Maybe it's the watch list ? or maybe ...

[sharingtheland]

I had changed my handling last week to 5 days and of course immediately after I changed it a $450 widget sold, with ship by as tomorrow, Monday, August 5. 

As it turns out, I can't meet that deadline so I toyed with the just-be-late-endure-the-wrath or notifying the buyer but just-be-late is still totally unknown as to how late.  I told buyer it would probably be toward the end of next week before I could ship, hopefully, and buyer said just cancel because s/he would be leaving the country and unable to receive mail.

So, there went $450 (at least I could use "buyer asked to cancel").  I didn't realize ebay would immediately relist the widget for me and in about 24 hours it sold again.  This is a widget that had more than a few watchers and some questions and is not in a crowded category.

Was the second buyer a person who saw it disappear from her/his watch list?   Or, when ebay relists canceled sales, do the widgets appear as "newly listed?"

Just pondering.  

In the meantime, I have changed my handling to 10 days. I wonder if the most recent buyer noticed that.   At least the "re"sale takes the sting out of an $800 return.   And I told that buyer that I wasn't sure when I would be home to receive the widget and issue the refund and of course s/he sent it back immediately, arriving tomorrow.  Guess I will have to refund sight unseen.  Sigh ... 

PS - I'm not too worried about getting a box of rocks back but ya never know.  Both of these transactions are in the same category and my metrics just got shot to hades.  I don't sell enough to absorb hits.  Oh well.

PSS - Yes, I know, I could have ended all of my listings for who knows how long but nothing was selling anyway so I just changed handling time instead.   Newton's third law plain old Murphy's law.

[tools*]

So you lost a $450 sale because you couldn't make it to the post office within a few days?

[sharingtheland]

That's right.  I can't make it to the post office within a few days.

Edit:  I can't make it to my home to even get the widget to take it to the post office within a few days.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi Sherry, since you don’t have access to your items, it makes better sense to pull your listings. It’s a pain, but you can’t sell what you can’t reach. End them with error in the listing so buyers know the items are still available for sale.

[sharingtheland]

Every day I thought the situation would change and I'd be able to get home.  I'll have a better idea tomorrow (Monday) of what the near future holds.  I already know what's happening long term.

[membersinceaug2001]

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@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

Hi Sherry, since you don’t have access to your items, it makes better sense to pull your listings. It’s a pain, but you can’t sell what you can’t reach. End them with error in the listing so buyers know the items are still available for sale.

---

I agree.  A lot of sellers I have bought from lately, both large and small, are taking forever to ship things.  And then if they use that dual ups/usps cheapo method, it takes even longer to receive!

[sharingtheland]

I have no idea what a dual ups/usps cheap method is so that means I've never used it.   

[loveyourimagination49]

Surepost Through UPS. Usps does the last leg.

[flo_mingo]

---

@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

Hi Sherry, since you don’t have access to your items, it makes better sense to pull your listings. It’s a pain, but you can’t sell what you can’t reach. End them with error in the listing so buyers know the items are still available for sale.

---

Why cancel ? I put extended fulfillment times on my listings each time I go on vacation. It still arrives  faster than all of the Chinese sales that get 3 months to ship their items. When traveling,  I bulk edit and shorten the length of shipping time for each day I get closer to home..  This seller is unsure of their return date, so they keep extending, same strategy.  If you have a store, you can put your store on vacation and eBay puts a banner on your listing that states shipping may be delayed

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Hi Sherry, 

When I've had extenuating circumstances that left me in a similar position I had my daughter ship. Does a trusted somebody have keys to your house you could send over to ship the thing?  Same goes for picking up the $800 return, find somebody you trust and direct as necessary. 

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

---

@sharingtheland wrote:

I had changed my handling last week to 5 days and of course immediately after I changed it a $450 widget sold, with ship by as tomorrow, Monday, August 5. 

As it turns out, I can't meet that deadline so I toyed with the just-be-late-endure-the-wrath or notifying the buyer but just-be-late is still totally unknown as to how late.  I told buyer it would probably be toward the end of next week before I could ship, hopefully, and buyer said just cancel because s/he would be leaving the country and unable to receive mail.

So, there went $450 (at least I could use "buyer asked to cancel").  I didn't realize ebay would immediately relist the widget for me and in about 24 hours it sold again.  This is a widget that had more than a few watchers and some questions and is not in a crowded category.

Was the second buyer a person who saw it disappear from her/his watch list?   Or, when ebay relists canceled sales, do the widgets appear as "newly listed?"

Just pondering.  

In the meantime, I have changed my handling to 10 days. I wonder if the most recent buyer noticed that.   At least the "re"sale takes the sting out of an $800 return.   And I told that buyer that I wasn't sure when I would be home to receive the widget and issue the refund and of course s/he sent it back immediately, arriving tomorrow.  Guess I will have to refund sight unseen.  Sigh ... 

PS - I'm not too worried about getting a box of rocks back but ya never know.  Both of these transactions are in the same category and my metrics just got shot to hades.  I don't sell enough to absorb hits.  Oh well.

PSS - Yes, I know, I could have ended all of my listings for who knows how long but nothing was selling anyway so I just changed handling time instead.   Newton's third law plain old Murphy's law.

---

I'm going away for nearly a week at the end of this month and toying with just ending auctions and sticking everything on 5 day handling, rather than hiding listings.

I wonder if I should still put the store on Vacation though as at least they get a note on the listing.

eta: I've never had a "holiday" from ebay before (being in hospital for 5 days doesn't count as it was entirely unexpected) and it's a scary thought.

[sharingtheland]

ersatz - My daughter did volunteer to ship something but there is no way, long distance, I can get her through the whole process.    Widgets, shipping material, labels, etc.  are scattered about.   I pondered that and dismissed it as not worth the mistakes that could be made.   I'm going home tonight but of course coming back in the morning before the post office opens so I can sit in traffic for 2 hours.  

I've not been staying on top of this - my fault - but other issues have been higher on the priorities list.  And, each day is a new surprise and change in whatever we were told the day before.   Today, finally, we're getting to decisions on when/where does he go next.

Edit:  And I should have done vacation settings but same issue:  how long to change the handling time ?  I've been lucky (oh hah) that only 2 things have sold in the last 2 weeks.   

general reply:  As has always been said, it is highly recommended that every seller has backup for emergencies.  At my selling levels of a few years ago, I did have a backup.  At my level now and based on other situations, it's not such a  big deal.  Of course, I guess I should have figured that my current backup person could become the cause of both of us being unavailable.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

You've definitely upset Murphy somehow/somewhen

[sharingtheland]

Forgot:

Original question, which was hard to find in my ramblings, if ebay automatically relists a canceled sale, does that go to Newly Listed?  or just back in its GTC queue?

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

I doubt even the blues know the answer to that one.