topic Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered. in Selling

If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

moviemem — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 02:09:53 GMT

Australia Post seems to be getting slower and slower in delivering packages. Buyers can leave a defect for late delivery and there is absolutely nothing you can do if you don't provide tracking. Bear in mind that you dont get notified when someone leaves a defect so check your dashboard regularly.

I hear of many sellers who send items by letter post without tracking and I think it will be virtually impossible to avoid getting defects.Too many defects will affect your ability to sell on ebay.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

collect247 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 02:32:33 GMT

What about when a seller provides invalid tracking number,are they trying it on as though they have sent an item with tracking

just to show they have provided it but in reality there is no tracking.

Does ebay view this as proof of tracking?

And when the item doesn't turn up will ebay say hey tracking was provided or see that the tracking was invalid?

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

moviemem — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 02:41:42 GMT

I'm pretty sure ebay checks the tracking in the event of a dispute. If no tracking is displayed, you wont be able to dispute a defect.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

kingfisher.curiosity.shop — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 02:49:43 GMT

Ebay & Australia Post have done a deal to ensure all items sold on ebay are sent at a higher postage rate- eg tracked, registered or reciepted.

Ebay get a good deal for their Ebay Postage and as their part of the deal they force all sellers to use tracked or eventually they will be defected out. Especially with the slow service now.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

digital*ghost — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 02:53:13 GMT

@moviemem wrote:

I hear of many sellers who send items by letter post without tracking and I think it will be virtually impossible to avoid getting defects.Too many defects will affect your ability to sell on ebay.

Difficult, but not impossible. I post 99% of my items as letters, only registered for higher value stuff, and my dashboard currently shows 0% late shipments from around 800 transactions.

I have a 2 day handling time, but to be honest I actually think it's my location that helps me more than anything else, as I live in metro SA, meaning I'm not situated somewhere that my packages have to travel from one side of the country to the other if I get a buyer in Perth or Brisbane (I also use priority on all of them). In other words, I attribute the 0% to both luck (in so far as "I'm in SA because that's where I found myself to be" can be considered luck ) and posting same or next day.

Late shipments and the effects of too many have changed quite a lot since they were introduced. I remember when it was announced, I was most upset about it (partly because they were first announced in the US, and they were more strict over there). When I figured out the Aus policies (read: actually read) I remember they originally had 5% late shipments would result in eBay changing the postage options you could offer, which could have meant anything.

Last time a checked, it said the threshold was 10% and if you exceed that it may result in eBay restricting the handling time you could have on your listings (as well as loss of TRS, at 5% from memory).

Now, I dunno about anyone else, but what exactly do eBay think that will acheive? I presume they mean they'll lengthen the minimum handling time a seller can select, so if they have a 1 day handling time and items are frequently 2 days "late", they might make them have a 3 day handling time. They've already lost TRS so that won't matter, and the end result? Buyers will see a more realistic ETA, which says plenty about eBay's ETA and late shipment metric all on its own.

Surely eBay can see that if there's sellers who are actually meeting their handling time but the carrier isn't meeting eBay's ETA (via the volume of tracked shipments), and the solution is to implement a longer handling time so eBay's ETA is both more in line with actual delivery time frames and therefore providing more realistic expectations for buyers, the probem is with eBay and their infernal meddling, not anyone else.

I do believe this was introduced to get more sellers using tracked postage methods, but it's totally the wrong way to go about it, IMO.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

amber-eyed-girl — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 03:34:03 GMT

@scrambler3333 wrote:
What about when a seller provides invalid tracking number,are they trying it on as though they have sent an item with tracking
just to show they have provided it but in reality there is no tracking.
Does ebay view this as proof of tracking?
And when the item doesn't turn up will ebay say hey tracking was provided or see that the tracking was invalid?

If I had an issue with an invalid/false tracking number, which went to the level of my putting in a claim, if I could see it was definitely wrong I would insist that eBay/Paypal/the bank DID check it out. Even if that meant a personal call or three. From personal experience Paypal for one does not check them routinely, unless pushed. It could be random, or depend on how a case proceeds...who knows.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

go-tazz — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 04:07:16 GMT

@digital*ghost wrote:

I do believe this was introduced to get more sellers using tracked postage methods, but it's totally the wrong way to go about it, IMO.

Which of course will increase the FVF's that eBay will collect from the extra postage costs,

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

typhoon4u — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 04:50:38 GMT

My 12 "carrier reported" defects all came from tracked orders.

My latest, yesterday, from one which sat in a po for a week waiting for collection.

It was lodged over the counter the same day it was paid for.

I just cannot do any better than that.

I can't be bothered contacting ebay. Just wasting my time.

The more I deal with ebay and ap, the more I understsnd how out of touch and disfunctional they are....

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

padi*0409 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 04:55:02 GMT

@go-tazz wrote:
Which of course will increase the FVF's that eBay will collect from the extra postage costs,

Ah but maybe that's to make up for the fees lost on friday's due to the techies fiddling with the system and stuffing things up whilst enhancing out eBay experience Taz.................................

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

pnc75 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 05:32:10 GMT

Yes, looks like they're fiddling again today too. The usual Friday glitches. That ususally menas that they're 'enhancing our experience' as padi has pointed out.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

mother.jewel — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 06:32:23 GMT

If you are using letter post, I think it worth paying the extra 50c for priority post ( meant to deliver within 4 postal days), so far I have been lucky and only a few late defects a month

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

collect247 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 07:10:29 GMT

I received only 8 defects all up in 12 months and got suspended.

So if you're getting a few per month then look out lol.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

pennyforum14 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 07:47:30 GMT

It is not really a case of "buyer can leave a defect", if there is no tracking uploaded, buyers are asked if the item arrived within eBay's estimated delivery time. Personally I would neither ask, nor expect, my buyers to lie for me. If a defect results from this it is NOT the buyer's fault, it is eBay's. Their delivery estimates are based on the earliest possible AP estimate and while they are supposed to factor in the seller'shandling times there have been loads of cases reported where the eBay estimate for a Syd-Perth delivery with 5 days handling time is 3-5 days!

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

crowsman53 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 07:52:49 GMT

@themotherjewel wrote:

If you are using letter post, I think it worth paying the extra 50c for priority post ( meant to deliver within 4 postal days), so far I have been lucky and only a few late defects a month

If you use Priority Post does it get scanned at the LPO????

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

pennyforum14 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 07:53:33 GMT

I am one who posts via large letter with no tracking and I have 0 defects across two stores since the new system came in. I go to the PO daily and generally ship same day or next. I increased my handling time to 3 days just in case and it seems to work. I only use priority stickers if the buyer indicates some measure of urgency, but hasn't opted for Express (I offer it as an option on most listings). I am thinking of changing back to one day handling for May as a bit of an experiment as sales have been dismal over the last few months and nothing else seems to be working, so I would like to see if the shorter handling time has any effect.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

pennyforum14 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 07:54:41 GMT

No, priority service offers no tracking so there is no scanning. It is just "supposed" to go faster.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

crowsman53 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 08:06:24 GMT

@pennyforum14 wrote:
No, priority service offers no tracking so there is no scanning. It is just "supposed" to go faster.

Ummm Interesting I have about 7 or 8 Priority stickers (Used) which came to me via postage mail, If they are not scanned then I can reuse them as there is no information recorded?? People could use this to their advantage if they are not scanned so why have them?

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

davewil1964 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 08:13:48 GMT

i send about 50% of my items by untracked large letter.

So far, since they started counting in September last year, I have.... 0 late delivery defects.

I don't consider that unmanageable, nor a spur to either make nothing on my sales or price myself out of business.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

lane-ends — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 10:37:32 GMT

I think the important lesson is monitor your defects to see if you need to change your practices. You dont need to be defect free just within limits. So it is a case of how much risk minimization vs logistics and cost of doing so.

Re: If your dont provide tracking, your days on ebay are numbered.

moviemem — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 10:56:41 GMT

I think it is very risky sending items without tracking these days but I fully understand the reasons for doing it. I think it is really important to check your dashboard very regularly. Many sellers just assume that if they have 100% positive feedback then everything else will be OK. When they go to look at their dashboard they sometimes get some unwelcome surprises.