eBay

wereskrull · ‎07-03-2022

Why do sellers constantly mark items as "shipped" when they haven't actually shipped it? Doesn't "shipped" mean "in the possession of delivery service"?

Why is it such common practice to tell a buyer that their order has shipped when it isn't seen by USPS/UPS/FedEx until several days later?

Is this ebay? Does printing a shipping label automatically make purchases "shipped"? Or is it something else?

themath_64 · ‎07-04-2022

Here's an example of Ebay's definitions and practices causing an issue that I'm dealing with right now.

Bought item June 22. Delivery estimate July 5-7

Seller claims "Will usually ship within 1 business day of receiving cleared payment."

No tracking info as of today (4 July) - not even the "label generated" tracking. Nothing.

No communication responding to my query about when its going to ship (sent messages 6, 8, and 10 days after paying).

Unable to have ebay step in until after July 7 because of their asinine policy claiming its shipped when I've received no tracking and no communication. With the shipping level I paid for even if he ships it tomorrow it will not get here by the 7th. So I open a dispute on the 8th, seller has 3 days to respond. Seller doesn't respond and I get decision on the 11th. Another 2ish days to credit and I'm out 3 weeks of time when I could have gone to someone else and bought the item for a similar price (but is now out of stock).

Thanks ebay... much appreciated.

Seller didn't live up to his handling claim. I should be able to open a dispute at this point, but the Ebay system won't let me. It's wrong.

themath_64 · ‎07-04-2022

I have pointed out the flaws in counting on the delivery date when the delivery date is a moving target and/or the delivery date is held to regardless whether or not the seller has shipped before one can file a dispute and move on.

yuzuha · ‎07-04-2022

@themath_64 wrote:
I bolded the part that is the difference between online companies and some sellers on Ebay which is why this question is asked so much. Digikey, Mouser, Newark, Amazon... They all generate a tracking number before courier acceptance, but the courier gets the package the next day. Then there are some sellers on ebay who think getting the package to the courier in the 1-2 days they themselves claim they do is optional. I had one experience with a seller who claimed domestic stock, but it was taking so long it was going to miss the delivery window (a week before a deadline I had for a project).

I've had some companies take 2-4 days to get things in the mail once the "Your order has shipped" email has gone out-- it's not a big deal. If you have an extremely strict deadline by which you need an item, you need to be either ordering it from a place that has a guaranteed delivery date or ordering it a couple of weeks in advance of when you actually need it, because postal delays do happen sometimes. I had a shipped via FedEx package from an online store that was a birthday present for a friend get delayed for nearly a week once due to weather. Fortunately, I had ordered it far enough in advance that even with the delay it still arrived in plenty of time.

themath_64 · ‎07-04-2022

@yuzuha wrote:
I've had some companies take 2-4 days to get things in the mail once the "Your order has shipped" email has gone out-- it's not a big deal. If you have an extremely strict deadline by which you need an item, you need to be either ordering it from a place that has a guaranteed delivery date or ordering it a couple of weeks in advance of when you actually need it, because postal delays do happen sometimes. I had a shipped via FedEx package from an online store that was a birthday present for a friend get delayed for nearly a week once due to weather. Fortunately, I had ordered it far enough in advance that even with the delay it still arrived in plenty of time.

I don't think giving myself a week before a deadline is unreasonable.
Some items I need are either sold out or simply aren't sold by places with a "guaranteed" delivery date.
How does any of that change the fact that ebay's system is broken?
There was no weather or any other event with the courier that caused delays in any of my shipments. Each case was a seller abusing the system because of the way "shipped" is defined.

When a seller ships an item is not big deal to me either provided the seller actually follows their own handling estimates. If a seller said 2-4 days and they actually shipped in 2-4 days, I wouldn't consider it a big deal either. An extra day beyond their handling estimates isn't a big deal either. As for the whole "if you need sometime time sensitive, use another platform," I could counter that with "if a seller can't adhere to a handling time they themselves set (AFAIK ebay didn't put a gun to their head and demand a specific handling window), either extend the handling time or get help." Sellers want to have short handling times because they're afraid of they don't they'll "miss out on sales" but at the same time they don't want to have to be held to the standard they have set for themselves. Sorry, but you can't have it both ways.

I don't think its a huge ask for a seller to actually ship within the time frame they claim they will after payment is received. No acceptance scan is (somewhat) forgivable. A day or two extra handling time is forgivable. A week to two weeks delay sometimes with no communication or outright lying to me that it's been shipped is not forgivable. Unfortunately ebay does nothing to let buyers get their money back in an expedited fashion when an item hasn't really been shipped especially when a buyer doesn't even get the oh-so-precious "a tracking number has been provided" psuedo-ship message.

gabesden · ‎07-04-2022

As a seller, I Hope to Help anyone wondering about this!
Yes! The minute that I print a shipping label, I have "also" now paid for the shipping" and the system will show "Shipped". However, there is also a "Tracking" number generated, and if you click on your tracking number ( comes when your being told "Item has Shipped" (click in that email notice for tracking number)..it will show it has or has "not" been "received " by shipping company. (ex. USPS).

This is what lets you know the package is now with the shipper and out of the hands of seller!

The very moment an item is dropped off with the shipper, it is "Scanned" and now its immediately showing your item is in the hands of the shipper not the seller! Its really on its way!

I will at times myself or staff go ahead and get label(s) printed and item(s) boxed night/day or weekend/holiday, just before it goes out. So we can ship out ASAP. This is very likely what is going on with most sellers! Just look for "Received" by shipper, that's what you are wanting to know.

Lastly, FYI, if a seller prints a label too early, or gets delayed in getting to the shipper, the label will be canceled and they have to get a refund, and do it all over again! So most do not want to do it any earlier (if memory serves me right) any earlier than 48 hrs. I know once I print a label (or our clinics staff does), its going to be out the door within 24 hrs!

Hope this helps everyone.

Sincerely,
Gabe

themath_64 · ‎07-04-2022

@gabesden wrote:
if you click on your tracking number ( comes when your being told "Item has Shipped" (click in that email notice for tracking number)..it will show it has or has "not" been "received " by shipping company. (ex. USPS).
This is what lets you know the package is now with the shipper and out of the hands of seller!

This is not something anyone disputes or doesn't understand. People know the difference between "tracking number has been generated" or equivalent language and an actual scan by a courier.

@gabesden wrote:
The very moment an item is dropped off with the shipper, it is "Scanned" and now its immediately showing your item is in the hands of the shipper not the seller! Its really on its way!

In the case of USPS, this is not 100% true according to other sellers. Other sellers have stated the two most common reasons for not having an acceptance scan with USPS at the time of drop off is either a) the seller "doesn't have time" to go to a post office and observe them getting scanned and/or b) the USPS site doesn't scan them on acceptance (which is technically against policy, but it supposedly doesn't stop them). I think this is where all the contention comes from when it comes to using USPS as the courier if (b) above is the only factor (in my opinion, if [a] is your excuse, too bad. wait for the scan or accept you're potentially bringing a situation upon yourself). EDIT - if (b) is the only factor, then it will get scanned somewhere along the way and should happen before or during the expected delivery window and this case getting an acceptance scan is moot.

@gabesden wrote:
Lastly, FYI, if a seller prints a label too early, or gets delayed in getting to the shipper, the label will be canceled and they have to get a refund, and do it all over again!

If the label is cancelled, the shipper would have to send me a new tracking number. I don't have a lot of buys, but in the three instances where a package was delayed, I was never given a new tracking number. How early is "too early"? I had one instance where a package was literally two weeks from label generation to acceptance scan. If ebay or USPS cancelled labels after a certain time, why didn't I get a new tracking number? What is ebay's policy for cancelling a label because as a buyer I don't have any visibility into their policy.

yuzuha · ‎07-04-2022

@themath_64 wrote:
When a seller ships an item is not big deal to me either provided the seller actually follows their own handling estimates. If a seller said 2-4 days and they actually shipped in 2-4 days, I wouldn't consider it a big deal either. An extra day beyond their handling estimates isn't a big deal either. As for the whole "if you need sometime time sensitive, use another platform," I could counter that with "if a seller can't adhere to a handling time they themselves set (AFAIK ebay didn't put a gun to their head and demand a specific handling window), either extend the handling time or get help." Sellers want to have short handling times because they're afraid of they don't they'll "miss out on sales" but at the same time they don't want to have to be held to the standard they have set for themselves. Sorry, but you can't have it both ways.

A seller who is not adhering to their handling time will be penalized for it in their metrics, which will land them with defects and end their time as a seller. As a seller myself, I can tell you for a fact that you can't just print a label and have that count as shipping within your handling time-- you HAVE to get an acceptance scan within your handling time for it to count, OR it has to be delivered by the estimated delivery date. As long as one of the two happens, you're good. But if you don't get that acceptance scan AND it's not delivered on time, you'll get a ding on your metrics. Enough dings and your selling career is over.

themath_64 · ‎07-04-2022

@yuzuha wrote:
A seller who is not adhering to their handling time will be penalized for it in their metrics, which will land them with defects and end their time as a seller. As a seller myself, I can tell you for a fact that you can't just print a label and have that count as shipping within your handling time-- you HAVE to get an acceptance scan within your handling time for it to count, OR it has to be delivered by the estimated delivery date. As long as one of the two happens, you're good. But if you don't get that acceptance scan AND it's not delivered on time, you'll get a ding on your metrics. Enough dings and your selling career is over.

Are the dings to end a selling career based on a percentage or an absolute value like strikes?