Item Shipped! ...except it didn't.

[preciouschaos]

Is there any guideline on how long a seller can take between printing a shipping label, which generates an automated email saying the item has shipped, and when they actually ship the item?

There's still time to get here in the delivery window,  but it seems shady to print a label to mark it as shipped, when the carrier hasn't received the item yet five days later. With Amazon Prime 2 hour delivery to my house, and all the shady sellers and Chinese knockoffs, and location misrepresentation on eBay, I think I'm really done here unless they start regulating some of the shady practices being abused here.

[webwanna]

I would send a note to the seller and ask why tracking isn't showing any progress.  

The guideline is you need to have a scan within your stated handling time.  Do you know what their stated handling time is?  Also, the item needs to be delivered by the estimated delivery date or the buyer can open an INR case.

Sorry for the bad experience.

[je16238tif]

My understanding, and correct me if I am wrong, but once a seller creates an eBay label it is systematically placed in a 'shipped' status my that eBay process  The actually date it is delivered to the PO is only captured in the PO tracking details.

I believe eBay measures seller performance from the label date thus the original ebayer as a reasonable point. 

As to opening INR the buyer, my opinion, should look at the tracking details before considering that. It is possible that the seller delivered the item same day to the PO but the PO had internal issues, like it was routed to incorrect facility,  but tracking still in transit processing.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@je16238tif wrote:

My understanding, and correct me if I am wrong, but once a seller creates an eBay label it is systematically placed in a 'shipped' status my that eBay process  The actually date it is delivered to the PO is only captured in the PO tracking details.

I believe eBay measures seller performance from the label date thus the original ebayer as a reasonable point. 

As to opening INR the buyer, my opinion, should look at the tracking details before considering that. It is possible that the seller delivered the item same day to the PO but the PO had internal issues, like it was routed to incorrect facility,  but tracking still in transit processing.

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That is incorrect the item has to have a scan within the sellers handling time or its counted as a late shipment unless it still happens to get delivery on time.  

[webwanna · Accepted solution]

Ebay performance metric for on time shipping is measured from scan at post office.  As a seller, I can drop off my items in a box at the post office within my handling time.  If the post office has issues.... like around the holidays.... and doesn't scan it in the day I drop it off that will count against me if the item isn't delivery by estimated delivery date.  If Ebay attaches a Guarantee to the delivery date and I am signed up for Guaranteed Delivery Program, I am financially responsible.

The only way to ensure your items are scanned within your handling time is to wait on line and watch them scan them in  (or use scan sheet).  Big pain at my post office as it is always very busy and understaffed.

If your items are delivered by the estimated delivery date or guaranteed delivery date and you don't have the scan within your handling time that isn't counted against you.  It's only if items are late.

[preciouschaos]

Well the carrier says they don't and haven't had it in their possession yet, but confirmed that a label was printed on Thursday. Anyway, I guess I'll wait to get irritated until it's actually late, but it's so rare that deliveries are even close to late that I've come to expect them earlier than estimated almost all of the time, and that doesn't help.

[mr_lincoln]

@preciouschaos   Call eBay and complain, seriously ... I have that and other complaints as a Seller with eBay's new label printing page.  When I print my labels the Sold item records state "Shipped" when in fact the items are sitting right in front of me and I can absolutely guarantee you that they have NOT shipped until I ship them at the Post Office.

I also think you should consider posting that message on eBay's Weekly Chat - every Wed @ 4PM EST ... they need to hear this kind of thing from Buyers because they sure don't seem to listen to their Business Partner Sellers ...

[my-three-dogs]

Or it's possible the seller has shipped it, and the PO just hasn't scanned it.

I recently received a package from a non-eBay venue. A seller I buy from quite frequently. For 4 days the tracking said "label created," and I was getting concerned, as this seller always ships quickly. On the 5th day the package was delivered to me. The only notations on the USPS website for the tracking number were "label created" and "delivered."

[castlemagicmemories]

Sellers are permitted to choose their own handling time, and I believe they can choose up to thirty days.  This would be useful for hand crafted items or pre sale items.

This isn't Amazon; there is much better variety here than Amazon has.  Speed is not the (if you will forgive a pun) prime consideration.  It's not a heart or insulin and thus not crucial.  

As for knock offs and item misrepresentation, it is as it is anywhere you buy online.   Savvy buyers know how to avoid these things by doing their buyer's due diligence before buying.  Caveat Emptor and good shopping go hand in hand.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@webwanna wrote:

I would send a note to the seller and ask why tracking isn't showing any progress.  

The guideline is you need to have a scan within your stated handling time.  Do you know what their stated handling time is?  Also, the item needs to be delivered by the estimated delivery date or the buyer can open an INR case.

Sorry for the bad experience.

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It is possible that it is in the hands of the carrier and the carrier neglected to scan it as accepted.  That happens.  Sometimes items aren't scanned until delivery.  There is no reason to be concerned as the last date of the estimated delivery timeframe has not yet passed.  If it does, then OP can open an INR claim in the Resolution Center.

[preciouschaos]

It is definitely not how it is everywhere else online. I'm not new to this game and I've been using eBay since the 90s. The unscrupulous sellers on eBay has been a developing problem over the years and i employ a reasonable amount of due diligence. And if it was made common knowledge that sellers can take 30 days to ship a sale, i guarantee eBay would already be dead. That's just bad business except in the relatively rare circumstance where items are customized after the sale. But it just sounds to me like you might be one of those shady sellers presenting a plausible but weak defense.

And i got an update: the carrier just received the item. If it arrives from the other side of the country by tomorrow, it will get here on the last day of the delivery window, which is acceptable, but, again, lazy, bad business.

[preciouschaos]

Furthermore, if that's the shipping policy, that's fine, but ebay ought to stop sending me emails a week ago saying that the item has shipped. In business, if I'm informed of an action taken, I really don't think I'm being unreasonable if I accept that information as truth.

[creekcoyote]

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@preciouschaos wrote:

Furthermore, if that's the shipping policy, that's fine, but ebay ought to stop sending me emails a week ago saying that the item has shipped. In business, if I'm informed of an action taken, I really don't think I'm being unreasonable if I accept that information as truth.

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If you can get E-bay to stop sending those ridiculous E-mails stating that the item has shipped, you will earn the gratitude of every seller on this site.

That information, in many cases, is not the truth and just why E-bay feels that it is necessary to inform buyers of this is beyond me.

As soon as I create a shipping label for an item, E-bay generates an e-mail to the buyer that the item has shipped.  I may have created that label at 2 AM on Saturday morning and my PO may not be open until Monday morning.  But that is irrelevant to E-bay. 

All I have done is created a shipping label.   Not put in on the item, not necessarily have the item packaged, etc.

Blame this on E-bay, not on the sellers.   The sellers have nothing to do with it but simply create a label.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@preciouschaos wrote:

It is definitely not how it is everywhere else online. I'm not new to this game and I've been using eBay since the 90s. The unscrupulous sellers on eBay has been a developing problem over the years and i employ a reasonable amount of due diligence. And if it was made common knowledge that sellers can take 30 days to ship a sale, i guarantee eBay would already be dead. That's just bad business except in the relatively rare circumstance where items are customized after the sale. But it just sounds to me like you might be one of those shady sellers presenting a plausible but weak defense.

And i got an update: the carrier just received the item. If it arrives from the other side of the country by tomorrow, it will get here on the last day of the delivery window, which is acceptable, but, again, lazy, bad business.

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With all due respect, I think you have misunderstood.  I was stating that you need to do buyer's due diligence before you buy.  While many places have protections, that doesn't mean you should just blindly buy  something without understanding what you are buying.  The rest of your post that I am responding to seems to suggest that you get that.

To illustrate, suppose you buy on either Amazon or Ebay something from a seller who drop ships.  Then you find you could have bought directly from the company or even from another seller for a cheaper price.  You can't blame the seller you bought from as they are in it to make a profit.  In short, the best person to protect yourself is you, by doing your buyer's due diligence.

I will agree that you can do your buyer's due diligence and still end up in problematic transaction for reasons beyond your control.  I have been there and done that and I am very careful when I vet the listing and the seller.  But you know you have the MBG for protection.  I don't advise abusing it.

As far as taking thirty days to ship~as I indicated that IS in rare instances such as hand crafted by order items, items with personalization, items made from scratch, also pre sale items where the item may be offered, in accordance with policy, thirty days prior to release.

I'm not a shady seller, I'm a buyer.  I just know how Ebay works and I have patience in receiving items, knowing that the item has to go through transit and it isn't a matter of life and death to get it quickly.   It's not a plausible but weak defense unless you don't know how eBay works or what it's policies are, no offense.

Sellers are allowed to choose their handling time; if you don't like it, then buying is not a good idea.  If you cannot wait until the end of the estimated delivery timeframe, and the key word here is estimated, it is not guaranteed, again, not a good idea for you to buy.

[preciouschaos]

I do blame eBay. In fact, if any of the gripe seemed like I was blaming the seller, I misspoke. I blame eBay for allowing the shady sellers to continue being shady sellers, and it's absolutely eBay's problem regarding the shipping labels. That said, knowing how it works, as we do, is it necessary to print out the label if you don't plan to ship it until Monday? Or Tuesday even, as is legitimate according to eBay if it was marked shipped on Thursday? Wouldn't it save a lot of aggravation to print the shipping label and generate the notification and ship the item all on the same day? Or week even?