Request to hold item

I just received a message , buyer ask can I hold item until the end of the month. Is this a good idea?
Thanks
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Request to hold item

Has it been bought and paid by the buyer in question?
Message 2 of 23
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Request to hold item

No payment or purchase has been made yet.
Message 3 of 23
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Request to hold item

So what are they asking you to do exactly? Allow them to buy it but sit unpaid for 20 days without opening a case? Or buy it and pay for it and ask you to delay dispatch?

 

If they are asking you to End the item until some vague time in which they will return to buy it, say 'no'. Chances are that this person is simply wasting your time.

 

Which item is it? Do you have others like it to offer him as a Custom listing instead? 

 

 

Message 4 of 23
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Request to hold item

Once you are able to talk further with this buyer to discern his/her intentions:

 

1. If the buyer wants to buy the item and delay payment, that's fine if you're fine with it. But you'll have to work out ahead of time with the buyer what time frame they have in mind to remit payment. And turn off your Unpaid Item assistant for this buyer if you have it enabled because you wouldn't want a case to open on them ahead of the agreed-upon timeframe. 

 

2. If the buyer wants to pay but asks you to delay dispatch, that's not a bad thing either. If you were to get a Late Shipment mark for that transaction, you'll have to call ebay Customer Service and have them remove it, citing the buyer request so make sure you flag a copy of the request for future reference.

 

In conclusion, it's not a terrible request to consider. However, I can tell you from my experience that if the buyer is asking you to 'hold' it for them, they probably just won't be back. Their eyes are simply bigger than their wallet. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Message 5 of 23
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Request to hold item

I get this somewhat regularly, in fact just a couple days ago I had the same thing.

 

I am a lot more patient than average in the payment department, my automagic UID doesn't open a request until 32 days or something.

 

I advised the buyer that I can't "hold" the item for them unless they purchase it, but they do have up to 30 days to pay after they purchase, and the end of the month is well within that.  They did purchase the item.

 

I really bear no additional risk, if they don't eventually pay, they're no different than someone who didn't ask me first, they'll get the UID after 32 days anyway....

Message 6 of 23
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Request to hold item

If it happens you will be charged for late shipping.

__________________________________________________________

Old enough to know better. Young enough to do it again. Crazy enough to try
Message 7 of 23
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Request to hold item

Had a buyer ask the same.  I asked her if the PO wa going to hold her mail while she was away?  She replied yes do I said I would ship as usual and that her package will get there when she gets back home.

Message 8 of 23
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Request to hold item


@rosscd57 wrote:

If it happens you will be charged for late shipping.


To clarify that, there is no 'charge' for late shipment, the seller may get a mark for Late Shipment. (It's not a defect either, but simply a mark in the report.) That being said, this is exactly the type of situation that many sellers sought clarification for which when this metric was introduced and we were told by ebay reps that in a case such as this where the seller was specifically asked by their buyer to delay dispatch, Customer Service would remove that Late Shipment mark if it arose. 

 

So if a mark is gained, it is eligible for removal but that removal is not automatic and the seller has to invest the time to call Customer Service to see it done.

Message 9 of 23
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Request to hold item

Thanks your comments were very helpful.
Message 10 of 23
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Request to hold item

ship as usual and that her package will get there when she gets back

If you send it Letterpost it will be there. If it is a parcel, Canada Post will not hold it.

 

My attitude to delayed payment is that the buyer should back his Paypal account with a credit card.

Then he can pay me, I can ship, and he can pay the card at his leisure.

If his credit is too poor to obtain a card, he probably shouldn't be buying online anyway.

 

 

Message 11 of 23
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Request to hold item


@reallynicestamps wrote:

ship as usual and that her package will get there when she gets back

If you send it Letterpost it will be there. If it is a parcel, Canada Post will not hold it.... 


Yes, thank you for raising this. As an online shopper, ten years ago when last I moved, I had assumed that when the post office was 'holding' or even 'forwarding' my mail for a paid fee, that this service would also include sending or forwarding my parcels to my new address. I was surprised to learn at the counter that this was not the case. While I understand, I suppose, the reason for this, it seems like a massive oversight on the part of the postal corporation.

 

This is among the valid reasons that a buyer may ask for delayed dispatch. It's up to each seller when gauging the circumstances around that particular item and buyer to decide whether it's a good idea or not. 

Message 12 of 23
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Request to hold item

(Also, the items that kayjay sells all look like they could easily be sent via lettermail so he/she is not wrong either. )

Message 13 of 23
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Request to hold item


@rosscd57 wrote:

If it happens you will be charged for late shipping.


If the buyer doesn't pay until the time they want it shipped there will be no "late shipping" ding.

 

If the buyer pays before they want it shipped the OP can simply mark it as shipped (even if it isn't) and there will be no "late shipping" ding.

 

If the buyer ends up not paying the OP can open a UPI as usual.

 

The absolute worst that can happen is the buyer ask for a delay and then never pays, in that case the OP's item is off the market for an extra 9 days.....hardly the end of the world.

 

 



"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.
Message 14 of 23
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Request to hold item


@recped wrote:
If the buyer pays before they want it shipped the OP can simply mark it as shipped (even if it isn't) and there will be no "late shipping" ding. 

I'm not so sure -- I think this would depend on the buyer, if or when he finally leaves FB.  If the seller marks the item shipped April 22nd, eBay's "delivery clock" will start on that date plus the seller's handling time.  If the seller doesn't actually ship until, say May 15, that may already be beyond eBay's expected delivery date (depending on where the parcel is going and how the seller has his shipping options set up).  

 

By the time the parcel actually gets to the buyer, it would likely be well beyond eBay's delivery date.  If the buyer leaves FB, the seller might get "dinged" by the late delivery question, especially if the buyer feels he has to answer with honesty (despite having had the item held for him).  

 

The best idea might be to extend the handling time on the listing as much as possible before  the buyer pays.  Then the seller may not need to lie about shipping, and might be protected from a late delivery report by the buyer.  

Message 15 of 23
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Request to hold item

Extending handling time is a good workaround for this. 

 

The estimated date of delivery by ebay is established once the seller pays, not once it's shipped. 

 

For shipments with tracking, this means the seller is then obligated to gain their acceptance scan within their stated handling time. For untracked shipments, the EDD is a range of dates. When the seller marks the item shipped is irrelevant, that clock starts at payment.

 

Regardless, any Late Shipment reports (as we have been assured by ebay reps) are eligible for removal by Customer Service if the delayed shipment came at the behest of the buyer.

Message 16 of 23
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Request to hold item

This is amounting to overkill - at some point we are just beating a dead horse here.

__________________________________________________________

Old enough to know better. Young enough to do it again. Crazy enough to try
Message 17 of 23
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Request to hold item


@rosscd57 wrote:

This is amounting to overkill - at some point we are just beating a dead horse here.


I think that describes 98.5 per cent of posts on any Discussion Board. Haha. 

 

Every seller here has their own procedures which they have established through experience to follow and slight variation in their understandings of the way ebay's rules works and then in the middle is a tiny segment of overlap between the two where truth and reality peacefully co-exist. 

 

It might be boring if we all immediately agreed. 

 

If you really want to see an example of overkill, I could point you to another active thread on the board where there are nearly 60 posts by everyone other than the original poster who stated his/her beef and then left. The remaining 59 posts (give or take) are the rest of us arguing amongst ourselves. That, to me, is 'beating a dead horse' at its finest.

Message 18 of 23
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Request to hold item


@momcqueen wrote:

@rosscd57 wrote:

This is amounting to overkill - at some point we are just beating a dead horse here.


I think that describes 98.5 per cent of posts on any Discussion Board. Haha. 

 Every seller here has their own procedures which they have established through experience to follow and slight variation in their understandings of the way ebay's rules works and then in the middle is a tiny segment of overlap between the two where truth and reality peacefully co-exist. 

 It might be boring if we all immediately agreed. 

 If you really want to see an example of overkill, I could point you to another active thread on the board where there are nearly 60 posts by everyone other than the original poster who stated his/her beef and then left. The remaining 59 posts (give or take) are the rest of us arguing amongst ourselves. That, to me, is 'beating a dead horse' at its finest.


Then why keep coming back even when you complain and say you won't?  Personally I find the dialectic interesting, and more often than not a tidbit can come out of the general dross that is illuminating or helpful.  

 

Besides, it really is the only place that sellers can kibitz and feel they have "colleagues" out there who get the picture, since most of us work entirely alone in our far-flung corners.  So I say -- So what?  Confabulate on!!  🙂

Message 19 of 23
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Request to hold item

"Then why keep coming back even when you complain and say you won't?  Personally I find the dialectic interesting, and more often than not a tidbit can come out of the general dross that is illuminating or helpful."

 

Feel free to kibitz without me. If I want to argue with people, I simply walk three feet and start a conversation about whose turn it is to load the dishwasher. 

Message 20 of 23
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