Vacation Mode or 3 day Shipping?

[optimum_4]

I am going away Thursday morning and wont be back until Monday night so any orders will be shipped out on Tuesday. Should i put my store on vacation mode or switch to 3 day shipping?

[mcdougle4248]

I usually do both, set vacation mode (but do not block listing from purchase) and do a bulk edit on all my listings to adjust the handling time that I will need to get my orders shipped when I return.

I like to do it this way so that I am also able to to turn on the "out of office" mail reply for any questions or messages that come in while I am away.

[mcdougle4248]

Just thought of one more thing...If you have auctions that already have bids, I do not think that those listings can be edited and your vacation settings will not apply.  

[lewisburggold]

We do vacation mode.   Worked out good last year.  Best regards

[labs118]

This is a personal decision
Don't confuse vacation with not having to ship , if doing store vacation you still need to either extend handling time or Hide your items, just putting on the vacation setting does not protect your handling time.

I just did a long weekend put store on vacation &  Hide all my items.
I find buyers want the items fast & faster.
I don't want to have worry about ebay while taking time away. 

Have fun.

[myboardid]

I use vacation and hide the items.  I don't want to come home to a big pile of things to pack and ship the next day, so I turn the store back on when I get home and I can ease into it, get things unpacked, laundry done, etc. 

[calntom]

---

@optimum_4 wrote:

I am going away Thursday morning and wont be back until Monday night so any orders will be shipped out on Tuesday. Should i put my store on vacation mode or switch to 3 day shipping?

---

Depends on what your customers come to expect as reasonable delivery times. 

I always go with full vacation mode that will hide my listings because my buyers prefer quick delivery.

Though.... The last time I did full vacation mode, it took 24 hours for all my listings to re-index. I am also not sure what that exercise does to "order placement of items" with the search feature. 

Off Topic: I did look to see what all you are selling. As a buyer, I would like to see some store categories so I would not have to look through all of your items, item by item to see what all you sell.  You have some very nice selection.

[keziak]

My method requires working while away. I put the store on vacation but leave the items visible. I increase my handling time to the max I am away. Then every day I check on sales and email people to ask if they are OK waiting for me to mail when I get back. Every day or two I adjust the handling time. 

I am OK with this because I am compulsive about checking email anyway. Also, never did anyone ask me to cance their order. Books are not a "get it to me now" category I guess.

What hurts is putting my Amazon store on vacation because there is no leaving books visible and adjusting handling time. I lose a lot of sales. I have to remind myself that I need a break away. But there is no paid vacation working for yourself.  My husband takes 2 weeks off!

[thevintagesilvershop]

I do a variety of things when I am out of town to either hiding while in Vacation mode or, if visible in vacation mode, I extend my handling time.

I have also just skipped Vacation mode on really short trips, 2 - 3 days, and just extended my handling time and set up my auto reply.

The most important thing is that if you have your items VISIBLE while you are gone, you MUST extend your handling time.  If you do not and don't ship when you are supposed to, you will get late shipment dings.

[little_angel]

I do both, but I change my handling time as my vacation days tick away.  If I'm gone for 4 business days I'll change the handling time on the first 3 days of my vacation to be longer but then turn it back to normal the night or 2 before depending on if I have 1 day or 2 day handling on those listings.