extending handling time during vacations

[keziak]

I'm finally going away for a few days the end of the month. I am sure that in the past I calculated when to put my ebay listings on vacation and turned the listings back on when I am a couple of days before getting home.  Is that what you do, or do you increase your handling time and leave everything up? The cons for this approach would be people not understanding a long handling time even with a banner on the listings.

[714ricki]

If its only a few days, then extending the handling time would be the option I would take in such a scenario.

[slippinjimmy]

I already have an extended handling time (5 days) so the only time I use Time Away is when I will be offline and away for a week or more. I always hide listings but I end Time Away 2 or 3 days before I return (when my return date is certain) or hide them for 2 or 3 days extra if my return date is subject to change.

Note that is most cases when I am away I am totally off the grid with no opportunity to even check my email.

I miss the sales and add that loss to the cost of my "vacation", for me an actual vacation is worth the expense.

[chevymontecarlo88]

When i had my store and many listings, shipping varied depending on the item. Maybe i had about 1-15 different rules at any one time. For me i would select vacation mode because i would not have to change all of my shipping rules. Vacation mode for me was much easier and could flip it off quickly without worrying i may have forgotten anything. Plus your customers will know you may not be able to contact them via messages. That is how i would approach it but you know your store better than anyone.

Have a great vacation!

[keziak]

The problem I have with fairly long handling time is the many questions I get "when are you going to ship?" after about 2 days. My handling time is 3 days. I've been trying to ship in 1 or 2 days now but I know I am only human and sometimes need that extra day. I respond to people pronto and they turn into satisfied customers. 

I guess the question is really, do I want time off or remote working by handling buyer emails? I know I will have one day where I will be pretty  much at loose ends when hubby goes on an ambitious hike that I can't join (knees).  So that day I may welcome something to do besides read and watching s hows. I checked, the cabin is in the back of beyond and no place to while away time shopping or whatever.  (But it's on a lake, yay!)

[kensgiftshop]

When I would take a little time off, I always hid my listings a few days before and waited a couple days after I got back to turn off Time Away.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Nice this about using the auction format and no OBO is I really don't worry about it. Auctions start on Thursday and run for 10 days through Sunday so I am basically free for 10 days. At the moment I have 57 auctions running I just finished up packing the ones that ended this Sunday, nothing is outstanding so I am free until next Sunday. 

     The ones that will start this Thursday are already in the scheduled queue. If I want extended time, more than 7 days I simply do not schedule any listings to start and can end any current active ones if I wish. 

[mmadigan]

We take a lot long weekends and I have one day shipping.  We leave on Thursday and come back on either Sunday or Monday.  I will put the store on vacation mode on Wed. night but keep the listing active and will take vacation mode off on Sat if we are returning on Sunday and Monday if we return on Monday.  If I receive a sale while we are gone I will drop the buyer a note thanking them for the purchase and pointing out the banner on the listing and let them know when it will be shipped.  I hear back from about 75% of them thanking me for the info and telling me to have a good time.  If we are out of town for 5 days  I will turn the listings off.  This has worked for me but may not work for other people.

[wastingtime101]

I use Time Away in conjunction with the Out Of Office auto-response letting buyers know I'll ship starting X date and their orders page will show the estimated delivery date @keziak . Here's my standard advice:

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.

Plan to have any auctions or offers end a week before you leave. eBay's working on an auto-pay offer feature, but it's still in testing phase, not yet rolled out site wide.

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

[keziak]

I appreciate that, thank you.