MY GOD I ALREADY HAVE 5 LATE DEFICITS AND I SHIP EVERY DAY

[lurehouse]

I ship daily and have a perfect record for over 11 years, my late postge deficit reads as follows.

3 late deliveries reorted by the carrier

2 late delieveries reported by the buyer

My deficit is 1.66

At this rate another 4 and and I will slip below standard and what the hell has the carrier (Aus Post) got to do with reporting late deliveries ?

I cannot do anymore than post every day and I believe some people would winge evn if  I teleported the parcels that day..............

[247newdeals]

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@lane-ends wrote:

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@lane-ends wrote:

The point is you dont advertise a slower service than you provide if you want to be competitive. 

If you can offer a service today you dont advertise that you need a weeks notice and not expect it to affect business.

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I understand these points and don't intrinsically disagree with them, but eBay puts the issue into a different context, IMHO.

I would be willing to bet that the majority of buyers don't look at handling time, just the ETA, which in turn means they're basing their expectations and (possibly) purchase decision on arrival time, not handling time.

Considering eBay's ETA's can often be completely unrealistic, extending handling time to result in more realistic ETA's is not underselling your service or turnaround time, it is making it more feasible to acheive / live up to. 

Besides which, there's nothing stopping any seller from setting handling time to X days (mine is 2, and ETAs seem quite reasonable to my buyers, at any rate), and then advertising 24 hour turnaround time in the description, in subtitles, wherever it's more noticeable than the postage and payments tab. 

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Its because of the failure rate. estimates are estimates, extending your handling is done so you can almost guarantee it.

As a buyer I dont need a guarantee, I need an estimate. If I want a guarantee I would at least do express, or shop somewhere in person. Buying online comes with it the risk that onetime delivery estimates are not guaranteed.

I prefer high chance it will be by a certain date than most likely not but a nice surprise if it does.

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Your missing a very big point yes they are or rather should be estimates but that is not how they are being used they are deadlines and sellers missing them are being restirced and in some cases closed.  

[digital*ghost]

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@lane-ends wrote:

As a buyer I dont need a guarantee, I need an estimate. If I want a guarantee I would at least do express, or shop somewhere in person. Buying online comes with it the risk that onetime delivery estimates are not guaranteed.

I prefer high chance it will be by a certain date than most likely not but a nice surprise if it does.

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But you're not buying your items... And if you really think about it, how much difference is there between "there's a small chance it'll get there in two days, but that's the best case scenario" and "it will most likely arrive in 4 days"?

[5kazam]

(Only 'cos you're the last poster).

Okay we all agree eBays 'estimated' delivery times are unrealistic.  But what no-one has mentioned is now that Aust Post has 'extended' their delivery times, hardly any of you are ever going to have deliveries of large letters arrive 'on or before time' according to eBay.

So quite obviously those defects are going to mount up very quickly.

Even though a good percentage of buyers don't read the listings properly, maybe you all may want to put something in your listings about Australia Post not providing the service they used to.

Nothing to do with eBay, but I now have letters arriving from the Far South Coast, NSW to Melb in 9 days where it used to be 2, max 3.

[lane-ends]

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@247newdeals wrote:

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Your missing a very big point yes they are or rather should be estimates but that is not how they are being used they are deadlines and sellers missing them are being restirced and in some cases closed.  

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i am agreeing with you, sellers should not be held accountable for AP. Buyers make that risk/choice when they shop online. But a seller who is willing to get it in post ASAP should not have to lump himself in with those who get around to shipping a couple of times a week, by pushing handling out to 3 days

Yes estimates are estimates, it is ebays who is setting them as guarantees for 95% achievemnet rates. 

Seller A list: I will do my best to get in next post, seller B: post a couple of times a week at their convenience. Now both will be listing as having 3 days handling, how is a buyer to know the difference and where is the incentive/reward for seller A.? Despite best intentions seller A will eventually become seller B as having his but covered with lodgement tracking is more important then getting it in the more accessible street box at the end of the street everyday. If a coninues to post everyday in street box he will pick up defects when something takes the grand tour or a whole batch gets forgotten somewhere.. Seller B wont, hes the good guy by ebay

Seller A could attempt to clarify he posts everyday in description, but thats hidden away fewer buyers read or remember whats on there, and it will be ignored in any performance rating/best ranking standing. That standing may not have an impact now, but who knows when it will become a booster when ebay next reasses what they want to push.

As it stands to survive you need to be seller B. That in itself will be seen as a step down by many proud sellers and demoralize them.

I have a sale right now it could go ii tonights box pick up, or even sunday nights pick up, but no I have to wait until monday just for the scan, so how is that best by buyer apart from being fully trackable?

[digital*ghost]

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@lane-ends wrote:

i am agreeing with you, sellers should not be held accountable for AP. Buyers make that risk/choice when they shop online. But a seller who is willing to get it in post ASAP should not have to lump himself in with those who get around to shipping a couple of times a week, by pushing handling out to 3 days

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I think the point is, what should be and what is, is different on eBay, so it comes down to how much risk a seller is prepared to take when running eBay's Seller Standards gauntlet. That's a personal choice, so I'm not trying to argue with anyone here, but I am trying to say that minimising the risk is unlikely to be to the seller's detriment overall. I personally work from the position that I would rather lose a few sales (if in fact my handling time means I do), minimise the risk from damage to my account from ebay, and continue to actually be able to sell (the old "sacrifice the few for the good of the many" kind of approach). I don't exactly like that I feel the need to take that approach, but I do because I like the alternatives even less. 

The other thing is, no one - not even eBay - can say with any degree of certainty exactly how best match works, and it's supposed to work differenty for different people. eBay says free postage will give you a boost, my personal experience says it kills sales, eBay says 0-1 day handling time gives you a boost, I haven't seen one seller say changing their handling time adversely affected their rankings / sales, so whenever I see eBay tout another new seller standard and promising boosts in best match, I take it with high degrees of cynicism and doubt, and only adopt the stuff I need to.

Pushing handling time out also extends the timeframe a buyer can make a claim via the MBG, since that's based on the last ETA +30 days. That's a good thing for buyers, especially when dealing with a seller who has a longer handling time but posts within 24 hours (like I do). Some buyers may well be more inclined to purchase from sellers with slightly longer handling time, just like warranties can have a similar effect. 

[*tippy*toes*]

Majority of sellers who have increased their handling time to 3 or 5 days aren't planning on posting a couple of times a week, or when they get around to it. They are still planning on posting the same or next day, like they always have. The ONLY reason they are doing it is to extend the ridiculous estimates so they don't get defected off here. They are NOT doing it to reduce their trips to the PO as that would defeat the purpose. They may as well just leave the handling time as it was.

Having an extended handling time allows for weekends and public holidays. If someone pays on Friday night with a 1 day handling time, as far as eBay is concerned, it should be posted by Saturday, with a lodgement scan. Having the extra handling time days gives you breathing space to get it in Monday. If you cop a late post defect, you can prove that it was sent within your handling time and have the defect removed.

The best part about having the extended handling time and posting same or next day is, buyers are ALL getting them before the first estimate date and think it's super! The amount of messages I've got from buyers is astounding, all saying the same thing. Feedback is reflecting that too.

I don't think I've ever looked at anyone's handling time and I've rarely looked at the estimate. If I want the item, I buy it. If I need it quickly, I ask the seller if I could pay the extra to have it posted express if they don't have that option listed (before I bid/buy).

[lurehouse]

Got another one from Aus Post this morning so I mow have 6 deficits for late shipping and I am running at 1.89, I ship eveyday so australia post could themselves be to blame for this.

When does the devicit get resit, is ti once yearly or less? Meanwhile my only option is to go back to red satchels and then in the near future I  bet ebay will make tracking mandatory .

We are thinking of pulling the pin this year as it is getting to hard for us smaller sellers and I do not want to get caught with a lot of stock if ebay. I should not have been so naive and realised how much these changes would effect us, smaller sleers are not wanted here anymore make no mistake about it.....................

[cathyjoyjoy]

There's been some very helpful insight offered here, but the bottom line is that same-day or even 1-day handling time provides a good opportunity to receive shipment defects.  Your current handling time still would not get an item to me in the time stated.

I had an interesting conversation with 2 people recently, regarding eBay now just being a gateway for major sellers, now Myer !!!!!!, and for cheep Chinese stuff.  Anyway the conversation led to the increasing questions buyers are now asked after a sale which include "did your item arrive before ____".  Both said they often say NO, even if it arrived on the first day because "they want to let the seller know that their estimate was incorrect" !!!!!!!!

After I explained that it is ebay's ESTIMATE along with AP's ability to move the item through its postal system, and not something the seller can adjust and that each time you say NO, it eventually impacts a seller's ability to sell through eBay ............. they were shocked and I actually think they didn't believe me.

[lurehouse]

 I hear what your saying but what do we do then, if you do not offer 1 day handling you in turn cannot offer a premium service for that item and you fall way down in the searches. With fishing gear it's nearly impossable to compete against the chinese, so your damned if you do and damned if you do not........................

[lurehouse]

 I hear what your saying but what do we do then, if you do not offer 1 day handling you in turn cannot offer a premium service for that item and you fall way down in the searches. With fishing gear it's nearly impossable to compete against the chinese, so your damned if you do and damned if you do not........................