eBay

openlinecollectibles · ‎12-23-2018

I'm sure there is a thread somewhere that will answer this crazy question for me, but I have items ending tonight at 11pmPST. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve with Tuesday being Christmas day. If my buyers pay tonight, do I have to upload tracking by tomorrow night or do I have until Wednesday since Tuesday is a holiday? I have 1 day handling in my listings. Will be out of town tomorrow visiting family and NO time to ship. Thanks in advance for the help!

openlinecollectibles · ‎12-23-2018

From a friend who knows their stuff, they just told me this, so I'm confident this is correct:

"eBay does not say you have to ship in one day, they say you have to upload tracking in one day. I sat in during an eBay seminar this past year, the eBay people must have said a dozen times "you have to upload tracking in one business day". Not once did they say you have to ship in one business day. So if you get the orders Sunday and you can't ship until Tuesday, just upload your tracking on Monday night and send the packages out by Tuesday and you will be fine. If Tuesday is a holiday (since Christmas is Tuesday this year), you will need to get your packages to the post office Wednesday. Hope this helps!"

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nobody*s_perfect · ‎12-23-2018

If an item is paid for on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, then if you have 1-day handling you are supposed to ship on Monday.

It doesn't matter if Tuesday is a holiday. eBay has even specifically noted that it doesn't matter even if a seller's local Post Office is closing early tmorrow. So you need to just hope that your buyers don't pay before midnight Pacific time (i.e., 3 AM in Georgia).

nobody*s_perfect · ‎12-23-2018

@openlinecollectibles wrote:
... I have items ending tonight at 11pmPST. ...

Your listings are ending around 11 PM EASTERN time, not Pacific.

openlinecollectibles · ‎12-23-2018

Yes, I understand that, I mean tracking uploaded has to be done by Monday, that doesn't mean the package has to go out by Monday. 1 day handling starts on Monday if the items are paid for by tonight. I don't have to physically take it to the post office until Wednesday, correct??

nobody*s_perfect · ‎12-23-2018

There are two different ebay evaluation measures based on tracking.

1. For Top Rated Seller status, they look at "tracking uploaded within your handling time" which must get a validation scan to prove that it's not a fake number, and that validation scan can be at any time. So label tomorrow and mailing on Wednesday would be OK.

2. The main eBay evaluation ("Late shipment rate") is based on actual tracking scans. They don't care when you print the label. If you get your first scan on Wednesday, that package has not been mailed within its handling time.

"When I use eBay labels, it uploads my tracking for me. Does this meet my handling time?

While uploading tracking helps eBay calculate your on-time shipping metric, it's still up to you to make sure your package is scanned by your carrier within your stated handling time. Tracking alone does not meet your handling time commitment."

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/calculating-shipping-costs-and-handling-time.html#m22_...

sam9876 · ‎12-23-2018

If you drop the package off on Wednesday, you are late.

openlinecollectibles · ‎12-23-2018

That is what I'm trying to figure out. I upload tracking by Monday all the time on items paid on Sunday night. Then I send those packages on Tuesday. I have not received any hits on my "late shipment rate" due to this and I've been selling for a long time. Since Tuesday is a holiday, I would think Wednesday would still not affect my late shipment rate if this is the case, the 1 day handling is somewhat confusing still on this.

a*river*runs*through*it · ‎12-23-2018

If you sell anything tonight, you should mail tomorrow to CYA in this case.

fern*wood · ‎12-23-2018

@openlinecollectibles wrote:
That is what I'm trying to figure out. I upload tracking by Monday all the time on items paid on Sunday night. Then I send those packages on Tuesday. I have not received any hits on my "late shipment rate" due to this and I've been selling for a long time. Since Tuesday is a holiday, I would think Wednesday would still not affect my late shipment rate if this is the case, the 1 day handling is somewhat confusing still on this.

You've just been pretty lucky by doing it that way, since Tuesday is outside your 1 day handling. Either your packages have all still managed to be delivered by the estimated delivery date or your buyer has marked it as delivered on time.

openlinecollectibles · ‎12-23-2018

From a friend who knows their stuff, they just told me this, so I'm confident this is correct:

"eBay does not say you have to ship in one day, they say you have to upload tracking in one day. I sat in during an eBay seminar this past year, the eBay people must have said a dozen times "you have to upload tracking in one business day". Not once did they say you have to ship in one business day. So if you get the orders Sunday and you can't ship until Tuesday, just upload your tracking on Monday night and send the packages out by Tuesday and you will be fine. If Tuesday is a holiday (since Christmas is Tuesday this year), you will need to get your packages to the post office Wednesday. Hope this helps!"

sam9876 · ‎12-23-2018

Your friend is wrong.

myboardid · ‎12-23-2018

You are not doing it right. One day handling means the package is AT the post office and scanned before the end of the next day. That means you must have them there tomorrow before your PO closes.

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

fern*wood · ‎12-23-2018

Choose to believe whomever you wish but that only meets one of the shipping time metrics---uploaded tracking. It does not meet the late shipment rate without help.

a*river*runs*through*it · ‎12-23-2018

@openlinecollectibles wrote:
From a friend who knows their stuff, they just told me this, so I'm confident this is correct:

"eBay does not say you have to ship in one day, they say you have to upload tracking in one day. I sat in during an eBay seminar this past year, the eBay people must have said a dozen times "you have to upload tracking in one business day". Not once did they say you have to ship in one business day. So if you get the orders Sunday and you can't ship until Tuesday, just upload your tracking on Monday night and send the packages out by Tuesday and you will be fine. If Tuesday is a holiday (since Christmas is Tuesday this year), you will need to get your packages to the post office Wednesday. Hope this helps!"

Do you have any idea how many Ebay employees don't know the rules? It's a boatload.

Believe what you want, but you may just find out that your friend is WRONG.

Then you'll come back here posting about your Shipping Metrics woes.

I also have 1 day handling and I sure as heck would mail tomorrow if I sold an item tonight... no matter what time it sold.

fern*wood · ‎12-23-2018

Just a little more information that you might want to pass on to your friend. What they are doing to meet the 1 day handling requirement is precisely why ebay added the second late shipment rate metric. Too many sellers were only uploading their tracking ontime but not actually shipping on time.