How long should a seller be given to ship and item out?

[zljones]

I was just wondering what the general consensus is for how much leniancy a Ebay seller should get for shipping an item out. Nowadays Ebay has their new electronic shipping that allows you to print a label and package it up and send right out. Me having sold item I find it real convienent and ship within 24 hours after I get payment. From doing this I often wonder why other sellers still take a few days to ship after I pay since I know first hand how easy it is.

This leads me to the question of how many days after you make a payment do you expect the seller to physically ship it out. This excludes special shipping like international or other items that have to be brought into a P.O. office, like something real heavy.

I also hate when a seller makes a shipping label then does not simply drop it in the mailbox. How many days after the payment should they get?

[Leon]

For me, 5-10 business days is fine after payment. I think people get way too wound up about a few days. I generally ship within 2-3 days but I don't expect that nor do I care. I am sure others won't be as patient.

[x2drich2000]

I'm fine with 3-4 business days after payment is received. Keep in mind, not everyone on Ebay is a full-time seller. People may travel for work, life happens, things come up.

More importantly though, you need to look at what they say their processing time will be. If they say it will ship in a week, then you should expect that it could take a week. If they say it will ship in 24 hours, then that should be your expectation.

DJ

[zljones]

I'm fine with 3-4 business days after payment is received. Keep in mind, not everyone on Ebay is a full-time seller. People may travel for work, life happens, things come up.

More importantly though, you need to look at what they say their processing time will be. If they say it will ship in a week, then you should expect that it could take a week. If they say it will ship in 24 hours, then that should be your expectation.

DJ

O yea definately I think what I should have said is if they say they ship within a day then how long should it be expected? I see some that say they will will ship in a day or so then do not do that.

[kmac32]

I figure a week is appropriate unless there are extenuating circumstances. I have been selling many things on EBay in the last couple of months and have the luxury of a near by post office so I send frequently. Once it's sold, I want it out of my house so I do so quickly. Some sellers can make it to the post office once a week so there is some lee way. My pet peeve however is someone that snipes an item but they wait a week to pay. eBay police is no more than 4 days, so some people are abusing the system. I tend to pay quickly and expect the same from my buyers. I've always said if you can afford an item when you bid on it, then you probably shouldn't bid on an item. Guess it is what people have learned to do, but it is still not right.

[rainier2004]

I'm fine with 3-4 business days after payment is received. Keep in mind, not everyone on Ebay is a full-time seller. People may travel for work, life happens, things come up.

More importantly though, you need to look at what they say their processing time will be. If they say it will ship in a week, then you should expect that it could take a week. If they say it will ship in 24 hours, then that should be your expectation.

DJ

Agreed

[ibuysportsephemera]

As a seller, I try to ship the same day if it is at all possible and 98% of my packages go out the very next morning.

Jeff (sportmags on eBay)

[Wite3]

I ship the next day when I rarely sell or trade but I live within 2 miles of a post office. I used to buy from an ebay seller that always took between 5-7 days to ship it out. I finally asked him why and he said he lives in an area where the closest post office is 35 miles away so he only drives into town once a week. That I understand. Reminded this city boy that people still live in the country.

Joshua

[ibuysportsephemera]

I ship the next day when I rarely sell or trade but I live within 2 miles of a post office. I used to buy from an ebay seller that always took between 5-7 days to ship it out. I finally asked him why and he said he lives in an area where the closest post office is 35 miles away so he only drives into town once a week. That I understand. Reminded this city boy that people still live in the country.

Joshua

Good point Joshua, my post office is less than a mile from my house.

[abrahamrudy]

I've sold cards on ebay before, but because I'm not a regular seller, I don't have regularly scheduled trips to the PO. So I end up taking them whenever I have a spare hour between 9:30 and 4:30. Sometimes will take me 3 or 4 days to get to it. As a result, I'm usually ok if a seller ships to me within a week or so of payment.

[iwantitiwinit]

Sometimes you guys crack me up, almost like its xmas and you can't wait to open a present. I'm happy if I receive a card within 10 days of making payment and I don't see it as any big deal if I don't receive it for 2 weeks. It's just a card after all and I like to think I'm an adult and can have some patience. I can understand if someone doesn't get a chance to get to the post office until the weekend because they work during the week and can't get around to it, it's just not a big deal to me. I've got plenty of other cards I can look at if I choose in the interim.

[egbeachley]

6 days. I end auctions on a Sunday and go to the Post Office on Sunday.

[thecatspajamas]

More importantly though, you need to look at what they say their processing time will be. If they say it will ship in a week, then you should expect that it could take a week. If they say it will ship in 24 hours, then that should be your expectation.

DJ

Bingo! That's exactly why eBay has a way for sellers to specify their own shipping windows. And even when they go outside their stated timeline, consider that they probably set that up a year ago, and there could be extenuating circumstances that slowed them down this week. Ask them nicely if there's a reason for the delay before raking them over the coals.

A couple more things to keep in mind before griping at a seller because you think they should ship quicker:

How many items and of what type do they sell per day/week? If it's 3 cards per week, expecting them to drop those in mailers and in the mail box the next day is probably reasonable. If they have a couple hundred items of all different shapes and sizes ending the same day, expect them to be human and not have all that packed up within 24 hours. Also, not everything fits in a mail box, and if your postman is like mine, he won't be happy with you foisting a hundred or so packages on him because you don't want to schlep them to the post office yourself. In my book, an unhappy postal worker is not a good thing, and you'd be better off waiting another day or two rather than trusting Furious George to handle your purchase.

And not everyone uses eBay to print their shipping labels or takes the time to enter the tracking numbers into eBay to show you that your package has been shipped. Personally, I use stamps.com simply because I don't like the way and length of time that eBay stores shipping information. The buyer gets an e-mail when the item ships with the tracking number for their package, but I still get hot e-mails from people demanding to know why their package hasn't shipped (because it doesn't show as shipped in eBay) despite having received that e-mail.

Bottom line is, just remember that everyone doesn't necessarily do things your way. They have their reasons, and it's usually not that they're just a lazy jerk. :p

[wonkaticket]

Agree with Leon 5-10 business days perhaps even a few days more. People have to remember not everyone who is selling on eBay is doing it full time, some have day jobs.

Buyers should be patient same for sellers on the payment thing. Nothing like getting on a plane bound for Asia. Landing getting to my hotel opening my non-business email and having 2-3 unpaid item reminders for something that ended 24-48 hrs ago at $47.55.

Cheers,

John

[Exhibitman]

Good points Leon and John. I try to ship w/in 24 hours of payment but that doesn't always hold true so my default Ebay setting is several days. I have no issue as long as the seller sticks to a listed time frame. I definitely hate receiving the multiple pestering emails from sellers--seems like it is always a cheapo item where that happens. I wait an extra day or two to pay those, just because...

[LEHR]

When I sell on ebay (rarely) I always state in my auctions that I will ship withing five days of receiving payment. This time frame was due to my previous work schedule where at times I could only get to the PO on Saturdays. If I have the time I'll ship the item out the next day after receiving payment.

[Deertick]

I ship the next day when I rarely sell or trade but I live within 2 miles of a post office. I used to buy from an ebay seller that always took between 5-7 days to ship it out. I finally asked him why and he said he lives in an area where the closest post office is 35 miles away so he only drives into town once a week. That I understand. Reminded this city boy that people still live in the country.

Joshua

Any package that has a printed label (paid) can be given to the postman for shipment. There is no excuse, with the exception of an apartment building with no outgoing box, rare, but I've heard legends of such an animal. Now if the seller does not own a printer and must do his transactions in person, that is another story. But the shipping details should reflect that. Don't say "within 48 hrs" if you only "go to town" once a week. Say what you do and do what you say.

[zljones]

Any package that has a printed label (paid) can be given to the postman for shipment. There is no excuse, with the exception of an apartment building with no outgoing box, rare, but I've heard legends of such an animal. Now if the seller does not own a printer and must do his transactions in person, that is another story. But the shipping details should reflect that. Don't say "within 48 hrs" if you only "go to town" once a week. Say what you do and do what you say.

+1

[kmac32]

Just as important question. How long should a buyer be allowed to pay for an item? Ebay states must be paid within 48 hours which is reasonable. Have had a few buyers wait 10 days to pay which is waaaaaaaay to long.

[zljones]

Just as important question. How long should a buyer be allowed to pay for an item? Ebay states must be paid within 48 hours which is reasonable. Have had a few buyers wait 10 days to pay which is waaaaaaaay to long.

For me it depends, I give buyers 5 days to pay, and if they need more time than that I expect communication. If it goes beyond the 5 days I send a friendly reminder, and some pay right after that because they plain forgot to pay, then when I have someone not respond I open a dispute. Last time I had a buyer not pay and not respond I called up Ebay and reported the buyer, because I noticed in his feedback that he had done this to other sellers over time. Since you can't leave negative feedback, this guy was getting away with it, Ebay acted and got his buying prevledges revoked.

[kmac32]

For me it depends, I give buyers 5 days to pay, and if they need more time than that I expect communication. If it goes beyond the 5 days I send a friendly reminder, and some pay right after that because they plain forgot to pay, then when I have someone not respond I open a dispute. Last time I had a buyer not pay and not respond I called up Ebay and reported the buyer, because I noticed in his feedback that he had done this to other sellers over time. Since you can't leave negative feedback, this guy was getting away with it, Ebay acted and got his buying prevledges revoked.

I handle it basically the same way you mentioned. The problem becomes when the buyer doesn't respond to communication. Had several do that recently. I have one that won an auction and emailed asking to pay on a certain date which I agreed to and then that date came and went and now they don't respond to e-mail. Opening a case on them tomorrow. My feeling is don't ask for special treatment and then not live up to their end of the deal. Kind of annoying.

[buymycards]

I sold about 20 items in the past two weeks and I have opened 5 NPB's. I always send an invoice after 4 days, then the NPB after seven days. My guess is that none of these guys will pay and we are talking about items in the $2 to $10 range. If they can't pay right away then they should send me a message and I will hold the item for as long as they like. Most of my items lately have been auctions and it seems like the problem has gotten worse. When I had BIN/Best Offer items I didn't have nearly as many problems.

This problem could be solved easily by ebay. If a buyer has an open NPB then they should not be allowed to bid on anything on ebay until they have paid for the previous items.

As far as shipping, I package products before I leave for work at 6 am and I ship them that day. Anything that is paid for after I leave for work will be packaged that evening and shipped the next day.

[BCauley]

A seller should be allowed to take as long as is stated in their listing. A buyer should read and understand these terms when bidding/buying.

In regards to buying, I see no reason why an item shouldn't be paid for within three days max of the listings end. I know not everyone does this and I don't expect everyone to do what I do, but I believe that if you don't have the money on hand at the time you bid/buy, then don't do it.

With that said, I always ship NLT the next business mailing day when selling and I pay within 2 hours max of the items end, typically within 5 minutes.

[dog*dirt]

Since I usually would only sell a few cards on Ebay, what I used to do was that I would use the number of days it took for the buyer to pay as the number days it would take my to ship. Example would be if you paid 9 days after auction ends then I would wait 9 days to ship. It is a little more restrictive now for sellers that in order to maintain your top rated seller status you must print your shipping label within 1 business day. As a buyer I enjoy prompt shipping but am understanding if it takes a week or two.

[pariah1107]

Purchased this 1936 cello button from the Golden Jubilee (1886-1936) Fourth of July celebration at Roslyn, Washington. The festivities featured a baseball game between the Roslyn town team and the Zulu Cannibal Giants. The game ended after the third inning when a beaning resulted in the death of a ballplayer from the Giants (July 5, 1936).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370706294573&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_500wt_1413

Paid $18 immediately. Estimated delivery date was 1-10-13. The seller did not send me any information and I waited until 1-14-13 to contact him to find out if anything was wrong. Here is his response:

"Hello Ty, I am currently on vacation and will not be back until March 4 to send the item." He went on to apologize for any inconvenience. Is he kidding, or am I being taken for a ride? Now, I see all of his auctions indicate that "Will not be able to send item until March 4" though his estimated delivery time still says 3-6 business days. How can ebay allow this crap?

[D. Bergin]

Purchased this 1936 cello button from the Golden Jubilee (1886-1936) Fourth of July celebration at Roslyn, Washington. The festivities featured a baseball game between the Roslyn town team and the Zulu Cannibal Giants. The game ended after the third inning when a beaning resulted in the death of a ballplayer from the Giants (July 5, 1936).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370706294573&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_500wt_1413

Paid $18 immediately. Estimated delivery date was 1-10-13. The seller did not send me any information and I waited until 1-14-13 to contact him to find out if anything was wrong. Here is his response:

"Hello Ty, I am currently on vacation and will not be back until March 4 to send the item." He went on to apologize for any inconvenience. Is he kidding, or am I being taken for a ride? Now, I see all of his auctions indicate that "Will not be able to send item until March 4" though his estimated delivery time still says 3-6 business days. How can ebay allow this crap?


There is a glitch in Ebay, if you go on vacation and close your store, all your items are supposed disappear from view...........but if someone has your item on their watch list they can still see and purchase the item while you are away.

That said, it looks like this guys store is still open, but with a notation at the top of the auctions.

He probably should have closed it down if he knew he was going to be gone for so long.

[rjackson44]

Ebay feebay i use net 54 never had one issue its a tight ship...

[Bocabirdman]

I am way too easy-going. I am OK with a week and as long as I get contacted with a reason, "My guppy had puppies" or whatever, I wait even longer. I then wind up giving positive feedback across the board. I never can keep the good guys apart for the slow shippers , so it is just easier to 5 star everyone....I knw..I know...That kinda submarines the whole process:o

[danmckee]

I agree with Leon, 5 to 10 days is acceptable. Please keep in mind that many sellers do NOT use paypal or ebay labels. My dear friend Jon Richmond in Texas still hand carrys to the post office and his items arrive with the flourescent tracking label.