How to handle a request for faster shipping after an order has already been placed - help needed!

[shmee17]

A buyer has purchased a book from me using Media Mail shipping (that's usually the only shipping I offer for books). I then received a message from them asking if there's any way I could ship the book fast enough for it to arrive by next Friday, as it's a gift for someone's birthday. I'd be happy to help them out with faster shipping, but I've never encountered this situation before and am unsure how to handle it. I'd rather not pay for faster shipping out of my own pocket as the difference in price for guaranteed delivery by next Friday is significant. If I offer to cancel the order (the buyer has already paid), can I then relist the book right away with faster shipping options and let the buyer place a new order? That's the only idea I've been able to come up with so far, but I'm not sure whether it's a simple solution or will involve other problems I don't know about/am not thinking of.  Thanks for any help!

[mtgraves7984 · Accepted solution]

Your idea sounds as good as any. Remember that there's a USPS holiday on Monday... so 'by Friday' is a big promise. When you go to relist... offer Priority ($) and then one even faster ($$) than that. Your buyer can choose. Good luck.

[lamber9347]

You already have the solution! Cancel transaction, relist with expedited shipping, buyer purchases a second time, and everyone wins! Best of luck to you.....

[12345jamesstamps]

Buyers will request a certain timeframe and if it doesn't arrive in that timeframe....buyer can request a refund of anything they can think of.

It's just a book, for heaven's sake...would I go out of my way to say it will get to you....be it rainstorm, hurricane, tornado, hail or whatever? I would never make a promise like that.

Ask the buyer to send additional money if they want it quicker "first"...and I still wouldn't guarantee it arrive on said date.

I celebrate my birthday for a week. Anything can go wrong on the date it must arrive....tracking can shown not arrived on that date but it did.

If you have the time to deal with this go for it. Just think what might happen after it eventually arrives. You might still have to deal with the problem. And check this buyer's feedback as well.

[shmee17]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I'm feeling much more confident about how to handle this now. I won't make any guarantees/promises to the buyer (who has lots of positive feedback, fortunately), but will offer to cancel and relist the book with expedited shipping. Appreciate the good luck wishes too 🙂 Enjoy the long weekend!

[frankenhobbit]

You need to be sure to check the feedback they have LEFT for others too. Buyers can only ever receive positive feedback and a lot of sellers automate that.