Vacation Settings Turned on an eBay downgrades my seller status

[bstnter666]

I take a much needed vacation for Christmas and New Years and set my vacation settings properly. While I was away, I have customers still buying from my store - of course since I am one of the best sellers on eBay! I get back and immediately pack and ship my products that I sold to my customers. And guess what eBay decides to do? That's right, eBay lowered my Top Rated Seller status to Above Average because eBay in their infinite wisdom thinks that I should be shipping within my 1 day shipping window when I'm away on vacation - with my vacation settings turned on. Hey eBay administration you're pathetic and a complete embarrassment.

[kensgiftshop]

If you don't change your handling time, Ebay still expects you to ship within your handling time even if your store is set on vacation.

[larrys.basement]

Yes. This is the most confusing and misunderstood feature.  The Vacation setting has no use unless used in conjunction with the Handing Time setting.  You must set both.  The downside of enabling the vacation setting is that is drops your listings from indexing in search.   So when you return and disable the vacation setting, it takes time for your listing to re-index.  Best to forgo the vacation setting and just adjust the handling time.

[mtgraves7984]

Bummer, but @kensgiftshop and @larrys.basement  are correct.

I was put 'on notice' in that my TRS status would fall to Above Average (for late shipments while transitioning to Managed Payments... not your situation) in the case I could not pull it back up to 95% by Dec. 31.

So... I lengthened my handling time (to continue to operate with no shipping funds immediately available) and am proud to say that I hit 95% again by their deadline.

Anyway, I can't tell that TRS even means anything to me, the small seller who does not offer free, 1-Day s&h. Just roll with it... when we're this good, we catch back up. 

[3eyedfishcatcher]

A few times I made purchases from sellers only for eBay to tell me they are on vacation and my items would ship when they return. So I can contest just turning on the setting does not make it so your items can not be purchased. Yet as eBay warns buyers that the item will not ship right away it does seam that handle time should not be held against you.

Bellow is eBay instructions for enabling vacation mode.

It does not say anything about having to change your handle time in the instructions so It does not seam right that you should take the hit on your rating. I would call eBay and speak to the sales dept. to get this looked into.

Put eBay Store on vacation

If you need to take a break from your store for any reason, you can put it on vacation and hide your fixed price listings so no one will be waiting for items you can’t ship on time.  

You can also leave a note to let your buyers know when you’ll be back and turn on your out-of-office response to reply to anyone who messages you while you’re gone.

Turning on your vacation settings and hiding your fixed price listings

Here’s how to put your store on vacation and hide your fixed price listings:

1. In the Change settings - opens in new window or tab section of the Messages tab in My eBay, select Turn on under Vacation settings.
2. In the text box, enter a short note informing your buyers that you’re away.
3. Check the box beside Show people the date that you’ll be back, and enter your return date.
4. To hide your fixed price listings, check the box beside Keep people from buying your fixed price listings while you’re on vacation.

When you’re ready to reopen your eBay Store, simply select Turn off under Vacation settings

[nobody*s_perfect]

The vacation settings option was designed long before eBay started using shipping time as a factor in evaluating sellers. The basic vacation setting (as described in steps 1 through 3) is nothing more than an "Away" message. eBay still expects sellers to ship within the handling time that is stated in the listing.  

eBay is aware that many sellers assume that their handling time will be adjusted to reflect their anticipated return date, but have done nothing to change the programming nor even to issue a clearer explanation of the limitations of the basic vacation setting. 

[3eyedfishcatcher]

Then it sounds like they need to update their instructions to reflect that. they were doing seller metrics long before the guarantied shipping program. Even if you had a short handle time prior to the program it sounds like the handle time would have been a issue even with vacation settings turned on. At the very least they should include that the vacation settings will not stop sells and that you need to use the bulk editing tool to adjust your handle time for all listings to prevent defects being applied to your handle time.  If I were the original posted I would still call and insist they remove the late handle time as their help section tells nothing about that being a issue with the setting.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@3eyedfishcatcher wrote:

Then it sounds like they need to update their instructions to reflect that. ....

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We've been begging them for years. Just a simple sentence would save so many sellers from so much hassle.

[inceptions]

Here is an excerpt from eBay's help page about store vacations:

Below is a link to the help page:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/ebay-stores/manage-ebay-store?id=4090&st=3&pos=1&query=Manage%20yo...

[monster-deals]

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@bstnter666 wrote:

 eBay in their infinite wisdom thinks that I should be shipping within my 1 day shipping window when I'm away on vacation - with my vacation settings turned on. Hey eBay administration you're pathetic and a complete embarrassment.

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Vacation settings are nearly useless. 

Would be nice if ebay did something about it but it isn't part of the revenue stream....so it is likely to stay broken forever.

[3eyedfishcatcher]

It is kind of a hidden trapthen. Ebay does not tell you about the handle time. They still want the sells and final value  that come from them. If your a volume seller  you could get a large number of defects dropping your seller rating. Per their seller agreement if you drop bellow a bellow standard level they can increase your final value fee's due to pore performance. Yet if this were to cause that it would be from them not providing the proper information in their help section and not because a seller is bad. Then 6 months for the defects to drop off while they get to charge you more for any sales.