OT: eBay's Late Shipping Policy - Has it changed?

[Buythatcard]

I have been selling on eBay for about 13 years and eBay continues to baffle me.

eBay has given me the "Top Rated Seller" status for as long as I can remember. One of the benefits is a small discount on some of their fees.

Last night, I get an eMail from eBay saying that I did not meet the requirements to be a "Top Rated Seller". The reason was that 5.99% of my items were shipped late.

I really don't understand what they want me to do. Currently, I go through my eMails every night and package up any items that were paid for. I then drop off all my orders at the PO within 24 hours. So, where is this clock ticking? Is it the time that the buyer pays me to the time that the PO decides to scan it in? There are many times in which the PO does not scan my items, even after it has been shipped.

Have they changed their policy recently? Do they want me to drop off the item at the buyer's door 5 minutes after they pay? Is this just another way for eBay to not give the Seller a discount? I am confused and frustrated working with them.

Anyone have an idea how this policy really works?

[rjackson44]

feebay sucks

[Luke]

I got the same email.

[glchen]

Before February, sellers had 10% leeway if your tracking information was uploaded late. Now, it's only 3%, which is probably why you are being flagged right now. Also, your package needs to show the first tracking (or acceptance) by the USPS (or whatever shipping company you use) within the first 24-48 hours (not exactly sure what the time period is) or that the package is delivered within the estimated shipping time in your listing. Therefore, if the Post Office missing scanning your package when they pick it up, and deliver it late, then you are in trouble. This is one of the reasons why on all of my ebay listings, I've changed my shipping from First Class to Economy, so that the estimated shipping time is longer in most cases. (However, I still ship all packages First Class or better.)

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by glchen

Before February, sellers had 10% leeway if your tracking information was uploaded late. Now, it's only 3%, which is probably why you are being flagged right now. Also, your package needs to show the first tracking (or acceptance) by the USPS (or whatever shipping company you use) within the first 24-48 hours (not exactly sure what the time period is) or that the package is delivered within the estimated shipping time in your listing. Therefore, if the Post Office missing scanning your package when they pick it up, and deliver it late, then you are in trouble. This is one of the reasons why on all of my ebay listings, I've changed my shipping from First Class to Economy, so that the estimated shipping time is longer in most cases. (However, I still ship all packages First Class or better.)

Gary,

Does eBay really take in account that you used a different shipping method? I assumed that the rule was the same whether you shipped it personally or pony express. If that method works, I think its a great idea,

[glchen]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

Gary,

Does eBay really take in account that you used a different shipping method? I assumed that the rule was the same whether you shipped it personally or pony express. If that method works, I think its a great idea,

Yes, they are supposed to. It needs to be put in the ebay listing, but if you have something like parcel post or economy, it will give you more time for the package to reach the buyer. If you don't do this, you basically need to go to the Post Office and have them manually scan in every package that you send so that you can make sure that they all have the first acceptance scan within the mandated time. Where I am at, the Post Office lines can get long (and they sometimes want to charge me for acceptance scans which is another story altogether), so I want to avoid that if possible.

[Sean1125]

There is misinformation in this thread.

The threshold for tracking uploaded in handling time is still in fact 10%.

3% has to due with a completely new metric called "late shipment" and it works differently than the 10% metric.

The issue here is the post office not scanning your item prior to shipment. You need to require the post office to scan the item when you drop it off and receive a receipt that they scanned it. If they scanned the item in within 24 hours of payment you would never have a problem with the "late shipment" metric (it means a buyer reported you for late shipment, this is not a valid report if you do in fact get a scan).

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

There are many times in which the PO does not scan my items, even after it has been shipped.

As Sean said, this is your problem. It's what they call "validated tracking information." It's not enough to generate the shipping label with a program or website that uploads the tracking info when the label is printed. It actually has to be scanned in as "accepted" at the post office within your stated handling time (24 hours if you're angling for that discount).

If you're like me, this can cause a problem when your 9-5 job (plus commute) typically makes it impossible to get to the local post office while they are open. I wind up dropping my packages in the letter bin or rolling package bin in the lobby after-hours, and hope that it gets an acceptance scan in time (or at all). I've been enjoying the 20% off Final Value Fees discount for a while, but just lost it this month as a result of this very issue. If I can't figure a workaround, I'll probably be changing my handling time from 1 day to something like 3 days so I can at least keep my Top Rated Seller status. No sense in busting my hump to provide next-day shipping if my work schedule makes it impossible for me to guarantee an acceptance scan because I can't hand it over the counter in person.

[irishdenny]

I do know (as a Buyer) the sellers whom I've have bought from in the Past 3 months or so have there Shipping time frame set for over a week for me to receive my items.
I am a patient person... and I only have noticed this After I have bought or Won the item.
Leavin FB fir the Shippin area isn't part of the FB option!
Maybe this is the Seller's way around Losing their Gratitude's!?

That is what Now makes Sense to me of Why the Seller has it Set uP as Such!

[glchen]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

... If I can't figure a workaround, I'll probably be changing my handling time from 1 day to something like 3 days so I can at least keep my Top Rated Seller status. ...

Lance, Top Rated Seller status requires 1 day handling ....

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by glchen

Lance, Top Rated Seller status requires 1 day handling ....

The TRS discount on fees requires 1-day handling to qualify. TRS status itself only requires you to ship within your stated handling time. You can be a Top Rated Seller, (which supposedly gives a bit of a bump in search rankings) but not qualify for the fee discount.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

There is misinformation in this thread.

The threshold for tracking uploaded in handling time is still in fact 10%.

3% has to due with a completely new metric called "late shipment" and it works differently than the 10% metric.

The issue here is the post office not scanning your item prior to shipment. You need to require the post office to scan the item when you drop it off and receive a receipt that they scanned it. If they scanned the item in within 24 hours of payment you would never have a problem with the "late shipment" metric (it means a buyer reported you for late shipment, this is not a valid report if you do in fact get a scan).

I have anywhere from 10 - 70 packages per day that I have picked up at my store, I always make sure the mailman scans them before he puts them on his truck. I have a regular mailman who always does this, but his fill in guys almost always have to be told to scan them. Some of them say they scan them when they get back to the post office, but I ask them if they will please scan them before loading them. About 3 years ago I had about 30 packages scanned wrong, for some reason they were all scanned as delivered, I don't know if it was a computer malfunction of some kind or the settings on the mailman's little scanner gun, but they all showed "Delivered to ~my address~" on the tracking. Some of those packages got turned over to ebay as "item not received" and I'm not sure if they really were or not, but I know I lost money because they were not scanned correctly.

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

As Sean said, this is your problem. It's what they call "validated tracking information." It's not enough to generate the shipping label with a program or website that uploads the tracking info when the label is printed. It actually has to be scanned in as "accepted" at the post office within your stated handling time (24 hours if you're angling for that discount).

If you're like me, this can cause a problem when your 9-5 job (plus commute) typically makes it impossible to get to the local post office while they are open. I wind up dropping my packages in the letter bin or rolling package bin in the lobby after-hours, and hope that it gets an acceptance scan in time (or at all). I've been enjoying the 20% off Final Value Fees discount for a while, but just lost it this month as a result of this very issue. If I can't figure a workaround, I'll probably be changing my handling time from 1 day to something like 3 days so I can at least keep my Top Rated Seller status. No sense in busting my hump to provide next-day shipping if my work schedule makes it impossible for me to guarantee an acceptance scan because I can't hand it over the counter in person.

I totally understand. I also work a full time job. So, Post Office is closed in the morning when I leave to my office and closed when I come home. I also have to depend on dropping all my items in their drop off chute.
This is just another eBay requirement that just SUCKS!

[ksabet]

I always click shipped as soon as someone buys something from me. Then I add the tracking number a bit later. They go by when you clicked shipped I believe.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by ksabet

I always click shipped as soon as someone buys something from me. Then I add the tracking number a bit later. They go by when you clicked shipped I believe.

Nope. Still requires the "validated tracking info" (i.e. acceptance scan).

FWIW, when I print the shipping label, the stamps.com software communicates to eBay to mark the item as shipped and adds the tracking number. As far as eBay's concerned though, if that tracking number does not have a subsequent acceptance scan, it hasn't actually been shipped. Same thing if you just manually mark it as "shipped" in eBay and then upload the tracking info later.

[ksabet]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Nope. Still requires the "validated tracking info" (i.e. acceptance scan).

FWIW, when I print the shipping label, the stamps.com software communicates to eBay to mark the item as shipped and adds the tracking number. As far as eBay's concerned though, if that tracking number does not have a subsequent acceptance scan, it hasn't actually been shipped. Same thing if you just manually mark it as "shipped" in eBay and then upload the tracking info later.

Good to know. I am a bit OCD so even when I click shipped I usually will mail the cards within 24-36 hours of payment receipt. Thanks for the info.

[Buythatcard]

I also use a 3rd party software to process all my orders. Once the order is processed it updates the tracking info to eBay. I process 100% of my orders this way. Yet, when I got to my eBay dashboard it still says that there are a few items that did not receive tracking info.

We can only do the best that we can. I am sure eBay will find another way to make our life miserable.