eBay

sylviebee · ‎12-09-2016

I was paid for the item at 12:38 PM today.

Do I have until Monday at 12:38 to get the acceptance scan for this tracked packet if I have a one day handling time in order to avoid a defect?

If so, if I get the scan after 12:38 on Monday, is that an automatic defect or is only a defect if the buyer opts to leave FB?

ypdc_dennis · ‎12-09-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
I was paid for the item at 12:38 PM today.

Do I have until Monday at 12:38 to get the acceptance scan for this tracked packet if I have a one day handling time in order to avoid a defect?

Pretty sure it's anytime Monday -- if eBay was going by the minute, then 12:38pm Monday would be the start of the first business day, since when you are paid is day zero.

But they might count days using the eBay.com HQ clock (PST) to determine what day it is.

-..-

sylviebee · ‎12-09-2016

Wow, thank you. I had no idea that handling time starts 24 hours after payment. I've been calculating from the moment of payment.

That's good to know.

ricarmic · ‎12-09-2016

Yep it is so frustrating when one comes back from the PO and has a sale that happened in the meantime.

I have 2 day handling time and I normally mail M/W/F at about 1:15 in the afternoon (to make sure my stuff is all ready when the truck comes the one time in the afternoon usually around 3).

Couple of days I got ready to go, see the orange bell and have another sale, get that pulled ready to go, look at the computer and another orange bell.... I believe my record is 3 times I had 3 things sell one after the other (1 at a time too) whilst I was trying to get away to the PO! Based on how this week's been so far, I'd love to have 3 sales in a row anytime!

But those are the good ones, the PITB sales are the ones that happened a minute after I leave.

I've always wondered how the eBay timing clock works.

Until Dennis's point, I've always figured I have "24 business hours" = 1 day to get the item out. So that pesky item that sold at 1:17 PM I'd theoretically have to get out before 1:17 pm (in my case 2 days later). This I think is the same belief Sylvie has. I've thought that because I thought I read "within 1 business day" for those with 1 day shipping....

Hopefully someone knows where the official rules are listed, it would be good to know how they physically count it.....

I am pretty sure I've posted non tracked items as shipped after the 2 business days, but theoretically that would only count as a problem if the buyer says "no" when they get it.

ricarmic · ‎12-09-2016

It was bugging me so I looked it up, successfully which was a surprise:

1 business day handling time: If a buyer pays on Tuesday, you need to upload tracking by 11:59:59 pm Pacific Time on Wednesday.
Same business day handling time: If you offer same business day handling, you also have 1 business day to upload valid tracking information. For example, if a buyer pays on Tuesday at 10:00 am Pacific Time, you need to upload tracking by 11:59:59 pm Pacific Time on Wednesday. The tracking number must have at least one carrier scan recorded within your promised handling time.
Handling time is measured in business days. Weekends and holidays aren't counted. For example, if you specify 1-day handling time and a buyer pays on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, you need to upload tracking by 11:59:59 pm Pacific Time on Monday.

recped · ‎12-09-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
Wow, thank you. I had no idea that handling time starts 24 hours after payment. I've been calculating from the moment of payment.

That's good to know.

Well maybe because it doesn't?

In Canada the timezone used is Eastern (US goes by Pacific), that's based on the location of the seller not which site it's sold on or where the buyer is located.

If you sell (and get paid) anything today and have 1 day handling it's supposed to be shipped by Midnight the first following business day.

Example

Paid at ANY time on Monday - Should be shipped before midnight on Tuesday.

Paid anytime between Friday at 0:01am and Sunday at 11:59pm - Should be shipped before Midnight on Monday.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-09-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
I was paid for the item at 12:38 PM today.

Do I have until Monday at 12:38 to get the acceptance scan for this tracked packet if I have a one day handling time in order to avoid a defect?

If so, if I get the scan after 12:38 on Monday, is that an automatic defect or is only a defect if the buyer opts to leave FB?

You have until Midnight on Monday to get a scan. It doesn't matter what time the item was purchased, one day handling means the next business day. Items purchased on .com go by pacific time so if someone purchased an item from you on Monday night at 11 p.m. It is supposed to be scanned before midnight on Tuesday even though it was actually purchased on Tuesday at 2 am at your time.

You would not get an automatic late shipment ding if it was scanned after your handling time if the package was delivered before the last estimated delivery day. If both the originating scan and delivery scan were late, then yes you would get a late shipment defect.

ypdc_dennis · ‎12-09-2016

@ricarmic wrote:
It was bugging me so I looked it up, successfully which was a surprise:

1 business day handling time: If a buyer pays on Tuesday, you need to upload tracking by 11:59:59 pm Pacific Time on Wednesday.
Same business day handling time: If you offer same business day handling, you also have 1 business day to upload valid tracking information. For example, if a buyer pays on Tuesday at 10:00 am Pacific Time, you need to upload tracking by 11:59:59 pm Pacific Time on Wednesday. The tracking number must have at least one carrier scan recorded within your promised handling time.
Handling time is measured in business days. Weekends and holidays aren't counted. For example, if you specify 1-day handling time and a buyer pays on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, you need to upload tracking by 11:59:59 pm Pacific Time on Monday.

and for sales on eBay.CA midnight is determined using the Eastern Time zone clock.

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/build-your-business-online/deliver-great-service/handling.htm...

I suspect each eBay uses it's own HQ time clock for the midnight cut point.

-..-

sylviebee · ‎12-09-2016

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

You would not get an automatic late shipment ding if it was scanned after your handling time if the package was delivered before the last estimated delivery day. If both the originating scan and delivery scan were late, then yes you would get a late shipment defect.

So we get rated on all tracked packages and not just those when the buyer actually leaves FB?

sylviebee · ‎12-09-2016

It's actually easier just to continue to follow my old rule of 24 hours from time of payment than to start calculating using Time Zones etc. A little too wonky for me. I like things simple.

(I had a breakable item that I packed under pressure because I had to make an appointment and wanted to drop it along the way. Then, when I was already on the road I started to focus on how the last breakable item I shipped cracked during transit and decided to repack instead of shipping. Lately I've had 2 super well packed items break and so that was kinda bugging me and I just wanted to be sure I had until Monday.)

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-10-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:
You would not get an automatic late shipment ding if it was scanned after your handling time if the package was delivered before the last estimated delivery day. If both the originating scan and delivery scan were late, then yes you would get a late shipment defect.
So we get rated on all tracked packages and not just those when the buyer actually leaves FB?

Yes

sylviebee · ‎12-15-2016

I received a payment for an item last night at 10:30 P.M.

Does that mean the that I have until tomorrow 10:30 P.M. to ship if I have a one day handling time?

Baby it's Cold Outside.

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-15-2016

If you have a 1 day handling time you have until midnight tonight to get an acceptance scan to guarantee that you don't get a late shipment defect. But even if it was scanned after that time, it wouldn't be considered late if there was a scan showing that it was delivered by the estimated delivery date.

To explain further.....In this case the purchase was yesterday and you have until the next business day to ship. The next business day is today and ends at midnight. If you had sold that item at 7 a.m. yesterday, you would still hsve until midnight tonight to get a scan.

rose-dee · ‎12-15-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
I received a payment for an item last night at 10:30 P.M.
Does that mean the that I have until tomorrow 10:30 P.M. to ship if I have a one day handling time?

Well, strictly speaking, since you're in Kitchener, Ontario (Eastern Time), provided the item was listed on .ca, if you received payment on Wednesday night, you have until one second before midnight on Thursday (today) to get your acceptance scan. So you should be fine with a 10:30 p.m. scan.

However, as 'ypdc-dennis' said, I wouldn't count on eBay's clock being synchronized with yours if you're running close to midnight. Besides, who can actually get a scan done just before midnight on a weekday? I know I can't.

If you're listing on .com, but located in Ontario, subtract a minimum of 3 hours from that midnight cut-off (to allow for Pacific Time). Actually, as an easy rule of thumb, in order to be safe in all circumstances and not have to calculate anything, I'd say 8:00 p.m. of the business day following is a good cut-off time (assuming you use 1-day handling). I use 7:00 p.m. because I'm in Atlantic Time and I list mostly on .com (and I have 2-day handling). You can't get an acceptance scan much past that point anyway, unless you're lucky enough to have a late-night drugstore postal counter.

By the way, copied below (blue text) is eBay's rule on delivery in a nutshell. For this reason, getting that acceptance scan within your handling time is essential, to avoid defects for tracked parcels that arrive after the "estimated delivery date" (as 'pj' mentioned). I interpret this to be eBay's estimated delivery date, not Canada Post's, which may make it even more onerous, depending on where you're shipping.

Bottom line -- if you're using tracking, don't take a chance on getting a late input scan, because then you are entirely at the mercy of the postal system(s) and eBay's on-time policy, regardless of the tracking. In other words, it could make tracking a complete waste of money. You might as well use a non-tracked service and hope the buyer doesn't answer the on-time question the wrong way if they decide to leave FB.

Actually, the fact that so few buyers leave FB now anyway does (ironically) effectively protect sellers from defects. The chance of getting a "No" to the on-time question these days is realistically equal to less than 50% of your average percentage of FB received. So if only 20% of your buyers are leaving FB currently, there's a good chance most of those buyers will either get their parcel on time, skip the "Question", or answer "Yes" regardless.

Not really bad odds. At least that's how I've been calculating it, and that's why I'm now only using tracking selectively and strategically, despite the "on-time metric". I find that most Light/Small Packet deliveries to the U.S. and U.K. get there well within even eBay's timeframes (and I now show "Economy" services on .com plus 2-day handling just in case -- the belt-and-suspenders principle).

From the eBay help pages:

"Shipments are considered late when either:

Tracking shows that the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date and there's no acceptance scan within your handling time
The buyer confirms that the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date and there's no tracking that shows it was on time"

And with respect to non-tracked shipments:

"If you choose to ship without tracking, we'll ask your buyers if the package arrived on time through a delivery feedback question."

Here's the whole page, which includes the seller standards if you want to refer to it:

http://ocsnext.ebay.ca/ocs/sr

sylviebee · ‎12-15-2016

I guess I'll just hope they plough the roads soon or the sun shines on them between now and 5. 🙂

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-15-2016

Well, strictly speaking, since you're in Kitchener, Ontario (Eastern Time), provided the item was listed on .ca, if you received payment on Wednesday night, you have until one second before midnight on Thursday (today) to get your acceptance scan. So you should be fine with a 10:30 p.m. scan.

According to an earlier post from recped, the time zone is based on the sellers home site, not on the site listed. If that's the case, Canadian sellers would always use est for their calculations regardless of listing site. But because few if any of us are able to get a postal scan late at night, I think that the time zone is probably only relevant with late night purchases. For example, if it is based on a sellers home site and you sold an item at 12:15 ast which would be 11:15 est you would have to ship that same day before midnight because the payment was made the previous day according to eBay time.

However, as 'ypdc-dennis' said, I wouldn't count on eBay's clock being synchronized with yours if you're running close to midnight. Besides, who can actually get a scan done just before midnight on a weekday? I know I can't.

If you're listing on .com, but located in Ontario, subtract a minimum of 3 hours from that midnight cut-off (to allow for Pacific Time). Actually, as an easy rule of thumb, in order to be safe in all circumstances and not have to calculate anything, I'd say 8:00 p.m. of the business day following is a good cut-off time (assuming you use 1-day handling). I use 7:00 p.m. because I'm in Atlantic Time and I list mostly on .com (and I have 2-day handling). You can't get an acceptance scan much past that point anyway, unless you're lucky enough to have a late-night drugstore postal counter.

Actually, if you are basing it on .com time, you wouldn't subtract 3 hours. Midnight PST is 3 a.m. In Ontario and 4a.m. In NS. Regardless, I doubt that you are going to go to the po in the middle of the night which is why the purchase time I more likely to be more relevant.