Buyer has asked me to send parcel in a weeks time help

[bmanly3]

Hi, I have a buyer who bought an item from me and he has asked that I post the item in a weeks time. I have messaged him and I have advised that I will do that. The only thing is that I did this once before and I got a "late postage" notice from ebay and they bumped me down from 100% on time postage.

My question is, can I avoid losing my 100% on time posting rating? I mean there should be a way to make adjustments for buyers requests like this. Any ideas on what I should do?

[gutterpunkz05]

I have had a few similar requests over the years  and normally I process postage and print a label within my handling time and then withhold lodging the item with AP until the specified date.  I did get a defect once, but contacted ebay who viewed messages and removed the defect.

[bmanly3]

I always use prepaid AP satchels and lodge it over the counter so I have the lodgement receipt so I can't really with hold lodging. I suppose I might need to contact chat to have such a defect removed if it happens again. Thank you for your help.

[danieh_6]

Have a chat to them if you ever need defects removed however they have changed it now where you can't contact/appeal via messages/live chat you gotta do it through the sellerhelp hub. Which is now really bad, You cannot reason with them regardless of how right you are and you can only appeal once which is a joke imo.

[jellybirddesigns]

Adjust your handling time to more than 10 days, so whether you post the next day or the next week, you'll still be fine.

[digital*ghost]

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@bmanly3 wrote:

Any ideas on what I should do?

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Unless loss of "full marks" or perceived "perfection" is going to cause some kind of serious problem, I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Late shipments can't affect your seller standard, and you'd have to get at least 5% of all transactions from at least 5 different buyers with a late shipment before it will affect anything at all (you'd lose "Top Rated Seller" status at that point, which is barely visible these days).

Also, according to eBay:

"Only tracking details from postage labels printed on eBay are counted automatically. For all other shipments, the buyer will be asked whether the item was delivered within the estimated delivery date. If you uploaded tracking information showing that the shipment was on time, contact Customer Service about removing the late shipment".

So if it's really important, don't use an ebay postage label, but ask the buyer either to not answer the delivery question, or to mark it as "yes" since the dates on eBay won't adjust to the buyer's requested shipment date. 

[wide-world-of-stamps]

Also, you could try sending the tracking number to the buyer via message rather than uploading it to the transaction.

That way there is no automatic defect given by eBay.

Keep a record of the tracking number so you can upload it if there's an INR dispute.

[bmanly3]

I don't think that is possible as the sale has already happened and payment has been received.

[bmanly3]

Thanks for your comprehensive reply. The only part I don't understand is where it says:

If you uploaded tracking information showing that the shipment was on time, contact Customer Service about removing the late shipment".

My settings are that I post by next business day so it won't be on time. I do this because I have time and and some customers prefer quick postage and that sometimes seals the deal. So if I do not post until 4 working days later (as requested) won't that come up as a late posting within ebay?

But anyway, your reply probably answers all other questions, thanks again.

[*tippy*toes*]

Create a postage label through eBay postage. As soon as the label is generated, the item is automatically marked as posted. As far as eBay is concerned, it is posted. Then wait the week and lodge over the counter.