Guaranteed Delivery

[this4chris2012]

I received notice that I can now opt in for GD.  It doesn't sound like there's a down side, but hey, this is eBay. There could be fine print that takes a computer science degree to find.

Is there a down side?

Any comments, pro or con, would be appreciated.

[southern*sweet*tea]

I see no downside for the seller who opts in to the handling time portion. If a package is delivered late, and the seller has met their handling time, EBAY will cover any claim of late delivery filed by the buyer.

Of course, that can always change. I've opted in for the time being. I'll always try something to give me an edge (real or perceived) over my competition BUT I am proceeding with caution, and at the first sign of trouble I'm out. I"ll go back to generic shipping instead of stated service.

[orangehound]

Assuming you select the handling time option, I am not aware of a downside if you meet your handling time ... however, eBay is well-known to have hidden and unpublished policies that are only discovered by sellers over time.

By the way, I've been doing Guaranteed Delivery since it was launched, and all has been smooth.  That is, I haven't stumbled upon any eBay landmines.

[iamonourside]

The stumbling block is not hidden... "You will be financially responsible for any late delivery if you fail to meet your handing time commitment and if you do not upload tracking information." 

So don't assume, do the math.

My missed deadlines are most likely to happen when the carrier forgets to pick up my packages and I notice too late to race to the post office.  This type of late affects all the shipments for that day, anywhere from 1 to a dozen.

So guaranteed delivery's make it right charges for one occurrence of a missed handling time has the potential of 12 packages x $3.50 shipping cost/trade =$42.  At my low monthly sales average of under $500/month, that is a prohibitive chunk of change.

Based on this math, I've decided to opt out.  I'm going to continue to delight buyers with fast one day handling but not compensate buyers for the rare, truly accidental, beyond my control times the package takes an extra day.

[this4chris2012]

---

@iamonourside wrote:

The stumbling block is not hidden... "You will be financially responsible for any late delivery if you fail to meet your handing time commitment and if you do not upload tracking information." 

So don't assume, do the math.

My missed deadlines are most likely to happen when the carrier forgets to pick up my packages and I notice too late to race to the post office.  This type of late affects all the shipments for that day, anywhere from 1 to a dozen.

So guaranteed delivery's make it right charges for one occurrence of a missed handling time has the potential of 12 packages x $3.50 shipping cost/trade =$42.  At my low monthly sales average of under $500/month, that is a prohibitive chunk of change.

Based on this math, I've decided to opt out.  I'm going to continue to delight buyers with fast one day handling but not compensate buyers for the rare, truly accidental, beyond my control times the package takes an extra day.

---

Thanks. When they first started talking about GD, I thought I saw something about a seller having to pay under some circumstances. I searched everything about GD that I could find and can't find ANY reference about the seller having to pay. Where did you find that info? And the seller only has to pay if the buyer files a "late delivery"?

According to what I read, GD promises three day delivery. I live in Missouri. Anything I ship to the extreme East or West Coast or the tip of Florida does not get there in three days.

[brian@ebay · Accepted solution]

---

@this4chris2012 wrote:

---

@iamonourside wrote:

The stumbling block is not hidden... "You will be financially responsible for any late delivery if you fail to meet your handing time commitment and if you do not upload tracking information." 

So don't assume, do the math.

My missed deadlines are most likely to happen when the carrier forgets to pick up my packages and I notice too late to race to the post office.  This type of late affects all the shipments for that day, anywhere from 1 to a dozen.

So guaranteed delivery's make it right charges for one occurrence of a missed handling time has the potential of 12 packages x $3.50 shipping cost/trade =$42.  At my low monthly sales average of under $500/month, that is a prohibitive chunk of change.

Based on this math, I've decided to opt out.  I'm going to continue to delight buyers with fast one day handling but not compensate buyers for the rare, truly accidental, beyond my control times the package takes an extra day.

---

Thanks. When they first started talking about GD, I thought I saw something about a seller having to pay under some circumstances. I searched everything about GD that I could find and can't find ANY reference about the seller having to pay. Where did you find that info? And the seller only has to pay if the buyer files a "late delivery"?

According to what I read, GD promises three day delivery. I live in Missouri. Anything I ship to the extreme East or West Coast or the tip of Florida does not get there in three days.

---

Hi @this4chris2012, through 2018, eBay will cover the shipping refund cost through 2018, even if the seller didn't meet their handling time. After 2018, eBay will cover shipping cost refunds as long as the seller meets their stated handling time. If a seller does ship an item late, the buyer would have to report a late delivery for a refund to be issued. I also want to point out that we will protect sellers from negative feedback related to a late shipment. You'll find more details about these topics here.

[this4chris2012]

---

brian@ebay wrote:

---

@this4chris2012 wrote:

---

@iamonourside wrote:

The stumbling block is not hidden... "You will be financially responsible for any late delivery if you fail to meet your handing time commitment and if you do not upload tracking information." 

So don't assume, do the math.

My missed deadlines are most likely to happen when the carrier forgets to pick up my packages and I notice too late to race to the post office.  This type of late affects all the shipments for that day, anywhere from 1 to a dozen.

So guaranteed delivery's make it right charges for one occurrence of a missed handling time has the potential of 12 packages x $3.50 shipping cost/trade =$42.  At my low monthly sales average of under $500/month, that is a prohibitive chunk of change.

Based on this math, I've decided to opt out.  I'm going to continue to delight buyers with fast one day handling but not compensate buyers for the rare, truly accidental, beyond my control times the package takes an extra day.

---

Thanks. When they first started talking about GD, I thought I saw something about a seller having to pay under some circumstances. I searched everything about GD that I could find and can't find ANY reference about the seller having to pay. Where did you find that info? And the seller only has to pay if the buyer files a "late delivery"?

According to what I read, GD promises three day delivery. I live in Missouri. Anything I ship to the extreme East or West Coast or the tip of Florida does not get there in three days.

---

Hi @this4chris2012, through 2018, eBay will cover the shipping refund cost through 2018, even if the seller didn't meet their handling time. After 2018, eBay will cover shipping cost refunds as long as the seller meets their stated handling time. If a seller does ship an item late, the buyer would have to report a late delivery for a refund to be issued. I also want to point out that we will protect sellers from negative feedback related to a late shipment. You'll find more details about these topics here.

---

Thanks, Brian. That's everything I need to know!

[mindmyownbusiness]

Interesting clarification! I was going by the following statement, "You will be financially responsible for any late delivery if you fail to meet your handing time commitment and if you do not upload tracking information." This statement found in the terms and conditions popup at https://www.ebay.com/ship/optin/egd?source=myEbaySettings.

[jnmcnally]

I'm planning to opt out. I already don't meet their final qualifications because I send about 10% of my items without tracking.  About 3% of my items with tracking don't get entered properly by the post office, and I know I can't rely on buyers to post feedback and bail me out of that statistic.  I never should have received the congratulatory message that I have been entered into this program.

Ebay collects a 10% commission for postage sales; they will end up refunding to the buyer the postage I have purchased but not even cut me a little slack to get the commission back.

I have already moved my handling time from 1 day to 3 days to try and take all of this into consideration, but my numbers still aren't good enough and will lead to routine chargebacks when the year runs out and the refunds come out of my money. 

I could start adding to my postage charge to take this into consideration (after all, I added 10% so I wouldn't lose money on postage), but it's not fair to buyers to keep building fudge-factors into the prices.

No thanks. Some days I wonder if anyone at Ebay's Department of Making Rules has any experience in mail order business.

[futuretomorrow]

The problem here is the following:

1. I discovered Friday night eBay opted me in. Like you, I was seeing the messages I qualified and specifically told a US based rep my concerns when they called months ago and on that call stated I did not want to be opted into this program at any point. eBay went behind my back and did it anyway.

I don't know about you, but I don't have any partners in business or my personal life that goes behind my back doing things I've politely told them I'd rather not participate in. Oh wait...there's eBay.

2. I work in a demanding industry where I've had moments I can't even check my email, much less go to the USPS and execute the 1-day handling time I'm known for.  It's rare but it happens. Being opted into a program I explicitly said no to and expressed my concerns over now cancels out that flexibility entirely and for what? 

So buyers can have a better impression of a really **bleep** company that screws over it's "partners" any chance they get?  No thanks. 

[ymeagainlord]

---

@iamonourside wrote:

The stumbling block is not hidden... "You will be financially responsible for any late delivery if you fail to meet your handing time commitment and if you do not upload tracking information." 

So don't assume, do the math.

My missed deadlines are most likely to happen when the carrier forgets to pick up my packages and I notice too late to race to the post office.  This type of late affects all the shipments for that day, anywhere from 1 to a dozen.

So guaranteed delivery's make it right charges for one occurrence of a missed handling time has the potential of 12 packages x $3.50 shipping cost/trade =$42.  At my low monthly sales average of under $500/month, that is a prohibitive chunk of change.

Based on this math, I've decided to opt out.  I'm going to continue to delight buyers with fast one day handling but not compensate buyers for the rare, truly accidental, beyond my control times the package takes an extra day.

---

Same here. never even considered GD after reading the fine print. I'd say, like you, the ONLY time I missed my 1 day handling was when some subbie carrier decided not to bother doing his/her job.

So I opted out and went to 2 day handling.

I'm pretty sure, like me, you're not selling anything that is going to have a life altering impact if it arrrives a day later than eBay estimated, right?

[buyselljack2016]

---

@futuretomorrow wrote:

The problem here is the following:

1. I discovered Friday night eBay opted me in. Like you, I was seeing the messages I qualified and specifically told a US based rep my concerns when they called months ago and on that call stated I did not want to be opted into this program at any point. eBay went behind my back and did it anyway.

I don't know about you, but I don't have any partners in business or my personal life that goes behind my back doing things I've politely told them I'd rather not participate in. Oh wait...there's eBay.

2. I work in a demanding industry where I've had moments I can't even check my email, much less go to the USPS and execute the 1-day handling time I'm known for.  It's rare but it happens. Being opted into a program I explicitly said no to and expressed my concerns over now cancels out that flexibility entirely and for what? 

So buyers can have a better impression of a really **bleep** company that screws over it's "partners" any chance they get?  No thanks. 

---

Many that do not want to do GD have been "opted in"

You can "opt out" once ebay auto opts you in.

[buyselljack2016]

---

@this4chris2012 wrote:

I received notice that I can now opt in for GD.  It doesn't sound like there's a down side, but hey, this is eBay. There could be fine print that takes a computer science degree to find.

Is there a down side?

Any comments, pro or con, would be appreciated.

---

Down side that I see is a "disappointed buyer" that may not return to purchase from you in the future if the GD is not met.

I see this as a possibility even though eBay is doing a refund, or voucher, you still have a customer that did not get an item when expected.

[ymeagainlord]

I REALLY wish eBay would go back to showing the seller's handling time on the listing.

[theminorshoppe]

we also received a notice that we could opt in for guaranteed delivery - which we did not, as I am NOT going to GUARANTEE anything that is totally beyond my control. BUT eBay did it anyway and it has been a nightmare. We ship same day or next day ALWAYS. But again, we cannot control what happens to the package after we drop it off at the post office. We now have upset customers who have not received their package when eBay said they would and they want their item for FREE - and of course not to mention the possibility of bad feedback, which none of us want. I have spent hours ON HOLD trying to contact eBay over the past two days to find out how to get out of this and OF COURSE - NO ANSWER YET. I have not had a good experience with this at all. I am frustrated and aggravated, so my apologies for venting. I finally googled it and found out how to hopefully remove this from my listings. It has not been removed yet (15 minutes later) but hopefully it will be soon. I would not recommend this at all.