Running out of patience!

[sunshine2426]

Hi guys, I'm running out of patience lately and need to vent!
What is it with American clients and shipping? Do they all think a small packet from Canada takes 2 business days like in the US?
I don't know how many times I get e-mails complaining after 2 to 3 days where's my bikini!
Do they not realise it's a different country and it passes through customs?
How many other sellers have this problem daily?
Also I send an e-mail before I ship a bikini stating it could take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks depending on customs or longer.

[katiusciav]

its very frustrating! i've had a rash of emails like that too lately, although, not after two business days! if i were you, i would just create an original template, or form letter that you automatically send out to everyone who emails you stating, that AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, please allow 1-2 weeks for shipping that is beyond your control. i'm sure it'll make things easier as far as having to respond to these people. as long as we're sellers, we'll always have buyers as cx's that can be a little impatient, or naive of the system.
by the way, i'm thinking of a bikini right now...couldn't you just send it letterpost? i would imagine it to be small enough? that would really speed things up?

anyhoo...cx's are getting on my nerves lately too...i had someone buy two artglasses from me, purchased one, i packed it, then later purchased another and wanted combined shipping. fine, i'll unpack, and repack the two together...no problem...sent the invoice...didn't pay for two weeks and would never reply to my emails. finally replied asking for the items to be repacked and double boxed...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......this takes me quite a while, its not an easy task dealing with two large fragile items in one shipment.......then changes mind again, still doesn't pay and doesn't reply to my emails about paying. two days later, i file an unpaid item dispute as i'm losing my patience...he pays a day later and includes in his comments...PLEASE REMOVE UNPAID STATUS...PACK CAREFULLY OR I WILL EXPECT A FULL REFUND WITH SHIPPING IF THEY ARRIVE BROKEN....

nice...pretty bold in my opinion...he takes his sweet time in paying, doesn't answer my emails about when he's going to pay, bosses me around with packing and then sends that message. people.

[sunshine2426]

Hi Kat, it seems we work so hard for such little money and abuse at times 😞
I tried sending it regular letter post a few times but it came back, insuffient postage. Seems Canada Post is on to us ebay sellers.They will make a buck anyway they can!

[tea_past_times]

1)On my ABOUT ME Page I have a SHOULD I BUY FROM TEA_PAST_TIMES Test, which tells all my buyers what to expect after they push the bid button. I encourage them there, not to bid, if they disagree with any of my points. You are welcome to visit my about me page to see what I mean. Believe me, spelling things out in advance sure helps save misunderstanding later.

2)I use Paypal Shipping Labels. When I do that, my customer gets an email from Paypal, letting the customer know the shipping label has been printed. When I select the shipping service, it give me an estimate of the number of business days it takes for delivery. In the space where I can leave a note for the buyer, I tell my American Customers to expect delivery in DOUBLE the amount of time paypal estimates, Because it has to come across an internatinal border.

3) I quote my customers(pricewise) for AIR PARCEL rates, However, I give them a Surface delivery estimate of delivery time. For example, I tell them it will take 11-21 business days surface, but charge them the AIR rate and then I mail it AIR. They sure are happy when they get it in 3 -5 days. SURPRISE!! Read our feedback about our super fast service!! LOL I have not gotten bad feedback because of slow delivery in 18 months.

4) I answer all emails from customers wanting to know the status of their delivery. Of course I have no clue where the parcel is, but you would be amazed at how effective Pretending to know can be. Send them back an email saying it just arrived at the sorting station in New Jersey, and will proceed to California in 2-5 days. LOL

5) Don't feel bad about bending information. We have to do something to make up for the disadvantage we are at when it comes to being a Canadian seller stuck using Canada post.

6) Buyers hate paying handling fees, so don't call it a handling fee, call it insurance. Americans are used to paying for that. Our insurance is included, but who needs to know. You get your handling fee, and everyone is happy. The customer is now insured to get good handling. As long as you state all your fees in the listing, no problem.

7) Basically, the best strategy, in a nutshell, is that every time Ebay comes up with something creative that makes it harder for you to turn a profit, you should put your thinking cap on and be creative, so that the buyers (those who pay no fees) are actually sharing some of the cost of Ebay. Which is only fair. OPINIONS???

8) My customers are getting their items within a week, I average 3.64 US per listing in (handling) costs, and my feedback is great, check out our feedback. I have no worries with the new system.

[katiusciav]

teapasttimes--LOL-you totally cut and paste that one!!

[nancyschina]

tea_past-times: haven't you heard enough of our opinions on your policy? Or are you just asking to get slammed yet again?

[katiusciav]

sunshine-i'm certain you could add sufficient postage to an envelope...even a manilla one, and its cheaper and quicker than parcel. i've done it on many bulkier items. if you bring one with a bikini inside to the post office, they would let you know how much it is, and you could just buy stamps and do it yourself at home. i know i would..anything i can send in an envelope letterpost makes my life much easier, its cheaper and quicker, and there's no customs involved.
i wish paypal allowed us to purchase shipping labels with letterpost, but they don't right now, along with other services they don't offer either..:-(

[treasure-pot]

Sunshine, rather than lying or misleading customers, as some unscrupulous sellers may do, you may wish to try incorporating delivery times right into the body of your listings. I have found that many US buyers take for granted that they are buying from a US source and do not read the post auction emails that are sent to them. Chances are better that they may see the projected delivery times if they at least read your item description (although there is still no guarantee).

I would also caution against sending anything other than documents by letterpost. US Customs and Canada Post are both adamant that a declaration must be included for anything other than documents. That's the whole reason behind the introduction of the Light Packet service.

Bill treasure-pot

[trinkets-on-site]

Hello,

I let my U.S. & Overseas buyers know on my listings how long there item will take to arrive and how much it will cost. I quote ground surface to the United States and ship it Ground Surface...read my feedbacks...FAST DELIVERY is in most of the feedbacks received. No need to "pretend" or mislead them in any way. Honesty is the best Policy. Once the parcel is mailed an email is sent to the buyer letting them know when to expect it. I rarely get emails asking where their parcels are.

I do ship through Canada Post and for the most part have had no problems with them (other than the high rates of coarse).

Nora

[katiusciav]

I would also caution against sending anything other than documents by letterpost. US Customs and Canada Post are both adamant that a declaration must be included for anything other than documents

really? i hadn't a clue...no cp agent had ever informed me of that one, they would ask what was inside, and i would tell them, and that was that, off they sent it..

[tea_past_times]

Very nice civil discussion here today. Many different opinions expressed. Nice to see that. Hope to see more of it in the future.:-D

[jakeeangel]

They won't tell you because they're extremely uninformed themselves. It's up to YOU to know what's what. Read the CP site, read the boards. The Light Packet issue has been talked about for about a year. Even if you just read the announcements on the right hand side there've been notices in there.

I don't even ship from Canada and I know about it.

Word to the wise, don't ever rely solely on the word of a CP postie. Some may know what they're talking about but I find the majority do not! The tell people many things that are wrong when it comes to packages, customs forms, service options etc. For your own safety, sanity and wallet do your own research before you go there. I'd bet that 9 times out of 10 you'll have the right info over them if you're well informed!

---

[katiusciav]

deb-i do agree with you, about how they're totally unaware sometimes, about how we should do the research (now that its established they're not aware of all the policies), and how it would serve us better in the end to search/find out for ourselves.
however, i think if policies exist out there when it comes to parcel handling/documents/rules and regulations etc...why should it be up to the general public to have to do their own research? take a layperson, who doesn't regularly send parcels and one day decides to send a parcel over the border. isn't it 'safe' to assume that asking the cp agent at the counter would be sufficient enough to answer their questions? isn't that why they're there? i would think so. i've seen so much lack of knowledge and discrepancies with cp agents over time that it makes my stomach sick to realize that canada post does such a horrible job at releasing such information and updates and fails to ENSURE their agents, who, in the end, represent canada post, are on the up and up regarding such policies. and of course, i'm not talking about little discrepancies here and there, we're all human, but just a ridiculous amount of ignorance. our society is becoming one where more and more, consumers are on their own in conducting their own independant research to safeguard themselves. i've had many 'exceptions' made by canada post head office due to wrong information given to me by the cp agent, and never an argument, i'm sure its something they hear everyday.

[zarzuella]

On my ABOUT ME Page...

:-D I can't even get 'em to read the auction text, much less go elsewhere for more instructions ...

[tea_past_times]

The probems with Canada Post exist because it's a unionized, government run company. It doesn't need to make money or compete to exist. They all get paid, whether it's a job well done or not. I used to be a yearly independent contracter for rural route mail delivery , and I could tell you stories about what the unionized staff do with your mail that would make you quite unhappy.

[momosworld]

Where is my item, where is my item, where is my item...about 100 emails a day with this question.

[momosworld]

Tea,

I will agree with you on your #s

2, 3, 4 & 5

For #4, I tell them about US customs, thats all.


Moez

[treasure-pot]

Actually, Ann, eBay will not hold bidders to seller TOS shown on "About Me" pages. You can show your TOS there but, unless they also appear in the individual listing, they are not enforceable.

Bill treasure-pot

[sunshine2426]

LOL...I agree with "Zarzuella". My buyers are to lazy to even read the descriptions. 90% of them ask if the bikini is padded and how much to ship to the US and it's all written clearly.
My clients are mostly teenagers and young college students who have little patience.They don't have time to read apparently!

[tea_past_times]

I don't know if any of you are subscribed to Omniture's tracking services. If you use selling manager, you can request it for free. There you can see how many views your ebay pages have. The service includes tracking views on your About me page, your Store Home page, most popular listings and more. It also tracks sales. Last month we had a total of 13,133 page views on our site. Of those 600 were views of our about me page. Not exactly ignored, but would like more to read it for sure.