Last minute buyers.

[westernstargifts]

Why do men wait until the last minute to shop?  Why do they make a purchase, wait 3 days to pay and then expect you to get it to them before Christmas?

To be fair, I do have 2 e-checks waiting to clear (both Canadian women) and another female that hasn't paid yet, but there are a larger number of male buyers who haven't yet paid.

I sent a shipping notice to a lady in Michigan yesterday (shipped same day) and quoted her an estimated "delivery time" of 2 weeks.  I also state in the listing description that International buyers should allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery.  This is the reply I received.

Well, that is a bit dis-heartening as it is a Christmas gift & the listing said 6-8 business days. I would have certainly paid extra shipping to have it here in less than 2 weeks & by Christmas. I suppose that is why I should have gone w/my gut instict & stayed within the USA to purchase from. I will keep my fingers crossed & hope I get lucky & it arrives before Christmas. Is there any tracking number?

Thanks so much.

Which shows another issue that I have seen mentioned on discussion boards before.

Why does eBay show the inaccurate shipping times that they get from the Canada Post website with no allowance for customs or the busy Christmas season?  Obviously that is the reason this lady made the purchase...because she assumed it could arrive in time.  Thank you in advance, eBay, if she dings my DSR for shipping time.

[cumos55]

I suspect that you are listing on eBay.com... and as a result  delivery dates indicated are USPS estimated delivery dates.

You are being treated like both you as seller and the buyer live in the US

I list on eBay.ca  and do not get any shipping times to the US indicated....  For my listings all  it says is that shipping times vary for international sales...

Appears to be another indicator that if you live in Canada,  then one should list on eBay.ca

[cumos55]

Just checked your listings  and I do not see any shipping times for international buyers....

Just 

Varies for items shipped from an international location

I am confused?????

[cumos55]

I did see a delikvery  time to the US ... Now I do not

Changed my ship to location as to the US  when search report comes through.

Now you see it ... Now you do not!

[cumos55]

Canadian listing with Canada Post shipping and delivery dates show...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chalk-Sweat-and-Cheers-Manitoba-Teachers-Society-/370567144946?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item564785e5f2

[zarzuella]

At the top of every one of my listings. D'ya think they read it?  Hah!

[cumos55]

Same listing

on eBay.com

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Manitoba-Book-Centennial-1970-Illustrated-/370567750490?pt=US_Nonfiction_Boo...

and now on eBay.ca

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Manitoba-Book-Centennial-1970-Illustrated-/370567750490?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item56478f235a

[cumos55]

Only happens when you use Canada Post light packet as a shipping option to the US.

Does not happen with letter mail... or with any parcel option

same seller  as the other listings indicated  but with lettermail

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Picture-Sculpture-Three-Dimensional-Craft-3-D-figures-one-art-print-/3705671...

and then expedite USA

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Happy-Days-Fonzies-Real-Cool-Game-Parker-Brothers-/370567631603?pt=LH_Defaul...

[cumos55]

Only if you ship with Canada Post light packet to the US

 and only if you view the listing on eBay.com

does not show if you are from the US and view the listing on eBay.ca... which is highly unlikely.... for a US buyer...

[cumos55]

Reply 6

In order to see the difference you have to go to the Shipping and Payments TAB  and view all of the shipping information... including to the US.

The view  keeps changing ... but the basics do not change.

[cumos55]

Links to listings in Reply 6 and Reply 7

In order to see the shipping to the US ...and associated delivery times

click on Shipping and Payments TAB

[westernstargifts]

Thanks for your replies and your examples.  I know about the Shipping tab but had not compared the way it displayed on .com vs .ca.  The thought never occurred to me that they would display the delivery time differently until I saw your examples.  I mistakenly assumed they would be the same.  Why would I even think that they would be different?

I list only on .ca.  I have begun to select "Economy Shipping" instead of Lettermail because eBay shows it to me as being 1-15 business days.  I see in the one listing you used as an example, cumos, the shipping shows as Economy with Lettermail in brackets and gives the Lettermail shipping time which is 4 to 6 business days.

Why do they bother to give us a choice if they still show the shorter delivery time?  That is nuts!

The buyer that sent the message above was from the U.S. and the item was shipped Light Packet (110793075233).  It shows the Light Packet rate with the delivery time as variable when viewed on .ca.  On .com it shows delivery time as 6-8 business days and that is what my customer saw.  She made the purchase on the assumption that it "would" arrive within that time period which is totally unrealistic at this time of year and this late date.  I don't think the buyers even see the tiny Estimated Delivery* above the shipping fees.  Most buyers don't seem to know what "estimated" or "approximately" means anyway.

I can easily see why buyers might trash sellers' DRS's when they see such unrealistic delivery times.  Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Ann, do you add that line to your listings at this time of year?  If so, is there a quick way to add it and then remove it from all listings at one time?  I have thought about doing something like that but didn't know if you could bulk edit listings to do so.

[femmefan1946]

zarzuella

They certainly don't. If they did, someone would have corrected your spelling by now.

:-x

Yes, I am the spelling police. Just me and my little blue pencil over here in the corner....

[westernstargifts]

You are pretty sharp!  That error was not easy to spot.

[zarzuella]

Wow.  Ecomony shipping.  The mind sees what it expects to!  :^O Thank you for the head's up.

Judy, it is a .gif graphic, hosted offsite,  that I put at the top of the page on all my listings.   If I need to add a message I just change the image (using the same image name) and all my listings are updated.  Works if people read it.

Ann

[cumos55]

The problem appears to be with Light Packet  going to the US and when viewed on eBay.com.

The solution to the difficulty would be to select a Canada Post option other than Light Packet.

In turn  one can state lettermail to the US in a listing  and continue to use light packet  with a light packet price as a shipping option..

My understanding of light packet is that it is airmail with a customs declaration...

There are no delivery times indicated for airmail  to the US.

Small packet, with no delivery times to the US indicated on eBay.com might also be a shipping option instead of Light Packet...

[westernstargifts]

Great advice!  I will check it out.

Many thanks.

[pjcdn2005]

I sent a couple of emails to Vincenzo about this almost a month ago. He insisted that it was supposed to be like that even though they hadn't made an announcement about it and even though it isn't consistent. He did say that they would fix it so that when sellers listed on .ca, they would see what the delivery time would show up as on .com. Obviously that hasn't been done.

[pjcdn2005]

For items that I list on .ca and send light packet, I use standard int'l shipping as it doesn't show a delivery time.

[westernstargifts]

Groan.....I opened up my email tonight and had no less than 3 "Where's my item".  One was shipped the Monday before the American Thanksgiving, one just under 2 weeks ago and the other on Dec. 15 (shipped same day).

The guy from Dec. 15 sent this message:

Your ad stated 6 to 8 days for shipping, click the ? mark after shipping, I wanted it for Christmas.

You are selling on US eBAY not ca ebay AND I never would of bought it had i known it would take that long.

Not to happy. xxxxx

Not only did he see that unrealistic "delivery time" but he is also blaming me for showing up on .com.

Cumos....I'm off to change the shipping on all of my Light Packet mail.

PJ....Thanks for letting me know about your contact with Vincenzo on this issue.  If you contacted him on a discussion board can you point me in the right direction to add a comment?

Ann...Thanks for the info but I don't have a clue how to do that...lol.

Thanks again.

Judy