Inclement Weather Notices

[paylessfashion]

What happened to the inclement weather notices from eBay for sellers affected by weather conditions that shut down USPS, etc.?  I'm in the Atlanta GA area, and twice in the past 2 weeks, we've had freak winter storms that shut everything down, yesterday and today being one of them.  In the past, eBay has send us a notice stating they are aware of the issue, and we wouldn't be penalized for a delayed shipment.  Appears that no longer exists, or am I wrong?  There's nothing a seller can do when weather has shut down our shipping options.  #ebay

[wastingtime101]

There are a bunch of those notices on the Announcements board from the month of January.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements

You can also find them on your Seller Hub Overview page in the Announcements panel.

That said, there are definitely things a seller can do when inclement weather is in the forecast. Specifically, here's the page about Time Away settings:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/time-away?id=5137

If you allow sales while away, make sure you read all the exclusions carefully.

Plan to have any auctions or offers end a week before you leave.

There's an option to set up an out of office auto-response within the Time Away settings.

Keep in mind you're still responsible for handling any return requests, claims or payment disputes that are filed while you're away.

Should you lose power, Time Away is easily accessible on the eBay app or on your phone's browser.

[gurlcat]

I'm glad to see the Gulf Coast one, hot off the presses.  My mailman still hasn't come yet today, and may not until tomorrow for all I know.  But I just have one package awaiting pickup and have touched base with the buyer, who totally understands. 

I think I'll make a huge mug of homemade hot cocoa tonight.  My favorite ingredient: a drop of almond extract. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@paylessfashion wrote:

 There's nothing a seller can do when weather has shut down our shipping options.  #ebay

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Yes there is, plan ahead.

How long have you known the snow was coming?

Plenty of time to get orders shipped and shut down until you could ship again.

[chapeau-noir]

I've found that contacting buyers proactively makes a big difference.

[frecklesfinery88]

I did just that. We had 5 inches fall on the coast of NC. It supposed to be a windchill of 6.  Crazy days!!  ALways contact the buyer, just in case.

[johnrj1226]

Live  in Covington was out  on the  road about 9:30 to day no issues in our subdivision or man road - streets were brined  or salted.  Lots of folks just took a PTO but you still could get a Happy Meal for  breakfast.  Those Nascar "Wannabee" tail gating, speed-o drivers in their pick-up stayed home (sisses)