Helping buyers understand shipping delays and what you need to do - What a joke

[diesel.generator.parts]

So if the package is scanned on time, the buyer says it arrives on time, and its delivered by the latest date you won't get a late shipping rate. If it was scanned on time, the buyer says it arrived on time, and it arrived by the last date available, why in the world would you get a late shipping rate for that in the first place?

Meanwhile, I have packages in completely different states, USPS doesn't scan every package they pick up, and as usual ebay is stating its going to help people but in the most minor way that they might as well do nothing as its only protecting people who wouldn't get these marks again them. 

Just today I have a negative feedback for "the slowest shipping ever" while USPS is telling us there will be delays right now and lost packages and eBay isn't going to help with that, just like they haven't all year, just like they have never shared information about possible shipping delays ever for anything except in the smallest possible way. 

Eventually I am going to have to pack it up and stop being an ebay seller. I guess it's my fault for thinking they would actually offer real help and for staying. 

[electronics510]

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@nomad3 wrote:

Been selling through the mail for 45 years. Ebay is the problem. They don't give the seller any credit for past actions when something goes wrong. The USPS is the MOST RELIABLE and cheapest way to send. In all my years the PO has lost ONE item and that was this year. The Post Office has not damaged a single item in all those years (it does have something to do with the way I package my items). The Post Office has had problems with delayed packages once in a while, but my packages have ALWAYS shown up somewhere. Ebay is too quick to side with the buyer especially the dishonest ones. This year has been especially bad and I have lost a lot  of money and products due to Ebay's policy of doubt the seller and refund the buyer. Even when I have proven the buyer is a thief, they DON"T CARE. In several instances with fraudulent buyers they refunded the buyer and then when I point out the fraud, they also refund me, but let the crooks keep the product and refund money. That really irks me being an over the top honest seller. Most sellers have integrity, something Ebay does not understand. We have a business to uphold and a reputation to guard.

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Very well put. Ebay is the supposed arbiter and not doing the very job they signed up for.

Companies can only get away with this kind of thing for so long. I sincerely wish they would take notice and take responsibility.

[nomad3]

You sound like a hate filled Democrat. I have had NO PROBLEMS with the Post Office. No packages, lost delayed or damaged throughout the DEMONrat made up USPS 'election mail problem'. Just another witch hunt against President Trump. 

[vintagecraze50]

I understand. I was and now am not pleased with the refund the buyer while the package is in transit and then it gets delivered and you loose everything. That is absolutely not right. Big Box stores may be able to unload truckloads of merch for free but small sellers cannot deal with that, and that is precisely why I switched to FED EX.

[electronics510]

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@nomad3 wrote:

By the way UPS is the WORST. 

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After a very large proportion of damaged packages, I won't ship UPS either so I agree with you.

USPS has been the most reliable for me out of the three and has improved a lot in recent years. This is my experience and my opinion though so I didn't want to argue with whoever about anecdotes or politics.

Bigger picture is eBay needs to start supporting sellers - they create the platform and are in complete control. There are going to be shipping problems, scammers and loons. That's why we supposedly use their platform and don't ship people stuff to people from craigslist. We pay eBay to be the arbiter. I don't see the upside at this point. I'd like them to take notice before it is too late.

[mxkid23]

I hear this frustration. I'm about done with ebay too.

For me, I do not ship with tracking , items are inexpensive and fit in an envelope. If i raise prices $3.50 to cover tracking, nobody buys anything, I've tried it, it doesn't work. So I take my chances. 99% of items are fine. Every now and then I get a not received, I send out a duplicate order, or I send a refund. STill cheaper than sending every item with tracking.

But the worst is the fact that ebay will use no common sense, or look through any communication between a buyer and seller.

Just an example, but a buyer could msg you and say "i dont like my item, send me a refund", and if you say no, report it and say they didn't receive it, ebay gives them their money back because no tracking was listed. Um... what?

Or another favorite,  I get the item back int he mail, bad address provided. I msg the person and ask if they moved or what the address is.. no response. Then they complain, then guess what, money back!!!

Or another, they open a case saying they didn't recieve it. I msg them, no response. Follow up again in 2 days, no response, asking "do you want a refund or do you want me to send another item".. no response. THen they escalate.. boom, case closed in favor of buyer!!!! 

And all of those cases go against me, sometimes it not even about the $ lost, more so the damage it does to your selling account.

Does ebay care? no. Do they use any common sense to look at these situations? no.  Aren't we the ones that make ebay money by selling things and dealing with this?

It's unbeliveable and I've never been so stressed on here as I have been in the past 3 weeks since usps service has gone to complete absolute **bleep**. My account for sure is going to drop below standard now, and then I won't sell a thing, and the only way to get above standard again, is to sell a TON of things and not have any INR cases.. well, I can't do that to fix my numbers, if I can't sell because they give me NO impressions on my listings.

Again.. no common sense with that logic either.

Ok im done ranting, i wish I could say I feel better but I dont.  Screw the little ppl on ebay, that made ebay what it was. Unless your a big corp selling thousands of items per week, you might as wsell kiss your @$$ goodbye with the way all of this is goinjg anymore.

[vintagecraze50]

Adding, I would loose much less merch and money PAYING for express service through FED EX to avoid all these problems.

[dbfolks166mt]

You should be aware that on December 2nd FedEx suspended its money back guarantee on express shipments until further notice. They too are having their own problems. 

[vintagecraze50]

The part about always refund the buyer even when you can make a decent case of fraud is really all about the buyers ability to force the issue regardless of what they can do to help. People have at their disposal an Arsenal of buyer protections legally and can, use their credit cards in a chargeback at will. It’s just a loosing battle with online sales anywhere when you get a criminal.

[vintagecraze50]

Zero problems with USPS pre Louis Dejoy. Massive problems with USPS after that.

[electronics510]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

You should be aware that on December 2nd FedEx suspended its money back guarantee on express shipments until further notice. They too are having their own problems. 

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UPS did the same 4 months ago now.

[yuzuha]

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@nomad3 wrote:

By the way UPS is the WORST. I have not used them in over 15 years now as they break, damage, run fork lifts through and run over items, and then tell me it was insufficient packaging. I use USPS and Fedex exclusively and have had very few problems.

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My previous job received most of its stock shipments via UPS and they mangled packages like you wouldn't believe. You couldn't pay me to ship via UPS after how some of our shipments arrived at work.

[electronics510]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Zero problems with USPS pre Louis Dejoy. Massive problems with USPS after that.

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'Zero problems' with the post office pre June 16, 2020?

I'm going to assume that is hyperbole.

[nomad3]

I agree with you.  I always seem forced to use tracking as Ebay wants to micro manage MY business, by telling me how to sell, and ship items, I have a lot (thousands) of smaller $10.00 and less items that I can not put on Ebay as they force me to have tracking or they punish me with my ratings and they actually put sellers on the 'no fly' list and don't show your items if you have what they call poor performance. You are right I can send a $4.00 item out for $1.00 without tracking, but Ebay rates sellers on that and then screws us over by making honest excellent sellers look like dead beats. In my 45 years of selling through the mail I have NEVER dealt with an outlet that forces so much **bleep** on sellers, which only wastes our time that we could be using to upload and sell more. The biggest problem I have is not being able to directly deal with buyers when things go wrong as I find many buyers will purchase and item and never even check their ebay emails for any info from me.  Buyers have a problem with reading my descriptions for all the information (it doesn't help when Ebay shoves my descriptions all the way to the bottom of the listing where it seems people don't go), as many times I will realize the buyer purchased the wrong item for his needs and I try to resolve problems before I send items. And again Ebay tries to force sellers to mail out items within one day or again our ratings suffer. So it leaves me with the choice of sending the wrong item out or cancelling the transaction, until the buyer responds. If I had a phone number usually a simple phone call would straighten the problem, but Ebay is so afraid of someone selling an item without getting their cut, they ban communications outside of Ebay and ruin things more and lose sales anyway due to disgusted sellers that quit Ebay. I mainly sell antique and classic automobile parts for vehicles that are 30 years and older, and the buyers usually don't have to have the item in three days.  Most are gathering parts for future restorations. But remember Ebay knows best.