eBay

movieman630 · ‎03-02-2023

I was sick recently and it came on so sudden that when my shipping day came around I had several orders that needed to be shipped. I had no time to think about "Time Away" functions.

If ebay wanted to help sellers what would really be helpful (Especially in the age of covid-19) would be an "Emergency Delay Function". Something where if a SUDDEN onset emergency hits a seller can suspend sales and also automatically notify buyers that their items "shipping will be delayed but that if they wish to cancel the transaction and get a full refund they are welcome to do so."

This would allow the seller an easy way out of worrying about ebay punishing them for not shipping on time while also protecting the buyer from having to wait for something. If the buyer doesn't like waiting they can get a refund no questions asked and the seller doesn't have to deal with buyer abuse.

A function like this is long overdue. There's no reason why we can't have something like this when emergencies hit all the time for any and all reasons.

Just a suggestion for ebay of a function that would ACTUALLY HELP SELLERS! How about something like that for an update instead of just telling us how we're going to pay more fees?

stainlessenginecovers · ‎03-02-2023

@inhawaii wrote:
Yes a "sick day" button would be great to have.
It's just too complicated and I totally understand why we don't have it.
Who gets to use it?
How often do we get to use it?
How long is it for? 1 day? 3 days? 1 week? 1 month?
What reasons qualify? Do you have to be sick? What about injured?
What about a house fire? What about a death in the family?
What about a car theft? What about a flat tire?
How do we keep sellers from abusing it?
Once you waive the rules for a "sick day" then you open up the floodgates to every other excuse in the book, legitimate or not.
So I respectfully disagree with you.
Please don't dare say that I lack compassion!!!
After what I went through I have so much compassion for everybody who experiences a sickness or illness.

I would say:

a.) Can be used once in a 12 month rotating period

b.) Only by Top Rated Sellers

c.) Reason doesn't matter as 'by law' can't be asked anyway (Hepa and all)

d.) Lasts until you, the user, turns it 'off'

Current unshipped items will be refunded with a message to the buyer regarding some type of 'emergency.

New orders won't happen because all listings will be hidden (just like using 'away' with the box ticked for 'don't show my items)

This is beyond simple and should be there for all GOOD sellers. Better than what DOES happen to sellers that, when they return, are now paying more fees or not allowed to list/sell at all anymore.

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soh.maryl · ‎03-02-2023

So, if such a "button" were available to sellers, you don't believe it would ever be misused?

rosszonebricks · ‎03-02-2023

I would see this as abused 99.99% of the time also.

If you are sick and can't ship for a single day, just take the ding(s) for late shipping. And of course, just don't take 'sick days' that often and your metrics will be fine.

luckythewinner · ‎03-02-2023

@movieman630 wrote:
This would allow the seller an easy way out of worrying about ebay punishing them for not shipping on time while also protecting the buyer from having to wait for something.

This would also give healthy sellers an easy out in order to avoid defects.

My advice is to have a backup plan and train a friend or family member to take over in an emergencies.

That way you would not be asking your buyers (who are also everyone else's buyers) to suffer delays or disappointments that could negatively affect the reputation of eBay as a whole.

kensgiftshop · ‎03-02-2023

If you had no time to think about the Time Away option, what good would a Sick Button do?

Have A Great Day.

luckythewinner · ‎03-02-2023

@movieman630 wrote:
A function like this is long overdue. There's no reason why we can't have something like this when emergencies hit all the time for any and all reasons.

Just a suggestion for ebay of a function that would ACTUALLY HELP SELLERS! How about something like that for an update instead of just telling us how we're going to pay more fees?

I think the phrase "all the time for any and all reasons" is exactly why eBay has been wise not to add the feature.

This method of "helping sellers" at the expense of the overall buying experience would be helping sellers in the long run.

movieman630 · ‎03-02-2023

Probably, but the agreement is that your sales that are "pending shipping" could all be cancelled and refunded without question by the buyer at any time. So abuse at your loss.

movieman630 · ‎03-02-2023

@rosszonebricks wrote:
I would see this as abused 99.99% of the time also.

If you are sick and can't ship for a single day, just take the ding(s) for late shipping. And of course, just don't take 'sick days' that often and your metrics will be fine.

"Just don't take sick days" That is so ignorant. Sorry but it is.

movieman630 · ‎03-02-2023

@luckythewinner wrote:
@movieman630 wrote:
This would allow the seller an easy way out of worrying about ebay punishing them for not shipping on time while also protecting the buyer from having to wait for something.
This would also give healthy sellers an easy out in order to avoid defects.

My advice is to have a backup plan and train a friend or family member to take over in an emergencies.

That way you would not be asking your buyers (who are also everyone else's buyers) to suffer delays or disappointments that could negatively affect the reputation of eBay as a whole.

Again, You're all missing the counter point. Your buyers can all cancel and get refunded during that "emergency period" if they want. So if you abuse it, your opening yourself up to cancelled transactions and refunds.

movieman630 · ‎03-02-2023

@kensgiftshop wrote:
If you had no time to think about the Time Away option, what good would a Sick Button do?

Ok so you have a car accident and end up in the hospital. Does that not count as an "emergency"? Say the doctors want to keep you for a few days? Should you suffer "dings" on your selling account because of this? Should you not be able to let ebay and your buyers know you have an emergency and can't ship right away?

And I'll say it again for those of you who didn't read it the first time. If your buyer wants to just cancel the purchase and get refunded during this "emergency period" they can do so without question. That's what you as the seller agree to when you use the function.

If the buyer doesn't mind waiting, then they can. If they say refund me, ebay will do it automatically without your input because you're not available. New sales could be suspended until you indicate that your "emergency period" is over and you can finally ship out whatever is still pending without any negative effect on your account.

I don't know why you can't see the importance of this? Every comment on here is so negative and without thought. Why are there so many users who just dismiss ideas? It's kinda annoying.

rosszonebricks · ‎03-02-2023

@movieman630 wrote:
Every comment on here is so negative and without thought. Why are there so many users who just dismiss ideas? It's kinda annoying.

Just because we don't agree with you doesn't mean it's negative and without thought.

No one wants to be sick. No one wants to have an emergency or end up in the hospital.

However, "Prior planning prevents poor performance." Plan ahead for these things and you won't need some magical new feature from eBay.

movieman630 · ‎03-02-2023

@rosszonebricks wrote:
@movieman630 wrote:
Every comment on here is so negative and without thought. Why are there so many users who just dismiss ideas? It's kinda annoying.
Just because we don't agree with you doesn't mean it's negative and without thought.

No one wants to be sick. No one wants to have an emergency or end up in the hospital.

However, "Prior planning prevents poor performance." Plan ahead for these things and you won't need some magical new feature from eBay.

Ok so enlighten me. How does one (who works alone) "plan ahead" for an emergency situation?

I read on here a sad story of a seller who was hospitalized after having a heart attack and heart surgery. He obviously couldn't process orders at this time and his account suffered too many negative "dings" from ebay that he couldn't salvage it. His reputation as a seller for 20 years or so was destroyed by something that could have been easily remedied by a feature like this. If he could have just hit one button on his account to indicate that he was having an emergency ebay could have sent out automated emails to the buyers indicating this, put his listings on "time away without sales" and if the buyers didn't want to wait they could request refunds at any time during this "emergency break". The sellers account could have been saved from negative impacts and the buyers were in control of the transactions they placed before the emergency period. It's a no brainer. Win win on all levels.

Who suffers from this feature? Ebay saves a good reputable seller's account. The buyers can get refunded if they want. The seller can recover and start again when they decide they are well enough too.

ed8108 · ‎03-02-2023

@movieman630 wrote:
A function like this is long overdue.

Just a suggestion for ebay of a function that would ACTUALLY HELP SELLERS!

I agree

movieman630 · ‎03-02-2023

I found myself suffering through processing orders (that I would have gladly refunded to avoid doing if it wouldn't impact my ratings) during a week when I was very sick.

I kept asking myself. How could this have been avoided? If I just didn't do it my shipments would have been late and my account would suffer negative impacts. If I refunded and cancelled the orders I would have suffered negative impacts from that. THAT IS A LOSE LOSE. So I suffered through the process of shipping out orders, and greatly. I should have been in bed.

Other than a feature I'm proposing how else could this have been avoided?