Shipping on a snow day

[themcgrawcollection]

I have orders that have sold this weekend and will be shipped out on Monday. If the post office closes on Monday because of the snow what do I do?

[krazzykats]

Look for the next nearest one?  Or go downtown?

[buyselljack2016]

A winter storm at the seller's location could shut down a lot of places and travel to them.

but sort of odd that in 7 years that it has never happened before 🤔

[buyselljack2016]

You may have to ship late.

If severe enough eBay sometimes recognizes it and gives seller protections for the late shipping

[simba6]

Go to a larger city post office see if they are open.   May not be practical to do.   I set my handling time to three days to help some.

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@themcgrawcollection wrote:

I have orders that have sold this weekend and will be shipped out on Monday. If the post office closes on Monday because of the snow what do I do?

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 Some post offices do have lobbies open 24/7 (YMMV) that do have KIOSK's where you can scan your packages and drop them off through a package slot. YMMV Personally I would rather get a counter scan on something valuable but scanning smaller inexpensive items on the KIOSK does not worry me. If your post office has a drop slot that is secure and working. (Not jammed)

[lakefor94]

On another note.....  might consider putting your store in Time Away or extend handling times in case more orders come in. Give yourself some room until the weather clear up.

[themcgrawcollection]

My local does not it’s gonna be over 10 orders some are too big for a drop box

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@simba6 wrote:

Go to a larger city post office see if they are open.   May not be practical to do.   I set my handling time to three days to help some.

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If the weather is bad enough to close the seller's local PO, it's surely inadvisable for them to go wandering around looking for another PO that's open.  

Definitely the better strategy is to extend handling time and/or use Time Away, with the "Allow sales" option. It's too late now for the items that have already Sold, but putting one of those options into effect would at least buy some extra shipping  time for sales made from that time onward.

[wastingtime101]

Hi @themcgrawcollection . The first thing I would do is set up Time Away - you can allow sales during Away mode. See more on that below.

The second thing I would do is generate labels before the storm hits so tracking is uploaded. The estimated delivery date will usually cover you even if you get them to the carrier a day late, but worst case scenario you end up with a few late shipments.

If your PO is closed for more than 1 day you can contact your buyers to let them know about the delay, but if you're only a day late I wouldn't bother and just handle any inquiries as they come.

Depending on the severity of the storm and where it hits, eBay may extend seller protections for late deliveries, but I wouldn't bank on it. I'd prepare in advance.

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Here's the page about Time Away settings:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling-tools/time-away?id=5137

If you allow sales while away, make sure you read all the exclusions carefully.

Plan to have any auctions or offers end a week before you leave.

There's an option to set up an out of office auto-response within the Time Away settings.

Keep in mind you're still responsible for handling any return requests, claims or payment disputes that are filed while you're on Time Away.

[themcgrawcollection]

Thank you!

[a_c_green]

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@themcgrawcollection wrote:

My local does not it’s gonna be over 10 orders some are too big for a drop box

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Okay, if your PO has a history of closing in foul weather (which seems to go against the USPS motto, but we live in strange times 😉) then I would definitely extend your Handling time by a day or two until the problem weather has passed.

My own PO has never closed on the basis of a snowstorm, but it's a pretty good sized facility and not a Mom-and-Pop operation. No doubt smaller POs have different issues to deal with.

[lakefor94]

Many locations have gotten softer, err, safer over the years. I would roll with safer at this point...

In the 70's in Ohio, nothing ever stopped us from going to work aside from the blizzard of 78. That was a show stopper.

It was crazy what we drove through as far as snow and ice. No fear.

[slippinjimmy]

Forecast calls for 4" - 10" depending on which site I looked at. Very moderate winds so drifting will not be an issue. The heaviest snowfall will be over by Noon, after that it's pretty light.

I can see this causing some issues with local delivery but I can't believe that actual Post Offices would be closed.

[sunnydaze45]

We had Blizzard conditions all day in NE KS and our country roads have not been plowed.  All announcements are telling people to stay home unless emergency.  Hopefully my 4 pkgs can be mailed on Tuesday.  I contacted my buyers and explained the situation and they are OK with it..  Snow is 12 - 14" here and higher with the winds blowing drifts.  Unbelievable!!!