eBay

stoneledge · ‎10-30-2017

eBay offered support for sellers in areas affected by hurricanes last month.

Last night in Vermont and the surrounding states, there was a major wind storm. Over 100,000 customers are without power or phone in Vermont alone.

I've had no power or phone for 16 hours. Even cellular phone service isn't working properly. I've gone to a hotel to use their power and WiFi to manage my eBay orders. Filling orders is going to be more of a challenge without power or phone service. So far, the power company has no updates on the time or day that it expects to restore power.

Would you please pass this on to the right group at eBay @Anonymous doug@ebay ?

Typos courtesy of Lithium.

emerald40 · ‎10-30-2017

@Anonymous

doug@ebay

Done.

We were hit or miss in Rhode Island. We did not lose power but my son did.

Could be 3 days before it comes back.

The wind did mess up our shed, though and broke a couple of shudders.

muttlymob · ‎10-30-2017

I have power. And water. Lots of water. Home is on high ground. But the only 2 ways out are not - this is one river crossing, wasn't even able to get to see the other. Might be able to get out tomorrow, might not. Depends on whether this bridge and dam are found to be safe when the water drops some. And whether another bridge on the only highway running through this valley is fixed enough for at least one lane of traffic.

mistwomandancing · ‎10-30-2017

Good luck with this request!

I don't think eBay is that good about the somewhat smaller and smaller isolated weather incidents that impact their customers to the extreme for several days... seems like it takes something with a scary name, like *hurricane* to make eBay extend some amnesty for shipping times, etc.

You can have vast landmass experience high winds and damage with power outages, snow and ice blizzards that down trees and power is out for DAYS with traffic at a standstill, but since it doesn't have a scary name, there is no forgiveness offered to sellers.

Good luck to you folks up in that area! I hope eBay will extend a reprieve for you folks on shipping time. Just kinda' hard to work the business when you have no power or towers and the shipping service isn't up and running either, etc.

luckythewinner · ‎10-30-2017

@stoneledge wrote:
I've gone to a hotel to use their power and WiFi to manage my eBay orders. Filling orders is going to be more of a challenge without power or phone service. So far, the power company has no updates on the time or day that it expects to restore power.

Why not just use the hotel power and WIFI to end all your listings?

I see only 83 on this account. It would much safer and cheaper in the long run to end them, and just pay the extra $25 to relist them once the power has been restored.

partial*eclipse · ‎10-31-2017

@luckythewinner wrote:
@stoneledge wrote:
I've gone to a hotel to use their power and WiFi to manage my eBay orders. Filling orders is going to be more of a challenge without power or phone service. So far, the power company has no updates on the time or day that it expects to restore power.
Why not just use the hotel power and WIFI to end all your listings? ...

Such a drastic move isn't necessary. With a Store subscription, it's easy to just put the Store on vacation and hide fixed price listings so you don't have any sales. Or revise handling time in bulk, extend it to 5 days or so, for active auctions. Which is what should have been done on Friday or Saturday when the weather service put out plenty of warnings about the coming storm and the potential for lost power.

penguins_dont_fly · ‎10-31-2017

@mistwomandancing wrote:
Good luck with this request!

I don't think eBay is that good about the somewhat smaller and smaller isolated weather incidents that impact their customers to the extreme for several days... seems like it takes something with a scary name, like *hurricane* to make eBay extend some amnesty for shipping times, etc.

You can have vast landmass experience high winds and damage with power outages, snow and ice blizzards that down trees and power is out for DAYS with traffic at a standstill, but since it doesn't have a scary name, there is no forgiveness offered to sellers.

Good luck to you folks up in that area! I hope eBay will extend a reprieve for you folks on shipping time. Just kinda' hard to work the business when you have no power or towers and the shipping service isn't up and running either, etc.

Just tacking on to this here 🙂

@Anonymous

USPS service Alerts:

https://about.usps.com/news/service-alerts/resident-weather-updates.htm

New England

Last updated Oct. 30, 2017, 8:30 p.m. ET

Oct. 30, 2017, 8:30 p.m. ET

New England

Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont

Due to recent storms in the region, the following offices are closed (mail delivery occurred):

Maine

Auburn, 04210.
Hebron, 04238.
New Vineyard, 04956.

New Hampshire

Canterbury, 03224.
Hebron, 03241.
Hill, 03243.
Lyme Center, 03769.
Salem, 03079.
Windham, 03087.

The following offices did not receive mail but retail offices are open:

Maine

Vinalhaven, 04863.
Matinicus, 04851.
Monhegan, 04852.
Isleboro, 04848.
North Haven, 04853.
Swans Island, 04685.
Seal Cove, 04674.

The following offices are closed and did not receive mail:

Maine

Peaks Island, 04108.
Rockwood, 04478.

penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
Buying and Selling since 2013

muttlymob · ‎10-31-2017

With a Store subscription, it's easy to just put the Store on vacation and hide fixed price listings so you don't have any sales.

This is what I did. Set it on vacation until Friday, not knowing when bridges will be opened/replaced so those of us trapped on the wild side of the river can get, well, anywhere.

Apparently one bridge that was predicted out for 2-3 days was actually opened to one lane last night. Better to set the vacation for longer than needed, rather than shorter.

doug@ebay · ‎10-31-2017

Very sorry to hear that you and other eBay buyers and sellers are affected by these weather issues.

We are working to identify those impacted and will follow our standard operating process of providing seller protections for impacted buyers and sellers. Protections include defect removal for delayed communication and shipping, and protection for stock-outs and unresolved cases.

We will have more information today.

stoneledge · ‎10-31-2017

doug@ebay wrote:
Very sorry to hear that you and other eBay buyers and sellers are affected by these weather issues.

We are working to identify those impacted and will follow our standard operating process of providing seller protections for impacted buyers and sellers. Protections include defect removal for delayed communication and shipping, and protection for stock-outs and unresolved cases.

We will have more information today.

Thanks.

The power went out 2 AM Monday. Green Mountain Power forecasts that it will be restored by late Friday for my location.

Yesterday I got some eBay work done at a hotel. Today at a college. I have tried to change most of my handling times from 1-day to 3-days temporarily. (So much for my TRS). I do expect to have some Seller Performance issues related mostly to late-night payers and timing of posting tracking numbers but am doing what I can to mitigate those.

Thanks for your help.

Typos courtesy of Lithium.

myboardid · ‎10-31-2017

Down on the Mass coast we are still getting seriously high winds, but at least the ferries are running today. We didn't get hit as hard as Western Mass, Eastern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. We lost power Sunday night but only for about 5 hours. The Post office was open Monday but couldn't send the mail out because no ferries were running. We also got several inches of rain but we are a rock in the ocean, it all just runs off the edges!

----------------------------
Successful and experienced seller since 1997, over 70,000 feedback, boardie since the boards were begun.

partial*eclipse · ‎10-31-2017

@stoneledge wrote:
... I have tried to change most of my handling times from 1-day to 3-days temporarily. (So much for my TRS). ....

Extended handling time does not endanger your TRS status. It just makes those listings ineligible for the TRS-Plus badge and the 10% FVF credit.

3-day handling is cutting it close, IMHO. What if you have a sale later today and power is restored "late Friday" when it's too late for you to ship and get an acceptance scan on Friday?

doug@ebay · ‎10-31-2017

Announcement that has been posted...

eBay Will Apply Seller Protections to Sellers Impacted by Storms in the Northeast

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/eBay-Will-Apply-Seller-Protections-to-Sellers-Impacted-b...

eBay is closely monitoring the storms in the Northeast affecting Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

eBay will automatically apply seller protection to any seller whose business is impacted. What this means:

You will not receive defects for stockouts or unresolved cases with buyers.
Your late shipment rate will not be impacted.

If you are in the impacted regions, there is no need to contact eBay customer service.

If you are able to, there are a few things you can do now to help protect your business:

Communicate with buyers whose items have not yet been shipped and let them know your situation.
End any auctions, take down any Buy It Now listings before they result in a sale. We will not charge a fee for ending a listing early.
If you are an eBay Stores subscriber, place your store in vacation mode and extend your handling time on all items to when you think you can get back to business.

If you don't have direct internet access, eBay can help you make the necessary changes. Please contact customer service at 1 (866) 540-3229 and update them on your situation.

Everyone at eBay is wishing those impacted a speedy recovery.

cinjamanbooks · ‎10-31-2017

So I didn't have to package a purchase made over the weekend in the dark, and didn't have to drive around for 40 minutes to find a post office with power? We are still in the dark here in CT.