Top Rated Sellers Beware - Shipping Changes Loom

[usaquadcopter]

I would like to voice my opinion on one change that this program has brought about that may have been poorly thought out. eBay is no longer valuing the SCAN form for USPS shipments, even if that form is scanned and all those shipments are dropped off, that is no longer considered the first scan and the item is not considered shipped in eBay's system UNTIL it receives another tracking update. For some of us, that is the next sorting center and may not receive a scan until the next day. This is extremely problematic, as eBay encourages using a SCAN form, however silently removed it's purpose from the site. It is now up to each person to force USPS to scan the packages, and do not rely on a SCAN form any longer. I can only speak for my local office, which is usually great about handling my shipments, but the postal employees are not happy about scanning each package now daily, I can only hope they continue to treat our packages well. If you haven't downloaded and examined your Late Shipment Rate report, then I encourage you to download the report because it gives you more data and check out each entry. I have found that nearly all of our late delivery shipments received an acceptance scan at the drop-off post office, then a scan at another state's post office and still considered as having firstly been scanned by the later. This change is brand new, I wish eBay would let sellers know these finer details, these changes impact lives.

[pjcdn2005]

That doesn't sound right. Did you get that information from someone at eBay or are you basing that on what you are seeing in your late shipment report?  Are these recent sales and if so....perhaps the information just hasn't been transferred over yet?

[usaquadcopter]

I have this knowledge from first hand experience, we keep complete records regarding our fulfilment and I suggest you check what happens if you use a SCAN form, then check that tracking anywhere on eBay's site. If it hasn't had a second scan, it won't show up as anything but Label Created, and is accounted for in all of the shipping system metrics this way as well. Take that tracking number and check USPS website, it will show the acceptance scan. The proof is that the *First scan date column in your detailed report will not count the acceptance scan any longer as a valid tracking update.

[pjcdn2005]

I would check that if I could but I don't use a scan form or USPS as I'm in Canada. I am fairly familiar with how things work here though and this just doesn't sound right to me. I wonder if there is some sort of programming problem involving the information between the post office and eBay as it makes no sense for them to purposely omit scan forms as proof of acceptance. However,  I do realize that not everything they do makes sense. 🙂

I'm sure that someone else will have a look to see if they are running into the same thing. If you haven't talked to anyone at eBay about it, perhaps you should. If it isn't something that is being done on purpose, then sellers need to start complaining about it.

[fern*wood]

Could your same day shipping and cut off time possibly be the problem?  I would never sign up for that--one day handling is bad enough.  

I've not read of anyone else having trouble with scan forms.  

[aproudparent2010]

My post office scans each package and after a short time I can look at the tracking and see where it shows the acceptance scans and no other scan has been made.

[sg51]

First scan date column in your detailed report will not count the acceptance scan any longer as a valid tracking update.

Mine often take a few days to sort out, but they eventually do, and ebay eventually becomes happy.

[ymeagainlord]

@usaquadcopter.

Try posting your experience on the shipping board. There's a couple of postal employees there who can find out what's going on.

There's a blue in charge of shipping stuff but can't recall the ID. I know his name is Nate.

[sidemouse]

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@usaquadcopter wrote:

I have this knowledge from first hand experience, we keep complete records regarding our fulfilment and I suggest you check what happens if you use a SCAN form, then check that tracking anywhere on eBay's site. If it hasn't had a second scan, it won't show up as anything but Label Created, and is accounted for in all of the shipping system metrics this way as well. Take that tracking number and check USPS website, it will show the acceptance scan. The proof is that the *First scan date column in your detailed report will not count the acceptance scan any longer as a valid tracking update.

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Keeping these records is an unlikely way to resolve this issue.

[goodluckselling]

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@usaquadcopter wrote:

I would like to voice my opinion on one change that this program has brought about that may have been poorly thought out. eBay is no longer valuing the SCAN form for USPS shipments, even if that form is scanned and all those shipments are dropped off, that is no longer considered the first scan and the item is not considered shipped in eBay's system UNTIL it receives another tracking update. For some of us, that is the next sorting center and may not receive a scan until the next day. This is extremely problematic, as eBay encourages using a SCAN form, however silently removed it's purpose from the site. It is now up to each person to force USPS to scan the packages, and do not rely on a SCAN form any longer. I can only speak for my local office, which is usually great about handling my shipments, but the postal employees are not happy about scanning each package now daily, I can only hope they continue to treat our packages well. If you haven't downloaded and examined your Late Shipment Rate report, then I encourage you to download the report because it gives you more data and check out each entry. I have found that nearly all of our late delivery shipments received an acceptance scan at the drop-off post office, then a scan at another state's post office and still considered as having firstly been scanned by the later. This change is brand new, I wish eBay would let sellers know these finer details, these changes impact lives.

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My postal carrier scans a scan sheet each day and I also take the after mail pickup to the post office each day and just drop them off, and I do not see any issues on my account as you are describing.

Anyways, even if you are only getting a day later acceptance scan at the sorting center that would still qualify as an on time shipment as long as the delivery happned in the correct time frame.  The date/time of the acceptance scan does not change the delivery time frame.

Good Luck Selling!

[a_c_green]

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@fern*wood wrote:

I've not read of anyone else having trouble with scan forms.  

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I'd be curious to know whether the initial Acceptance scan, as logged in the system and shown on their website, even shows whether it was from an actual package scan or from a SCAN sheet. It probably does distinguish the difference internally, on their intranet, as every log event is listed as either a direct scan or indirect update, but that level of detail is not visible to third-party viewing such as by eBay. Either way, the tracking number is now in the system, and should indicate that the USPS has taken possession of the package.

[pjcdn2005]

Is it a possibility that the problem is being caused by same day shipping as another poster suggested? I know  that the time difference can confuse things since you have to go by  PDT.   You sold 2 of item 252717418937 on the early morning of Aug 7. Were those both mailed on the same day?  Is anything  sold before 11 a.m. your time being mailed out that day?

[lemarcheaupuces]

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@aproudparent2010 wrote:

My post office scans each package and after a short time I can look at the tracking and see where it shows the acceptance scans and no other scan has been made.

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yes  as per my own experience the USPS scans every package dropped off within hours.

it works pretty well (again as per my own experience).

nevertheless i believe that ebay's shipping is flawed.

on my dashboard i have;

9 "late shipment" penalties.

when i look at the full report, it says;

reason for counting...

tracking indicates late delivery (for every single one of them).

next to it is a column that says;

buyer says late delivery.

NOT 1 single buyer has claimed "late delivery".

ebay is making an issue of something that in my case wasn't not even an issue.

i mean i don't care.

all i can do is to drop off packages within my 1 day handling policy.

it would take another 9 penalties to really mess up my standing.

so i am not worried and not worse looking into what the problem is?

i just think the shipping standard system is flawed.

i always say this every time this topic comes up.

i have no control on shipping deliveries.

all i can do is ship on time.

if 1 day late ebay slaps me with a penalty, it seems.

because that is a bad buyer experience, even if the buyer has not complained.

on the other hand i can badly describe an item.

the buyer is not ok with it.

has to go through the process of a snad.

which in my opinion should be a huge inconvenience to a buyer.

but as long as the seller resolves the situation, it doens't count against his standard.

even believe it works the same for "out of stock".

i guess ebay doesn't consider these situations bad buying experiences.

i mean not complaining; good for us sellers.

but makes no sense to me.

what we have control of; doesn't count.

but we get penalized for what we don't have control of.

[usaquadcopter]

Our same day shipping cutoff isn't the issue, we have adjusted for the proper time zone. This is specifically regarding eBay's changes in how they process the first acceptable scan. If it receives no scan other than the drop-off acceptance scan it is treated as unshipped. The change has only been active for about a week and we are already seeing increased "Missed Handling Time" late shipments, and as stated this is not an issue with our shipping or processing of orders, eBay is adding penalties for orders that are handled properly, but not scanned as dropped off other than a SCAN form.

[lecroy3 · Accepted solution]

There is a discussion about this on the Guaranteed Delivery Board. I hope it's just a glitch and not a policy change. http://community.ebay.com/t5/Guaranteed-Delivery/USPS-Glitch-or-Ebay-Glitch/m-p/27307138#M193