eBay

wickedcollectable · ‎02-19-2025

Howdy! Does anyone happen to know if there is a way to specify what a "business day" is for me?

I'd like the "business day" to start and end at 5pm instead of midnight.

I offer next day shipping, which is usually fine, except that sometimes I wake up to find a new order, placed 10 minutes before midnight, that therefore expects to be shipped that same day. That can sometimes be a real challenge.

Thanks!

fern*wood · ‎02-20-2025

@wickedcollectable wrote:

How is this not a problem for others?

When I used next day handling, it was an annoyance because it worried me, but it never ended up being a problem. Do you have a large number of these? Even if you miss the next day scan, you will still be okay on the metrics if the package arrives ontime. I know it is riskier not to have that initial scan, but it's not a definite hit.

I didn't reread all the posts, but I didn't notice claims that Saturday/Sunday were counted as business days.

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slippinjimmy · ‎02-19-2025

A business day is 24 hours.

An order received at 11:50PM (Pacific) tonight needs to be shipping by Midnight (Pacific) on Thursday, this is NOT "same day".

You can set a cut-off time but that only applies to Same Day shipping not one day shipping.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

funfactorychannel · ‎02-19-2025

Its under shipping preference, in account settings

slippinjimmy · ‎02-19-2025

@funfactorychannel wrote:
Its under shipping preference, in account settings

That only applies to sellers who offer SAME DAY shipping.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

stainlessenginecovers · ‎02-19-2025

Just change to 2 day handling and you won't have to worry about the 11:50PM orders. There is no way for you to 'personalize' your business day when it comes to shipping (except same day)

mam98031 · ‎02-19-2025

Your definition would likely conflict with Ebay's definition and therefore mislead buyers.

Ebay considers Monday through Friday as business days. Except for Federal Holidays.

You can set your hours in which you are open or available to customers on this link in your Site Preferences.

https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

slippinjimmy · ‎02-19-2025

@mam98031 wrote:
Your definition would likely conflict with Ebay's definition and therefore mislead buyers.

Ebay considers Monday through Friday as business days. Except for Federal Holidays.

You can set your hours in which you are open or available to customers on this link in your Site Preferences.

https://www.ebay.com/ship/prf

That setting is ONLY for sellers offering Same Day Shipping.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

johnrj1226 · ‎02-20-2025

No - but you can get your Burger King burger your way

eBay has a bout 18 million + sellers in all the various time zones around the world. Do you know that it is already tomorrow somewhere around this planet. eBay time is based on Cali time which means my nieces are still sleeping right now and it is 4.05 am where I am in GA

Look how many different time zones we have right here in the Good Ole USA and these will change on March 9, 2025 at midnight

Eastern Standard Time

Time zone in Washington, DC (GMT-5)

Thursday, February 20, 2025, 3:48 AM

One more thing - look at all the different time zones there are on this planet -

https://www.seikowatches.com/instructions/html/SEIKO_7B62_7B72_EN/BONDSYmfdsbfps

Don't think eBay needs to add more confusion to the selling and buying on line - heck many folks don't even read policies or procedures that have been long standing or what might have changed yesterday. Hint just add another day to your handling time if satisfies your needs. Always enjoyed waking up in the morning and see new orders while I was counting sheep.

2:48 AM		Central Standard Time Chicago (GMT-6)
1:48 AM		Mountain Standard Time Denver (GMT-7)
1:48 AM		Mountain Standard Time Phoenix (GMT-7)
12:48 AM		Pacific Standard Time Los Angeles (GMT-8)
11:48 PM	-1 day	Alaska Standard Time Anchorage (GMT-9)
10:48 PM	-1 day	Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time Honolulu (GMT-10)

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bashort · ‎02-20-2025

@wickedcollectable wrote:
Howdy! Does anyone happen to know if there is a way to specify what a "business day" is for me?

I'd like the "business day" to start and end at 5pm instead of midnight.

I offer next day shipping, which is usually fine, except that sometimes I wake up to find a new order, placed 10 minutes before midnight, that therefore expects to be shipped that same day. That can sometimes be a real challenge.

Thanks!

If you offer next day shipping and orders come in at 5:10 PM or 11:50 PM they both need to ship the next day, I do not see why the one that comes in at 11:50 is more of a problem.

bashort · ‎02-20-2025

@stainlessenginecovers wrote:
Just change to 2 day handling and you won't have to worry about the 11:50PM orders. There is no way for you to 'personalize' your business day when it comes to shipping (except same day)

Yes, that is why ebay lets the seller set handling time

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎02-20-2025

@wickedcollectable

You are on the East Coast. (ET) And your handling time is set for one day handling, is that correct?

ebay defaults to PT. So, actually, any sale made before Midnight PT on Monday must ship Tuesday. Which means, in practice, that any sale made before 3AM ET (which is the same as Midnight PT) must ship Tuesday.

As others have noted, setting a cut off hour is designed for SAME DAY SHIPPING, not one day shipping. However, there IS value in setting this, even with one day shipping, if you are on the East Coast.

Go to Shipping Preferences. Then "Select cut-off times for same day dispatch"

On the "Set Your Availability for Same Day Dispatch" CHANGE the Time Zone to Eastern Time.

Then select your shipping days (I chose M through Friday.)

Then choose an hour (I used 5AM just for this example, use whatever you would be happy with if you are actually going to do same day shipping.).

Now click SAVE.

I'm not sure if this next step is necessary or not, but you could bulk edit your listings to go from one day shipping to same day shipping. Then, once completed, bulk edit them back to one day shipping.

End result:

You will now have one day shipping, same as you have always had, but ebay will NOW apply ET to your time frame. So, NOW, you have eliminated the 3 hour gap.

So, at least you will not have to worry about those sales that come in over night between midnight and 3 AM your time....the day ends at Midnight ET, NOT Midnight PT (3AM ET).

I hope this makes sense.

While it is a small benefit, and might not be what you were looking for, you might find it helpful, and it takes only minutes to set up.

meme6253 · ‎02-20-2025

eBay is a 24/7 platform, The doors are all way's open & the light's are on, Shipping is another story, you can choose shipping preferences in your account settings.

hartungcards · ‎02-20-2025

"The doors are all way's open & the light's are on..."

You forgot the part about, "but nobody's home."

wickedcollectable · ‎02-20-2025

OK wow, sorry to have bothered everyone!

eBay is not 24/7, it does not consider holidays or Sundays to be business days.

A "business day" is a day when the business is open, a "calendar day" is what begins and ends at midnight. These are different concepts entirely.

The issue is only that the post office closes at 6pm. Anything I drop off there after 6pm will not be scanned until the next morning. I just wish my business policies could be set up the same way, and I'm very surprised I am the only person who feels this way...