eBay

ricarmic · ‎11-27-2023

A US buyer contacted me regarding a package that tracking showed as "visibly damaged" and was later than predicted.

Canada post showed nothing aside from the item being released from customs (still only shows customs and delivered that's all).

USPS showed nothing on the "visibly damaged" day but did show that the item was in transit and was delayed or late the day after the visibly damaged day. (the wording on USPS only says in transit to next facility now so I can't remember what the actual wording was).

The item did arrive and it was damaged, so ebay is somehow able to glean and report more information than one can get from the postal sites themselves, which I find interesting. I really thought it was a glitch in the ebay reporting but it turns out I was wrong!

byto253 · ‎11-27-2023

I think that shows just how tightly integrated eBay and USPS have their systems for reporting. Similar to the detailed tracking you get on eBay for the UR small packet items. It is interesting, and good!

ricarmic · ‎11-27-2023

It still boggles my mind that ebay is showing more detail than the company that is producing the information they are reporting!

The only thing I can think of is that the PO "hides" some updates because their wording runs the risk of causing too many "unnecessary" support calls.

In my case it caused the buyer to open a case prematurely, so that wee update cost me a couple hours of effort, but it is worth noting that it was accurate, I got lucky that the damage was only to the package and not to the contents so in the end at least the sale was successful.

byto253 · ‎11-28-2023

It is not just postal. I sent 2 packages by UPS to the US recently and UPS would only show "In Transit" while eBay tracking had the step by step. Here is the eBay tracking for one of them :

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎11-28-2023

@byto253 wrote:
It is not just postal. I sent 2 packages by UPS to the US recently and UPS would only show "In Transit" while eBay tracking had the step by step. Here is the eBay tracking for one of them :

UPS (in Canada) used to have detailed "real time" tracking along the way. It appears to be getting phazed out. Now just see label created from QC, On the way, Arrival in Calgary in early am and out for delivery the next morning...usually. CP has decent tracking on anything going tracked to USA. Canada...consistently inconsistment. Fedex is the closest you will get in Canada to real time tracking.

It is very important for anyone that has no concerns with tracking that there are others that require goods for business purposes or have to worry about porch pirates so they try to be home when ANYTHING arrives.

-Lotz