Customers Still Able to Select Canada Post at Checkout?

With the Canada Post strike I figured eBay would turn off all options for buyers to select that at checkout. However, over the weekend I had a few orders come in using Canada Post Tracked Packet - USA, a couple for Canada Post Expedited Parcel going domestic and one Canada Post Expedited Lite (exclusive to eBay). Obviously, I can't purchase those labels as eBay has greyed them out, but why are buyers still able to select those?

electronic_dist_intl

4474 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago

3 comments

ilikehockeyjerseys

·1 year ago

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eBay doesn't take responsibility for your shipping policies. The way it works is that it is entirely on the seller to choose what services+handling they offer. The only thing that eBay does is set the delivery estimates for each service you choose (Canada Post Expedited, UPS, etc) based on their perception of the carriers stated delivery standard.

You have to do one of two things.

1 - Remove Canada Post from your shipping options manually using the business policy page.

2 - If you want to keep offering Canada Post, extend your handling time to 20 days and hope that the strike is resolved by that time. When you get an order, message the buyer to let them know that it will ship when the strike resolves.

There are a few ways you can resolve the current problem with outstanding orders.

For the USA orders, if you have access to Chit Chats or Stallion, just send them that way. Technically, you are supposed to use the same carrier that you advertise on the shipping page, but Chit Chats and Stallion both use USPS so it's basically the same thing as Canada Post. Just make sure you don't use a US service that doesn't go through USPS. This should cost you roughly the same price as Tracked Packet.

For Canadian orders, look at the cost of UPS. If this is a smaller package like a piece of media and they are regional to you, it might be $10 or $11. Because this is a different carrier, I would message the buyer. I would ask them if they are fine with you shipping it with UPS at no extra cost to them, or if they would rather cancel the order. Eat the few bucks, and send them UPS or cancel if the buyer prefers to cancel. Granted, you could just send it with UPS and not message them. You could also use Stallion to send it via UniUni or FleetOptics, but you have to keep in mind UPS is going to be 1-2 days regionally, where as Stallion might take a week or two. So in a scenario where you're substituting the shipping service, I would probably stick to UPS if costs allow it.

If these are buyers in remote areas and UPS is going to be expensive, explain to the buyers that the handling time is not accurate because of the strike. Ask them if they would like you to cancel, or if they would like you to hold on to their item and print the label when Canada Post is back up and running. If they want you to hold the item, manually mark it as shipped without printing a label. When the strike ends, you should be able to print a label using the "Get Antoher Label" in the drop down beside the item.

Keep two things in mind if you decide to manually mark them as shipped and hold them for the customer:

You might be issued a defect for a late shipment when you go to print out the label at a later date. While I think eBay would remove this given the context, that is never guaranteed. A late shipment defect won't matter if you never get these, but if you have a few of them you need to be careful that it won't make you below-standard.
If the strike lasts beyond the original delivery estimate, the buyer could technically open an INR once it is in transit and if it is not delivered by the date you have to resolve it eBay can step in. Considering that eBay has extended the delivery window for Expedited Lite I wouldn't worry too much about this. But I certainly wouldn't ship a $500 item that won't get there by the delivery window. You can see the latest estimated delivery date on the order page. For example, if I buy an Otter phone case from you today, eBay tells me I can open an INR on December 13th. You have to understand that this line of thinking is absolutely worst case scenario, and odds are nobody is going to deliberately scam you like that for a $20 item.

Still, you absolutely need to extend your handling time to 20 days. That is the first thing you do. It won't fix your outstanding orders, but it will fix the problem for now. It's very easy to do that by editing your shipping policy under business policies. (Top left corner where it says Hi Your Name, drop down to Account Settings, click Business Policies in the bottom left corner.)

electronic_dist_intl

OP1 year ago

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I'll go case by case with the customers regarding any postal shipments that are vastly different in shipping costs and just explain that they'll have to select a different shipping option, or have their order canceled.

mrdutch1001

·1 year ago

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Fortunately, I am one of those sellers who sets the shipping costs according to the shipping method I choose to use which utilizes the most economical, reliable with ease of use, and convenient for me(so the only choice by the buyer is to purchase or not to puchase based on what they are presented with for shipping costs).....and that has worked well for me for over 20 years !