Is It Too Early to Start Warning Buyers About Poor USPS Service Prior to the Holidays?
In the last 12 to 18 months, I've noticed a gradual decline in the performance of the USPS on delivery times. I'm now seeing 1/3 to 1/2 of shipments running late, with many taking a week or more to locations only a few hundred miles away. I don't expect it to get better during the Holiday rush. If Ebay doesn't plan to show more realistic delivery times, should Sellers notify Buyers to expect longer than normal delivery times?
10 comments
babyers88
·10 months agoThe faster you get it out the door the faster it can get there. Anything else is beyond your control.
Also be consistent with your shipping methods, the more consistent you are the more accurate the expected delivery dates are that buyers can see.
simba6
·10 months agoGround advantage has been taking a few days more for the last month or so. Can't hurt to advise buyers of holiday delays. They do get yippy over late packages.
12345jamesstamps
·10 months agoUSPS has been fine for me.
You are doing one day shipping...so you expect buyers to receive their items in a timely manner whether there is heavy rain, flooding, tornado warnings, hail...and can't imagine what the winter will bring such as snow storms and cold and wind.
Weather will always be a factor in service in your 'last 12 to 18 months'.
There can be power outages and so many things can go wrong on shipping times.
'Sellers notify Buyers'...I don't think so.
As long as items arrive I don't see a problem.
Could be the problem where you ship from.
California seems to be on-time shipping in a timely manner.
Unavailable member
·10 months ago@mopata
I've experienced very few delays in shipping with USPS during the holidays.
Last Christmas, I had 2 packages go awol without exceptance scans receieved 2 defects for that, those items where delivered late. To combat this I increased my handling time from 3 to 6 days, it works out well, my buyers don't seem to be bothered with that.
But having just a few packages arrive late isn't cause for warnings to buyers. But you do whatever works for you.
deltilogical
·10 months agoI've actually noticed the opposite at least for 1st class mail and flats. They just zip through the system. Anything that has to be 'touched' - scanned or moved into an exception queue - these get delayed.
Holiday mail has always been delayed, the difference is the huge distro facilities vs. RPO cancelling.
shirla2005
·10 months agoI ship within 24 hours of clear payment of an item. You may want to think about placing such info as shown below in your eBay listings. Not that many people actually READ eBay descriptions, but if there becomes a delivery issue and your buyer contacts you about it, ask them if they read the listing, especially the section that concerns delayed/late shipping deliveries.
All of my eBay listings I have this info concerning late/delayed shipping due to shipping service delays.
📦 Shipping Info
Orders are shipped via USPS within 24 hours of purchase, excluding weekends and holidays. I prioritize prompt handling, but please note that delivery timelines are determined by the carrier (USPS, FedEx, etc.).
🎄 Holiday Notice
As we enter the busy Christmas season, occasional delays may occur. If your tracking status shows “arriving late,†I sincerely appreciate your patience while your package makes its way to you.
📠Feedback Reminder:
When leaving feedback for “shipping time,†please remember this reflects your seller’s handling speed—not the shipping service delivery performance. I truly appreciate your feedback—it helps build trust within the eBay community. Once you’ve left feedback for our transaction, I’ll be happy to reciprocate and leave feedback for you in return. I appreciate your understanding and support!
Unavailable member
·10 months agoJust food for thought.....In the 2 decades of selling here on ebay, buyers generally don't read all the superflous information in a listing.
hotwheelsbum
·10 months agoI don't get this. How do you know when payment has been "cleared"? Buyer makes payment, it shows up in your available balance. There's no waiting period. There's no Red Flag showing "waiting for payment to clear". The money is there to be paid out when and as you have your Pay Out set.
You ship as per your Shipping policy. You have next day Shipping in your handling time, you Ship next day. You have 3 day, you Ship within that 3 days. Waiting for Payment to clear has nothing to do with when you are required to Ship an item.
kibble-net
·10 months ago"Cleared Payment" hasn't been a thing ever since PayPal and E-Checks.
You get the payment or you don't. That's it.
hotwheelsbum
·10 months agoYep. I remember the days of waiting a week or 2 to get the Check or MO in the mail. Shipping the MO purchases out as quick I could get them to UPS. Post Office didn't do "Boxes" back then. UPS was our only choice. Labels hand written using black markers. If the Box was not BROWN, you had to wrap it in BROWN PAPER. We cut up a LOT of Grocery Sacks back in those days to get our BROWN wrapping. Check payments waiting to ship out about a week later to make sure the Check "Cleared". Buyers didn't mind waiting 3-4 weeks for their items to come in. (People who paid by check) That was still the days when you bought items from ads in Magazines, on the back covers of Comic Books, MAILING your Check off, and not minding it taking 4-6 weeks for delivery as stated in the Ad.
Could you imagine if Buyers of TODAY had to wait over 3-4 weeks to get their items? ANARCHY!!! The World would start spinning backwards. 🤣