@ted_200 wrote:
@couldabeenworse wrote:I don't see any reason to encourage buyers to claim a freebie by putting the tracking status front and center...
I don't see any reason for eBay to protect sellers from Porch Pirates if they don't tell their buyers when their stuff is coming.
I have convinced myself that this is a major reason for the change, and will henceforth refer to it as The Porch Pirate Amendment....
Well... I marked it shipped, it's not like they didn't know it was coming. For the most part, this "Porch Pirate" thing is a) way overblown (an excuse to attempt to get a refund more often than an actual stolen off the porch item), and b) not my (our... or eBay's...) problem. I don't think it's too much to expect that mail order buyers would have a secure way to handle their incoming mail.
But however you see it, if I provided the tracking number 4 days ago, or I provided it 4 minutes ago, it doesn't change anything. It was delivered, or it was delivered and stolen, either way - exactly how far in advance the tracking # was provided doesn't change a thing. If it was left on the porch, it's because the buyer wasn't home, and it likely got "stolen" before he got home. It's an arbitrary way to decide cases that are essentially the same circumstance, so I'd call it the "Shipping Label Profit Center Amendment" myself.
As usual, I think you are spot on. I`ve been printing labels thru ebay since it started so I`m already doing what is required for "protection". This is ebay taking yet more control over each transaction and finding more ways to make money doing it in the long haul.
@couldabeenworse wrote:I don't see any reason to encourage buyers to claim a freebie by putting the tracking status front and center...
I don't see any reason for eBay to protect sellers from Porch Pirates if they don't tell their buyers when their stuff is coming.
I have convinced myself that this is a major reason for the change, and will henceforth refer to it as The Porch Pirate Amendment....
ALL users of the PO's services MUST supply a secure location for their packages to be delivered to - if the buyers are so worried about porch pirates - they should supply that location or get a PO box.
I find it hilarious that people have so little to do that they sit staring at their phones 10 - 15 times a day watching their pckage move.
@couldabeenworse wrote:I don't see any reason to encourage buyers to claim a freebie by putting the tracking status front and center...
I don't see any reason for eBay to protect sellers from Porch Pirates if they don't tell their buyers when their stuff is coming.
I have convinced myself that this is a major reason for the change, and will henceforth refer to it as The Porch Pirate Amendment....
I doubt we will ever know the full truth behind changes made by ebay, but my money is on "money". Most things tend to wind themselves back to money in one way or another.
@fern*wood wrote:
@couldabeenworse wrote:I don't see any reason to encourage buyers to claim a freebie by putting the tracking status front and center...
I don't see any reason for eBay to protect sellers from Porch Pirates if they don't tell their buyers when their stuff is coming.
I have convinced myself that this is a major reason for the change, and will henceforth refer to it as The Porch Pirate Amendment....
I doubt we will ever know the full truth behind changes made by ebay, but my money is on "money". Most things tend to wind themselves back to money in one way or another.
Totally agree with you and ted.
I se this as just another of ebay's manipulations to make sellers so paraniod that they will jump through any hoop to get what minor protection ebay offers them.
Since I am very sure that the deal with the PO about being able to print labels through ebay means that ebay gets to profit a % off each online purchase through them, it behooves ebay to make sure as many selers buy postage online as possible - it is obvious to me that is what this is all about. Making the few holdouts jump through that hoop so ebay can make a few extra cents.
What many of the people who think this is a great idea miss - is that if ebay is making a profit off this deal, that means that ebay is sucking profit from the post ofice and is just as responsible for the next couple of postage rate hikes as the Chinese epacket deal. Since after all, your online purchse is subsidising ebay's pocket instead of the post office.
@retrose1 wrote:
@couldabeenworse wrote:I don't see any reason to encourage buyers to claim a freebie by putting the tracking status front and center...
I don't see any reason for eBay to protect sellers from Porch Pirates if they don't tell their buyers when their stuff is coming.
I have convinced myself that this is a major reason for the change, and will henceforth refer to it as The Porch Pirate Amendment....
ALL users of the PO's services MUST supply a secure location for their packages to be delivered to - if the buyers are so worried about porch pirates - they should supply that location or get a PO box.
I find it hilarious that people have so little to do that they sit staring at their phones 10 - 15 times a day watching their pckage move.
Exactly Rose. The only way to stop porch pirates is a secure location and as long as ebay gives these folks courtesy refunds, most buyers won`t take responsibility for themselves.
@ted_200 wrote:
@couldabeenworse wrote:I don't see any reason to encourage buyers to claim a freebie by putting the tracking status front and center...
I don't see any reason for eBay to protect sellers from Porch Pirates if they don't tell their buyers when their stuff is coming.
I have convinced myself that this is a major reason for the change, and will henceforth refer to it as The Porch Pirate Amendment....
Well... I marked it shipped, it's not like they didn't know it was coming. For the most part, this "Porch Pirate" thing is a) way overblown (an excuse to attempt to get a refund more often than an actual stolen off the porch item), and b) not my (our... or eBay's...) problem. I don't think it's too much to expect that mail order buyers would have a secure way to handle their incoming mail.
But however you see it, if I provided the tracking number 4 days ago, or I provided it 4 minutes ago, it doesn't change anything. It was delivered, or it was delivered and stolen, either way - exactly how far in advance the tracking # was provided doesn't change a thing. If it was left on the porch, it's because the buyer wasn't home, and it likely got "stolen" before he got home. It's an arbitrary way to decide cases that are essentially the same circumstance, so I'd call it the "Shipping Label Profit Center Amendment" myself.
_____________________________________________
Porch pirate is not overblown at all, especially around the holidays. We just had one yesterday on the news of someone's home camera showing someone trying to steal a package off his porch.
And for those of us who live in areas where our mailbox is clustered away from the house, I like to know when a package is coming rather than it sitting there all day vulnerable,
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@gracieallen01 wrote:
@couldabeenworse wrote:I don't see any reason to encourage buyers to claim a freebie by putting the tracking status front and center...
I don't see any reason for eBay to protect sellers from Porch Pirates if they don't tell their buyers when their stuff is coming.
I have convinced myself that this is a major reason for the change, and will henceforth refer to it as The Porch Pirate Amendment....
Oh, yes. And, just how many people do you think are going to take time from their 'busy schedule' to wait for the postman, on THAT day, whichever THAT day is - how often is ebay correct in their guesstimates of delivery?
AND, how is it going to stop porch pirates? Tracking will just say WHEN it was sent, and where it MIGHT be at any particular time - as so many people have shouted to ebay, it doesn't guarantee WHEN it will ARRIVE.
I can just see the sale of Coleman camping supplies dramatically jump, so people can camp out on the porch and wait for the postman and foil those cursed pirates.
Never rely on ebay's site for tracking. It is slow to update and usually wrong.
I direct my buyers right to the carrier website and that is the one I check when I am expecting a package.
