The BIG Guys Selling on Ebay

[clarry100]

Last weekend I needed to buy some envelopes.

So I found that a large well known supplier of Office type stationery and that kind of Works  was selling what I needed on ebay.

I had a 10% off voucher code kindly provided by ebay so decided to place my order for 10x packs of 50 B5 envelopes and 3x packs of 100 C6 envelopes and use my ebay coupon. All good so far.

2-days later a kinda large-ish box shows up from the said supplier. Inside were 9x packs of 50 B5 envelopes and 1x pack of 100 C6 envelopes. Hmmm! Short order. The picking list supplied agreed with what was actually inside the box. The box was way oversized for what was inside it and all the contents were able to jump around inside like a flying circus. Not too bad tho as the contents were only envelopes. But pretty quick shipping all the same.

But no explanation message from them about why the order was short. So I sent a message enquiring.

Two days later the reply comes back saying sorry out of stock your other items are on back order and will be delivered as soon a new stock arrives.

Then on Friday another large box about the same size turns up with a single pack of 50x B5 envelopes bouncing around inside. But still no C6 envelopes and no further explanation. I messaged them again about the C6 envelopes but so far no further response.

I guess I could have opened a INAD claim straight off the bat but I'm a patient person.

But I just thought tho if I were to treat my buyers like this I'd be struck off the register ASAP by defects etc.

[kopenhagen5]

Not to mention the waste of time and postage costs within that company.

There seem to be more and more individuals working and not using their brains for sensible solutions.

[digital*ghost]

I've bought from that seller several times (on and off eBay), and so far, so good.

Did the dispatch notice detail the shortage? I'm not assuming anything, but I know these days people are used to just deleting such automated emails without opening them, but I've found the notices from OW and other sellers often contain further details than just 'posted'. 

For example, my last order was for a shelving unit, plus some pens so I could get over the threshold for free post. A single tracking number was uploaded to eBay, and I received the pens in an admittedly oversized box via courier very quickly, but of course not the shelving unit. But, the dispatch notice advised that two separate parcels were being sent (the pens were dispatched from Adelaide, the shelves came from interstate), and ultimately I received the shelves about 3 days later. Smaller sellers like us would take a more hands-on approach and do our best to make as sure as possible such things are brought to the buyer's attention, of course, and I'm not trying to excuse the lack of effort from OW, I'm just guessing they figure they're better off overall for time and money saved from not contacting people directly / personally in such circumstances. 

For sellers like us, these kinds of postage methods would be our ruin, but for massive sellers like that, I would tend to think they've settled on a system that's the most cost effective in the long run - by which I mean they would have various sized boxes and the like, but probably just a few. I sometimes shudder to think how many different packaging options I like to keep on hand - I have padded envelopes & rigid mailers in 3 sizes, C&S flat rate satchels in all 3 sizes, generic poly mailers in two sizes,  BX1 boxes, plus other paraphenalia like clear document poches in a couple of sizes, a massive roll of bubble wrap and foam blocks for packing stuff like sharp tools...not to mention all the zip-lock and top seal bags I have in no less than 8 different sizes, plus gift bags.... 😮 and I'm also now looking at a couple of non-AP boxes for use with satchels for smaller, more fragile items that I want to send as parcels, and it can get a bit costly to keep all of these in stock.

OW would buy massive amounts in bulk, so to get the best rates they probably settled on a few of the most commonly needed sizes, and they'd also likely get really good rates with couriers (since they also contract them on behalf of customers), meaning that sending out a single order over two or more deliveries wouldn't incur the same kind of loss for them that it would for the average Joe. 

[phorum_junkie*]

If you think that packaging is excessive you should have seen what Amazon sent me!  A large 31cm square cardboard box with a micro SD card rattling round in it.

[clarry100]

Yes the original dispatch notice did detail the quantities that would be included in the shipment, but no further info on when/if the shortfall would be delivered.

The picking list included in the original shipment did match up with what was actually delivered too. But again no further info. I had to ask to have that confirmed.

I have no doubt they will fulfill the complete order in the fullness of time, but if us smaller sellers behaved this way we would not be around for too long I suspect.

We would not even dream of sending out one baby headband of an order of two without some form of explanation of what was happening. In fact we would not even do it at all let alone having to explain it.

Can you imagine the buyer reaction to:

"I'm terribly sorry but we are temporarily out of stock and your other headband is on backorder and will be delivered some time in the future. We can't be sure when but it will happen." 

[digital*ghost]

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@clarry100 wrote:

I have no doubt they will fulfill the complete order in the fullness of time, but if us smaller sellers behaved this way we would not be around for too long I suspect.

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Depends on how often a smaller seller did it, and what they did to resolve it. You'd have to do it with a high percentage of your orders and rack up a healthy number or negs, realistically, for it to really have an impact on an account (negs will hurt a bit, but not all buyers would leave one, and only unresolved disputes would result in genuine impact on the account). So even if OW did it for 5 orders a day, it might only equate to less than 1% of their orders, meaning overall negative impact would be about the same as if a smaller seller did it once or twice a year.

Don't get me wrong, I 100% agree with what you're saying, I just have this uncontrollabe compulsion to look at the logistics from the other side (not to argue, just to understand, mostly, which also helps me to take such things in my stride because otherwise, I'd definitely freak out at every little anomaly ). 

[springyzone]

I thought on ebay that sellers were supposed to have enough stock to cover orders if they had something listed as on sale?

Whatever... but it would make major sense if a big company (or any company actually) that sent off an order with bits missing also included on the invoice the info that the items were on back order and would be arriving separately asap.

Would stop a lot of buyer anxiety, for a start. Plus buyers wouldn't need to contact the seller to ask.

When I buy from Catch of the Day, they always itemise what is coming in a parcel and list what else (if anything) is being posted later.

It just shows good, clear organisation. 

[clarry100]

*** UPDATE ***

Just received the final instalment yesterday, 10-days after placing the original order.