to do scans at all. Ask me how I know LOL.
I had one that when he finally showed up after 4 interventions with my PO & my PO on the phone line when he turned up, I said I had to watch him scan them. He's like 'I don't know where my scanner is, do you want me to try & find it', I say yes & explain what's happening to the local PO Customer Service person who I've dealt with for years. He can't find it. I relay this to her. She is able to track his scanner by GPS & tells me that she knows where it is. He left it at a stop many miles away ðŸ˜
I'm told they hire many (I think it was around 60) at a time & train them, then 3 months later, you're lucky if 10 are still there. Rinse & repeat. I'm told they get know benefits & get all they get dumped on to do all these additional routes when they are still doing their first route of the day. It's a lousy job, but they are also not the sharpest tools in the shed. Unfortunately, the whole system needs an overhaul & it ain't happening under DeJoy. Most of the subs don't actually know the basics of the job around here 😞 Left me in a real lurch when my wonderful carrier retired & I had daily subs for months & now my new carrier has a medical issues & I'm on subs again 1/2 the time. Nowadays, 99% of the time that I order a pickup (which is rare, cuz why bother) it doesn't even occur. They don't even realize they're supposed to pick it up, much less scan it. Luckily, I know people at the PO, that if I can reach them, will MAKE them pull my pkgs & scan them.
gurlcat
·3 years agoIn 2014-2018 (before I sold on Ebay) I sold live tropical fish, shipped them to every US state and even the territories, year-round regardless of freezing or boiling temperatures, even Christmas season which a lot of the other sellers were too scared to do. Many were also too scared to use anything under Priority Express tier, but most of us knew we could rely on Priority just fine. Heck whenever I had bettas to sell I'd ship them F.C. because they're fine in less than a pound's worth of water. The only time I had any deaths was my own bad; I entered a zip code wrong so the package bounced around the midwest for a while and then came back to me 15 days later (a quarter of the fish actually survived and I decided they earned a 'forever home' in my personal tanks, lol).
--But now, with DeJoy??? Aint no cotton pickin' way I'd do it now! I don't even keep fish anymore -I really miss it occasionally, and take a peek at Aquabid (the 'Ebay for aquarists' site I sold on) and see very few sellers still willing to ship with regular Priority. So in most cases the Express shipping is more expensive than the fish. Such a shame because long distance exchange is how breeders keep stock healthy, mixing up the gene pool periodically.
That said, every time I accidentally order something that turns out to have UPS or FedEx shipping, it's almost guaranteed to arrive later than the expected date, and get tossed on my porch with the hot sun beating on it and where porch pirates can see it from the street. At least USPS is "only" worse than it used to be.
tree*fern
·3 years agoHi @shirleys809304 how are you? If you enter the tracking number on the USPS website, there's an option for getting Text & Email Updates from USPS. Their system will notify you when the package is scanned.
It's also useful when you're expecting a package that you don't want sitting on the doorstep or porch for too long, since you'll get notice of when it's on the delivery truck, and the delivery scan.
When a package wasn't scanned, sometimes it's a carrier problem, or sometimes a technical problem with the USPS system not uploading the scan to its website. Another possibility is the seller's label printout wasn't scannable. The carrier is then supposed to enter the long tracking number by hand, but that's extra work and it's easy to make a typo.
shirleys809304
OP3 years ago@tree*fern WOW! It has been many moons since I have seen you! How have you been? Never know what's going to fall out of the tree when you give it a shake😂
I have seen that option for getting Text & email updates, but never do it. In fact, did give it some consideration this time, but still didn't do it. From now on, I think I will do just that because I DO check the tracking and not for the purpose some may think I do. It is not to check up on the seller, it is to check up on the postal service! For the most part, you (tree*fern) included that reason in your response: not wanting a surprise package to be hanging out on my doorstep for long and the other is the fact we have so many new carriers who frequently mis-deliver mail, to include packages. We have had a problem in this neighborhood with porch pirates, so yeah, I want to know when that package is coming, the day it's out for delivery, because I know who the carrier is on certain days of the week and whether or not I need to keep my 👀 glued 😂.
And now for the UPDATE to my debacle: Yes, indeed I did check tracking AGAIN today, to find the package HAD been scanned, and now seemingly is being scanned every time it turns a corner. I have never seen scan information 'put in' so late. I imagine there are just some postal service areas that may function 'differently' (to put it nicely) from others.
As far as my 'bothering' the seller in regard to this matter, I think the seller should be informed if there is a problem. I remember having shipped some packages as well. I have been contacted by a concerned recipient and I did look into the situation. It was a mess! I did some calling on my own. I kept my recipient updated. That package bounced back and forth between 2 states until it was finally returned to me. Never thought a padded envelope could endure such treatment, but it did. Truly amazed. Repackaged the widget, resent it, and it made it. Unfortunately, in my case, I notified a seller when I didn't need to and hope their feathers didn't get too ruffled by it. If they block me because of it, well, so be it. I meant no harm. The ending to this story is: The seller got paid immediately and I will no doubt get my widget.
na_833338
·3 years agoHi Shirley,
Looks like I'm late to the party, but I wanted to give a big kudos to @tree*fern for their good advice on signing up for the email/text updates from the USPS website.
That's exactly what I tell people who have tracking issues. Why waste your time trying to check the status of a package when the system will do it for you?
I know everybody has some tracking nightmares to share and I'm no different, so let me share with you.
In the last 3 weeks I've had at least three packages take... um... 'extended vacations' during their normal travel plans. Two of those packages were sent to me and one was a package I mailed to Tenn. (from the NW).
The person who was waiting for the package sent me an email that they couldn't figure out the tracking. When I looked at the tracking, I could see that it left my state and arrived in their state 3 days later, and was actually in their city. For some reason it turned around and went back to Seattle. I advised the buyer to sign up for the email/text updates from USPS and within 2 days, it had left Seattle, returned to Memphis, and was delivered to their front door. That package was sent Ground Advantage, but it picked up speed the second time around. Yea!
One of the packages that was sent to me actually made it to MY local post office & I got an email telling me it it was available for pickup (I have a PO box). When I got to the PO to pick it up, I found out it was no longer there. Somehow it got put on another truck and then left for a distribution center 150 miles away before getting back to me about three days later. My local clerk was perplexed to try and come up with a reasonable explanation of what happened. I think we both had a good laugh at how things can go wrong.
In other totally unrelated news, I saw a report on TV last month that the post offices in the northwest had openings for another 2000 employees and they were hopeful of getting people to apply. Ha!
I'm looking forward to the holidays!
shirleys809304
OP2 years agoHi Na! Better late than never...maybe we can enjoy some oldies & goldies again soon.😉
It's amazing the excess miles these packages have to travel. I know for sure when something comes in from the N or NW and bypasses a certain city and heads down to Memphis, can look forward to at least a day delay....depending on how many times it needs to revisit Memphis.
The package debacle I had that went on and on, was sent to Chicago. What a mess. It's crazy how something from way up in the NW corner can make it to my door in 3 days, (if it doesn't go to Memphis first)and something S or SW of me takes twice as long.
Oh, hahaha! the holidays. Those are the days when 2 trucks run and they are out until 10pm with their tiny lights trying to figure out the mail as they park by your box.
lepke1979
·3 years agoIt's possible the seller just purchased the label. It's also possible it didn't get scanned on or after pickup and you won't see anything until it hits your area or actually delivered.
eBay can also sometimes be slow to update tracking so should check on the USPS site itself.
gurlcat
·3 years agoIf it's any consolation, imagine seeing the "pre-shipment" status since Aug. 4th! -A replenishable that I ordered on the 1st from another company (not ebay), thought I ordered in PLEN-TY of time before I would run out, then they took a few days to even process the order and change the status to "shipped" .... but the tracking has shown no indication of the package being in USPS's hands, anywhere in America for 7 days now. I contacted them on the 8th and got a response that the package definitely WAS shipped but USPS sometimes they don't do an acceptance scan. I replied a thank you for the quick response and that I'm an online seller so I know this can happen. But it's getting kind of ridiculous now. 7 days is long for a Priority package anyway, never mind no scans at any of the hubs along the way?
And the thing that is troubling about that response was, it said to contact them if there are no updates by the 18th. Like that's reasonable, when I have no proof that the even really shipped.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years ago@gurlcat
Ground Advantage or Priority, doesn't matter. A "misplaced" package is a misplaced package. I replied with my story of how one of mine took 3 wks before receiving it's first scan...
gurlcat
·3 years agoUghhhhhhh. My replenishable is vape juice. There I said it. Not only am I a nicotine junkie who can go straight back to cigarettes at the drop of a hat, but this is my one-year supply of liquid, a full GALLON that was expensive and will definitely not do well if it's sitting in a hot bin somewhere. I've ordered from this outfit before, in fact exactly a year ago. So I know they're not fly-by-nighters or anything.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years agoUHOH!
Glad to hear a gallon lasts you a year... I got nervous for a minute when I saw gallon LOL
gurlcat
·3 years agoAs of right now I'm down to about 40 mL that will definitely NOT last until the 18th, that's for dang sure. And I'm under a load of various extra stressors right now so I'm slurping on it extra frequently. There are places in town I can buy survival juice, but they won't taste like this particular strawberry one that I'm used to (you'd be shocked to taste how differently 'strawberry' can be interpreted, ha). I actually have the flavoring already, but I don't think any place in town sells the unflavored nicotine base liquid like I order from these online guys.
Oh well, 1st world problem I guess, lol.
unemployed_husky
·3 years agoYou do know that eBay only forwards the information from the USPS servers right? Go onto USPS and copy and paste the tracking number. Don't use eBay. Also updated information on tracking numbers that appear to eBay's little popup box in your purchase history shows up with a 8-12 hour delay on mostly all occasions.
mam98031
·3 years agoThis is true. Ebay updates its information a few times a day from the carriers servers. Oddly enough I have seen times where the Ebay tracking has had additional information not showing on the Carrier's page.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years agoI've even seen a number of times where EBay's tracking data is "behind" so after I go to USPS carrier data on USPS website, the EBay tracking info automatically catches up. Going into USPS carrier data seems to bump EBay's system/data collection
mam98031
·3 years agoThis is a problem some sellers run into @shirleys809304 . In some areas the PO isn't doing what they are suppose to do, scanning packages when received or as they move through their facilities. The most sellers can to is contact their PO and try to get them to do this part of their job that they are suppose to do.
I personally had this problem when we first moved into the house we are in. We had a carrier way too close to retirement and she didn't want to do anymore than she absolutely had to or even less than that if she could get away with it. I tried talking to her several times. Nothing seemed to work. I even tried bribery with some homecooked items.
So I ended up contacting the Postmaster at our local PO. He was fantastic. and to this day this problem has not happened again, and my original carrier retired about a year later.
Just try to be patient. I know you would like the watch the tracking, but it appears the carrier isn't as concerned as they should be. Somewhere along the adventures of the package it will get scanned. It may not happen until it is delivered however.
I hope you will give your seller a break. This is not their fault. We can only plead with the PO to do their job but we can force them in any way. If your item doesn't get delivered on time or within a couple of days of when it should, then you may need to file a claim. But it is likely to get delivered and that won't be necessary.
Good Luck.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·3 years agoI haven't read the replies in detail, but I see they address the question of "How does eBay determine package being shipped" -- i.e. seller marks shipped and/or provides tracking (not necessarily required)
So I will throw in my own story that may provide some insight into extreme circumstances...
I shipped an item back in May via FCP (First Class pkg prior to conversion to Ground Advantage). I had a pickup at my house, every mail carrier every time has always happily obliged to scan my packages as accepted, but this one substitute absolutely refused and it was early in the AM (way earlier than any other carrier ever came) and I was too tired to argue. I literally had 4 pkgs, would've taken him a fraction of the time to scan that he had spent arguing with me. (He was quite rude and ornery as I was trying to be polite with my request)
Long story short, those 4 pkgs did not get an acceptance scan. They remained as "Shipping Label Created, USPS awaiting package" until somewhere along the system it got a scan. THIS PACKAGE TOOK 3 GOD BLESSED WEEKS TO GET SCANNED!!!!!!!!!!!! I am forever grateful to my buyer, he not once reached out or complained. I reached out preemptively a few days in to assure the buyer it was shipped and we were just awaiting a scan, that none had been scanned upon acceptance. It was also only a $30 or so item, so I could've easily eaten the cost had it been lost or buyer got upset.
But yes, it remained "USPS awaiting item" for 3 weeks, before a scan at a distribution center....It was not only not scanned but misplaced, so that was quite an extreme circumstance... I have never ever ever handed over any package again without a scan, I've literally made mail carriers hand my packages back to me if it became clear they would not scan them. They DO NOT leave my sight if they are not scanned. (This is because of value & because of accountability & ebay "dings" for late shipment)
gurlcat
·3 years agoWild guess here: that substitute carrier already had a chip on his shoulder about having to do any pickups, probably considers people lazy if they don't drive their own outgoing packages to the p.o. .... then here's a pickup customer waiting and watching for him to arrive, to ambush him with a request that he do more work, immediately, under their observation. -I'm saying that's how HE would view the situation, if he were the personality type I'm imagining. And truth be told it IS a stressful job -it's no accident that workplace rage incidents are referred to as "going postal." Of course the vast majority of USPS employees avoid taking their stress out on customers, but I have read so many horror stories from insiders about particularly bitter individuals letting off steam thusly. -Definitely don't write anything about how to handle your packages on your packages -apparently that can just trigger a hothead to drop-kick your "FRAGILE" suggestion that they don't know how to do their job.
And I believe that sub decided to "show you" about acceptance scans, set your 4 packages in a special place in his truck, then when he got back to the facility put 3 of them in a bin of already-accepted-scanned so they would just get forwarded, and that other 1 .... he tucked someplace where he knew it wouldn't 'never' be found, but not anytime soon. I definitely would have reported him, because if this impression I have is just cynicism then a single report wouldn't wrongly get him in trouble, but if he IS that type then you're certainly not the only customer he has "shown" himself to, and multiple reports is how bad actors get sorted out.
By the way, do you already know how to get a Scan Form on Ebay, so that your carrier can just do 1 scan on a sheet, a scan that at least applies 'Package received' on all of that day's package trackings? I don't know for certainty if what my mail carrier told me is true or not, but he said not only does it save your carrier time and effort (which I'd say is very worthwhile considering they are saving us the time, annoyance, and gas of driving to the p.o.) but also carriers ARE required to scan such a form, whereas scanning packages one-by-one is a courtesy they don't have to perform. He specifically gave me this advice during a period when he was having health problems that frequently meant substitutes on my route, substitutes who had no interest in giving courtesy to short-term customers. And since I started using the form (even when I have only one package), they have NEVER gone un-scanned, no matter who was on my route.
rokkworks
·3 years agoHi!
Several questions here, so beginning with how does ebay know if a package has been shipped - eBay’s system only “knows†if a label has been printed, OR if the seller has added a tracking number.
Since your seller printed the label at 7:25 PM, when the post office is probably closed, the earliest the seller could have brought it to the USPS is the next day. Currently, the USPS system only scans dropped off packages at the first stop in the route to you. And, sometimes, a package does miss being scanned.
However, if the package has entered the USPS flow, it will eventually be scanned along the way to you. The only exception is if the barcode on the package gets damaged in some way, or was printed too small or too large to scan.
ebays system gets all its shipping info directly from usps, but it lags behind the usps. (I can tell you why, but it’s boring 🙂) So, it’s generally better to copy, and paste your tracking number to USPS.com and set yourself up for emailed tracking updates.
Anyway, as long as your seller isn’t lying about actually shipping the package, it should, eventually show up scanned, at the very least, once, before delivery. One day is really too short a time to be very concerned, especially if your seller has good feedback and no indications that they don’t ship things.
Now, where is your seller located? Sometimes storms, and other issues (Maui) can impact USPS flow and flights.
shirleys809304
OP3 years ago@mam98031
@rokkworks
@ajs_coins_and_alchemy
Thanks to you as well for your input. More than likely, the way it sounds, someone at the PO didn't do their job for whatever reason they don't do their job.
Lesson learned.
Any other responses will be equally appreciated even if I don't mention you.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years agoMaybe, maybe not. Time will tell. Generally speaking if the seller has excellent FB, it probably is a USPS error. If they have a few late delivery issues, then thay may not have mailed it. But it could be a YOU error too. Be sure you read my 2nd post, explaining about how handling time works. It may just still be prior to the Seller's Handling Time.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years ago@shirleys809304 There are multiple possibilities. The main 2 are that the seller has printed the label & NOT taken it to the PO, but EQUALLY possible is that the seller HAS TAKEN the package to the PO & they did not get a scan.
The only way Ebay (or anyone else) knows if it's actually in USPS's system yet, is if there is a SCAN. Especially an Acceptance Scan, but any scan other than the 'label printed, USPS awaits' scan. The problem lies with the fact that the USPS often misses scans. Some PO's are very stubborn & don't want to do scans. That said, if it's truly in the USPS system, the vast majority of pkgs get a scan somewhere along the way, but it can take a few days.
So, at this point, you (and Ebay) have no way of knowing whether the seller actually took it to the Post Office or not. Not until a scan shows up. Typically the USPS system is updated more quickly than Ebay's, but usually only about an hour apart.
reallynicestamps
·3 years agoStop watching tracking.
Tracking is a Seller Protection against unwarranted Not Delivered claims.
There is no benefit to the buyer to have the shipment tracked.
Unless the seller watched the PO clerk postmark the shipment and got a receipt from them at the time, it is quite possible the parcel is on its way and might be delivered on Monday, without the tracking ever being recorded.
It would be unusual, but not impossible.
EBay gave you a last estimated date for delivery.
If that passes without receiving your purchase, you have 30 days to claim a Refund.
EBay uses the USPS information, but is usually several hours behind the PO site.
mybigsale
·3 years ago@shirleys809304
Who is right? USPS tracking or eBay shipping information?
USPS tracking is right.
eBay marks mail as shipped when the shipping is purchased from eBay or the seller marks the item as shipped.
When USPS shows receipt in tracking, they have the package. If USPS does not show receipt in tracking, they don't have the package or they have the package but have not scanned the package.
For whatever reason, some packages end up never being scanned until delivery. Keep checking USPS Tracking for scans of your package.
If you see no scans and the eBay delivery date has passed, file an item not received case with eBay and you will receive a full refund.
When a label is created on eBay, eBay sends buyers an eMail saying your item has shipped. Creating a label is the first phase of shipping.
You needn’t worry about tracking., just the estimated date of delivery. That date is more important for you than tracking. If the last estimated date of delivery passes by 1 day and you still haven’t received your item, you can open an item not received case.
To do that you go to your purchase history click the drop down menu next to the item in question, this menu will say “More Actions†click on it to find “I didn’t receive itâ€, click that then follow the prompts.
Your seller has 2 days to upload tracking showing delivery or a refund. If by day 3 you don’t receive a refund or response form the seller you can ask eBay to step in for your refund.
12345jamesstamps
·3 years agoFirst, I suggest no more emails to the seller. Some sellers will block you...thinking you might have too much drama to deal with.
A label created is just that...created...but not put in the mailing yet. Some packages may not be scanned for quite a while. Check to see when package is suppose to be shipped. I ship packages 3-5 business days.
Creating a shipping label does not mean a shipper has it yet.
As long as you received the package at estimated day of delivery I would not be emailing the seller about status of a package.
shirleys809304
OP3 years ago@simply-the-best-for-you
@reallynicestamps
@mybigsale
@ebooksdiva
@12345jamesstamps
Thanks all for your helpful responses. And yeah, I thought twice about contacting the seller for the 2nd time, but guess I didn't think long enough. Hopefully, I didn't cause a lot of damage doing so 🙄. I forget how touchy some folks are these days. Ya think I'll ever be forgiven of that offense? No response required 🤣
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years ago@shirleys809304 You're welcome. I would not be contacting the seller again. But also you may not realize, that sellers are NOT required to ship as soon as you pay. They are required to ship within their STATED HANDLING TIME. It's a little hidden - it's in the Shipping section of a listing & click See Details.
So for example if your seller has 3 day handling, even if you paid on a Monday, they may print the label on Monday (or whenever) & not take it to the PO until Thursday & be perfectly within their right to do so & if that's the case, you would be bugging them by continuing to ask 🙂 Some sellers only ship once a week, as long as they're within their stated handling time, they are NOT breaking any Ebay rules. TBH, many of us do this to some extent b/c we get our pkgs ready, but we don't ship every single day. Each sellers situation is different.
ETA: IF a seller has what Ebay considers an EXTENDED handling time (can't remember exactly where that falls, I think it's around 6-10 days), there will be a yellow warning flag on the listing that says that the seller has an extended handling time.