eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎09-17-2023

How many people sell in Time Away mode (leaving the sales part turned on, if you're gone less than 15 days).

I have 10 days handling. They added 10 days to my return date, until I turned it off today, now it's just 10 days (my usual handling time). I messaged customers on each order, some missed the notification at check out. Just told them when I'd ship. People like items shipped within 1-2 days, I was gone 5 days, so it's a long time to not respond to a sale in my store.

I can't technically ship anything until tomorrow, but I already turned it off. I figure on Sunday night if they purchase and I ship it tomorrow, that's pretty normal, so I'm not waiting until the minute I get back to the store to turn off the away... it was turned off until late tomorrow to let people know I was gone until then, but I figure if I'm shipping next day, we don't need the away on anymore... it might discourage sales (but I don't really think so... an awful lot sold since I left... it seems I have 29 orders to pack since Wednesday).

C.

mam98031 · ‎09-18-2023

You are correct, it would and does discourage sales for those that actually read about your handling time. For others that don't look, they just get upset when things seem to take longer than they'd like.

Another important thing to remember is that any handling time that is 5+ days lowers you in the search returns.

I do shipping on Sundays all the time. I just have my shipping labels dated for tomorrow. But I package and get them all ready to go.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

gloryglorygifts · ‎09-18-2023

I allow sales every time I turn on the vacation mode. Most of my items have a turn-around time of 1-5 days normally, so I don't extend any of them. I just let the vacation mode take care of announcing that I'm away, on the store and listings, and for customers to expect a delay in shipping. Never had a problem and it doesn't seem to affect sales too much.

If I return early I just end the time away and the auto message. (I only respond to customers that send a message, but that's pretty much when I receive it rather than when I return.) I ship as soon as I return regardless of what my original return date was. Sometimes I even ship during the vacation mode. Depends on my circumstances as I close the store when I get sick.