Hide listings or not during 2 weeks vacation out of the country?

[eugefunk]

I am going to be on vacation in September for 2 weeks, and I will be out of the country.  Usually I put my items on vacation and hide them.  However, last time I did that, also during fall - my sales have suffered horribly for a whole month after I came back and made listings visible again, I felt invisible.  

Fall is a best time for me here and I really cannot afford to loose sales, which are not that great to start with, so that was a bummer.  

I am debating if this time I should take my chances - appropriate extend the shipping/handling time and keep my listings visible, available for sale.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[partial*eclipse]

That sounds risky for 2 weeks, with a chance that buyers will get impatient or might never see the vacation announcement and extended handling time.  Maybe a compromise: Hide them for the first week or so, then show them but with an extended handling time showing for the final few days.

[siayan]

Go on vacation and forget about it. My sales have suffered in the past after vacation but last month after vacation my sales picked up immediately. 

Note. People can't read and you will be flooded with when does my item ship questions and hit with late delivery messages. 

[frodobagginskennedy]

I am currently on vacation for two weeks out of the country.  We do this at least 4times as year and always put the store on vacation hiding the listings.  When I come back I do a small 2\3 day sale then do a week long sale.  This seems to kick up the restart nicely.

[eugefunk]

that is a great advise!

[dhbookds]

are you going to have any way to respond to questions/offers? 

Personally, I would hide them........

[swenson8781]

I agree with others, hide all listings (as people don't seem to read well), and I also turn on the 'out of office' message to go along with it (there is spot where you can write your message to buyers, stating when you will return, should they send you a question).  

As much as I don't like to miss sales, or have a delay in sales once I return, I also save myself the worries of having issues regarding shipping or unanswered questions later 🙂  ENJOY your vacation, eBay free!! That's the whole idea of a vacation, right?! 🙂

[sockmonkeydave]

@eugefunk

I would hide them, the point of vacation, is to decompress.

When I go into the woods and hide....

I never take a phone or computer... or electricity.

Just two pair of socks, and a change of underware OD.

5 lb of beef jerky, and a few cans of SPAM and EGGS

Toss the soap out... duh

sun screen, and bug off, yes

good boots a must, well broke in.

A pup tent... and a big sleeping bag, built for three... 

( for years I had a pup tent in the trunk of my car, I could set it up in total dark )

a Swiss army knife.

a mango... and a bottle of rum.

I digress

even with vacation settings, if you are running auctions, they need to be ended.

and any return request may need to be handled.

Sad to say, in this day and age... we are tied to the computer 24/7

[honestabe411]

You could always bulk edit your handling time. 

I've read horror stories of sellers listing being hidden after vacation mode. It's funny because eBay even mentions this in their vacation mode policy. Says something like 'it may take a few days for your listings to show back up in the search results'.  

For that exact reason, I set my handling time to 5 days when I went on a week vacation.  The weekend didn't count as handling time so when I was gone for 7 days everything worked out great. 

Think i sold 20-30 items that week and didn't have one issue!

Hope this helps!

-HonestAbe411

[emerald40]

To address why when on vacation for a period of time afterwards do sales decrease.

Probably because those who would have bought from you and need the product now will turn to someone else.  Some may do it just as a fill in and others may never come back.  And of course now that they made a recent purchase else where it takes time for them to need it again.

JMO but when you come back from vacation post some brand new merchandise to entice customers to come back - maybe even some lost leaders.

It is like when your hairdresser or favorite resteraunt go on vacation.  You do not stop having your hair done or go hungry.  It takes time for your customers and bidders to know that you are back.

And do know that when you go on vacation it takes a few days to be hidden and a few days to reappear.  It is not instantaneous when you hit that button.

[tunicaslot]

I also will be going on vacation and thought about leaving my items visible but have decided against it. Your items reindex after 24 hours per the community team as I asked that question during chat. Run a small sale and put up some new listings - a few a day for the first few days you're back - that will get things running again.

I hesitate to even make my listings visible until I am back - because God forbid - their is a situation that requires you to be away a little longer than anticipated. Car repair and the part isn't available - cancelled flights - sickness.  I'd rather lose a few sales than lose selling privileges - and e have seen those cases where someone has had to be hospitalized and there was no one to take care of their store.

[durof1]

As everyone has suggested, hide your listings. Just post a message: we will be on vacation from this date to this date. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We look forward to your orders after we re-open. Buyers don't pay attention, won't read your vacation message, then will bombard you with emails as to why their item has not shipped, will complain to ebay, etc., etc., etc. You can call ebay and alert them you will be on vacation from this date to this date and will hide your listings. You can also alert PayPal you will be on vacation.

Hope

[gibsonbk]

Hide your listings.  Like others said buyers do not read.  Even when I sent emails sauing we received your order and we will ship when we return on this date I still get buyers wondering where their item is.   If I am going on vacation for longer than a week I just hide the items.  The headaches and bad service are not worth it.   Go on vacation and enjoy.  

[keziak]

I left mine visible with increase in shipping time but it's been less than a week. I would not be comfortable doing this for 2 weeks. I hear you about not wanting to lose sales. I figure I may have lost 20 or more sales being hidden on Amazon

[dazzlecity]

OMG DO NOT leave your items for sale while your gone. Make sure you check that little box to hide them. I screwed up and missed that box in may when I went to ireland - that cost me my TRPS badge despite the fact that every single person left me very positive feedback - I shipped the day I came back and realized my mistake. I sent every buyer a thank you gift and shamrock seeds from Ireland - didn't matter to ebay. So after 18 years here ebay - not the buyers - decided that I am a very bad person and took my perks away. Now I really don't care if I even get them back becaue one small little mistake and bam your nothing. There are no humans left at the controls at ebay