eBay

ichopshop · ‎10-16-2021

Is this just a new shipping standard available to us or an actual shipping service? The email is light on details and doesn't link to a more detailed explanation....

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-19-2021

@marnotom! wrote:
@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

I have no idea.
Okay, so I went through the motions of starting a draft listing on the .com site, and this is where "expedited shipping from Canada" fits into all this:

Seeing as it's described as "expedited shipping" under the heading "Expedited services from abroad" and that China and India are also mentioned as options as well as FedEx International Economy by name, I really don't think many Canadian sellers are going to think that this is a reference to a Canada Post service.

I think most sellers would look at the delivery standards for their shipping method first and try to find the descriptor that best matches those delivery standards, anyway.

What about from the point of view of the seller after the customer has paid for "expedited" in 1 to 4 days and has to ship Xpresspost/US priority to get it delivered in that timeline?

Those services are premium and expensive.

When a Canadian sellers (selling on dot ca) buyer pays for specific expedited they are expecting to receive with the matching service. That's what the seller would be using if they shipped Expedited (RegT) to a Canadian customer and same goes if sent to US buyer.

-Lotz

PS. As a side if a seller chose Fedex Intl Economy that is the precise order they would be using when they shipped. Why should it be different with the few Cdn services we offer?

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2021

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
What about from the point of view of the seller after the customer has paid for "expedited" in 1 to 4 days and has to ship Xpresspost/US priority to get it delivered in that timeline?

Those services are premium and expensive.."

The seller would have to wear that for choosing the service in the first place. However, I think most Canadian sellers at the time of creating their listings would be able to figure out by seeing the delivery time estimates and the other shipping categories (Standard, Economy) that "expedited" does not mean "Expedited™."

Fun fact: eBay.com has been around longer than Canada Post's Expedited Parcel™--USA service. eBay.ca might even be older than that service, I can't remember for sure.

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
When a Canadian sellers (selling on dot ca) buyer pays for specific expedited they are expecting to receive with the matching service. That's what the seller would be using if they shipped Expedited (RegT) to a Canadian customer and same goes if sent to US buyer.

If the seller uses calculated shipping, yes. If the seller uses flat-rate shipping, the term "expedited" is a description of the service, not the name of the service, and the seller can use any shipping service they feel meets the delivery time estimate.

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

PS. As a side if a seller chose Fedex Intl Economy that is the precise order they would be using when they shipped. Why should it be different with the few Cdn services we offer?

Yeah, that kind of surprised me when I saw that, but given that FedEx seems to have some sort of sweetheart deal with eBay, it also didn't surprise me.

Strange that you're not concerned about an "economy" service being listed with the "expedited" services, though. 😉

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-20-2021

@marnotom! wrote:
@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
What about from the point of view of the seller after the customer has paid for "expedited" in 1 to 4 days and has to ship Xpresspost/US priority to get it delivered in that timeline?

Those services are premium and expensive.."
The seller would have to wear that for choosing the service in the first place. However, I think most Canadian sellers at the time of creating their listings would be able to figure out by seeing the delivery time estimates and the other shipping categories (Standard, Economy) that "expedited" does not mean "Expedited™."

Fun fact: eBay.com has been around longer than Canada Post's Expedited Parcel™--USA service. eBay.ca might even be older than that service, I can't remember for sure.

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
When a Canadian sellers (selling on dot ca) buyer pays for specific expedited they are expecting to receive with the matching service. That's what the seller would be using if they shipped Expedited (RegT) to a Canadian customer and same goes if sent to US buyer.
If the seller uses calculated shipping, yes. If the seller uses flat-rate shipping, the term "expedited" is a description of the service, not the name of the service, and the seller can use any shipping service they feel meets the delivery time estimate.

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

PS. As a side if a seller chose Fedex Intl Economy that is the precise order they would be using when they shipped. Why should it be different with the few Cdn services we offer?
Yeah, that kind of surprised me when I saw that, but given that FedEx seems to have some sort of sweetheart deal with eBay, it also didn't surprise me.

Strange that you're not concerned about an "economy" service being listed with the "expedited" services, though. 😉

Just suggesting it probably would have been much more helpful if they had provided the actual services that are available to Canadian Sellers from Canada.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2021

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
Just suggesting it probably would have been much more helpful if they had provided the actual services that are available to Canadian Sellers from Canada.

Helpful to whom and in what way?

There are a plethora of shipping services out there. I have no idea why FedEx gets singled out, but it's probably because of some sort of deal it worked out with eBay. A lot of my wife's purchases from Asia and many of my non-eBay US purchases get handled by FedEx.

There's nothing to stop a seller using flat rate shipping to state the shipping method in the listing description if they think it's going to help a buyer. The good ones who are pretty well-versed in international shipping certainly do. But consider that not all shipping companies have a global reach. Sometimes they're in partnership with other shipping companies so the shipping company that accepts an item may not be the same one responsible its delivery.

My wife just received a beaten-up box with Canpar and Loomis stickers on it, and there's another label underneath the address label, so it was likely freight-forwarded from the US through a totally different carrier.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-20-2021

I have to agree with marnotom that it really wouldn't be useful to have the exact service there with flat rate shipping. And it's not practical to expect a US site to have calculated shipping for Canadians. Specifice services aren't useful to the US buyer as they have no idea if small packet or expedited parcel is tracked or how long it normally takes.

As a seller I prefer using generic choices on both sites for various reasons and haven't ever had a problem doing so.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-20-2021

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
I have to agree with marnotom that it really wouldn't be useful to have the exact service there with flat rate shipping. And it's not practical to expect a US site to have calculated shipping for Canadians. Specifice services aren't useful to the US buyer as they have no idea if small packet or expedited parcel is tracked or how long it normally takes.

As a seller I prefer using generic choices on both sites for various reasons and haven't ever had a problem doing so.

The annoucement is directed at Cdn sellers who sell on dot com. For Canadian sellers who sell on dot ca the majority use services standard known services that are provided by CP to ship to the USA(with factual delivery times). Should make rationales sense to use known services vs mystery (unbranded services). As a buyer I work on the same principle. When I pay for shipping i need to know what I am paying for. Similar to a US seller shipping to Canada using USPS/UPS/Fedex. I would much rather prefer they would use actual services with associated accurate delivery times.

I find it interesting that there are Canadian sellers who sell on dot com, routinely complain that the generic services are not accurate but have no issue when eBay is happy to announce additional "unbranded services" that don't connect to any officially known services that have pulled out of the air delivery times.

-Lotz

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-21-2021

All sellers have complained about ebay delivery estimates at times whether they are Canadian or American, whether they list on .com or .ca or whether the seller is using generic or actual services. The times are extremely optimistic is many cases and often don't give any time for border processing.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-21-2021

Most of that was messed up when they chose to only show customs delays may affect delivery time only on the front page...Not with any available delivery options or after with buyers completed purchase and associated tracking. They definitely dropped the ball on that. When attempting a purchase my go to place is available delivery options and any fine print.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎10-21-2021

Delivery estimates aren't pulled out of thin air, though. They're based on published delivery standards from various carriers. Given that Canada Post's delivery standards for its basic parcel shipping service to the US is 2 to 7 business days, I think that eBay.com using a delivery standard of 2 to 9 days for Standard Shipping is perfectly reasonable in that context. If the carriers don't make allowances for border delays, eBay trying to compensate for that in its estimates would be "pulling numbers out of thin air."

And these are estimates, after all, not guarantees.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-21-2021

How does ebay rationalize anything late? Refund buyer. How often do they even question customs delays or if/when they show up in the tracking details.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎10-21-2021

How often are customs delays mentioned in tracking details?

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-21-2021

I've spotted them. My items show when they are in processing at LAX (4 to 5 days) with small packet UR tracking (in ebay) and show when they've moved on their merry way. Sometimes it takes 1 day...others several). I've seen similar time frames for Tracked, Expedited and Xpresspost to the USA. Anything with those services attached most likely get speedier attention.

Defending eBay processes as it is what it is makes zero sense to me.

-Lotz

Most recent one I have where its detailed.

CP Tracking.jpg

marnotom! · ‎10-21-2021

Sorry, I wasn’t very clear with my question.

How often are customs delays identified as such in tracking details?

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-21-2021

As a side note I had a UR shipment to Cyprus a few months back that was held for clarification (when I reviewed tracking that displayed.) Customer needed a PDF of original customs documents before they would release. Forwarded to customer and shipment was released a day or 2 later and noted.

UR tracking does show with some random EU countries. But not all. Tracking specifics/quantity of scans are el muuucho more detailed.

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎10-21-2021

I’m not seeing a customs delay noted in the tracking information screenshot.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-21-2021

I don't have a anything current. Just saying that they do show. It can also verify that customs was not 5 minutes and could have taken several days. And that it should be considered by eBay vs automagic refunds.

-Lotz

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-22-2021

Some of them do appear to be pulled out of thin air. For example if you look at item 154194634558 and enter a New York zip code here is a comparison of what ebay is giving as the estimated delivery time from Calgary and to what the Canada Post calculator says. Since that listings shows a 1 day handling time which is included in the time estimate, I'll subtract one day from the delivery time given by ebay.

Ebay

Tracked Packet - 4 - 7 business days

Expedited Parcel - 4-9 business days

Xpresspost - 2-3 business days

Canada Post calculator

Tracked Packet - 10 business days

Expedited - 7 business days

Xpresspost - 4-5 business days

Note that the ebay times will stay the same regardless of the location of the seller and buyer so if I were to use my postal code in the CP calculator there would be an extra day added on to expedited and to xpresspost but not on the ebay eta. If my buyer was also in a non major city, CP would add on an extra 2 days to the Calgary to NY eta.

Even if the times between ebay's eta and Canada Post's eta were identical, it is always better imo to under promise and over perform. In other words...if the buyer thinks an item will arrive in 6 days and arrives in 4, the buyer is happy with the early arrival. But since so many buyers seem to think that ebay's eta is a guaranteed time, buyers often file an inr the first day that the item is 'late' so already there is a negative connotation on the transaction. Why not give a more generous arrival time so that the transaction is more likely to be positive.

marnotom! · ‎10-22-2021

When Canada Post first unleashed Expedited USA on Canadians, the biggest beef posted to the discussion boards was that the delivery times weren't measuring up to Canada Post's published delivery standards. The wide delivery estimate eBay provides may be a combination of a recognition of that quirk and an "averaging out" of delivery standards from a variety of locations.

Do agree that the delivery standards for Xpresspost-USA seem pretty weird for this item, though.

I don't think eBay necessarily has to pad the delivery estimates further, however. To make it clearer to buyers that the estimate is just that, an estimate an not a guarantee, it might be more effective to build in a three-business day wait after the last estimated delivery date before a claim of non-delivery can be initiated. This might also encourage more buyers to communicate with the seller first.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-22-2021

@marnotom! wrote:
When Canada Post first unleashed Expedited USA on Canadians, the biggest beef posted to the discussion boards was that the delivery times weren't measuring up to Canada Post's published delivery standards. The wide delivery estimate eBay provides may be a combination of a recognition of that quirk and an "averaging out" of delivery standards from a variety of locations.

Do agree that the delivery standards for Xpresspost-USA seem pretty weird for this item, though.

I don't think eBay necessarily has to pad the delivery estimates further, however. To make it clearer to buyers that the estimate is just that, an estimate an not a guarantee, it might be more effective to build in a three-business day wait after the last estimated delivery date before a claim of non-delivery can be initiated. This might also encourage more buyers to communicate with the seller first.

The problem is that sellers need to pad the delivery times to have a shot at meeting eBay's estimates. Discussion below of similar goings on/reports on dot com. Sellers do not control when something gets delivered. From their perspective its mostly very optimistic wishful thinking.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Item-Not-Received-cases-allowed-to-open-BEFORE-delivery-date/m...

-Lotz