"Handling Time"?

Anonymous
Not applicable

I noticed that I have a lot of "late shipment" penalties that I don't understand.  All packages arrived on a timely manner.

 

What does "....handling time you offer in your listings"?  I put 1 business day, maybe that is a mistake?

 

I see "Did the item arrive on or before Sunday, September 3, 2016?  Estimate Delivery Date September 3-6, 2016"  Is that where I am having problems is that I listed 1 business day for handling?  Should I put 3 or 5 business days for handling to protect myself?  Please advise.

 

I am a Canadian seller and live in Canada for your information.  Thanks.

Message 1 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

Do you use tracked shipping?

 

eBay will use when the package gets scanned by the post office as the start point -- if that's not within one business day it will be treated as late to ship.

 

-..-

 

For search purposes 1, 2 and 3 day handling are similar. Over 3 days gets downgraded in the eBay search results.

 

A modified old saying: Under promise (2 or 3 day handling) and over deliver (1 or 2 day handling).

 

-,,-

Message 2 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

Do you offer tracking?

 

How fast do you take your outbound orders to the post office? Mail box? Postal counter?

 

Most importantly perhaps is how far outside a major urban centre you are located. The shipping calculator does NOT take into account rural or remote locations, either the buyer or sellers. 

 

 

Message 3 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

I used to have a one day handling time and during that time period I received 3 late shipment penalties.  One from Canada (BC to Ont), one to Australia and one shipped to the US then reshipped to the Middle East.  I now have a 3 day handling to protect myself and I also put the longest I could for the shipment time.  Since then I haven't had any issues, (touch wood).  

Message 4 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

I stuck with my same-day handling time making sure orders are at the counter (not mailbox) by last CPC pickup that day (not outlet closing) but eliminated most untraced postal options instead. This would not be a tactic agreeable to many sellers and it has impeded $10 orders to Sweden but, on the other hand, I worry little about Late Shipment Defects and even less about INRs.
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"Handling Time"?

Anonymous
Not applicable

All packages/parcels have tracking number even a small packages for the worldwide.  When I get payment on Friday afternoon, I ship them on Monday.  If I get payment on Thursday morning, I ship them the next day. same on Monday, the next day and so on expect on Friday and holidays. 

 

I live in a building that has a row of mail boxes and a drop area for the post lady to pick up our parcels/packages/letters to take to the post office for us.  It is awesome otherwise I would fret as to how would I get to the post office in person as I am mobility limited with health conditions that prevent me to go out on a daily basis, only once every two weeks, sometimes not for 3 weeks (I haven't been to my bank for months like 3-5 months until last week, thank goodness for banking online and PayPal).  So we get that special service where the post lady will take our items to the post office and she always make sure they are scanned when she arrived at the post office after she finished her mail delivery.

 

So why the heck do I get the late shipping penalty??

 

I guess it would be better if I put 3 business days for handling time to protect myself?  If so I will change that when I listed the new items and to relist them.  I am amazed that eBay is always finding ways to penalized us!  Thanks.

Message 6 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

If you always ship with tracking, then your acceptance scans aren't being gotten within your stated handling time. You can create a report in your dashboard to see which transactions had the defect: check which they are. Pay key attention to those that were purchased but not necessarily immediately shipped around a Canadian Long Weekend as it may not match what eBay has in its system. I believe those can be lobbied for defect removal via eBay Customer Service.
Message 7 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

You can also bulk edit handling time very easily but if you also use Best Offer in your listings, it will remove your auto-accept and/or auto-declines. And changing the handling time will end any markdowns you might have running under Markdown Manager.
Message 8 of 26
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"Handling Time"?


@ypdc_dennis wrote:

Do you use tracked shipping?

eBay will use when the package gets scanned by the post office as the start point -- if that's not within one business day it will be treated as late to ship.

 


Actually that's not quite the whole picture.  A tracked item will not be considered late, even if shipped outside the handling time, unless delivery confirmation shows that it arrived after eBay's delivery time.  There has been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, and admittedly the whole policy is rather convoluted.  For reference, I'm quoting here from the 2015 Fall Update: 

 

"You'll be recognized for on-time shipping if tracking shows your item was either shipped within the stated handling time or delivered by the estimated delivery date. If there's no tracking available, we'll check with your buyer. If your buyer confirms the item was delivered on time, you'll be recognized for on-time shipping.

 

Shipments will be considered late only when:

  • Tracking shows that the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date and there's no acceptance scan within your handling time, or there's no confirmation from the buyer of on-time delivery; or
  • The buyer confirms that the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date and there's no acceptance within your handling time, or there's no delivery confirmation by the estimated delivery date"

 

So although it's always best to ensure a tracked parcel gets scanned (acceptance scan) within the stated handling time, and probably a good idea to show a 2 or 3-day handling time on listings for extra protection, that factor alone is not enough to get a late shipment mark if the parcel arrives within the time eBay determines.  

 

To 'honeybed' -- I'm wondering if you may be the victim of some of those really wrong delivery time estimates by eBay itself.  If you are dropping your parcels off promptly in the outside box, and you know that your postal carrier is getting them to the Post Office the same day, then the problem must be at the other end -- either the postal service or eBay's estimates, which as we all know can be wildly incorrect for some situations.  

 

By the way, were your "late shipments" going to Canada or to the U.S. or overseas?  Are you listing on eBay.com?  If you are, do you show "Economy Shipping" for U.S.?  I find that if I don't state "Economy", some of eBay's U.S. delivery estimates for "Standard Shipping" can be ridiculously short, because they assume USPS delivery times domestically (i.e. within the U.S.).   So while an American seller may be able to get a parcel from New York to Seattle in 3 days, you'll never meet that test as a Canadian seller, especially if delays at U.S. Customs are involved.  

 

The delivery issues within Canada that I've seen reported by Canadian sellers involve rural-to-rural delivery between distant locations, where eBay's delivery estimates do not take the Canadian postal system into proper account.  

 

Here's what I'd suggest.  Print out the tracking reports on your "late shipments".  Check Canada Post's website for delivery standards for those destinations and parcel service(s).  See if you can find out what eBay's delivery estimates for those parcels were.  Compare the two sources.  If eBay's estimates are far too short, that's where the problem is.  Canadian long weekend (statutory holidays) also cause issues if you're shipping to the U.S. because eBay doesn't always take them into account.

 

Unfortunately, there is probably little you can do about the late shipments you've already received, other than trying to call Customer Service with the information you've gathered.  Or better still, contact Raphael (raphael@eBay.com), provide him with the tracking data you have and ask if the late shipments can be removed based on erroneous eBay estimates.  

 

For the future, your best bet is to extend your handling time to 2 or 3 days, which effectively lengthens the whole time period, giving you an extra couple of days of leeway at the delivery end, especially if you continue to ship within 1 day.   It's sad but true that this was the only thing the eBay Canada representative (Raphael's) could offer as a suggestion to help Canadians cope with the mostly U.S.-driven on-time delivery standards. 

 

The other thing you can do (as I mentioned) if you're listing on .com, is to state "Economy" rather than "Standard" shipping.   This will buy you another 2 or 3 days of extra time.

 

The bottom line is that this whole "on-time delivery" standard is largely unworkable for Canadian sellers.  We just have to protect ourselves from eBay's punishments in whatever way we can. 

 

 

Message 9 of 26
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"Handling Time"?


rose-dee wrote:. 

 

The other thing you can do (as I mentioned) if you're listing on .com, is to state "Economy" rather than "Standard" shipping.   This will buy you another 2 or 3 days of extra time.

 

USA shipping choices when listing on eBay.com for the Canadian seller (who ships from Canada)
All flat rate, no calculated, with expected delivery time.

Economy Shipping from outside US (11 to 23 business days)
Standard Shipping from outside US (6 to 10 business days)
Expedited Shipping from outside US (1 to 4 business days)

 

 

These other choices are when you ship from inside the USA

Economy Shipping (1 to 10 business days)
Standard Shipping (1 to 6 business days)
Expedited Shipping (1 to 4 business days)

 

-..-

 

When listing on eBay.com I only use Economy Shipping from outside US when using Canada Post light/small packet and Standard Shipping from outside US only if I'm using Canada Post Expedited.

 

-..-

 

Message 10 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks.  I don't use Economy ever, only Expedited on com for shipping information.  I use Expedited and XpressPost on ca for shipping information for worldwide.  Economy don't include tracking number.  The last 2 years I no longer ship without tracking number to worldwide.  When I shipped my items without items especially to USA, I get lots of "where is my item?" or "I didn't get my item", all because they were so impatient.  Since I started using mail service with tracking number 2  years, bingo, no more "where is my item?" and "I didn't get my item?"!

 

I have printed my late shipment delivery and wrote down the date when I shipped them with tracking numbers and contact Raphael.  I am leery of having to call customer service as they are so incompetent like unbelievable.   Actually all of them have arrived in a timely manner.  In fact who is the heck "carrier" that I see on the late shipment delivery.  Canada Post or USPS or eBay.  If it is eBay then eBay needs to wise up and change their evil ways.  It is unfair to do that to the sellers. 

 

Thanks for all advice and information.  I appreciate it.

Message 11 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

Anonymous
Not applicable

On com, I cannot use Economy as they would be outrage with the shipping costs I charge for Expedited and I would be losing the potential buyers.   When the buyers see Expedited, they understand it include tracking number.  It is a no win-win here.

Message 12 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

and even though shipping estimates say  business days, ebay does not give us credit for weekends and holidays, i have checked many estimated ship dates on sales. and they are exactly the estimated days given on the listing, counting all days even weekends..ebay reallly needs to check into this further. for example if the estimated delivery is 17 business days, and the buyer pays on the friday before a long weekend, 3 days should automatically be added to the expected delivery date to anywhere, because canada post does not move mail on the weekend or holiday monday..

Message 13 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

The long weekends are a particular problem because they're not all discounted as they should be.
Message 14 of 26
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"Handling Time"?


@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks.  I don't use Economy ever, only Expedited on com for shipping information.  I use Expedited and XpressPost on ca for shipping information for worldwide.  Economy don't include tracking number.  The last 2 years I no longer ship without tracking number to worldwide. 


The word "Economy" when listing on .com is just a general term eBay uses because there are no Canada Post services in the shipping options on eBay.com (see 'ypdc-dennis' list in Post #10 above of shipping option terms available on .com).  

 

Under "Economy" you can use any Canada Post service you like.  However, I do understand your point that if a buyer sees the word "Economy", and then looks at the actual price for Expedited Parcel, they may wonder why an economy shipping option is so expensive.  Using the "Standard" option might be better if you're shipping via CP Expedited Parcel to the U.S.

 

Still, if you are listing on .com and showing the shipping option "Expedited" for shipping within the USA, I think that's why you're getting "late shipment" defects even if you're using Canada Post Expedited Parcel.  

 

EBay.com's option of "Expedited" is based on USPS delivery standards, which (as 'ypdc-dennis' list shows) is 1 to 4 business days.  In some cases, depending on where you live in Canada and whether a US Customs delay is involved, an item shipped via Canada Post Expedited Parcel may take 5 or 6 business days.  And voilà -- eBay calls it a "late shipment".  

 

For example, I am in a semi-rural area of Nova Scotia.  My Expedited Parcel deliveries to California usually take 5, sometimes 6 business days.  But with those I make absolutely certain I get the parcels scanned within my handling time (which I've recently extended from 1 to 2 days on most listings), so I haven't had a late shipment defect (yet) -- fingers crossed! 

 

The fact is that the eBay on-time delivery policy was not set up with Canadian sellers in mind.  As far as I know they haven't made any special adjustments to accommodate the realities of Canadian shipping.  In my opinion, a Canadian seller shipping to the U.S. with Expedited Parcel should never get a "late shipment" defect.  It's ridiculous.  What else are we supposed to do -- fly it there ourselves?

 

There are really only two things a Canadian seller can do to protect themselves: (a) Extend handling time to 2 or 3 days (but not more -- as was mentioned, that will affect item visibility/placement, etc.); and/or (b) if you're listing on .com and don't want to show the "Economy" option, consider showing the "Standard" option rather than "Expedited" -- at least then eBay's delivery estimate will almost always match CP's Expedited Parcel delivery standards to the USA.  

 

I suppose the other option is to list on eBay.ca so you can have the proper Canada Post options available, but then there's the whole problem of listing in $CDN if you're mostly selling to the U.S.  There are also some unrealistic delivery estimates set by eBay even for .ca listings, as noted earlier.  Those of us with a large percentage of U.S. customers are caught in a d----d if we do, d----d if we don't situation. 

 

I wish you the best of luck with Raphael, but be patient, he's extremely busy and can take a couple of days to reply.  He's also limited by what eBay rules permit, so he doesn't always have complete freedom to reverse a defect.  I hope it goes well for you! 

 

 

Message 15 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

I also wanted to add that if you are getting "late shipment" defects on items sent by Canada Post Expedited Parcel, according to eBay's rules, that must mean that all those parcels had a late acceptance scan at the P.O. and also arrived after eBay's stated delivery time.  

 

In other words, if the parcel has tracking, it has to be late at both ends in order to get counted as a "late shipment".  Unless of course eBay itself has made an error in designating them late (which is not hard to imagine!). 

 

So extending your handling time to 2 days (or maybe 3) would ensure that if your postal carrier is taking too much time to get your parcels to the P.O. and get them scanned, you will at least protect yourself at that end of the "on-time delivery" metric. 

Message 16 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

Anonymous
Not applicable

My post carrier always take my items to the post office within 2-3 hours after she finished doing her mail delivery on the same day and have them scanned right away which I always check the tracking 4-8 hours later each time.  She even asked the employee(s) at the local post office to scan them each time, so she is doing her job very good and I cannot blame her for the delay at any time.

 

Another thing when I printed shipping labels via PayPal for Tracked Packet to USA, I noticed that the estimate dates by PayPal for US is between 4-15 business days, it sure conflict a big difference from eBay's estimate dates.  I wish Canada Post, eBay and PayPal would work together to set estimate dates and not to cause hell for the Canadian sellers.  I also noticed that when I purchased items from China, Hong Kong (I do received them each time), their estimate dates are between 2-3 months, now I wish it would be for Canada too!

Message 17 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

That 4-15 business days on PayPal must be a typo as the Canada Post site states 4-7 business days.

 

Tracked Packet Service Information  -Delivery standards between major centres

Tracked Packet – USA: 4 to 7 business days

Tracked Packet – International: 6 to 10 business

Message 18 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

Anonymous
Not applicable

I suggest you check PayPal Shipping.  It always shows 4-15 business days for Tracked Packet to USA and has been there since it was introduced a few years ago.  It is not a typo.

Message 19 of 26
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"Handling Time"?

That's true. I've had orders arrive in four days. 

 

But it's tracked so all a seller needs to worry about is getting their acceptance scan on time. After that, from a Late Shipment defect point-of-view, actual delivery time is virtually irrelevant. 

Message 20 of 26
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