eBay

barginbettyspotpouri · ‎06-21-2017

I travel a bit since i Retired and have always placed my store in Vacation Settings But allow buyers to still shop with a note that I will return and ship on a certain date. I always notify a buyer that as stated I am on vacation and the delay in shipping item. If buyer needs item sooner and did not see disclaimer then i will either get my daughter to buzz by and ship or offer immediate cancellation of order their choice. Never had any issues. The problem is this? I started getting messages from ebay that i had Late shipments and lost my top rated seller status. I have very rarely if ever been late with a shipment except when in Vacation settings. I know this is dumb question now but I assumed in Vacation mode any fixed price listings are not charged a shipping delay by Ebay, Is that not true? Is the only way to avoid this to put a block totally on Listings when on Vacation??

partial*eclipse · ‎06-21-2017

@barginbettyspotpouri wrote:
... I assumed in Vacation mode any fixed price listings are not charged a shipping delay by Ebay, Is that not true? Is the only way to avoid this to put a block totally on Listings when on Vacation??

That is a reasonable inference, but unfortunately incorrect. The basic vacation setting is nothing more than an "Away" message and ebay expects you to ship within the handling time that is stated in your listings. If you peek at your listings while you're on vacation, you'll see that the estimated delivery dates are based on the regular handling time and the shipping service, with no regard to your vacation dates.

Many sellers have been caught up in this, and eBay has ignored pleas to merely update the explanations in their writeups about vacation settings. eBay has a live chat with staff every Wednesday afternoon at 1 PM Pacific time (4 PM Easter). If you have a chance to show up, you can add your voice to this request. In your post, include a link to this thread.

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Weekly-Community-Chat-June-21st-1pm-PT-Prom...

Most weeks are "General topics," but the official topic this week is "Promoted listings" so it might be better to wait a week. (Or do it twice!)

barginbettyspotpouri · ‎06-21-2017

Thank you so much!!!The overdue shipping notice is what helped me "Catch" the issue...Makes no sense to me how you have the ability to do a Vacation status but not be allowed the option for delayed shipping that will not effect your shipping times. I now understand why my Shipping defect rate has dropped.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-22-2017

Some sellers who don't want to hide their listings will bulk edit and extend their handling time so that they can still ship within their handling time.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-22-2017

Some sellers who don't want to hide their listings will bulk edit and extend their handling time so that they dont get dinged with late shipments.

partial*eclipse · ‎06-22-2017

The vacation settings for Stores have been around for a long time. They pre-date all of the eBay evaluation criteria that are related to shipping time; they even predate the DSR system. So there was no need to make a big deal out of handling time in addition to the "Away" message.

Now many sellers get in trouble because eBay refuses to just update the vacation policy help pages.

pargran3 · ‎06-22-2017

The vacation settings for a store are very clear. If you leave it open for purchases you are still liable to abide by your terms of shipping times in spite of any disclaimer. Very simple.

Change the handling time or use the setting that makes it impossible for anyone to make a purchase.

I have no idea why those with stores cannot grasp that concept. It is black and white.

Radine

partial*eclipse · ‎06-22-2017

If the help page about vacation settings actually was clear, we wouldn't be seeing a post nearly every day from a seller who misunderstood it.

pargran3 · ‎06-22-2017

When setting vacation setting in the manage my store it is NOT unclear in the least bit.

Stores being around before TRS, shipping obligations and on and on is simply not relevant.

Once upon a time a seller did not have to specify shipping costs.

The seller whether with a store or not is obliged to stick to the shipping times (and everything else) chosen by that seller.

Nobody is priviledged. Nobody has different policies.

A mistake was made in setting the vacation settings. The possible consequences and different options are cystal clear.

Radine

Anonymous · ‎10-01-2017

When turning on vacation settings for your store it says nothing about extending your handling and shipping times to avoid late shipments. I've had two different CSR tell me this is a known issue at eBay that has been brought up in meetings within eBay before. Your remarks about dual standards and special treatment are uncalled for. eBay can easily fix this problem by including this information on the vacation setting page.

thomas_cinci · ‎01-13-2019

The utterly pathetic Ebay "solution" is that the "vacation mode" is 100% useless and as idiotic as it is, sellers still get dinged for "late shipments" despite all customers knowing and understanding that they won't get their items shipped prior to the end of the vacation mode.

Somebody at Ebay is smoking stuff that is not legal everywhere to make such completely idiotic policies.

thomas_cinci · ‎01-13-2019

Probably because **bleep** ebay does not tell anybody anywhere and nobody in a healthy mental state would assume that if you set a "vacation mode" you would have to still ship items.... that is simply completely idiotic.

musicyouneed · ‎01-14-2019

This may help.

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Vacation-settings-and-out-of-office-reply/m-p/415629

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Leaving-Store-open-while-on-Vacation-The-Results/m-p/416...

robot-hands · ‎01-14-2019

Vacation mode is only a pink box with text in it that no one reads, that's it.

It is absolutely useless as is and way past time ebay updated it

starlog-toys · ‎03-11-2020

"...despite all customers knowing and understanding that they won't get their items shipped prior to the end of the vacation mode"

But there could always be ONE stupid customer who doesn't know or understand, and eBay doesn't want to have to deal w/ that ONE customer, or lose that ONE customer. They want $$$$$$$$$$$. And more $.

eBay knows the seller will put up w/ just about anything. eBay knows that the educated seller knows he is helpless in many situations. And they don't care.