Problem with Canadian Sellers not being exempt from tracking upload time

[breda_decorative_arts]

I'm a top rated seller on ebay global.

However I don't qualify for ebay top rated status on ebay.com (US).

The reason given is because I didn't upload 90% of my tracking info within our 2 day handling time.

Right next to that reason, is the statement that Ebay.ca members are exempt from the tracking upload requirement when it comes to top rated status in the US (ebay.com)

Apparently, ebay isn't following its own rules.   

If you are a Canadian top rated seller, I encourage you to look to see if you have been removed from top rated status in the US for the same reasons.

Now for a more interesting part.    We only ship by tracked mail, and we upload the tracking numbers always within our 2 day handling period.   Nevertheless, ebay claims we didn't upload 5 or 6 tracking numbers in time back in Feb, on the 15th and 16th and 18th.    Ebay then claims all those tracking numbers were uploaded on Feb 24!    That is plain false.    All those tracking numbers were uploaded promptly, and absolutely not 6-9 days later (apparently all at the same time).   

You might want to double check ebay's records of your tracking uploading dates, to see if Ebay has recorded your uploading dates incorrectly!

[pjcdn2005]

The reason given is because I didn't upload 90% of my tracking info within our 2 day handling time.

Tracking needs to be uploaded within one business day regardless of your handling time.

Right next to that reason, is the statement that Ebay.ca members are exempt from the tracking upload requirement when it comes to top rated status in the US (ebay.com)

If you look at your dashboard does it say that you don't qualify for TRS in the U.S.?

It's confusing but Canadians are exempt from the tracking requirements for TRS on the U.S.site but in order receive a badge on that site and the highest boost in search, sellers need to be a TRS plus. So to be a TRS we don't have to meet the tracking requirements but to be a TRS plus, we do have to meet them. TRS plus sellers also need to offer 14 days returns and one day shipping and handling.

I don't think that being a TRS on the U.S. site benefits any seller as much as it used to since there is no badge and only a small boost in search. The way that I understand it,  the U.S. sellers do receive a discount on shipping if they are a TRS and do receive the 20% only if they offer the 14 day returns and one day s & h.

Now I don't know if ebay is giving Canadian sellers who qualify for TRS without the tracking a search boost or not. The TRS is virtually invisible on that site so it is difficult to know what really happens. But if we have global TRS we do get the 20% regardless.

Sorry if this seems confusing...The following link is where I got most of the info:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/top-rated.html

As far as uploading tracking...it looks like you use expedited shipping most of the time so if you use Paypal shipping to print labels the numbers should be automatically uploaded to ebay. Plus, you receive a discount on Paypal for expedited and tracked packet.

[pjcdn2005]

breda, are you using Paypal to print out your shipping labels? You seem to use expedited most of the time so that tracking info should be automatically transferred to ebay if you use Paypal shipping. Plus, you also receive a discount on Paypal for expedited in the U.S. and Canada and also on Tracked Packet. TP doesn't seem to be available right now though.

[breda_decorative_arts]

Yes, when I look at the US section of my seller dashboard it states I do not qualify for top rated seller status in the US.    The reason given is because I do not meet the 90% upload tracking requirement - which is not supposed to apply to me because I am a Canadian Seller.

I meet the Top rated seller requirements for the US (ebay.com)  at all the required levels.

I know we don't get a top rated seller badge in the US - that is irrelevant to this problem.

If you are a top rated seller in Canada, there is a good chance you are excluded from being a top rated seller in the US too (to see, look at the US section of your seller dash board - not the Global section which it defaults to).

[breda_decorative_arts]

I do not use Paypal to print my labels because I use Canadapost via my business account and UPS (which paypal doesn't print labels for).

Paypal claims a discount of UP TO 25%, but according to Canadapost, the actual discount received on expedited and express post is just the same as the regular venture one Canadapost rate.

If Paypal was honest, and stated the actual discount (not the UP TO maximum possible discount, which does not apply to every day packages), then I would be able to compare it package by package and see if there is any advantage.    Unfortunately some sellers read Paypals UP TO 25% off statement, and incorrectly interpret that to mean Paypal shipping is 25% less than Canadapost.    That is false.

Moreover, there are serious problems with Paypal and the tracked packet option.

Secondly, there are huge problems with mulitple charges for the same postal label.

Thirdly, many of my items require custom packages.    In the ebay rate calculator I estimate package size (my items go on cube weight as they are fragile).    In those cases where the actual package  size is smaller than expected, I refund the extra cost - I can' t do that with the Paypal lable system.

Lastly, ebay only offers 5 mail options, which does not cover all the available Canadapost mail options I require, so the Paypal label system

[art-in-the-making]

Yes, unfortunately this is the way it is. We lost our TRS+ last year when one customer bought 10 or 11 items over a period of two weeks and we decided to ship in 3 or four groups, obviously exceeding the turnaround time as each auction finished a day or two later.

So it took three months of consistent uploading tracking for US purchases to get past that.

[pocomocomputing]

I do not use PayPal to print my labels because I use Canada post via my business account and UPS (which PayPal doesn't print labels for).

PayPal claims a discount of UP TO 25%, but according to Canada Post, the actual discount received on expedited and express post is just the same as the regular venture one Canada Post rate.

If PayPal was honest, and stated the actual discount (not the UP TO maximum possible discount, which does not apply to every day packages), then I would be able to compare it package by package and see if there is any advantage.    Unfortunately some sellers read PayPal UP TO 25% off statement, and incorrectly interpret that to mean PayPal shipping is 25% less than Canada post.    That is false.

Moreover, there are serious problems with PayPal and the tracked packet option.

Secondly, there are huge problems with multiple charges for the same postal label.

Thirdly, many of my items require custom packages.    In the eBay rate calculator I estimate package size (my items go on cube weight as they are fragile).    In those cases where the actual package  size is smaller than expected, I refund the extra cost - I can' t do that with the PayPal label system.

Lastly, eBay only offers 5 mail options, which does not cover all the available Canada Post mail options I require, so the PayPal label system

PayPal discount for Expedited Parcel were lowered from 25% to 18% for Expedited Parcel.  I have compared the regular rates for Expedited Parcel USA at the Canada Post Find-a-Rate page versus the Venture 1 discounted rates versus the PayPal label discounted rates.

The discount for Venture One are around 5% and the discount for PayPal is around 18%.

I tested PayPal shipping labels using the ShipNow feature with all USA Expedited Parcel zones (there are 7 in the USA) to actual addresses in the USA in states in each zone. The discount was around 18% for all my tests.

So the PayPal discount is 18% for Expedited Parcel USA when compared to the the full Expedited Parcel USA over the counter rates.

I also tested the PayPal shipping costs for Xpresspost USA and it tested out as 9% discount compared to the over the counter rates.

So your comment that the PayPal discount is no mare than the Venture One discount is not correct based on all of my testing.

(I have not tested Expedited Parcel Canada yet.)

I also tested the old 25% discount that was in effect just before April 9 and the discount for PayPal Expedited Parcel checked out to be 25% in all my test.

As for PayPal refunds, you can refund any partial amount in PayPal from a PayPal Payment. So I do not understand why you cannot.

[pocomocomputing]

breda_decorative_art..

Also Xpresspost PayPal discount is 9% for USA and 8% for Canada. It was never up to 25% as you suggest.

I also tested the Tracked Packet extensively using PayPal shipping labels ShipNow feature (I worked around the current bug) and Tracked Packet USA has a 14% discount when compared to the full over the counter rates.

No offense intended but your post has a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding on Canad Post and PayPal shipping labels.

[pjcdn2005]

I have been getting the correct discounts as stated by Poco on Paypal shipping and haven't had a problem with being billed twice so I'm not sure why you would be having problems. Personally, I haven't had a problem with the tracking showing as being uploaded late but it wouldn't surprise me that it happens. It's a good idea to check your download tracking reports fairly often. You can access them in your dashboard.

I'm curious...is it International Air that you can access on the CP website that you can't access on Paypal? Oh...UPS is available through Paypal though I'm not sure if you have to set up a different account than what you have now.

Regardless of how you are printing your labels though, you can still upload them although for myself, it's easier to use Paypal shipping as I don't have to enter any of the buyer's info.

On Wednesday at 1 p.m. eastern there are ebay.ca reps answering questions on the board so you might want to ask them why you don't qualify for trs on the U.S. site.  I have no idea why the dashboard mentions that tracking isn't needed when it supposedly is so hopefully they can explain it or they'll there's a problem somewhere. The .ca help section is often out of date but your dashboard should be up to date.

As I said before, I don't TRS status without the plus in the U.S. is of any great benefit. They supposedly receive a small boost in best match but there are many factors that contribute to best match.

Because you do use mail services with tracking/del confirmation I think that it would be worth your while to change your handling time to 1 day if possible...keep uploading tracking numbers and then you will be TRS plus. As you get more U.S. sales the February problems will make up a smaller percentage and they should be out of the picture totally for June

[westcoastart2]

Thanks for your comments.    Back when I was using Venture One, I got much better discounts than expected, particularly for international express post to Europe and China, which are my main customers.

Our comparison was done when the Paypal shipping option was first announced, and certainly at that time, the Paypal claimed discount of up to 25% was not achieved with any of our tests, and the end result was that venture one gave the same discounts as paypal.    Canadapost commercial gives a better discount than venture one.   The main advantage was that the mail rate was not shown on the shipping label which allowed sellers to over charge on shipping.   We don`t do that, so were not drawn in that way.   Most of our shipping to Asia is very expensive, so we need a postal label on the box to show our buyers we are not over charging them.    We don`t get that with Paypal.

We have used tracked packets a few times to UK, Australia and US.    Interestingly, last time I checked, all the tracking info failed to record delivery - even though our customers confirmed receipt.   This is very troubling, for obvious reasons. 

Are there any more problems with Paypal shipping I may not know about?

[pjcdn2005]

I don't think that this relates to the OP but for others that might be reading this....

Sellers who use small packet or light packet, can upload the "tracking" numbers given out when using Paypal shipping. Since those services don't have tracking, those are really invoice numbers but ebay has said that they will count towards TRS tracking if we upload them. I imagine the same would be true if there are similar numbers given out by CP online shipping or at the post office.