My US Buyers prevented from buying "Seller doesn't ship to this location" message! Anyone Else?

[jamesdouglasgallery]

Hello all,

I have spent 1.5 hours on ebay yesterday about this problem, which is affecting many sellers according to the tech, and only just recently started affecting me. Three failed purchases in last three days that I was made aware of thru the messaging system (untold lost sales from the people who didn't contact me!)

In an effort to diagnose the problem, I have logged on to my store and auction items using a second ebay user id, and get a firsthand look at what's going on. This is what I have determined so far:

For me, it only affects items listed with first class letter rate calculated shipping. The problem is obvious before any attempt is made to purchase - under shipping info, where you are able to put in your zip code, you get the following message:  "Shipping cost cannot be calculated. Please enter a valid ZIP Code." Note that I am a New York seller, and that the prospective buyers are also in the US (one actually here in New York!)

The help desk said they were working on the problem, but since I have found other posts about this back to the beginning of June, I guess the end of this is not anywhere in sight.

Since I sell a lot of inexpensive flat things like postcards in my store, this is a big hit on my bottom line. I had to end some patch auctions because the listing would not quote the buyers a shipping cost - who would want to bid????

I had one persistent customer who found a workaround. She bought the store item, and when it asked her to enter a valid shipping address, she simply re-entered her existing info and that worked! Here is her message to me:

"Ebay gave the option of changing the address. I clicked on that button and my address came up (with no difference whatsoever) as a choice. I clicked on it and the sale went through. Weird, huh?"

So here is my request to all other posters to this thread - can you verify that the problem is limited to letter rate calculated shipping listings, both auction and buy-it-now?

Also, please post your own threads on this problem to maximize board coverage, and keep bothering ebay. I plan to call them again today and every day that the problem continues.

jamesdouglasgallery

[pingpong517]

what if you changed the listing to a fixed price for shipping?  it couldn't be hard to figure 1st class...the weights/price are easy enough..

if they are working on it..they will be...but takes as long as it takes...no one is going to MAKE THEM or PUSH THEM, so you have to work with what you have that is working... take off the "caculating" aspect...

[bjnsharp]

I have reported a similar problem in the last few days. Items listed on the Belgium eBay website cannot be purchased on any other eBay site. I have had numerous buyers contacting me but the workarounds are so complex most can't be bothered and I'm sure even more just see the message saying "this item cannot be shipped to your address" and just go elsewhere. Spent hours contacting eBay support and being moved from pillar to post before someone could even acknowledge the problem. They said it has been sent to their technical team but every day I am losing sales. I don't see eBay reimbursing me for all those lost sales or even the fees for listing items that they then wrongly tell people they can't purchase. It can't be that hard to run a website like this...

[wbattles]

I had the same exact problem for an auction of 500+ lots that ened July 15th, last Saturday. It started the night of the 14th and by morning I had oodles of messages from buyers sayin they couldn't enter their zip code.   I still had plenty of buyers since I had a lot of repeat business, but I know I lost sales and higher bids too.

The problem also affected buyers at checkout too. Ebay wouldn't let buyers pay until I sent them an invoice. Afterwards they could pay just fine.

I also used calculated first class shipping too. I also used Turbo Lister to start the auctions if that makes any difference. 

I hope they fix this mess as I plan to have another big auction next month.

[jamesdouglasgallery]

The turbolister is a red herring. I use SYI form. I had the same problem that I had to send invoices to anyone who figured out how to bypass and make a purchase. Ebay was telling them that it was pick up only! after they bought.

[nobles_market]

Hi,

Same issue here... Narrowed mine down to First Class Large Envelope. Changing from Large Envelope to Package does the trick since the rates are the same...BUT International Rates become wayyyyyyy too high. Which is the principle reason I use the "Large Envelope" classification, it keeps the International rates down. Hoping for a fix soon, in the mean time I'll adjust to Package.

C

[nobles_market]

Added info-

Spoke with a superviser. At this time they are basically saying that Large Envelope or Letter is NOT an option using the USPS. This happened somewhere around July 1st... but who knows.  They're only answer is to swith to Package Rate, which is fine for US shipments, but increases shipping cost for Internatiuonal orders by a huge margin. The superviser suggested that shouldn't be a problem sinc eafter the item is purchased I could then refund the excessive shipping to the buyer.  LOL, I explained that that will likely not happen since buyers will be turned off by shipping cost to begin with and never make the purchase. So... gonna get some listing credits but that doesn't solve the problem nor does it create a solution.

[phantomwarrior1327]

James, I have the same problem and it started Saturday evening after I mailed out Saturday's orders, sometime after 4:00.  By Monday, 394 of my items were affected.  Not only Domestic shipping but international as well.  I received emails from Australia, Iceland, Canada, and Colorado saying they could not order because they could not put in the shipping rate because I did not select a shipping method.  The message they saw was, "Shipping cost cannot be calculated. Please enter a valid ZIP Code."  International was, "This item will ship to Iceland, but the seller has not specified shipping options. Contact the seller- opens in a new window or tab and request a shipping method to your location."

I've contacted eBay three times as of today and all three times, they don't have a clue, but we are working on and we will give you a call in 24 hrs.

Some customers have been able to order one item or multiple items on several invoices and then request an invoice.  Then I will combine all their orders and I can place the shipping cost in.

However, I am still using sales.

[phantomwarrior1327]

I use PayPal to print an invoice and ship because they have letter for international orders and I can get a tracking number.

[jamesdouglasgallery]

Has anyone else noticed the problem appears to be resolved at this time. I have had several purchases using calculated letter rate postage without problem. If true, it has only been about a month of lost sales for me.

Should I be happy now? Should I be expecting an apology for the long time it took to resolve the problem? For the techs telling me that I should go in and edit some 500 random store listings that use this postage method? For the the tech who posted that the problem was either with the sellers, or with the buyers' zip codes and/or addresses?

No, I am not happy. But I guess I'm back in business.

[phantomwarrior1327]

I lost 15 days of sales waiting on eBay to come up with a solution(s) for this issue.  I could receive International orders but not Domestic.  For the last few days, I have been changing all 396 listings to Flat rate shipping.  You would think you could change it in bulk, but that is not the case.  I am almost done.  I started to get Domestic sales again yesterday and I am happier than pig in ****.  

I sure would like know what eBay changed in July to make this issue.  

[trend-name]

Nah, I spoke too soon. Still messed up when it comes to letter rate calculated postage (and large envelope rate as well, I am told). Here's the latest:

1) The message that once appeared in the shipping costs section of a listing ("Shipping cost cannot be calculated. Please enter a valid ZIP Code."), no longer appears, and a shipping cost appears in that section and under the price of a listing.  Sounds promising, right?... but

2) I ran a test by using my second ebay user id to add one of my items to the cart (item using calculated first class letter rate shipping.) At checkout, red lettered statement appears "THIS ITEM DOES NOT SHIP TO NY, UNITED STATES. HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:"

Followed by two choices, either contact the seller or go to checkout and change address.

3) So I choose the option "Go to checkout and change address." But I don't change anything, I just select my address to change and submit it without any changes (Note this is with the zip+4 zip code that the ebay tech refers to, which of course so many people have because it was automatically added by ebay long ago.

4) Low and behold the address, without change, suddenly works and I can proceed to pay and complete the transaction.

I will attach screen captures, my next test is to change my mailing address to 5-digit zip from zip+4 and see what happens. ( I believe the simple zip code will slow down postal deliveries leading to more late delivery marks for sellers).

[jamesdouglasgallery]

Nah, I spoke too soon. Still messed up when it comes to letter rate calculated postage (and large envelope rate as well, I am told). Here's the latest:

1) The message that once appeared in the shipping costs section of a listing ("Shipping cost cannot be calculated. Please enter a valid ZIP Code."), no longer appears, and a shipping cost appears in that section and under the price of a listing.  Sounds promising, right?... but

2) I ran a test by using my second ebay user id to add one of my items to the cart (item using calculated first class letter rate shipping.) At checkout, red lettered statement appears "THIS ITEM DOES NOT SHIP TO NY, UNITED STATES. HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:"

Followed by two choices, either contact the seller or go to checkout and change address.

3) So I choose the option "Go to checkout and change address." But I don't change anything, I just select my address to change and submit it without any changes (Note this is with the zip+4 zip code that the ebay tech refers to, which of course so many people have because it was automatically added by ebay long ago.

4) Low and behold the address, without change, suddenly works and I can proceed to pay and complete the transaction.

I will attach screen captures, my next test is to change my mailing address to 5-digit zip from zip+4 and see what happens. ( I believe the simple zip code will slow down postal deliveries leading to more late delivery marks for sellers).

[jamesdouglasgallery]

Nope, I spoke too soon. Still messed up when it comes to letter rate calculated postage (and large envelope rate as well, I am told). Here's the latest:

1) The message that once appeared in the shipping costs section of a listing ("Shipping cost cannot be calculated. Please enter a valid ZIP Code."), no longer appears, and a shipping cost appears in that section and under the price of a listing.  Sounds promising, right?... but

2) I ran a test by using my second ebay user id to add one of my items to the cart (item using calculated first class letter rate shipping.) At checkout, red lettered statement appears "THIS ITEM DOES NOT SHIP TO NY, UNITED STATES. HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:"

Followed by two choices, either contact the seller or go to checkout and change address.

3) So I choose the option "Go to checkout and change address." But I don't change anything, I just select my address to change and submit it without any changes (Note this is with the zip+4 zip code that the ebay tech refers to, which of course so many people have because it was automatically added by ebay long ago.

4) And now the address, without change, suddenly works and I can proceed to pay and complete the transaction.

I have attached screen captures, my next test is to change my mailing address to 5-digit zip from zip+4 and see what happens. ( I believe the simple zip code will slow down postal deliveries leading to more late delivery marks for sellers).

[jamesdouglasgallery]

I ran the test, and Trinton@ebay is right that a regular 5-digit zip code will not experience any problems in this scenario purchase.

But, all of my foreign buyers are still having this problem. What are international customers to do, even if I can alert domestic buyers to change their zip codes (what a PITA for them!)?

And as I write this, the calculated letter rate shipping is still being offered as an option to unsuspecting ebay sellers on the SYI page.

Ebay, why so long to get this fixed!