Postal systems around the world are failing (flailing?) and eBay is ...

[**klondikemike**]

... funding delivery guarantees with my money. The estimated delivery times that the buyer has before making a "no delivery" claim is not even realistic. What a joke!

[Anonymous]

They are! Ebay apparently doesn't want ruin the perception of fast shipping... 😖

[marnotom!]

The estimated delivery times are only as good as the information provided to eBay by the carrier.

eBay does not post delivery guarantees; it posts delivery estimates.

While Canada Post may have suspended delivery guarantees in light of the pandemic, it has not made significant changes to its delivery standards, which are an item's "expected delivery time".

[**klondikemike**]

Sorry, I can't agree with anything in your comment; (not sorry)

>>The estimated delivery times are only as good as the information provided to eBay by the carrier.

I use flat rate shipping charges. No carrier is involved. Therefore, they MAKE up estimates according to ... ???

>>eBay does not post delivery guarantees; it posts delivery estimates.

Wrong. It clearly states 30 days + their unrealistic delivery estimate.  A recent UK buyer was given this time-frame on a International Economy shipment service which takes 4-6 weeks. In this case they estimated delivery with 10-25 days. Where did they pull that out of? Oh, and the buyer got FREE product from me on a non-delivery claim.

[marnotom!]

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@**klondikemike** wrote:

I use flat rate shipping charges. No carrier is involved. Therefore, they MAKE up estimates according to ... ???

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Yes, according to whom?  How do you know that your choice of delivery method is going to mesh with the delivery time estimates for a flat-rate shipping category?  That category is your choice.  You must have based that choice on something.

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@**klondikemike** wrote:

Wrong. It clearly states 30 days + their unrealistic delivery estimate.  A recent UK buyer was given this time-frame on a International Economy shipment service which takes 4-6 weeks. In this case they estimated delivery with 10-25 days. Where did they pull that out of? Oh, and the buyer got FREE product from me on a non-delivery claim.

---

Aha.  You're using the .com site, so those flat-rate delivery time estimates are based on US services, not Canadian ones.  They're also expressed in business days, not calendar days, so 25 business days translates into five weeks minimum, a little longer if statutory holidays are involved.

I'm still in the dark as to where eBay "clearly" states that delivery times are guaranteed, though.  Could you post a link to that page?  Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Why argue Symantec's!

The expected delivery times are flawed covid or pre covid.

Canada post states on there website for expected time that its does not include processing times or weekends in the etistmated time. Ebay has a start of two days estimate time. That's incorrect!

Do a test and self mail a letter to yourself and see how long it takes to arrive.
I've never seen a 2 day delivery in my life and I go right to my main office not an outlet.
This creates unrealistic expectations for the customer.

How it should be put to the customer is the same as Canada Post explains it web 2 days plus handling time within province and longer depending on location.

We have many rural areas within Canada that I cant get a package too in 2 days if I paid for overnight service, and believe me I have tried.


My feelings are once that sale is complete it's my customer and the shipping times should be my choice..

Hi thanks for your purchase I've sent your item out today the processing will require a couple days you should see your item within a few weeks or less depending on weather conditions etc. Insert link to canada post deliver estimates that has provincial condition reports and delays.

Lying to a customer to get a sale will create zero repeat business..

If you think I'm wrong I will provide my credentials to you I've been in retail management a long time and have been trained and hosted employee training across Canada on customer expectations.

[darak10]

yeah, that's how it works.  

can we do anything about it?

apparently not, apart from shutting down sales to problematic countries.  I've had so many problems with sending stuff the UK in the last month that I shut down sales to the UK last week.  I never thought I would ever in a million years have to do that.  But I can't keep bleeding cash for folks who aren't getting items I'm sending due to factors beyond my control.

Ebay needs to change the delivery time window to the UK and Europe from Canada, they have with the US, but from my experience the US isn't the problem.  Getting stuff to the UK in the ebay window is near impossible right now.  So after cutting them off I have one less headache to worry about, thank god Canadian and US customers are picking up the slack.  Was talking with one UK customer who's on week 6 since mailing - very understanding fellow, also a seller - and he's said he's stopped selling internationally completely for the same reasons - stuff just is getting held up too many places for too long and with ebay forcing refunds, there's no other choice we can make to stop the bleeding other than cutting off sales to these places altogether.  

Imagine how bad it must be for UK sellers with all the BS going on over there with all the Brexit regulation problems and COVID, they must be just getting absolutely murdered on here. 

[darak10]

I'm not sure where the snark is coming from here, but its unnecessary. You are talking to fellow sellers on here, some empathy for their experience should be the proper tone you should be reflecting, not trying to defend a policy riddled with so many holes it may as well be a block of Swiss cheese. If you can't do that, perhaps you should keep your opinions to yourself, especially if you're only objective is to point out how you are right and everyone else is wrong.

[Anonymous]

@darak10 

I wanted to say that as well thank you!

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Why argue Symantec's!

The expected delivery times are flawed covid or pre covid.

Canada post states on there website for expected time that its does not include processing times or weekends in the etistmated time. Ebay has a start of two days estimate time. That's incorrect!

Do a test and self mail a letter to yourself and see how long it takes to arrive.
I've never seen a 2 day delivery in my life and I go right to my main office not an outlet.
This creates unrealistic expectations for the customer.

How it should be put to the customer is the same as Canada Post explains it web 2 days plus handling time within province and longer depending on location.

We have many rural areas within Canada that I cant get a package too in 2 days if I paid for overnight service, and believe me I have tried.


My feelings are once that sale is complete it's my customer and the shipping times should be my choice..

Hi thanks for your purchase I've sent your item out today the processing will require a couple days you should see your item within a few weeks or less depending on weather conditions etc. Insert link to canada post deliver estimates that has provincial condition reports and delays.

Lying to a customer to get a sale will create zero repeat business..

If you think I'm wrong I will provide my credentials to you I've been in retail management a long time and have been trained and hosted employee training across Canada on customer expectations.

---

Another short coming of the estimated transit times is it does not mention the possibily of customs delays which a seller is unable to control. Up until several months ago it did mention customs can affect deliveries coming from the USA via an eBay standard note. There was no such reference for shipments going Canada to USA/Internationally. Some sellers "may" be adding it manually but technically this is something that should be uniformly provided by eBay where applicable.

-Lotz

Old examples below. Customs note is very fine print on 1st image under free shipping.(Estimated delivery times)

[marnotom!]

I realize that sellers are under a lot of stress right now and appreciate that putting the occasional word in boldface in my post probably made my post come off as "snarky".  My philosophy simply is that understanding your enemy is the best way to defeat it.  If you know how eBay's delivery estimates are calculated, it's easier to come up with ways to try to get around it.

My solution would be to include a note to buyers when I ship off my items that eBay's delivery estimates do not take COVID-related delays into account and to suggest that buyers contact me if their items don't reach them "x" days or weeks after the last estimated delivery date, with the suggested time based on the mailing method used and the item's destination.

Your mileage may vary, depending on the general nature of your buyers and the type of merchandise that you sell.

[darak10]

anytime amigo, we have to support each other!!  cheers 🙂

[**klondikemike**]

I switched over ALL of my listings using delivery estimates (using a China Post delivery) that was more realistic at the time.  USPS was having major problems with delivery times (3-4-5 weeks compared to 1). They have since returned back to 95% of normal. I have not had a single late delivery claim since I switched.

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.