Should I do Time Away for 4 days?

[20_percent_awesome]

Hey there, I'm thinking on going away from my house for at least Friday Evening to Wednesday. I'm debating if I should place my sales in a time out until at least either Tuesday night or the start of Wednesday. The last time I was away for a few days was back in late September/early October 2022, but I didn't put a time out because that was when Hurricane Ian cut the power out and had no access until i stayed at my dad's for the weekend. Though that was during the weekend and I messaged the customers about the delay. What do you guys think?

[lakefor94]

I always do Time Away and hide my listings until getting on the plane to head home. I sell mostly products that are needs so buyers expect them shipped promptly. 

[rockyroadtradingpost]

I'm pretty risk-averse, so I always do Time Away when I leave town.  Turn it off maybe the day before I get back. 

[mam98031]

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@lakefor94 wrote:

I always do Time Away and hide my listings until getting on the plane to head home. I sell mostly products that are needs so buyers expect them shipped promptly. 

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You don't have to hide your listings.  That is a choice on Time Away.

[wastingtime101]

For a 4 day trip I'd allow sales while using Time Away mode, but you can hide your listings if you prefer. Keep in mind if you hide your listings there are exceptions on handling time being pushed out like offers, auctions, etc.

Here's the page about Time Away settings:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/time-away?id=5137

If you allow sales while away, make sure you read all the exclusions carefully.

There's an option to set up an out of office auto-response within the Time Away settings.

Keep in mind you're still responsible for handling any return requests, claims or payment disputes that are filed while you're away. If you won't have internet access to check in every day or two, I suggest setting up automated return rules. You can turn off the automation after you return.

https://www.ebay.com/rtn/Return/SellerRules

[slippinjimmy]

Given what you are selling and that you already have 3 day handling I would just leave them as available and change your handling time to 5 days.

If you can check your emails a few times during your absence you shouldn't have any problems. With 5 day handling even a sale late on Friday night would not have to be shipped/scanned until the following Friday.

Personally I have 5 day handling, if I ship orders on a Monday then the next batch would be shipped on Friday. If I'm shipping on any other day of the week I might not ship until the following Monday/Tuesday. Almost everything I sell is 30 - 50 years old, none of my buyers are in a panic to receive, often comment on the fast shipping and eBay tells me that I have zero late shipments or deliveries (sometimes I might have 1 in the past 12 months).

When I was doing much more volume I was shipping 3 days a week, these days I'm often not in same place as my inventory is for 2 - 3 days at a time so less frequent shipping is a necessity. I only use Time Away and hide my listings if I'm going to be away for a full week or more, even then they go back to active status 2 or 3 days before my expected return.

[mam98031]

Doing Time Away and leaving your listings active, the program will automatically change your handling time to match up with how many days away you have entered.