Postage TImes

[mitsfix]

We are a top rated seller, generally we send an item out the SAME day as sale despite having the items listed as sending the following business day

Have noticed Australa Post have really dropped the ball since Christmas and items are taking a lot longer to reach the destination.  We have changed nothing at our end at all to cause this

Despite a valid tracking number being entered into the sale details the SAME DAY as the sale, the tracking showing the item being scanned by Australia Post the SAME DAY we have noticed on our defect rate that we are being penalised for this occurance to the point we are about to lose our Top Rated Seller status

Has anyone had any similar issues and if you have worked out how to resolve please let me know as I can not see why we should be penalised for doing the right thing and sending items out early.

We have looked into other methods of postage however have found that there is no 1 simple solution as we send car parts all over Australia and most other companies do not have the coverage Australia Post has.

Any help would be great, have tried to contact eBay help chat twice today alone and just a blank window stating they will be with me in under a minute

[twyngwyn]

you have great f/b....are you sure you're not 'jumping the gun'?

[mitsfix]

I am very sure

I have recevied a "warning" today that my shipment rate is about to fall below standard so I will risk losing my Top Rated Seller status

In the month of Jan (and looking today I know that not ever item sent in Jan has been delivered) there are 19 tems "tracking indicates late delivery"

3 of these items were at the Post Office awaiting collection for 4 days roughly (all are slightly different)  The date they arrived at the Post Office was within the eBay time for estimated deliery but as the people picked up the items later eBay do not see this as being delivered until tracking show so

I am used to 1 or 2 items being delivered late, it is Australa Post after all.  Compare the above to December where there were 3 items "delivered late" all of which were again sent either same or following business day of sale.  November had 4 items in the same case

[davewil1964]

My understanding is that if you upload tracking that shows a lodgement scan within your handling time you won't get a defect. Letters are at the mercy of the buyer ticking 'yes' for delivered within eBay's estimated dates, but with parcels it is proof of postage that counts, not delivery.

Are you sure they are parcels causing the problem, not large letters?

[mitsfix]

This is how it should be but clearly it is not this way at all.

Shows items not sent in time however when I look at those items, you can clearly see for example purchased on 30 Jan and sent on 30 Jan

The time they look at is when the person has signed for the item and Aust post tracking shows it as having been delivered

eBay call it items not sent on time however EVERY item there was sent within the required time

[imastawka]

Late shipment rate

Transactions where you didn't send the item within your handling time or the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date.

Requirements	All Sellers	eBay Top Rated Sellers
Maximum percentage of transactions sent late	10%	5%
Maximum number of transactions sent late	8	5

Meeting these standards means that your buyers consistently receive the item they expect, when they expect it, and that you resolve any customer issues promptly.

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy?id=4347

Scroll down to 'read our full policy'

Personally, I'd extend the handling time to allow for late delivery by Apost. but still post

the next day ( or earlier if poss)

[digital*ghost]

If you call eBay, you should be able to get every defect removed where you can prove lodgement within your handling time.

In a perfect world, you wouldn't have to - according to eBay, they only track and automatically remove defects if their postage labels were used, not really sure how accurate that is, though. 

[mitsfix]

Just for an update, it has now jumped upto 32 items overnight and we have lost top rated seller due to this

Checking each listing, out of the 32 listings, 21 of them were sent on the SAME day as the sale......

[chameleon54]

Not good, but it does seem a bit strange that AP are taking so long to deliver your items. Do you mail in a street box ? Is there a problem at your local PO ? Many of the post offices are privately owned and run and the mail boxes are emptied by private contractors.. Occasionally there can be a rogue operator who doesnt follow correct procedure. ( Yes - I have seen a child emptying the mail box while dad sat in the van. A gust of wind and the mail went everywhere ) .  Does tracking give any indication of where in the system the problem is ?

That asside there are two things worth trying. The first is to phone ebay and go through each defect showing tracking and ask to have them removed. If the CS rep is not helpfull, ask to speak to a superviser.

The second thing is to extend your handling time. I have mine set at five days, but usually mail the following day after purchase. If I go any more than three days into my 5 day handling time, I send items express post. I have a bit of fat built into my postage costs to handle this so it doesnt actually cost me anything. The buyers pay. .

Using this system, I am not having any problems with defects for late postage and would be running at under 1% of items sent. Changing the handling time has not affected sales volumes at all, but I do sell unique items and are not in competition with other ebay sellers. Ebays estimated postage times may be an issue if you sell generic items.

[performance_parts_clearance_centre]

First thing I'd be doing is extending your handling time to three days, maybe even five.