Did eBay quietly change the time zone policy?

[coffeebean832]

tyler@ebay velvet@ebay 

This policy has always been unpublished so I came here to find out if the eBay team could tell us if this is an intended change or a glitch. If it's an intended change then it's a good one.

Seller ship-by dates (for .com) have always been determined based on eBay HQ clock- Pacific Time.

A seller that offers next-day shipping would be required to ship anything next day that was paid for before midnight PT which meant before 3:00 am for East coast sellers.

I've heard from 2 Eastern and 1 Central time zone seller that said- as of last week- eBay is showing ship-by dates based on their own time zones.

I didn't find any kind of announcement about this- and it's always been an unpublished policy- so it would be great if Tyler or Velvet could confirm if this really did change to the benefit of sellers not located on the West coast.

[babclassics]

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

General call out to any seller east of the Pacific time zone- especially if you offer next day handling- please check sales you get after midnight your time but before midnight PT and see what eBay displays as the ship-by date. Thanks. 😊

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As I mentioned earlier.  All my orders paid between 10PM and Midnight pacific time (which is midnight to 2AM central time) and which are set up for 1 day (next day) handling to be "on time" are treated like they were paid for AFTER midnight even though it is before midnight pacific time.  This is the most favorable outcome for the seller IMO, bug or not 🙂

I looked back over the last 3 months and all such orders behave that way.  FYI my cutoff times are all set to midnight central time.  I know that is said to be for same day shipping only... but maybe not.  Maybe the caption on the screen is wrong and that setting really effects next day shipping as well.  We have a mystery.

[katzrul15]

Mar 28, 2022 at 2:46am PDT

Order indicated to be shipped by 3/30 @ midnight

We have a 2 day handling time.   We are EST (Ohio)

No change for us that I can see.

[dhbookds]

I have had 2 sips of coffee................but

Got a sale last nite.........11:06 Pacific, 1 day handling, I am on eastern time.......which would be after midnight eastern......I think......  so no change for me.

[velvet@ebay]

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

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velvet@ebay wrote:

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Hey @coffeebean832! I reached out to the shipping team and they said they've been unable to duplicate this experience and are still seeing PST ship by times; even for the East coast sellers. They're reaching out to another team though to ensure they aren't missing something and I'll follow-up with you here once I've heard back from them. 

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velvet@ebay- Thank you for reaching out on this. I think you might be misunderstanding though. the times are all showing PT- what's different is how eBay is calculating the ship-by date.

I e-mailed a screenshot to you for more clarity. Please check that and let me know what you come up with.

Please also reference my post #4 above. Thanks! 🙂

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Hi @coffeebean832! The shipping team came back with the below info (I've deleted out item numbers due to the sellers' privacy, but just know that the examples in the second part are from those you collected and sent along via email): 

1. Ship by time that we hold sellers to is by midnight in the seller’s time zone based on the handling time the seller indicates in the listing, and the time is shown in PDT—sellers not in PDT would need to convert the ship by time reflected to their own time zone.

     A. For example, if the seller offers 1-day handling and sells an item on Thursday, March 31 they will have         by midnight in the seller’s time zone on Friday, April 1 to ship the item

2. Looking at the examples Coffeebean832 provided, the above bears out – using sellers' time zones, which are EDT

     A. The examples provided with 1-day handling times show the following:     

     1. Item xx Ship by Apr 1 8:59pm PDT item purchased on Mar 31 1:23 am EDT thus ship by date and time reflected is accurate as seller has until  midnight the following day—Apr 1 11:59pm EDT (8:59pm PDT) to ship the item

     2. Item xx Ship by Apr 1 8:59pm PDT, item purchased on Mar 31 12:44am EDT thus ship by date and time reflected is accurate as seller has until midnight the following day— Apr 111:59pm EDT (8:59pm PDT) to ship the item

     3. Item xx Ship by Apr 1 8:59pm PDT, item purchased on Mar 31 12:12am EDT thus ship by date and time reflected is accurate as seller has until midnight the following day—Apr 1 11:59pm EDT (8:59pm PDT) to ship the item

      4. Item xx Ship by Mar 31 8:59pm PDT, item purchased on Mar 30 9:38pm EDT thus ship by date and time reflected is accurate as seller has until midnight the following day—Mar 31 11:59pm EDT (8:59 pm PDT) to ship the item

[katerin-7118]

Hi velvet@ebay !

Saw you response about time zones on eBay, if it`s possible i would like to clarify a few things related to the  shipping team. 

We are running shops on eBay in the US, using 2 terms for handling - same day, next day(1 day)

With 1 day delivery i understood, that we choosing time zone based on our working hours and cut off time is next day midnight by our time zone. 

Please clarify about same day delivery type:

There is a recommendation from ebay to set cut off time not earlier than 14 00 Pacific, so if i`m working by est time zone,is it still suppose to be 14 00 pacific(17 00 est) or it needs to be 14 00 est ( 11 00 pacific)? and if keeping recommended 14 00 effecting the way eBay will show us to buyer?

Thank you in advance!

[ebooksdiva]

I don’t know if you will get a response from person you are asking the question to Velvet hasn’t been on this site since December of 2022 this thread is also over a yr old. It’s best to start your own thread with any questions or concerns you may have.

As for your question. Next to any order you get will tell you when you need to ship by. That goes by your handling time and your cut off. 

[kh-ornesh]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.