Ebay Selling in the Covid-19 Era - Ebay should do more to support Sellers

[omahkulo]

Hi Everyone,

As a Seller, I just got my first Negative feedback due to Covid-19 and Australia Posts delayed deliveries (it actualy arrived the day before they left the neg feedback too), and I am sure it wont be the last one I get.

Now what is ebay doing about this, not alot that I can see. they have a little box saying they are supporting us, but big whoops, as usual with ebay it seems as long as they get our 10%, everything is business as usual.

 - Firstly they should replace one of their Sliding Banners on the home page with:-

DELIVERIES WILL BE LATE!!

If you cannot wait or dont actually understand the situation with the World and Australia Post, then please re-consider ordering, as in most cases your delivery will be AT LEAST twice a long, if not more.

- Delivery times on most items have only been extended by a few days, they should be at least doubled, if you get it on time of earlier, then great, but at least indicate the real world delivery times at the moment.

- Item not recieved cases should not be able to be opened until at least 5 days after estimated delivery date, as we have got quite a few open and obviously will get more, and basically i am telling everyone the same thing, most are understanding but a few just think the world revolves around them and have no clue of whats happening.

- Negative feedback should not be instantanious, sellers should always be warned of NEG feedback before it goes up and given the right of reply to be able to work something out with the buyer or explain certain aspects of why what happened, but especially nowadays , thats how it should work.

There are many more things I could say, but not for now.

I know many many sellers are in the same situation as me, Covid-19 delays are causing headaches due to suppliers out of stock, AusPost deliveries being extremely late and then getting undeserving Negative Feedback, I am sure ebay will notice that the amount of Negative Feedback per seller will rise significantly over the next few months, lets see if they care and do anything about it.

Anyway, everyone take care out there, do the best you can and keep on going on.

Mike.

[twyngwyn]

try pushing your handling time out....my postmaster recommended that I go to 5 days

[digital*ghost]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

But ebay has been known to remove the negative but leave the followup so the world knows that there was a problem.

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The only way they can do that is if they just remove the comment that was left with the neg, and let the red dot stand, in which case with or without a follow-up, people would still know the buyer had a problem. AFAIK, it is not possible for a reply to be left in place but the entire original FB removed. 

Following up to feedback is only a detriment to the seller if they make themselves look worse than the buyer, as it has little to no bearing on anything else (at least in my experience. I know it is a common recommendation not to leave a follow-up until all options for removal have been exhausted, but it hasn't even come up in any way at all when I've requested removal of negs, all of which were replied to).

On a side-note, why do I feel like Selling in the Time of Covid-19 will be the title of a book some time in the near future. Great romance, or motivational / self-help / marketing? Maybe both.  

[wide-world-of-stamps]

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@twyngwyn wrote:
try pushing your handling time out....my postmaster recommended that I go to 5 days

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We generally post 2-3 times a week as we live in a rural area, but had 5 days handling time to allow for delays.

We've extended that to 10 days (which is the next option, we would have preferred 7-8 days), and it hasn't affected our sales at the moment.

We'll review it periodically, but it should cover us for most delays at the moment.

[twyngwyn]

most buyers don't look at handling time....but they do look at expected delivery date

[greatservice-888]

Hey Mike.. It really sucks right now to be selling on ebay as they have no respect for us sellers, they only ever protect the buyers.. What they seem to forget is, that without us sellers, there is no ebay!

So because of my selling status etc, my handling time is 24 hours, unless of course weekends or Public holidays. I make sure that I hand all my parcels over the counter so they show that they were lodged at X time..

If your negative feedback was directly linked to late delivery and you can prove that you lodged your item in your handling time, ebay have to remove it.. That is what they have told me they would do..

Also what I have been doing is checking the status of my orders and if they are stating delayed or well over expected date, I message my customers and tell them how sorry I am and that i will open a case with Aus post for them and keep them updated.. Yes a lot of work and a nightmare, but keeps them happy. Once my case with Aus post is opened, I create alerts with mypost to keep me updated. if no movement occurs, I ring Aus post and demand compensation. They then compensate me for full cost pluss postage and I resend immediately via Express post and let my customers know.. i alos tell them once there original item arrives they can keep it, as I have been compenstaed..

For the record, Aus post have compensated me for 9 items in 10 days.. Well over $600 worth..

So maybe try that angle..

Anyway good luck and push to have the neg feedback removed.. Annie 🙂

[tazzieterror]

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@greatservice-888 wrote:

...Once my case with Aus post is opened, I create alerts with mypost to keep me updated. if no movement occurs, I ring Aus post and demand compensation. They then compensate me for full cost pluss postage and I resend immediately via Express post and let my customers know.. i alos tell them once there original item arrives they can keep it, as I have been compenstaed..

For the record, Aus post have compensated me for 9 items in 10 days.. Well over $600 worth..

...

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So you're not factoring the delays into your handling time, and are claiming compensation for items you expect will still be delivered, but late?

Sounds like you're abusing the system and contributing to the problem - thanks for being selfish.