Ebay says shipping is overdue, even though I've been in contact with the buyer about additional item

[ratoliprova]

Hello,

I had sold an Item on September 6th, which is 5 days ago.  I have 4 day handling setup(I believe), but I'm being told my shipping is overdue from September 9th.

The seller was interested in other items of mine, but also was extremely slow to respond to me, so I was waiting to print a shipping label, so I don't mess up weight or whatnot, and have issues with shipping carriers.  After this long wait for the buyer to contact me back, and ultimately telling me he now only wants the initial item, I am being told by Ebay that I am late on shipping, and I don't know what to do.

Is there anything I can do about this?  I find it is really unacceptable that Ebay doesn't allow us to able to hold off on shipping, because a buyer is interested in other products.  Is there a way I could change my handling time, after sale?  I have 2 other sales that I'm speaking with buyers about additional items, which need to be shipped out by the 14th, and i don't want the same situation to happen again.

Is it possible that i can cancel the order, and have him purchase it again?  Will that cause any issues or anything with my account?  I also read that if the buyer puts that the item arrived on time in the feedback section, this also could save my account from getting penalized?  Is this true?

I am considered a "new seller" because I just started selling again, so I do not want anything to affect my performance.  I have so far sold 5 items, so 1 of 5 with a late shipping issue, sounds like it could hurt my account.

I tried to be a good seller and work things out with my buyers and try to make them as happy with their purchase(s) as possible, but I don't deserve to be penalized when all I'm doing is trying to be a good seller.

Any help is appreciated with this issue, thank you.

[buyselljack2016]

You likely need to revisit your handling time selection.

I see 3 day which would mean that you had to ship by the 9th.

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Will usually ship within 3 business days of receiving cleared payment.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

You need to ship by your stated handling time.  Either give the buyer a deadline or simply tell them you are required to ship by X date & anything after that date will entail a new shipping charge.  

That said, there is a percentage of late shipping that you are allowed to get, so I would not sweat one.  I would try to make sure it doesn't happen again though, which is easy to do & leave that percentage for the rare occasions when shipping late can't be avoided due to weather, illness or carrier delay. 

[ratoliprova]

Yes, thank you for that.  But that only solves my issue for future purchases, I need to know what i can do about this current issue, so that i don't cause issues with my account.

Since I'm a new seller, I didn't realize the issue with this and trying to do business with my buyers.

The resolutions I've seen, but not confirmed are:

-Cancel the order, which I'm not sure will penalize either the buyer or myself.

-The Buyer Gives me positive feedback saying the item was delivered on time, which will negate Ebay's initial "Shipping Overdue" comment.

-I also notice that there is a "Ship by" date of 13-14 of September, so if I were to get the item shipped by then would that also somehow change the penalty, since it arrived by the date said?

Thank you.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Just ship it.  Tell your buyer eBay requires you to ship it & any other items will have to go separately.  And know for the future not to 'hold' things past your handling time. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@ratoliprova wrote:

Yes, but this is for future purchases, I need to know what i can do about this current issue.

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Just ship the item.

[ratoliprova]

This isn't a resolution to my problem.

[ratoliprova]

I've only sold 5 items, so that means 20% of my items are considered late...  That isn't something I consider to be a "good %."

[earthdreamer]

The crucial option for combining buyer purchases over a period of time is in Selling Preferences.

Go to Manage Postage Settings, then to Allow Combined Payments, and there you can set a time period that buyers have to combine purchases, anything up to 30 days.

Of course, this time period assumes the buyer has not paid for any items. Once they pay, your own handling time kicks in. 

[lamber9347]

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@ratoliprova wrote:

-Cancel the order, which I'm not sure will penalize either the buyer or myself.- If you cancel using buyer requested then there will be no demerit to your account. 

-The Buyer Gives me positive feedback saying the item was delivered on time, which will negate Ebay's initial "Shipping Overdue" comment.- No that does nothing. Remember the system is all automated. 

-I also notice that there is a "Ship by" date of 13-14 of September, so if I were to get the item shipped by then would that also somehow change the penalty, since it arrived by the date said?- No, it is based on your initial handling time when the transaction took place. 

Thank you.

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@ratoliprova The simple answer is that everything is automated on eBay due to the fact there are millions of individual sales in any given day. Answers to your questions in red. Your best option is to cancel for reason stated above, and once buyer is ready to pay then you relist it and start over but remain within your handling time. Best of luck to you....

[ratoliprova]

I'm looking into cancelling, I don't seem to see any negatives by doing so, after reading a bit into the cancellation policy, besides Ebay holding my fees as a "Credit." I'm not sure if there is any negatives with regards to cancelling a purchase as a seller?

[lamber9347]

@ratoliprova See my answer in message #10. You need to select buyer requested in order not to be penalized for the cancelation.... 

[ratoliprova]

Thank you for this bit of information.  They have all paid already for the first items, but we were discussing additional items.

[ratoliprova]

Thank you for your answer.

So if the buyer cancels it themselves(or I select buyer asked to cancel), there wont be an issue?  I did read about issues here on community, with ebay not refunding taxes though, with cancelled purchases, is there anything you know about that?  I also see they want me to pay the user back, using a

It might be all automated, but if a seller says otherwise, it doesn't mean that cannot override it.  In this case, that's a shame it does not(if you are correct).

Ebay being automated is no excuse for lack of manual options for sellers/buyers.  Does that also mean there is no way to actually contact ebay and speak with someone about these issues?  

There are plenty of websites that host millions of users, where we are able to get resolutions for our issues.  This is just ridiculous.  I've been on Ebay for many years now, and it just seems to be more of a hassle these days than ever.  Including massive fees of 15% sales at times.  I remember when I was paying 3%, and that wasn't that long ago.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Canceling as out of stock will earn you a Defect, which is a MUCH bigger deal.   If you choose to cancel, it must be buyer requested & the buyer must have actually requested it.   As I said & then Ken said, the answer is to ship it & know for next time.