Holding item at the request of the buyer

[rzeidler2003]

This is a new one for me: I sold a radio on May 16. The buyer left a message along with his payment that he was out of the country and wanted me to hold the item for him until he returned which would be the beginning of June. We went back and forth a bit, I suggested that he have the Post Office hold his mail but that didn't work for him. He offered an alternate address of one of his friends (in a different state) but I insisted on sending to his confirmed address. Finally I relented and agreed to hold the item until his return.  I did purchase a label and uploaded tracking on time, but here the box still sits, ready to go. I know this will show up as a defect but I do have evidence that he asked me not to ship. I have written to him since and have not yet received a reply. Complicating the issue is the fact that this address is near an area that was impacted by flooding during this time period. So I suspect that the delay is justified and I'm doing the right thing, but how long can I just hold on to this package? What would you do?

[ed8108]

Since you agreed to hold off shipping & have been paid.

You should await your buyer's ok before you ship, contact your buyer again next week

[beardedbovine]

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@rzeidler2003 wrote:

 I sold a radio on May 16. The buyer...was out of the country and wanted me to hold the item for him until he returned which would be the beginning of June....I have written to him since and have not yet received a reply. .... but how long can I just hold on to this package? What would you do?

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I would have handled this different, but at this point give the buyer a specific date on which you will cancel the transaction (use problem with address) if he doesn't confirm ok to ship.

[mr_lincoln]

@rzeidler2003   For myself I would Void that label you printed ... if it sits too long USPS may not accept the tracking number, I think they are only good for so long but do not know the time frame.  The Buyer should have worked this out with you PRIOR to their purchase ... they do not know the metrics Sellers have to live by and while the late shipment defect will roll off your account in 90 days it could have been avoided.

Your suggestion for the Buyer to have their mail held was an excellent suggestion too since them being away is their problem not yours.  On more then one occasion I have been at the Post Office in line behind people who are either setting up to have their mail held or picking up there mail after having been away.

[luckythewinner]

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@rzeidler2003 wrote:

I know this will show up as a defect

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It will count against your "Tracking uploaded on time and validated" percentage, but it will not show up as a transaction defect. (Even as a TRS you have a 5% margin for late shipping over the last three months.)

That aside ... 

Depending upon the item's value, I would have either have agreed to his unfair post-sale terms or canceled (as 'buyer requested'). 

Speaking of unfair post-sale terms, I just had a seller tell me - after I bought an item, and with no warning of adjustment of his 3-day shipping terms -  that he was out of the country and would not be able to ship for a month. 

[rzeidler2003]

You can actually do that online now, I've done it myself when a hurricane is about to roll by.

[rzeidler2003]

That's nasty. This fellow's feedback is good and he has been on ebay since 2001. Its not like he's a newbie with no record.  So I put myself in his position and try to do the right thing, I just don't want a hit for it if I can help it. 

[rzeidler2003]

How would you have handled it? Consider that the buyer is a long time ebayer with 100% + feedback.

[rzeidler2003]

Good question about how long the pre-printed shipping label is good for, does anyone the answer to that?

[luckythewinner]

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@rzeidler2003 wrote:

That's nasty. This fellow's feedback is good and he has been on ebay since 2001. Its not like he's a newbie with no record.  So I put myself in his position and try to do the right thing, I just don't want a hit for it if I can help it. 

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It's not nasty at all, and a buyer asking you to take a ding to your seller metrics that is not "doing the right thing".

For a buyer with 18 years experience on eBay, "the right thing" is to have the courtesy to make requests like that before buying and not afterward. 

As I said, if I was a low valued item I would have no problem. But if I ship a high value item too late and the buyer files an Item Not Received dispute, I could lose the case.  Because good feedback as a buyer means nothing at all. A buyer could file a hundred false SNAD disputes and still have "good feedback". 

[a_c_green]

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@rzeidler2003 wrote:
How would you have handled it? Consider that the buyer is a long time ebayer with 100% + feedback.

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First of all, void the purchased label; it's not going to improve with age, so get your money back on that while you still can. You can always buy another if or when you actually ship the item.

Second, reading between the lines here, I suspect your buyer is going to tell you to forget the whole thing. There are perfectly valid solutions out there for him (holding his mail, especially; what is he planning to do about everything else that will be arriving over that time span?), but his declining the alternate solutions leads me to think that he's really got Buyer Remorse, and is hoping you suggest a cancellation instead. I would make that offer. You could also offer to relist it as a BuyItNow in the near future if he still wants it.

As for how "stale" a label can be before the PO will reject it, you have a few days at least, since some items can sit in a drop box over a long weekend for several days before the bin is emptied, and no one actually squints at the little date printed on the label, so this all boils down to whether the system will flag an error at Acceptance time.

As they've already got your money, I don't they're really going to care all that much as long as everything else on the label is correct. Actual shipment timing is not measured from the day you printed the label (and especially not from the date printed on it); it's measured from the date of the Acceptance scan when they actually took possession of it.

All that aside, you should just void your current label while you still can. I suspect you may not be needing to buy a replacement label later on. 

[this*old*attic]

I wouldn't worry - Ebay allows small sellers quite a few shipping dings before anything really counts. My shipping on time rate is abysmal and I'm still above standard. And, selling items at the same pace as always.

That doesn't mean I don't care, I just haven't figured out how to juggle a full time job, a slew of major house repairs, roommate challenges and Ebay.... plus I'm a bit of a natural procrastinator.

Luckily I'm off for the summer now, so I'm concentrating on improving my percentages.

[rzeidler2003]

I meant that seller telling you that he couldn't ship for a month after ou had paid ... that's nasty. I agree with your other points, he should have told me before he bought it, but he didn't.

[rzeidler2003]

As luck would have it I had to drop off a package at the PO this morning so I asked the Postmaster there if the prepaid labels ever expired and she said no, they don't. So at least I don't have that to worry about. 

[turquoisetulips]

Speaking of unfair post-sale terms, I just had a seller tell me - after I bought an item, and with no warning of adjustment of his 3-day shipping terms -  that he was out of the country and would not be able to ship for a month. luckywinner 

I had that happen once too . I made the purchase and then the seller messaged me saying  they wouldn't be able to ship for another ten days or so because they were out of town . There was never any mention on the listing  that they were away .. Not good business sense  because what  if the purchase was a birthday gift  that need to be delivered in a certain time frame ?  It wasn't in my case  but it might have been for any of their other buyers . Tulips