mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
WE are responsible, YES.
Ebay is extremely good about helping sellers when there is a weather event or something that disturbs the free movement of deliveries. I would encourage you to sign up and follow the Announcement Board.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements
It isn't a grey area at all. You just need to stay informed.
@inhawaii wrote:Answer: Yes.
There is no "gray area".
Ebay does not have enough personel and resources to decide which late packages have a good excuse for being late.
Late is late.
Well that is simply not always correct. There are reasons outside the seller's control that are valid reasons for a late arriving shipment. Areas trying to recover from a Hurricane or two jumps to mind. For the first time I ever remember the Pacific NW had a weather announcement by Ebay regarding potential late deliveries due to a Bomb Cyclone. Those are just two reasons. There are more.
@inhawaii wrote:I added "for the most part" to my response.
The seller getting Defect for a late arrival simply doesn't happen if they shipped within their stated handling time AND uploaded their tracking to Ebay which proves that.
On the Seller Dashboard it states this in the Late Shipment section. "If you ship on time and upload validated tracking or your buyers tell us the shipment was on time when they leave feedback, you're all set."
https://sellerstandards.ebay.com/dashboard?region=US
"For the most part", if sellers adhere to the policy of shipping within their stated handling time and upload tracking, they are just fine as far as getting defects from Ebay. However a buyer may take issue with how long it is taking to arrive and that may have to do with Weather Events and other things. We all have to deal with these from time to time. But if we follow the Ebay rules we do not get a DEFECT for late arrival.
@gloryglorygifts wrote:Every single one of my dings, bringing my late shipment rate to 1.40% is because it was delivered late by USPS. It never occurred to me to question any of them being due to horrible weather in the destination state. I've only contacted ebay when it was a problem by me. Something to consider going forward. It's at least a shot to get it removed.
Do you ship with tracking? Do you ship within your stated handling time?
@ebooksdiva wrote:Why do sellers or those posting in this forum call a defect a ding?
It's a defect people!
A ding is the sound a bell makes.
I know. It causes confusion where none is really needed. I've had this discussion before and some just say it is a word that means the same thing, but in Ebayland it does not. Ebay calls certain things by specific words. So changing that just invited confusion or misunderstanding.
There is one poster that knows the difference [they are not on this thread] and will intentionally use different words to cause confusion for the fun of it I guess.
Defects are what affects your Seller Dashboard ONLY.
Dings happen to things that affect the Service Metrics.
That is my understanding.
Because it's not a defect.
Why call it something that it isn't.
Ebay has actually termed what is a defect.
Great post, thank you. Both those items appear on the Seller Dashboard along with other things a seller can get a Defect for.
A couple of links where Defects are explained if anyone is interested.
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/protections/defect-removal
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy?id=4347#defects
And just for those that confuse Defects as having to do with the Service Metrics, please notice the word is not used at all in the policy. While this is true, I usually refer to marks against us in the Service Metrics as Dings. In all fairness Ebay does not use that term in the policy either. They don't really call it anything specifically when there is a Service Metrics infraction.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/service-metrics-policy?id=4769
