Guaranteed Delivery and a Good Example of Exactly Why Not To Do It!

[llllady]

Buyer paid and I shipped on May 3.  Package was destined for PA from NJ.  (Shipping was upgraded from Parcel to Priority).

Since then, the package left my post office, and the next day was scanned in PA (Note: there was no scan from any of the NJ sort facilities).

On May 5, it departed PA and landed in a NJ sort facility on May 9.

On May 11, it arrived and departed Tampa, FL...and once again, the item is supposedly in transit to its destination.  God only knows what destination it's headed for this time!!!!!!!!!

Fortunately, so far, the buyer has been patient and we're waiting to see what happens for now.  I told her I would refund her if she didn't want to wait any longer.  I suspect I will be filing a lost package report on the 15th day, which is the soonest it can be filed.

This is not the first "vacation" a USPS package has taken, and I'm sure it won't be the last. 

No, eBay, you can keep your guaranteed delivery.  If the USPS won't be held accountable, neither will I!

[relaxintowealth]

And toss packages in a dumpster or a ditch as well.Sometimes my USPS guy won;t pick up packages, even with pre schedule.Now they send a truck.

[nicgola-0]

Even if you do everything right as a seller, even if Ebay foots the charge, that won't help buyers who can't grasp the USPS is not controlled by the seller or eBay.
So many eBay buyers are willfully ignorant on how things work and quick to use feedback, as if somehow the USPS will ever see it or as if we as sellers have some kind of pull in the matter.
I've literally been chastised for not shipping on a holiday. =/

[ms.piercing]

You can not take one case and say something.

It's all in a numbers. I can show you 100 cases when item was delivered very fast.

If delivery gurantee is going to bring me more business  and i am going to make money on it (even if i loose on one order) I would gladly do it.

There is no such thing as every transaction profitable in business (returns, damages, ... you will lose money sometimes). As long as business profitable you are good. 

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Your package is adventurous and wants to see the country. It knows it may be held prisoner forevermore in some house with locked doors and will never be able to escape again! 

(Just like my cats.) 

I see you kept your store.....fell for the ebay super deal....chuckles under my breath....

[jashina1]

Something similar happened to a family member here. We mailed a package in Atlanta to another metro Atlanta city and the package left Atlanta and went to Denver. We got it a week later.

[yuzuha]

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@llllady wrote:

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I think you may have a problem filing a lost package report when it was scanned as recently as yesterday.  I will just be surprised if this package will ever make it to the right destination at this rate and I will probably have to file a lost package report on the 15th day...not now.

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Why?  I've had several packages get misrouted and in every case, they corrected themselves and arrived safely without any need for intervention on my end.  The fact that it's still getting scans is a good sign.  I would just leave it alone for now and keep an eye on the tracking.  It will most likely get delivered, albeit a bit late.

[bobbyshangups]

I never, ever guarantee delivery. Customers ask me all the time, and I refuse. I tell them that the only thing I'll guarantee is that I will ship the item that day or the next. I can not guarantee what the post office or UPS does with their package. If you guarantee delivery the only thing you'll do is guarantee yourself nothing but a big headache. 

[llllady]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

Your package is adventurous and wants to see the country. It knows it may be held prisoner forevermore in some house with locked doors and will never be able to escape again! 

(Just like my cats.) 

I see you kept your store.....fell for the ebay super deal....chuckles under my breath....

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Looks like good news.  As of this morning, the package is "Out for Delivery"!  Just think...it only took 10 days for Priority to get from NJ to PA.  Whee! 

@ersatz_sobriquet

If I knew free travel could be so inexpensive, I'd stick myself in a box (okay, so I might be a little lot too big), and send myself to Florida or any number of states I've never visited.  I'd even take your cats just 'cuz. 

Yeah, I reopened the store. It averaged out to less than $9/month over the first three months.  Not much of a risk.  Interestingly, with now less than a dozen things on Etsy, I've had two sales in the last week, while I've yet again had my listings turned off on eBay with over 100 listings.  Go figure, eh?

Now don't make me come up there and beat you!  🙂

[ersatz_sobriquet]

You'd beat me if you knew my sales total this week on ebay. 😛 

The thing is, I can't find the extremely coveted and rare everyday, nor the coveted NIP and undercut everyone else. My common items are not selling. Shipping costs makes all the difference I think, that and who is buying, which is people who are just buyers.  Shipping costs are prohibitive now, and low end is not moving. 

[llllady]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

You'd beat me if you knew my sales total this week on ebay. 😛 

The thing is, I can't find the extremely coveted and rare everyday, nor the coveted NIP and undercut everyone else. My common items are not selling. Shipping costs makes all the difference I think, that and who is buying, which is people who are just buyers.  Shipping costs are prohibitive now, and low end is not moving. 

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Hey, listen, I don't need a reason to beat you, but maybe to beat you harder...  🙂

I would think shipping would not hurt you as much because of your location. Being on the coast, you lose half the country to begin with. 

The two things that sold on Etsy were both listed here multiple times.  I'm glad they sold over there because I ended up with more money in my pocket than if they had sold here.  It's either a very big coincidence, or Ety's search engine works better than eBay's...or maybe Etsy just doesn't pick and choose listings to hide or what areas they will or won't show them to.  

Wonder how long it will be before eBay's turns my listings on ...

[ersatz_sobriquet]

I did a search on google and it seems Etsy gets just as much google view as Ebay. Sellers pay more upfront but I think the competition is not quite so fierce. 

Today I haven't sold a thing and that always kills my motivation to list more, but I'm going to try to push on through...one more minute in this chair then UP. 

Shipping is horrendous here to Maine, CA, and FL, and really nasty to WA. It's reasonable in a little circle around me where the people already have enough of what I'm selling if it's common because it's common in this area. 

Not even a good place to go score some junk today. Meh! 

[books...forthememories]

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@jashina1 wrote:
Something similar happened to a family member here. We mailed a package in Atlanta to another metro Atlanta city and the package left Atlanta and went to Denver. We got it a week later.

A few years ago, one of my packages decided to take the scenic or "See America First" route and spent two months sight-seeing all over the map before reaching its destination.  I offered my buyer a refund but he was the patient type and preferred to await results.   

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[garmentvarmint2004]

PIERCE..

I know   I am  going to sound stupiid---but  I  do  not  recall  ever hearing the term  GUARANTEED  DELIVERY    before.  What is it?   All I am  famiilar with are the  terms:  Delivery Confirmation,   Sig.  Confirmation--and  Tracking.

What is  this  service  about?

[slippinjimmy]

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@garmentvarmint2004 wrote:

PIERCE..

I know   I am  going to sound stupiid---but  I  do  not  recall  ever hearing the term  GUARANTEED  DELIVERY    before.  What is it?   All I am  famiilar with are the  terms:  Delivery Confirmation,   Sig.  Confirmation--and  Tracking.

What is  this  service  about?

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http://cc.ebay.com/guaranteed-delivery/

[victorias_gifts_n_treasures]

That's why I'm not for that money back guarantee either. I refuse to guarantee something that I have no control over. I'm in Tucson and I shipped a package a couple weeks ago to Phonex and it still shows that it hasn't been delivered yet. Only 100 miles away and it still shows in transit. So I'd be crazy to guarantee anything that has to do with any shipping carrier.