Buyers need to chill about shipping delays...

[sin-n-dex]

So everything I mailed on Dec 11 is stuck at sort plants all over the USA. But most of the items mailed on the 20th have been delivered or are out for delivery today... go figure.

I just received a package from a seller in Canada that I was able to file an INR on, on Dec 22. Knowing I have 30 days to do this, and knowing mail is delayed everywhere, I just sat back and waited and the package finally showed up. I'm going to say the 7-10 days eBay provided for domestic mail in Canada was insufficient, to be allowing an INR to be filed so quickly.

A week or so ago, my partner got a buyer who went off on him that it took 2 weeks for the package to travel from our location to his town (about 20 miles). My partner asked me to reply to the message and I decided to forgo the education that all mail picked up in the city is taken to a sort plant 100 miles away before coming back to the town where it's to be delivered. I decided to just apologize for the delay and blame Canada Post (well the delay wasn't on our end... we shipped within a couple of days which was well within our handling time).

I'm reading in this forum people who have double digit complaints of INRs from impatient customers that wanted their items yesterday. Anyone who buys a lot or ships a lot, knows there is delays and people really need to chill because there's nothing us sellers can do about it.

I'm feeling thankful that the majority of my customers are pretty cool and will message me before doing an INR. I reply very fast, so I think that helps a lot that I'm being attentive, and I watch any parcels that customers are concerned about (I send notifications to my phone sometimes too if I need to monitor something).

Lots of my items (mailed Dec 11) are past the delivery date... hoping there's no issue. Also the fact that many buyers are repeat customers probably helps them relax and not worry that they won't receive their items.

C.

[1grandmashope_1]

As a seller, I would hope most, if not all, realize the risks in selling right now surrounding shipping.  With that said, it is our choice to either keep selling or hold off until something is resolved with the backups.  

I, personally, do not hold the buyers responsible.  Granted, some are not informed (unbelievable as that may be) or taking advantage of the late arrivals, but as a seller it is up to that individual to roll the dice.

Here is to a 2021 that may bring with it some positive change,

Grandma

[duncanvr]

I understand why the buyers get frustrated when their items are not showing up and the ebay eta is past due. I as a seller and also I am a buyer and I get impatient waiting for stuff I bought a month earlier.  ebay needs to review and extend its etas given to sellers sold items in November & December. As a seller I did not ship for two weeks of this month, my shop was in time away to avoid INR cases. I recommend sellers don't use USPS in December and send stuff with couriers that are able to handle the volume. Then raise inquiries on anything running late.

[sin-n-dex]

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@duncanvr wrote:

I understand why the buyers get frustrated when their items are not showing up and the ebay eta is past due. I as a seller and also I am a buyer and I get impatient waiting for stuff I bought a month earlier.  ebay needs to review and extend its etas given to sellers sold items in November & December. As a seller I did not ship for two weeks of this month, my shop was in time away to avoid INR cases. I recommend sellers don't use USPS in December and send stuff with couriers that are able to handle the volume. Then raise inquiries on anything running late.

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There is a silver lining to my cloud... part of my shipping delays in December were related to the trans-border courier being backed up, and then Niagara NY taking days to get around to scanning stuff that was coming in. Since the ETA happens when it's acceptance scan happens, the delayed time in Canada is all part of handling. I managed to stay within my handling time even though it took a week for my items to show scans in New  York. (But as I mentioned, stuff mailed on the 11th is stuck all over the country, but things mailed a week later are being delivered right now).

I'm not going to stop shipping because of the risk of INRs because for the most part customers are sending messages to follow up and be reassured before they file the INR.

As a buyer, I'm incredibly impatient. I want my stuff yesterday. The good news is, I buy lots of stuff, so something is showing up every time I check my PO Box which distracts me from the packages that are surface mailed from England and take two months to get here. Stamp albums mostly travel with tracking (occasionally a seller doesn't post the tracking number), and I check the status of outstanding items every day. I definitely understand how my buyers feel about purchasing some of my items and being in a big hurry to receive them (even though the stuff I buy, and the stuff I sell, is not anything anyone really needs immediately).

C.

[panzerzwei]

I sent a winning buyer an item on December 14 USPS priority, insured still says in transit. I messaged the buyer to apologize for the delay but at this point all you can do is wait. If I knew they were going to be that backlogged I would have shipped UPS.

[reallynicestamps]

As one seller who rarely tracks, I am pretty happy about how well Canada Post is handling the deluge of mail.

But we have lower rates of infection with COVID, and the PO management here was working to keep the mail moving, unlike what has been reported as happening at USPS.

I would recommend that, even if you are compulsively checking tracking of your shipments, that you NOT contact any buyer whose package is late, trusting that, like  @sin-n-dex , enough is arriving that they don't notice it is your shipment that is late.

If the buyer contacts you, of course, you have to be as friendly, informative, and consoling as possible.

[lonelylovables123]

Same thing happening here.  Item shipped and getting delivered to same state is being rerouted to other states for some reason.  Most of my customers are understanding as well, but I got a few who threats with negative feedback because this is somehow reflection of our poor service, even tho we are shipping everything out in 24hrs to help with this problem.  How is this reflection on our service?  Do they think we own the USPS? 

This year has been so hard with everything...hope everyone can go the extra mile for each other and understand the sellers and the USPS condition...

[duncanvr]

Agree that surface mail from England is very slow it takes 4-6 weeks for a non tracked packet of stamped covers to hit Sydney. As my stamp cover suppliers are in England I have packets of stamps stock missing since September October that were not tracked. My suppliers now using tracking since November and the time for one stock packet to get here is tracked now about 4 weeks. I can also see weather any packets are missing. Its interesting to see how they are bringing them in from England via other Aus states to get the packets here. In 2021 every packet of stamped covers I order from my English suppliers will be tracked. I ship surface mail myself all my sales using stamps. The odd complaint but everything gets there. One lady in Nederlands received her order from me after 3 months. As my buyers all regulars they know to wait. But its the new buyers that worry me as some seem impatient and expect International mail to hit UK/USA in one week.

[luckythewinner]

Buyers need to chill about shipping delays

I'm pretty sure eBay has arranged it so they don't have to chill about shipping delays 🙂 

[inhawaii]

Hey how did you get this post past the MODs?

If i merely mention the word "shipping" my post gets moved!  LOL

In any case, i just thought i would share this with you. This was a first class package going from HI to CA.

On Monday, Dec 28th i gave my very patient buyer a full refund and told her to keep the item when it shows up. It showed up 2 days later.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

[vintagecraze50]

EBay’s 10 day extension is WAY not long enough.

[numisnorway]

I've had a package stuck at the international service center in Chicago since 25th of november and ebay decided to just give the buyer his money back from my account.. I'm sure that after this bottleneck the USPS is currently having the package will once more move and i will be at the buyers mercy to get my money back.

I am also certain that a lot of shady people are buying extra now in the hopes of slow delivery times in order to get automated refunds from the extremely generous with other peoples money folks over at paypal and ebay.

[littledanish0714]

Most of the huge delays are from the early December to mid December stuff.  They were all backlogged beyond belief and they were trying to separate it out from the new and a lot just got buried.  Most facilities had no room to walk.  That is why you are seeing a lot of the later stuff get delivered faster and now that it is slowing down some of the older is moving again.  

As for why they are getting routed to other hubs and states and circling around is those hubs they were intended to go to were refusing more mail as they had no room to put it.  So then it just cycles around the country.  

Some cities rented warehouse space, some cities just put the excess on trailers in the parking lots.  There is still so much mail out there to be processed its going to take another few weeks to get through it all.

We had 53 first class items that were scanned upon pickup never move from Dec 12th.  44 of them finally were scanned into the same city hub 14 days later on Dec 26th.  Now they are just sitting there waiting to depart.

Lot of people just don't realize the magnitude of how much mail there was and how backed up some facilities got.

Anyone that didn't have pickup scans and just drops there mail off will most likely see even longer days as post office put that stuff aside and focused on the stuff that had scans first as they are in the system and can affect there on time percents more.  

[sin-n-dex]

Thanks for such a detailed explanation of the problem.

I checked my tracking this morning. My Dec 11 shipments started in Niagara, NY and were supposed to go to Rochester before being en route to their destination. All my packages got routed to Buffalo, NY, and now everything is stuck there.

C.

[aktina2000]

As a seller i stopped shipping with USPS after my first delays on items i shipped out in Nov 30th. It was not worth having angry buyers.  I switched over to UPS and FEDEX.

And i have to side with the Buyers here. They have been conditioned to fast shipping and expect it.

Couple that to "needing these for presents by Xmass" and you have the recipe for disaster.

So the customer is right. I don't agree with you blaming your customer for being angry.

I blame the USPS. They knew this was going to happen and their Union INTENTIONALLY instructed their members to take days off and call in sick during the  busiest time of the year. I know this first hand as two of my bother in-laws work for the USPS. 

So as many other already said, switch over your shipping to UPS and FEDEX. 

No Problems this way.

So you are to blame here for not adjusting your shipping method and expecting customers to "take it in the chin".

Bad Customer Service.