eBay

3aboutique · ‎05-30-2020

I need you advice, I don't know what to do,

I have 10 cases now open, buyers requesting refunds because expected delivery date is reached while tracking numbers show that item is still in transit,

I have many orders from April, value range from 40$ to 200$, every few days I get a new case opened and I'm reaching a point where I'll face financial difficulties to issue refunds.

I literally *beg* and ask buyers to kindly wait for items to arrive since it's a global pandemic affecting all shipments, some buyers refuse and escalate to eBay and refund is issued automatically .

Can eBay extend the Expected Delivery Dates? What's the best thing I can do? it's really something out of our control because of the economic lockdown

pinksakura2000 · ‎05-30-2020

Based on my own experience, eBay doesn't extend expected delivery date and doesn't care if your item is in transit based on valid tracking. The max 3 days handling time does little to help when the delivery is late for over a whole month (since you mentioned your orders were from April and still not delivered).
Whether you want to refund the buyers or not, once a case is opened by buyer, eBay will force refund the buyers by charging your bank account/credit card (which may incur overdrafts if you don't have sufficient funds to cover) when the estimated delivery time has passed. Once eBay refunded those customers, you will never see your money nor your product back. In addition, you will loose your shipping cost, Paypal and eBay final value fees.
I would not sell internationally during pandemic if I were you.

vsknkv_0 · ‎05-30-2020

If you're dropshipping this is exactly why I tried to tell you it's a bad idea for many years, but nobody ever listens.

3aboutique · ‎05-31-2020

I dropship from multiple source, Chinese suppliers and US suppliers.

There is nothing wrong with dropshipping model, I never had an issue with user complaining about items not received.

The reason my listings are economy shipping is to get a longer estimated delivery date, I ship with standard shipping or ePacket from china, and standard USP service from US, better to underpromise and overdeliver.

Unfortunately the shipping issues appeared only after the lockdown.

It would be simply fair if eBay at least shows a notice about delays because of the pandemic for buyers who are trying to open cases, or maybe extend expected delivery times.

vsknkv_0 · ‎05-31-2020

@3aboutique wrote:
I dropship from multiple source, Chinese suppliers and US suppliers.

I never had an issue with user complaining about items not received.

You have an issue now, an open INR is a user complaint, so no more talking about "never" had an issue.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎05-31-2020

I see. It does sound as if you have done everything right on your end.

I never said drop-shipping wasn't a viable selling model, i said you are experiencing a downside to it. Since shipping is out of your control, you must rely on your suppliers to fulfill the orders. You are doing everything possible on your end to make it work, but it is not working as intended despite the effort.

Ebay does tell users that the pandemic has caused delayed shipping in many places. And if the item is showing in transit, customer service will grant you an extension on the opened cases. Have you been in touch with eBay and what are they saying? I don't see any current listings for you. It was wise to take them down while you are endeavoring to solve the problem.

If you don’t have tracking that shows that 1)the item was delivered to the address on the order, or 2) tracking details that shows that the package has been in transit without movement for 7 days or more (10 for international deliveries), then eBay will expect you to refund the buyer. If for some reason you don't refund, and the buyers ask eBay to step in, then you will receive a defect for each transaction, plus your Final Value fees won't be credited back to you and eBay will expect those fees to be paid. Defects can have serious consequences such as lowered Search placement, increased FVF, suspension, or even revoked selling privileges. My worry for you is that this situation is over multiple buyers not receiving their goods, looking to be a systemic problem. Below is the policy covering Item Not Received situations. Sincerely hope you are able to fix the problem. Good luck.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/help-buyer-item-didnt-receive?id=4116

sin-n-dex · ‎05-31-2020

@3aboutique wrote:
I need you advice, I don't know what to do,

I have 10 cases now open, buyers requesting refunds because expected delivery date is reached while tracking numbers show that item is still in transit,

I have many orders from April, value range from 40$ to 200$, every few days I get a new case opened and I'm reaching a point where I'll face financial difficulties to issue refunds.

I literally *beg* and ask buyers to kindly wait for items to arrive since it's a global pandemic affecting all shipments, some buyers refuse and escalate to eBay and refund is issued automatically .

Can eBay extend the Expected Delivery Dates? What's the best thing I can do? it's really something out of our control because of the economic lockdown

Everyone who replied to this is missing a detail...

The OP said the buyers are escalating and refunds are being issued automatically. This will result in an unresolved case defect and the most you can have is 2 without the risk of being restricted from selling.

Mail from China to North America is taking a long time. My partner ordered 15 packages from China a little over a month ago, and none has shown up. We aren't going to worry about this until the very last of them still haven't arrived. Mail is being sent by sea, it could take months, and it's not a priority.

I recommend the OP stop drop shipping from Asia or risk more INRs.

C.

e-cheddar · ‎06-01-2020

most of my problems are international or US non-mainland (PR, AK, HI), and with media mail.

I have closed all sales to foreign buyers because nothing seems to be leaving the country.

I won't ship media mail to PR, AK, HI until things get back to normal.

e-cheddar · ‎06-01-2020

@vsknkv_0 wrote:
@3aboutique wrote:
I dropship from multiple source, Chinese suppliers and US suppliers.

I never had an issue with user complaining about items not received.
You have an issue now, an open INR is a user complaint, so no more talking about "never" had an issue.

im having delivery/INR issues and I dont drop ship.

Anonymous · ‎06-01-2020

@bar-29368 wrote:

brian@ebay
@Anonymous

It would help us believe ebay has "our back" with shipping during this COVID crisis (as they've assured us they do) if they didn't just issue auto refunds when tracking shows the items are still in transit.

If it's good enough for sellers to have to wait an extra 30 days for returns to be shipped back, surely buyers can be expected to give a little and have some patience as well?

Hi @bar-29368, we'll definitely provide more time in these situations if we are asked to step in on an item not received request. We'll look to see if there has been an update to the tracking recently (within the last 7 days for domestic transactions, or within the last 10 days for international shipments), and if we see these update, then we will place the case on hold to allow more time for delivery. We can continue to allow for more time if the tracking information continues to update after the initial hold.

glgenterprise · ‎06-01-2020

I had a run of mail getting stuck in early May, but frankly stuff is moving just fine for me now and I'm mailing from Michigan, which definitely had some distribution center issues in April/May. I just checked my shipped items today and I have 4 left from Thursday/Friday last week that are not delivered, but some of those are media mail, so to be expected. The only other ones I have outstanding are GSP items that are still in transit.

OP - you probably should stop drop shipping on eBay until the shipping carriers get better caught up, or you're just going to get more INRs. When you drop-ship, you're at the mercy of your distribution centers sending items in a timely manner. I don't sell items that I don't physically have in my possession for exactly this reason.