Ebay - Delayed Shipping Request

[x2drich2000]

Hopefully someone can give me some clear direction on this. Received a request this morning through Ebay after the customer purchased and paid for a card asking for me to hold off shipping for a few weeks. I'm fine doing it as I have made the request on this board or through auction houses occasionally, but Ebay being Ebay I'm wondering what the fall out could be and how to not get dinged. Normally I ship everything within 24 hours as stated in my handling time. Any idea how to accommodate this request and not get a shipping defect?

[AGuinness]

I don't have an answer, but it hit me after reading this that eBay should have a built-in option for buyers to do this and that would avoid your problem all together.

[itslarry]

I believe you can change "handling time" up to like 15 days, so as long as the time they are requesting you to wait is within that frame you should be ok as far as buying "was item delivered by" for feedback.
I don't know if this works once item paid for.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

Any idea how to accommodate this request and not get a shipping defect?

What about getting it ready to ship and providing a tracking number, but just not shipping it yet? The tracking number should keep eBay off your back if they think its been shipped.

[brianp-beme]

I just had a customer request the same thing last night (to delay shipping until the beginning of March) on a BIN card. Normally I also have no problem doing it, but I think my shipping record will get dinged if it doesn't arrive there within the stated expected shipping time. It seems like there is not much to do beside what David suggested...print a label and hold off shipping. A transaction outside of ebay this is no problem, but ahh, ebay.

Brian

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

What about getting it ready to ship and providing a tracking number, but just not shipping it yet? The tracking number should keep eBay off your back if they think its been shipped.

It also needs to be scanned by the Post Office as "accepted" within the expected time frame of 1 business day, if this is a TRS with 1 day handling situation.

[pokerplyr80]

Mail him an empty package. Provide that tracking number to Ebay. Let the customer know you're doing this. When he's ready mail the item he paid for.

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Mail him an empty package. Provide that tracking number to Ebay. Let the customer know you're doing this. When he's ready mail the item he paid for.

This was the best answer. I did the same thing when a customer requested a delay in shipping. eBay will ding you if you do not ship right away.

Just be careful who you are dealing with. You might get a customer who says that they received an empty envelope and leave you a neg.

[GoldenAge50s]

--Printing a label on time will NOT satisfy the 1 day mailing---it has to be received by the PO to avoid the ding. I just had this happen to me, however a shipping ding or two is no big deal unless you are deficient in other areas also.

I offer 1 day shipping & for various reasons, all customer oriented, I have 3 dings over the last 3 -4 yrs. & my overall EBay Rating is still "Above Average" or whatever their terms are!

Not to worry!

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

This was the best answer. I did the same thing when a customer requested a delay in shipping. eBay will ding you if you do not ship right away.

Just be careful who you are dealing with. You might get a customer who says that they received an empty envelope and leave you a neg.

Thanks, I should add I've never tried this personally. And I would obviously get the customer's permission in an Ebay email to do this so you are covered. If the guy seems like a scammer at all just cancel the transaction and tell him you will hold it until he's ready to have it shipped, then relist.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

Hopefully someone can give me some clear direction on this. Received a request this morning through Ebay after the customer purchased and paid for a card asking for me to hold off shipping for a few weeks. I'm fine doing it as I have made the request on this board or through auction houses occasionally, but Ebay being Ebay I'm wondering what the fall out could be and how to not get dinged. Normally I ship everything within 24 hours as stated in my handling time. Any idea how to accommodate this request and not get a shipping defect?

I always feel it is prudent to direct questions like this directly to the source rather than eliciting opinions on a public forum. I know it is convenient to do this here but in CYA situation, like you have presented, I think I would want more than opinions.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

I always feel it is prudent to direct questions like this directly to the source rather than eliciting opinions on a public forum. I know it is convenient to do this here but in CYA situation, like you have presented, I think I would want more than opinions.

The source (Ebay) will most likely suggest to you to do as the customer asks, but there's nothing they can do about the metrics, as they are set in stone and you should be able to take a hit every once in awhile of this type.

"You can call back when you get the defect, and if your correspondence with the buyer was through Ebay messaging regarding the late shipment, we may be able to strike it from your record, and we may not. Depends on who answers the phone, how long you are willing to stay on the line, and how many dropped calls and promises you put up with before you give up...........we can't really tell you for sure.............but thanks for being a super loyal Ebay seller."

In other words, expect about as direct an answer from Ebay, as you might expect from Net 54's own Yogidavid.