Exact definition of 'within three business days of receiving payment'

[elise_annabelle_baby]

I sold an item on eBay.  Normally I ask for payment or contact to arrange pick-up within three days of commitment to buy.  The buyer contacted me five days after the sale, asking for another five days in which to pay.  I agreed, and they paid on Tuesday morning of this week, ten days following the sale.  Since then I have received two messages and a phone call (!) from them asking if I have posted the item yet, as they need it ASAP.  My commitment was to post the item within three business days of receiving payment.  To my mind, this meant that I had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (today) to post the item.  In fact, the parcel is ready to be posted this afternoon.  But now I'm questioning whether they were working on a different definition, and expected it to be posted yesterday at the latest.  Is there a precise definition of what it means to post 'within three business days'.

Thank you for any help or suggestions. 

[*crikey*mate*]

LOL at needing it ASAP and taking 10 days to pay...

as to your question, the exact wording is something like "will USUALLY post within 3 business days"

I am pretty sure that there is no precise definition, it is more likely "what a reasonable person would expect"

that aside, if they paid early Tuesday morning, three business days would be if they paid at 9am on tuesday morning, you would post by 9am friday morning. - but meh, I don't think what time you post on the friday affects the overall delivery time, does it? (ie does mail posted at 9 am arrive somewhere faster than mail posted at 4pm on the same day?

If the buyer realizes that you say 3 days, they MAY have counted Tues as day one and thus expected it to be posted thurs.

when did they start asking if it was posted?

[elise_annabelle_baby]

"LOL at needing it ASAP and taking 10 days to pay..."

I know, right?

They sent the first message asking for it ASAP as soon as they had paid (as in, I got the notification of payment and their message at almost the same time), but circumstances have prevented me from being able to post it until this afternoon - though I doubt they're interested in my personal woes .

Second message yesterday, which I didn't respond to as I was going to post it today (my mistake, in retrospect).

Third message this morning, then phone call a couple of hours later.

[*crikey*mate*]

Not exactly what you want, but.....

Business days are commonly used by couriers when determining the arrival date of a package. If courier ships a parcel on a Thursday that will be delivered in "two business days", it will arrive on the following Monday (if neither Friday nor Monday are a holiday).

EDIT, this leads me to believe that my first scenario would be what was legally acceptable. i.e Tuesday does not count as an entire day. if it got to that.

[elise_annabelle_baby]

That scenario sounds like my thinking was correct - shipping ('transaction') on Thursday > Friday + Monday = two business days.
My scenario - payment ('transaction') on Tuesday > Wednesday + Thursday + Friday = three business days.

Thanks for your response :). 

[lyndal1838]

If they paid in the morning I think I would be counting that as the first business day and tried to post by Thursday afternoon.  If they paid late in the day then the next day would be counted as the first business day.

I think they have a bit of a hide though...they can string out paying for the item but then expect it to be posted in double quick time.

[*crikey*mate*]

goodness me!

but yeah, you already realize you "should" have responded to that first message and outlined that your listing did state 3 days and that when you listed your items and determined the finishing time takingg into account your work schedule that you never anticipated that someone would take 10 DAYS to pay, however, even though you have a life work committments you would do your best to get it into the post as quickly as you could.

I've sooo gotta know what you said on the phone LOL

did they sound cross or unreasonable?

I'm just thinking here about what they may do to your feedback.....

[thecatspjs]

Most of the help pages on calculation of business days for shipping and handling on ebay seem to reflect the following:

Same business day = default cut off time for shipping is 2pm in countries where offered

1 Business day = the next business day 

2 Business days = the day after the next business day ....  etc etc etc

The day a buyer pays is not calculated in total business day handling equation on any site pages that i have been able to find on ebay  - notwithstanding that a buyers perception often varies significantly from ebay norms and policies.

[rkwm888]

i just had a look at your listing and you have this

If payment or contact is not made within seven days of commitment to purchase, item will be re-listed.

if the buyer doesnt pay after 4 days you can open an unpaid item dispute and if they still havent paid after another 4 days you can close the dispute and ebay will give them a strike and then you can relist the item....so what you have in your TOS means very little

[digital*ghost]

I have had quite a few buyers who believe handling time starts from the date of sale rather than the date of payment. For example, on my store listings I have a handling time of 2 business days - you might be surprised how many people have decided to pay two days later and thought that meant immediate shipment. o_O (It generally does, because my handling time is more to make eBay's ETA dates more realistic, but still... )