handling time

[khselection]

Hi

what do you think it is better to do when you are away from store for a week?

1- inactivate the store

2- change the handling time 

3- no change, ship your sold items with delay.

appreciate all comments

[nobody*s_perfect]

Definitely option 1.  

Option 3 could devastate your on-time shipping score, and Option 2 with a full week of shipping delay risks bad feedback from buyers who forget about the extended handling time, or who never noticed it in the first place.

An intermediate strategy would be to go with Option 1, but re-activate the store 2 or 3 days before you return, with an appropriate adjustment in actual anticipated handling time. You'd lose fewer sales and wouldn't damage your on-time shipping score.

[juststuffisell]

I will say, the last time I shut my store down in vaca mode, I had 4 buyers watching items asking me to contact them when I was back so they could purchase. No telling how many sales I may have lost that didn't contact me. My normal response is #1....but
If you can easily change your handling time to 5 business days, I would edit your listing descriptions at the top to say you are away, what your return date and note the handling time as 5 days from X date (when you are leaving). Then at least someone that wanted to close the deal could do so knowing you won't be able to ship until X date.

Of the 4 people that contact me while away, 3 closed the deal when I returned which was nice!

Cheers

[castlemagicmemories]

Your call!

[myangelandmyprincess]

Usually when I'm gone in the summer for two weeks at a time I've been ending all my listings.  This year I was like well I hardly sell anything anyhow anymore ha so I left them up and just put in a 10 day handling time.  I suddenly started getting sells.  No one complained when there items took several days to ship so it was all good.

[sin-n-dex]

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@khselection wrote:

Hi

what do you think it is better to do when you are away from store for a week?

1- inactivate the store

2- change the handling time 

3- no change, ship your sold items with delay.

appreciate all comments

---

I'm frequently away from my store. Handling time is 10 business days. Usually I ship within two (which is why all my FB say how fast the shipping is and how quickly it arrived).

The least frequently I ship is once a week (due to volume and the issue of transporting my items from Canada to NY to ship with USPS), often I ship twice a week if volume permits.

Several times a year I'm away from my store for 3-7 days due to work. I can answer questions on my phone and let people know I'm travelling, but I don't want to be dinged for late shipment.

I would say adjusting the handling time is the best thing to do, and notifying anyone who buys that you are away which is why the handling is so long, in the event they needed it fast and want to cancel (this happens to me sometimes).

Cheers, C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

Definitely option 1.  

Option 3 could devastate your on-time shipping score, and Option 2 with a full week of shipping delay risks bad feedback from buyers who forget about the extended handling time, or who never noticed it in the first place.

An intermediate strategy would be to go with Option 1, but re-activate the store 2 or 3 days before you return, with an appropriate adjustment in actual anticipated handling time. You'd lose fewer sales and wouldn't damage your on-time shipping score.

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Of approximately 1000 shipments a year, I've probably only got a message from a customer a few times wanting to know why it hasn't shipped (or in some cases, angry it hasn't shipped yet). Most of the time explaining works fine.

Another thing, customers don't like to hear age old excuses about illnesses, deaths in the family, and the like. When I explain a delay in shipment (which I do if it's going to be more than 2 days before the next FedEx pick up for USPS), is that I'm shipping from Canada and only ship once/twice a week. Or I'm away for work.

Cheers, C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@myangelandmyprincess wrote:

Usually when I'm gone in the summer for two weeks at a time I've been ending all my listings.  This year I was like well I hardly sell anything anyhow anymore ha so I left them up and just put in a 10 day handling time.  I suddenly started getting sells.  No one complained when there items took several days to ship so it was all good.

---

The majority of customers won't complain about delays (if you are up front with them) unless it's something they needed fast. Things like printer toner, cables for devices and various tools are often things people want fast. Coins and stamps, not so much. I only get impatient people when a large amount is spent (and I insert additional pick ups with FedEx and shipping dates when expensive things are selling since I know someone who spends $200 on a coin is very anxious to get it and check it over). I also like expensive things to be delivered quickly so I can get closure that everything is OK with the sale.

Cheers, C.

[sam9876]

I end all my listings.

[myboardid]

I have one day handling & I am on the east coast.  I've been known to put my store on vacation at 10 PM at night, when I have packed and packed and packed all day, I'm exhausted, and I have some sort of appointment the next morning so I won't be able to get any more packed to be shipped out that day.  Then I turn it back on when I wake up the next morning (anytime after 3 AM), and the new sales will be shipped the following day.

With 1000 listings, changing the handling time is not practical and would cost me my TRS status.