eBay

nicksnaxus · ‎12-09-2020

I've had all my USPS packages the past week not have any movement on them at all and now they are beyond the delivery date with ebay. In all cases they receive an origin scan, but never depart the facility. I've had issues with my medications and personal mail being lost lately as well, is this a local thing or are you guys experiencing major issues with the postal service? After all these refunds I'm considering just not using them as a carrier.

maxvr6 · ‎12-09-2020

Phoenix is our closest sorting hub and is an absolute mess right now. We send about 150 packages a week. Most of our orders are not being processed for 5-7 days and sent on their way. I file a e-mail inquiry with the USPS 6 days after the package has shipped and "missing mail" 13 days after the package ships. I spend several hours a day sending messages to customers. Doing this seems to appease our customers and so far we have only had to do 3 refunds in the past month. I only have one shipment so far that I am considering completely lost. I have spoken to post masters all over the country and every single one states they are in bad shape. Several have said to expect the average 1st class shipment to now take at least 7-10+ days and Priority to take 5-7 days. And, it might get worse over the next few weeks. The USPS really needs to put something out more detailed than "expect delays". Ebay is extending their estimated delivery dates out..but not to the point the they truly reflect the magnitude of the USPS delays.

If it is cost effective to ship UPS or Fed Ex..we do it. No issues with either so far.

gargoyle_0 · ‎12-11-2020

Totally agree to alternate shipper options, had major USPS issues in the spring and now that round two has begun with COVID its happening again. Whats really funny here is everything I had shipped to me via FEDEX or UPS gets right on through with no problem. So it seems to me if sellers wish to better insure continuity in their sales with a lot less USPS headaches change your shipper, if it costs the buyer a little more they'll be happier to get their item. I'll gladly pay more in shipping to get what I'm paying for and the seller would be happier knowing their buyer is happy, take the USPS out of the loop, they've earned their loss in revenue, leave letter mail to them and leave packages and parcels to the pros.

While I understand COVID issues presents special issues to contend with USPS just buries their head in the sand while other carriers mitigate difficulties with effective management !

lja440 · ‎12-11-2020

FedEx and UPS are about as bad now (but at least their CEO's haven't sabotaged them like our Postmaster General has).

I have been with USPS as a rural carrier since 2000. I'd say that USPS has had the perfect storm. 1. we have been hit with covid hard, some offices and sorting centers have close to 25% of the staff out quarantined. 2. People are socail distancing and buying on-line things that they would normally pick up at the store. I have delivered cases upon cases of paper towels, TP, diapers, dog food, cat litter, energy drinks. I have delivered this past year around a dozen matresses and even a refrigerator. 3. tRump gave the Postmaster General job to a toady who "donated" over 2.5 MILLION dollars to tRump and is being investigated as a straw donor. This man immediately set out to sabotage USPS to rig the election by hampering absentee voting as tRump tried to get his voters to wait and vote in person dispite the pandemic. DeJoy locked out and in some cases scrapped multi million dollar sorting machines. These can not be repaced easily and the locked out ones often had the computer systems that ran them removed.

USPS will recover but I don't see it happening until DeJoy is removed. So far my packages are arriving fairly quickly I have had some issues when people have unbeknown to me switched to FedEx. I had a extensive lot of pigments tossed out at the end of my driveway, I almost ran over them as it is a blind turn into the drive. Another package over $200 worth of sterling silver jewelry findings showed delivered on the 8th by FedEx with the note that they were signed for. When I and the seller inquired about the GPS location of the delivery the tracking changed to a invalid tracking number.

So for now as much as it pains me to say it, it is probably best to ease back on buying anything that needs shipping and do curbside pick up whenever you can.

vintagecraze50 · ‎12-11-2020

Totally switched to Fed Ex Express 2 day and adjusted my prices to compensate for any extra costs. Actually FED ex with Ebay’s Really great corporate discount for smaller items is not that much more than Priority Mail and all my packages are getting to people ultra fast and people are happy as a lark. My Sales have gone through the roof this week BECAUSE PEOPLE KNOW They will not get their items on time especially for Christmas with USPS. Use expedited shipping with another carrier, or deal with late lost packages, free merch to customers who file INR, AND loads of stress.

masonbates · ‎12-11-2020

My packages seem to go to the New Jersey sorting facility and die. One package was lost there in August. Packages that arrived there on Dec 3rd are still there and I’m losing hope they will ever make it to their destination. I’ve stopped eBaying now. Not worth the risk. I sent everything priority with insurance but I’m sure it will take ages to get reimbursed- if ever.

goldguy22k · ‎12-11-2020

@gsmith1977 wrote:
Finally had movement on a laptop I shipped Parcel Select with Hazmat UN3481. Opened a case and they said it could take three weeks and they don't scan Hazmat Items until they reach destination. Why have tracking then? I had to refund the buyer due to this. Luckily this buyer is so far being nice and will help me to return the item once he receives it. Terrible Service from USPS this year for sure.. I have had more lost cases opened than previous years.

@gsmith1977

While it sounds like you have a reasonable buyer here, but you might wish to consider an alternative?

The USPS has a Package Intercept service where you can get the package returned to you. yes, it has a cost, but it might insure that you get the item back. A buyer who receives a late package might not be obligated to return the item to you, nor send you a payment. We all know it is the 'right' thing or moral thing to do, but.

Package Intercept Service

BTW - there is terrible service from ALL of the shippers these days, not just the USPS. Pandemic and Holiday shipping volumes have hit all of them hard.

dbfolks166mt · ‎12-11-2020

A few things you should know about FedEx. The first is that on 2 December they suspended their money back guarantee on express shipments until further notice. The second is the FedEx shipping through eBay is only an estimate when you ship the package. Be aware of unilateral charges to you eBay account from FedEx that are adjustments to the actual cost of the FedEx shipping.

goldguy22k · ‎12-11-2020

@valkseller wrote:
Same issue here. Especially items being shipped from NY to the southern US. Normally tracking would show:
USPS in Possession
Departure scan from my post office
Process scan through regional distribution center
Arrival scans at destination facilities.

Now, nothing more than USPS in possession. All items are late. Worse than any other holiday season.
Yet the USPS website still shows Priority mail deadline of Dec 19th (5 days max). Items I shipped on Nov 30 are still not delivered. How can they 'promise' 5 days? Pre-paid shipping labels are still showing no more than 3 day delivery. It's a joke.

I feel sorry for sellers that are in the GDP (guaranteed delivery program).

I think the safe thing to do is move handling times out to maybe 4 days to cover for the delays at USPS.

@valkseller

Hey, that comment above stepped on a hot button for me, so forgive my reply. We saw some confusion when this was rolled out, so hoping a comment can help clear up any misconception that might be out there?

Not sure why the GDP is a concern of sellers? eBay adds that to a listing and takes the economic hit if the delivery times are not met, not the seller. In fact the GD is a great tool that buyers look for, so that helps sellers. I look for items and am often willing to pay a couple of bucks more for an item that has a GD.

So when a GD item misses eBay's estimated delivery date (EDD) then eBay gives the buyer several options: free return of the item (paid for by eBay, not the seller) or a $5 voucher to use for another purchase. eBay bears the cost of the voucher, not the seller and the seller's metrics are protected when a missed GD happens.

Guaranteed Delivery Program

bikesnbuses · ‎12-11-2020

Suddenly..THIS is the new norm on ebay>> High shipping volumes are causing some delays. Please allow extra time.

>>>>LAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TOTAL **bleep**! Ive had items that I purchased that shipped over a WEEK ago now delayed..**bleep**..

THIS!! >>>>>>USPS will recover but I don't see it happening until DeJoy is removed. <<<<<<<<<<

Ever since that piece of human garbage took over,USPS has been a disaster! HE is a worse disease than Covid (Well..for the USPS function part..Covid-19 itself is HORRIFIC)

goldguy22k · ‎12-11-2020

@oldold-timer wrote:
You can update your handling times to 5 or 10 days and that will make little difference. Once your package is scanned by USPS, eb will update the EDD's shown to buyer to a overly optimistic delivery date. If your package does not arrive by the updated date, the buyer can do a INR claim, one day after the updated delivery date.

Are you aware that eBay has extended the time that a seller has to respond to an INR Case?

See this link:

Helping Buyers Understand Shipping Delays.....

I filed an INR Case just the other day, because there was NO tracking information posted and item didn't arrive. I was told I had to wait another 6-working days before eBay would step in. So the 'system' has been adjusted and is working. Sellers are getting some relief from eBay due to the system wide disruptions.

Also sellers should be aware that for moderate or expensive items USPS has a Package Intercept service. Thus IF a seller has to refund, they can at least recall their package and get it back, thus reducing the loss to the business.

dbfolks166mt · ‎12-12-2020

It is irrelevant that eBay has extended the time a seller has to "Respond" to a INR case it is the fact that the buyers still have the ability to open an INR case 1 day after the EDD. There is no relief although it may ward off some of the scammers that are/were leveraging the delays. For high volume sellers the eBay solution simply puts an excessive burden on tracking and monitoring a potential deluge of INR cases and updating each one if and when the delivery is actually made during the additional 6 day timeline extension.

Adding another 6 days before the buyer is able to escalate the case just delays the inevitable given the USPS shipping delays in most cases are going beyond the 6 day extension. And if the seller forgets to update the INR case information showing delivery and the buyer escalates the case I think we all know the outcome in that scenario.

outdatedrecreated · ‎12-12-2020

This is par for the course with USPS and has been for decades.

jrkirk · ‎12-12-2020

Yes, but how far did they get?

jrkirk · ‎12-12-2020

@yuzuha wrote:
It's a local thing. Everything I've shipped lately has been processed through my local sort facility and sent on their way the night I shipped them.

Yes, but how far did they get?

goldguy22k · ‎12-12-2020

@dbfolks166mt

Well I guess that is one way to look at things.

The other way would be to look at the situation and see what each seller could do to help them self, rather than waiting on someone else to do something for them.

Have seen several sellers report that they are communicating with their buyers, explaining the situation with ÇOVID-19 hitting the USPS HARD: Staffing at some location 25% due to Quarantined workers; Higher stay-at-home volume; and HIGH holiday volume leading to delays. Those sellers report that most buyers are understanding and willing to wait. Looks like those sellers have taken actions that stave off INR cases.

But then again there is a number of "I want it all, I want in now" people who refuse any empathy or have any recognition of the results of the pandemic. I guess those people will never be satisfied, but you don't know which buyers you have until you try.

So sellers can complain about eBay's practices and do nothing and likely get run over by INR cases, or sellers can communicate with buyers and help educate them as to why there are delays. I guess smart sellers might send links to the news reports about local backups and outages. Certainly there are many listed in these threads.

Finally I see a fair number of sellers that just throw up their hand, quit, pack it in and go away. That is an option too. I suspect most sellers are trying to work with their buyers to stave off disaster.

There is no answer that fits all sellers so each has to decide which situation fits? Each seller has to decide: Willing to adapt? Whine because no one does for you? Or a Quitter?

Good luck!