topic Re: What am I missing? in Selling

What am I missing?

the4masters2013 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:11:50 GMT

I received an email from eBay today, which states:

90 items sent ; 0% sent with (or as ) untracked letters.

81% valid for trackable services.

All items I have sent have had sent have had tracking downloaded.

All items have been sent through Australia Post.

Am I missing something I should know about?

Or is eBay's maths worse than mine???

Thanks for any help.

Re: What am I missing?

pauls1239 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:16:38 GMT

They have lost the plot of course. Look for an alternative.

Re: What am I missing?

the4masters2013 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:25:17 GMT

My thoughts exactly! Thank you!
Not sure what the alternative could be, but I'll try and work on it!

Re: What am I missing?

philb9053 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:27:41 GMT

Yep i got a similer email today.

19% percent of me tracked parcels have valid tracking.

I dont know what "Valid" means.

All my tracking is printed either through ebay itself or my Aus post business account which is linked to my ebay account. Tracking bought through Aus Post automatically updates the tracking info in on my ebay orders.

So i have no idea why 80% of my tacking info in invalid.

Re: What am I missing?

the4masters2013 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:31:28 GMT

At least it's happening to the 2 of us and I would assume many others also.

I assume the tracking is also done with My Australia Post Business ... I don't download the tracking there.

I do all the downloads manually on eBay when i get home from the post office.

Maybe someone needs to learn basic maths on eBay...lol!

Re: What am I missing?

eol-products — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:37:28 GMT

I managed 89% on 371 orders but untracked letters shows 0%. My guess is the missing 11% is due to untracked letters but I select standard postage in the listing.

Remember a lot of loyalty programs use things like these to show how you are going. Some are accurate but there also some that aren't and I usually don't pay much attention but the ebay one is supposed to be linked to listing visability which I gather if you are below a certain level it may not be good when it comes to listing ranking in "best match".

Re: What am I missing?

whoisbiggles — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:40:35 GMT

Yes got similar email - eBay must have switched to "New" Maths

My uploaded tracking is valid for 85% of transactions - I only use Aussie Post and all tracking numbers are auto loaded into transaction. Don't know how 15% of the tracking numbers could be invalid?

Re: What am I missing?

love_of_cars — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:51:07 GMT

I use Australia Post MyPost Business for sending items. A long-running problem in this system may be related to what is being described here.

Inside the MyPost website if you click on a parcel in the Tracking tab it almost always says they are experiencing technical problems and there is no tracking history available at the moment. Those that do work have no tracking history beyond "Initiated" and I have to go to the public website to look up tracking to get any useful info.

So I'd say that eBay cannot get info for some tracking numbers, resulting in this behaviour at eBay.

Re: What am I missing?

the4masters2013 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:55:16 GMT

Thank you.

I haven't had anyone question the tracking numbers (apart from 1 buyer... it was my mistake and easily fixed).

At least if there is a problem I know where it came from and hopefully can help fix the problem.

Thanks again.

Re: What am I missing?

wide-world-of-stamps — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:58:30 GMT

Most of our go as untracked letters, but we add tracking for some of the larger or more expensive orders.

Our thought is that those eBay has said have tracking that isn't "valid" for the postage service is those that were sold with the postage option of untracked letters, but we've covered the extra cost to send them tracked.

In other words, the sale shows postage via untracked letter, but we've added tracking to the order, so the 2 don't match up in their system.

We're not particularly worried, we sell mostly low value items so tracking isn't usually an option. We'll just keep doing what we're doing as it works for us.

Re: What am I missing?

davewil1964 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 04:32:08 GMT

As I said in the thread pauls bumped, it seems to be prepaid satchels that are the issue.

This is what the email said (in part) -

On October 1 2020, we announced that if you use a tracked postage service and upload valid tracking information for your eBay orders, you’ll benefit from better Estimated Delivery Dates and increased seller protections.These changes also affect sellers who don’t validly track their orders consistently. We’re here to help you make the most of these changes. Here is Your Tracking Performance You’re uploading valid tracking for 58% of your eBay orders. We’ve compiled a list of tracking options for you, depending on your business needs. Visit our Seller Centre to find the best solution for your business.

107

Orders sent between 04/10/2020 and 03/01/2021

35%

Of your orders sent with untracked letters.

86%

Of your uploaded tracking is valid for trackable services*.

Top Rated Seller (eTRS)

Your seller standard as at 03/01/2021

Re: What am I missing?

digital*ghost — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 04:34:10 GMT

@wide-world-of-stamps wrote:

Our thought is that those eBay has said have tracking that isn't "valid" for the postage service is those that were sold with the postage option of untracked letters, but we've covered the extra cost to send them tracked.

I think you're right - the * in the main part of the email leads to a statement that says:

"Valid tracking is based on trackable services in your postage policies."

i.e. eBay is assuming that if the service selected doesn't including tracking, any tracking that is uploaded is not "valid", lol.

Re: What am I missing?

davewil1964 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 04:49:20 GMT

I haven't used in prepaids in the period, so it might not be them.

Tracked letters, including some I sent as parcels, seem to align with the numbers, so it's probably those. As d*g said.

Re: What am I missing?

joztamps — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 04:52:37 GMT

@digital*ghost wrote:
@wide-world-of-stamps wrote:

Our thought is that those eBay has said have tracking that isn't "valid" for the postage service is those that were sold with the postage option of untracked letters, but we've covered the extra cost to send them tracked.

I think you're right - the * in the main part of the email leads to a statement that says:

"Valid tracking is based on trackable services in your postage policies."

i.e. eBay is assuming that if the service selected doesn't including tracking, any tracking that is uploaded is not "valid", lol.

Yes

Re: What am I missing?

jellybirddesigns — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 04:56:16 GMT

LOL, Ebay maths is a joke.

My email today said that 90% was sent with valid tracking and 18% was untracked.

Just loved the passive aggresive addendum on the message which said that if we don't send with valid tracking, our listings might get pushed down in search.

Re: What am I missing?

the4masters2013 — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 06:22:32 GMT

The only thing i can think of is that sometimes i send items in a padded bag (bought in the post office).

However, everything i send is with tracking which I download as soon as I get home.

If it is a post office generated tracking number, I don't see what the problem is.

I have never had this issue before.

Just not going to stress out about it!

Re: What am I missing?

jellybirddesigns — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 07:09:29 GMT

Definitely don't stress.

I don't use the Aus Post satchels as I use my own plain white satchels which are a better size for my items. I just write the address and then my PO generates a parcel label for $8.95 which has the tracking number. I enter the number manually into the order when I get home and finished.

The only thing I did tidy up recently were my postage policies. I had about 20 different ones which had accumulated over the years due to the different things I've sold. I went through everything in those policies and trimmed them right down to be consistent with what Ebay wants.

Re: What am I missing?

gec2002 — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 23:45:40 GMT

@digital*ghost wrote:
@wide-world-of-stamps wrote:

Our thought is that those eBay has said have tracking that isn't "valid" for the postage service is those that were sold with the postage option of untracked letters, but we've covered the extra cost to send them tracked.

I think you're right - the * in the main part of the email leads to a statement that says:

"Valid tracking is based on trackable services in your postage policies."

i.e. eBay is assuming that if the service selected doesn't including tracking, any tracking that is uploaded is not "valid", lol.

I am in the same boat as many in that I send untracked mostly, however if I think there could be issues I will send as a tracked letter.

However, the eBay email received today (19/1) "eBay Money Back Guarantee Policy Reminder" states "change to the way Item Not Received requests are resolved. If you use a tracked postage service, reliably upload valid tracking and use an eBay-integrated carrier for your eBay orders" Is that "valid" what sellers would regard as valid ie an Auspost tracking number or what eBay seem to regard as valid ie only if originally listed as being listed with a Tracking Shipping Service, and items listed as "untracked" but sent with tracking (and uploaded into eBay) would not qualify and therefore forced to refund.

It would be nice if there was someone in eBay we could ask these technical question, as CS wouldn't even know what a Tracked Letter was.?

Re: What am I missing?

jellybirddesigns — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 00:01:16 GMT

There was a time when I was sending a certain number of items as large untracked letters and doing that same as you by only sending tracked if I though there might be an issue.

However, I decided to change things as I was getting a few "not received" queries last year.

Now I use the large A4 sized stiff green envelope which is tracked, for around $5.20. People are still buying at the same rate and I have peace of mind and so do my buyers.

I have a number of postage policies which cover the different types of shipping I offer and I just changed the policy for those items from untracked letter to tracked letter, which also now complies with Ebay's valid shipping requirements.

Re: What am I missing?

eol-products — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 01:00:39 GMT

I added up the difference in postage price and over a year for me it would add more than $500 to send those items tracked compared to unracked. Most of my items would be under 125grams packed but if they where heavier then the cost increase would be minimal.