eBay

Anonymous · ‎10-21-2021

I took my listings down and took a hiatus from selling until after New Year's a week ago.

I am a TR seller and only work with about 30 listings at any given time and not full time.

I took leave because of the utter chaos that eBay is right now and probably for the next several months, and because shipping hasn't worked well for the last couple of months and will get much worse.

I don't believe sellers will be able to sell much here over the Holiday Season and if they do, their packages will get hung up in route for weeks. I'm not even willing to try it.

I stopped a little late......

My last package shipped was going a short distance (Corydon, IN to Kokomo, IN) and was returned to my post office two days after it was shipped out. The folks at my post office don't know why this happened. They shipped it out again. It went to Tennessee (out of Indiana, across Kentucky, into Tennessee). Next scan it was back in Kentucky (coming back right direction). Next scan: Arrival At Unit - Corydon, IN.

Yep, it's now sitting in my post office AGAIN.

I issued a full refund to my buyer who luckily has the patience of a Saint, because the postal service just couldn't get it done.

Good Luck to all of you, I hope you have better luck......but it's doubtful.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎10-21-2021

I ship out 10 packages a day, 6 days a week for 572 weeks (11 years, 34000 packages) including DOUBLE from January 2021 to Present Day (new contract wholesaling to another retailer) and I have had a total of

0.0 problems, emails from customers or reports to ebay about INRs.

I ship 100% USPS and use Ebay labels. I ship 80% 1st Class, 20% Priority.

Paranoia will getcha.

Anonymous · ‎10-21-2021

You've been incredibly lucky.....go buy some lottery tickets.

glasser · ‎10-21-2021

I had a package from the east coast to CA make a stop in Honolulu on the way recently. How come I never get diverted to Hawaii 🙂

Caution about the holidays probably wise. I don't sell gifty items so will likely take a break from eBay at some point and focus on my private clients. the USPS situation will need to be monitored closely as I had a few issues ( one item took 3 weeks for delivery east coast to east coast) last year and stopped selling for awhile but the reports coming in were scary.

Anonymous · ‎10-21-2021

Yes, maybe the package will leave my post office now and go to it's destination like it should have the first two times, but it is now 6 days late and has been places it never should have been.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎10-21-2021

Not even close. I've shipped/lived in a suburb of Los Angeles for 10 of those 11 years. Enough said there.

But,

What is the percentage of failure? 5%?? Which would be a Whopping Ridiculous amount. $100k in annual sales effected by 5% still leaves 95% of $100k. That's better than most all job.

What is the real percentage that you were effected by for the last 12 months?

Something to look into.

px_455 · ‎10-21-2021

I ship a lot myself but I won't claim perfection, even some are my own fault, it is what it is.

The one time I did stop my sales it hurt for months and months after, and the sales wouldn't come back to their previous level for several years.

My solution is to raise prices until sales are just slow enough that I can absorb the defects, which are in fact few and for the most part far in between.

It's what I have always done, it is what I will keep doing.

To each their own, peace be with you.

buyselljack2016 · ‎10-21-2021

I will shut down as well, but hoping to wait a bit. Most of my packages are doing OK.

I have one 1st Class item that went in the wrong direction, and got scanned in Memphis 5 days after leaving my regional facility. Nothing after that except the meaningless "in transit" (which means we don't know where it is).

Opened a "research case". Plano Texas office (destination) closes the case as research shows that it was "scanned in Memphis". Well, I already knew that, but that was over a week ago. Someone is actually getting paid to respond in that manner.

Buyer is very understanding. Will be getting a replacement item if nothing happens by Saturday. Not a critical need item, but paid for it, and should have had it long ago.

buyselljack2016 · ‎10-21-2021

@px_455 wrote:
I ship a lot myself but I won't claim perfection, even some are my own fault, it is what it is.

The one time I did stop my sales it hurt for months and months after, and the sales wouldn't come back to their previous level for several years.

My solution is to raise prices until sales are just slow enough that I can absorb the defects, which are in fact few and for the most part far in between.

It's what I have always done, it is what I will keep doing.
To each their own, peace be with you.

Thing is.............. even if the situation is not as bad as last season(lets hope they learned something from last year) it takes very few losses to eat up a lot of profit.

When eBay policies force refunds for late arriving items, and there is no recourse to recover those funds, it can be quite the problem.

Anonymous · ‎10-21-2021

We're not talking about year round here, and I'm not a full-time seller.

We're talking about sales and shipping over the Holiday Season.

Last Christmas was a mess and I had 15 packages hung up in hubs at one time. I worked it like a TR seller though and stayed in contact with my buyers and watched the tracking with them. I didn't catch a single INR case as a result. It was a lot of work, but I took care of business. Last year there were views and sales, the main problem was USPS being backed up and understaffed to handle it.

This year will be the same thing as far as shipping, AND eBay is in utter chaos and barely usable, no views, sales, etc.

This Holiday Season will be 2-3 times the work to get anything done.....I don't rely on eBay for my income, don't have to suffer through that, don't have to risk my status, so I'm gonna forget about it until next year.

I guess my point is that no one has to go through that, they could always do their Holiday selling on another platform that doesn't have the issues, and would only have wonky shipping to deal with.

The last quarter here will be the most miserable yet for full-time sellers.

coolections · ‎10-21-2021

Take it up with USPS. Ebay is not in any type of hiatus.

m60driver · ‎10-21-2021

I have ended my sales beginning in November for many years now, long before covid or De Ny'a Pas de Joy began to dismantle the USPS. Between the seasonal long lines at the post office, the traffic, and the slow mail, I just don't need the stress. I take the opportunity to head to warmer climates and get off the grid. I should note that I do not sell many items that lend themselves to gifting.

cindefoudre · ‎10-21-2021

Good luck with Memphis USPS. I ship out of Memphis and either they don't scan my packages for days, or they scan them and then they just sit here for days!! It has been a total nightmare!!

buyselljack2016 · ‎10-21-2021

@cindefoudre wrote:
Good luck with Memphis USPS. I ship out of Memphis and either they don't scan my packages for days, or they scan them and then they just sit here for days!! It has been a total nightmare!!

Well, at least this time it is a low value item. Last one that popped up in Memphis was 15 days after leaving my nearby regional, but it did get out the next day.