eBay

keziak · ‎03-19-2024

I don't have much in my TOS and nothing about my handling time which is 3 business days. I get too many questions from people like "when are you going to ship?" I feel bad about that but it's hard to keep up between ebay and Amazon. Anyway, do you have language in your TOS about handling time and do you recommend that? Or do people not read it anyway? Maybe your handling time is much faster than mine. I ship faster when I can manage it and also on Saturdays but I still bump up against the 3rd day a lot.

yuzuha · ‎03-20-2024

@redlinear wrote:
I seem to think that anybody that's sold even a few things on eBay would already KNOW how customers are:
Where's my item?
Where's my tracking number?
When will this ship?
Can I pay for faster shipping?
Hey, can you ship this today? I need by the weekend.

I get those several times a week.
And the best answer is...I'm sorry, your item has already been shipped and is on the way to you.
Here's your tracking number.

I can honestly tell you that I don't get those kinds of questions at all save for on occasions such as when there's a Monday holiday and the PO is closed on that day. Once I remind the buyer that it's a postal holiday and I couldn't ship even if I wanted to, they're fine with it.

fern*wood · ‎03-20-2024

@yuzuha wrote:
@redlinear wrote:
I seem to think that anybody that's sold even a few things on eBay would already KNOW how customers are:
Where's my item?
Where's my tracking number?
When will this ship?
Can I pay for faster shipping?
Hey, can you ship this today? I need by the weekend.

I get those several times a week.
And the best answer is...I'm sorry, your item has already been shipped and is on the way to you.
Here's your tracking number.
I can honestly tell you that I don't get those kinds of questions at all save for on occasions such as when there's a Monday holiday and the PO is closed on that day. Once I remind the buyer that it's a postal holiday and I couldn't ship even if I wanted to, they're fine with it.

I agree, I can't recall a question about shipping time in years and I have a 3 day handling time. As mentioned, some items just aren't necessities.

When I hear that buyers ask all these questions about when is something going to ship, I always think back to things I used to order. Granted, they were from catalogs or fan photos from magazines, but they always stated something like allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. I'm sure those things didn't get shipped next day.

sin-n-dex · ‎03-20-2024

@keziak wrote:
That's great. It's also the way I operate elsewhere, not on ebay. I'd like to do better but I'm done ripping myself up inside over shortcomings. I do try to at least pack carefully.

I revised my TOS but now I think maybe it's too verbose. But I'll see if it seems to help.

The way I see it, the time I have to process and list new things is the sum of all free time I have, less what I spent on packing and shipping. So when there's lots to pack and ship, that's what I'm doing, no time for new listings.

I find it a bit stressful to keep up on shipping, unless I'm anticipating I'll be doing lots and lots of shipping and just focus on that for the day (like on Sundays when auctions end, I anticipate lots of payments and people wanting their items fast, so I clear my schedule to ship Sunday afternoons).

I do read descriptions and TOS, but if I think it's too wordy then I tend to skim through it which means i might miss something important. But I also use a desktop computer on eBay, always... the phone is only for looking stuff up when I'm not at my desk at home.

C.

keziak · ‎03-20-2024

Again, not trying to bicker but sounds to me much like the statements (which you also made) about auctions being no good for sales. Auctions are the bulk of my ebay business. I have no idea if my sales volume is a lot or mid-range or pitifully low, can't say as I care. Between my two sites I am pretty much maxed out on how much I can ship on any given day. Maybe I am losing customers left and right, not sure how I would know.

sin-n-dex · ‎03-20-2024

@redlinear wrote:
@keziak wrote:
Why is the job of online sales to ship immediately? I'm not trying to argue, just wondering why. Even on Amazon you get 2 business days to ship.
I see it as the path you chose. If you were a daycare, you would have to change diapers (as opposed to just waiting till the parents got there later...just part of the job).
For selling and shipping? Selling online / ebay means shipping. Just part of the job.
People want their stuff yesterday. It's ALWAYS been that way.
That's what happened to ebay auctions....takes too long (how much to end the auction and sell it to me now?)
If it's not going to be there the day before they bought it? Well, they have probably made other plans and expect it "asap" instead of yesterday.
The best way to do that is to get it done now, get it out of your hands, do your job now instead of later...and let USPS or FedEx mess it up. (If you ship in two days, and fedex has a delay...you're going to take the blame on that, not fedex). But if you shipped within 24hrs? You might be able to convince the customer that You Good, FedEx Bad. And keep them as a customer.
The longer you wait to ship, the less return customers you get.

I don't mean to sound harsh. I started at a salvage yard that was connected to thousands of other salvage yards all over the country. That was 35 years ago and the MOST important thing was Ship it NOW! And if you delayed a bit, you would lose accounts, BIG $$ Accounts (insurance companies, body shops, and other salvage yards).
And a delay on your part? These places would call you and chew your butt up one side and down the other. And I mean $100k a month accounts would simply go somewhere else. Somewhere that could get the job done.
As for now, and ebay? I don't know all the reasons a person chooses me/ebay over local. But if local is an option, and they choose me? I'm going to do everything I can to baffle them with how fast I shipped their stuff.
You take your car to the shop on Monday. The shop says it'll be ready Friday. They order the parts Monday or Tuesday. Parts show up Thursday all is good. Parts show up Friday, somebody's not getting a lunch break. Parts show up Monday? You may be taking your car somewhere else and have nothing good to say about that shop. If you didn't ship as soon as you could have, The shop blames you and starts ordering parts from somewhere else.

If you sell and ship, you can only assume. That assumption should be "somebody bought something from me because for some reason, they needed it". And if they actually did need it? They probably need it now.

For everybody that thinks 2 day to 10 day handling is fine?
I'm taking your sales.

If eBay is your number one priority and your main income source, you'd do whatever you have to do to make as many sales as possible.

I earn good money at a full time job and eBay is a side gig. If others who ship faster weren't taking some of my sales maybe I'd have to quit my job to keep up on shipping.

Although I stated 10 days handling, realistically I ship within 1-2 days most of the time. Sometimes people ask, does it really take 10 days to ship... I explain that's just how long I have on eBay before the shipment is late, but realistically it should never take that long (unless of course I'm away on business for the week... that is, business at my full time paid job).

C.

stacy_pme · ‎03-20-2024

YES! My small town post office is 1 block away.... Sometimes I walk down there 3 times a day.... If orders keep coming in, I will keep walking them down there, no matter how many times a day.... I literally think it's good for me too... to get out there and walk. My customers are almost always very happy with my shipping. And if they are close and actually receive it in 1 or 2 days, they accuse me of witchcraft 😄

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎03-20-2024

@redlinear I agree that any experienced seller has a pretty good idea how his customers are. And mine? I rarely get questions about shipping, perhaps because I do ship pretty quickly. But I've had things get balled up somewhere, and even then, not all customers are contacting me about it.

So, yes, it IS important to know your customer base. But it's also important to NOT assume that YOUR customer base is MY customer base. As sellers have been trying to explain to ebay for years: one size does NOT fit all.

redlinear · ‎03-20-2024

@keziak wrote:
Again, not trying to bicker but sounds to me much like the statements (which you also made) about auctions being no good for sales. Auctions are the bulk of my ebay business. I have no idea if my sales volume is a lot or mid-range or pitifully low, can't say as I care. Between my two sites I am pretty much maxed out on how much I can ship on any given day. Maybe I am losing customers left and right, not sure how I would know.

Up until about 12 years ago, We listed 1,200 new Auctions each week. Along with about half that many re-lists.
5 day duration.
$9.99 starting price.
No reserve.
I'm not sure if bidders hated it, or loved it. But it worked.
Filled a UPS truck every week day. Many days UPS would have to send another truck.
Did that for about 10 years?
The question "How much to end it early, I can't wait that long" got to be non-stop every day.
So did, bid retractions.
It got to the point that if somebody wanted one sooner, there were enough "Buy it Now's" out there, that they didn't have to bid.
And the bidding wars ended. An item would no longer get bid higher than another sellers "buy it now" price.

That was the end of the auction days.
I used to bid on items all the time. But now, I scroll right past auctions.

redlinear · ‎03-20-2024

@yuzuha
USPS Holidays? I get clobbered with shipping messages the next day.
I don't dare get sick and miss a day.
I've got buyers that don't understand Christmas.