Seller protection from USPS failures---does it exist anywhere? Etsy? Bonanza? Amazon Marketplace?

[chris-s-g]

Hi!  I know there are a lot of sellers out there who use other marketplace platforms and so I'm hoping you can tell me if any of them are protecting sellers during the USPS disaster that appears to be occurring right now.  I've had a package go from Philly to NYC via Hawaii and a few counties over in PA via Iowa.  Tracking shows no movement for a week sometimes.  USPS is a mess.  Buyers seem to be catching on and exploiting the situation by demanding a refund immediately after the EBAY GENERATED promised delivery date has passed, then keeping the item when it arrives late.  I am out the money I paid for shipping and for the item I shipped. 

I believe that there are some unscrupulous buyers who are taking advantage of the situation and we have to put an end to that exploitation of a broken USPS and  honest, hardworking eBay sellers.  

I have always shipped on time, within 24 hours of a sale.  I was a TRS but I am going to change my handling time to something like a week so I can force some cushion into the predicted delivery time.   But, that doesn't change the fact that eBay is providing a marketplace for scammers.  Not cool.

My question to all you is this: are there other sites on which we can sell, where sellers are not held over a barrel to keep giving away free stuff (and paying to ship it) to so-called "buyers"?  I understand that it's not the buyer's fault that a package is delayed, but it's not my fault either.  There must be a more fair way to treat this situation and I'm hoping to find a platform to which I can move my teenie-tiny store without worrying about having to work my butt off to give stuff away and to subsidize the USPS!

Thank you!

[vtgbeersigns]

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Kindly tell them about the delays , you don't have to refund.  Keep and eye on tracking , create a missing package case, usps will respond and they've located it everytime for me.  I had 2 items out of 400 arrive 40 days late, Xmas rush they were taking goto 3 weeks , seem like they are getting back to normal now item took 3 days CHI to NY, LARGE ITEM, was taking up to 2 weeks awhile back.  They can open a case, ebay will hold funds til delivered.  Tell them you refund if LOST.  Every single package I shipped was delivered over 1000 this year.  Lots of uniformed people on the delays and ofcourse a few scammers trying to take advantage

@chris-s-g wrote:

Hi!  I know there are a lot of sellers out there who use other marketplace platforms and so I'm hoping you can tell me if any of them are protecting sellers during the USPS disaster that appears to be occurring right now.  I've had a package go from Philly to NYC via Hawaii and a few counties over in PA via Iowa.  Tracking shows no movement for a week sometimes.  USPS is a mess.  Buyers seem to be catching on and exploiting the situation by demanding a refund immediately after the EBAY GENERATED promised delivery date has passed, then keeping the item when it arrives late.  I am out the money I paid for shipping and for the item I shipped. 

I believe that there are some unscrupulous buyers who are taking advantage of the situation and we have to put an end to that exploitation of a broken USPS and  honest, hardworking eBay sellers.  

I have always shipped on time, within 24 hours of a sale.  I was a TRS but I am going to change my handling time to something like a week so I can force some cushion into the predicted delivery time.   But, that doesn't change the fact that eBay is providing a marketplace for scammers.  Not cool.

My question to all you is this: are there other sites on which we can sell, where sellers are not held over a barrel to keep giving away free stuff (and paying to ship it) to so-called "buyers"?  I understand that it's not the buyer's fault that a package is delayed, but it's not my fault either.  There must be a more fair way to treat this situation and I'm hoping to find a platform to which I can move my teenie-tiny store without worrying about having to work my butt off to give stuff away and to subsidize the USPS!

Thank you!

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[tulen_2000]

Well, on Bonanza you're really protected. No sales - no issues.

[chris-s-g]

I am a very small-time seller, so maybe I don't know all the ins and outs of how this works.  In both of my recent situations, the tracking information just stops.  There appears to be no movement after some point days and days ago.  

I opened cases with USPS.  All they do is close the case a few hours later, with no updated tracking or location information. 

How do I avoid refunding if the expected delivery date has passed and the buyer has opened (or is threatening to open, as was the case in one instance) an INR case?  Buyers are holding feedback over our heads (maybe not explicitly, but we all know what can happen).  I see these forums filled with posts by sellers saying they've ended up with dozens and dozens of defects due to the USPS delays.   How do I force them to wait?  Should I ask them simply to initiate a return once it arrives, assuming they no longer want it because it took too long?  I really feel like I have no choice because from what I am reading, eBay is letting the defects and negative feedback stick.

I just received a Christmas card yesterday and it was postmarked by nearby post office on 12/11!  

So, if I'm understanding correctly, Bonanza was a flop.  What about Mercari?  I really only know eBay.  Been here since 1999.  But, like I said, very small-time...

[mrdutch1001]

eBay members are not at liberty to suggest/recommend/discuss other sites in eBay community forums. Forum Moderators will explicitly like to remind us that: " Members are not permitted to tell others to stop selling on eBay or to leave eBay for any reason, which includes promoting off eBay sites, groups, or forums by name or by providing links."

[chris-s-g]

@mrdutch1001 Understood.  Is it fair to compare policies between the different platforms to explore what strategy will serve us best as eBay sellers?  There are sellers here who cross-list so they probably are the best source for comparison. 

I truly am curious as to whether or not eBay is completely exploiting its sellers or if this is the standard operating procedure for these platforms.  They have us over a barrel because all F2F selling venues are shut down because of Covid.  Also, I really do need to know how to handle these slow shipping situations since eBay offers sellers no protection whatsoever from this USPS catastrophe.  How can we operate within the existing (anti-seller) rules to avoid being pushed out of business completely?  Whether we talk about it here or not, there will be a mass exodus of sellers if we have absolutely no advocacy from eBay and cannot make any money through honesty and hard work.  We cannot fix the USPS.  Why should we suffer and soften the blow to USPS patrons by making them whole for USPS's negligence?  Not my negligence, but I must pay.  We are ALL suffering from the USPS situation, yet only the sellers suffer because we fix everything for the buyers.  

I guarantee that there are a few (just a few, but it's enough) buyers out there right now making the most of this.  Free stuff!  Woo-hoo!

[donsdetour]

Any company short of being a true venue only (no involvement at all with a listing) is not going to lose their money over items not receive. No delivery = no item received.

[ifyouloveit]

I was just thinking the same thing @tulen_2000 , what sales on Bonanza? 🙂

[outdatedrecreated]

To be honest, your solution will do absolutely nothing positive for your sales. Ship everything that you can using FedEx or UPS for now. It may cost a few extra dollars up front but surely is less expensive than have cases ruled in the buyers favor. You not only lose the money but your item too. USPS isn't going to change and neither is eBay's horrible lack of common sense.

[mrdutch1001]

NOT all of us eBay sellers are "suffering from the USPS situation". I ship many  packages to the USA and because I am a low-volume, low-value items seller, much of my shipping is via untracked shipping methods, yet I have had no INR cases in many years...I have always messaged buyers at time of shipping and for the past 8 months have included messages about the many delays/slowdowns/longer transit & delivery times. Perhaps I have more understanding buyers and/or buyers who don't need their items NOW!

Now going beyond eBay, other sites still hold sellers responsible for shipping &/or delivery, but all sites have their own rules & policies and if ANY seller wants to do know how the different sites work....they are free to do all the necessary research and READ, not only the terms of agreement for any site, but some of the community forums to sense out what is needed. Asking other sellers isn't necessarily going to give anyone any conclusive answer, simply because every seller's experience is different and so much depends on a seller's expectations.

[chris-s-g]

I'm not looking for a conclusive answer, just hoping to get some shared experiences and advice from the community.  I ship so many cheap things that it wouldn't be worth it for most to go with FedEx or UPS.  I always offer all three carriers as shipping options to my buyers for every listing, but they always pick USPS because it's cheap and they have nothing to lose when it's slow---they just get a refund and a free thing, delivered (albeit slowly).  

I hope this will help for now, and please tell me if I've missed a downside: I increased my handling time to 15 days, but I will still always ship within one day.  So, I am buying the USPS a 2-week cushion on shipping time.  I am certain this will kill my sales because no one wants to order something and wait three weeks for it, but short of closing the store until USPS either gets fixed or replaced, I'm not sure what to do.  I wish I could sell only to MrDutch1001's customers.  They sound dreamy...

[randysauto01]

I'm not sure the size of the items you are selling, but if they are fairly consistent in size, an option you might think about is to offer free shipping. I work for a place that has 2 automotive wrecking yards, we have over 1800 cars, and 26,000 parts listed on ebay. When we first started, the customer had to contact us for shipping estimates. That ended up being a big hassle, we would spend hours and hours every day doing freight quotes that ultimately led to no sales, people were shopping for the best price.

We opted to go for free shipping. Because not every automotive part is the same size, and varies greatly from one vehicle to the next, we sometimes lose a little on freight sometimes we make money on freight.

For example, I would pick a few engines that we had, and compare them to what other sellers were selling them for, that were also offering free shipping, we settled on $249.99 flat rate shipping on all engines, with the requirement that it had to go to a business.  So an engine that if a customer walked in and bought for $1000.00, was listed on ebay, we marked it up to $1249.99. Sometimes it costs me 150 to ship the engine, some times it costs me 300. But it has freed me up to focus more on creating better listings, and I know when a customer messages me, I am most of the time, dealing with someone who is truly interested in the item.

[chris-s-g]

@randysauto01  That sounds perfect for what you're selling.  I sell small things for ridiculously low prices.  I literally help clean out houses or go to auctions and try to recover things that might be of value to others.   It's mostly household goods (kitchen stuff is my thing) and books.  Many times I sell replacement dishes for people who broke a few dishes and want to keep their set complete.  I often sell something for $5 and so people pay for whatever shipping is cheapest to their destination.  So, a lot of my sales are local because shipping is cheaper to local destinations.  I have no wiggle room or markup to be able to roll shipping into it.  I'm not doing this for money, more to keep things from getting wasted and slow the overconsumption of disposable junk.  Most of the money I make just supports my penchant for vintage cookware and barware!

It's sort of the household goods version of what you're doing: keeping things "on the road" by making use of what someone else has discarded but another can use.  Our cars are 1999 and 2007 models, so I have a true appreciation for what you do!

I might change my strategy and start selling things in collections, larger and heavier and pricier so it would make sense to use FedEx or UPS.  Then, I might be able to have a strategy like what you're doing.  

Thanks so much for explaining how you handle the shipping for your store.  Happy selling!

[panzerzwei]

No more USPS for me, when I sell I will be using UPS.

[mrdutch1001]

Transit time from Canada to USA for non-trackable shipping methods has always been a 10-16 day time frame for my items, with the occasional one taking longer, but even with all that went on and still going on since spring of 2020, that time frame increased to about 3 weeks or so... and although I increased my handling time from 3 days to 4 days & 5 days for the holiday season, I have now reduced that back to the 3 day handling time. I do know many sellers are still experiencing issues with USPS delivery times no matter whether Canadian sellers or USA sellers. Much depends on the type of items/products one is selling and their customers. If certain items/products are needed more urgently, then that can & will continue to be an issue. UPS, Fedex,etc also were experiencing issues, it just so happens USPS has more going on than the other carriers due to "other" circumstances involving the USPS.