Shipping info

[smittyho]

EBay should require buyers of sellers to give a phone number.

Constantly have to send several emails to buyers.

Phone numbers are required to complete customs info

Make it part of the sale information

[ypdc_dennis]

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@smittyho wrote:

EBay should require buyers of sellers to give a phone number.

Constantly have to send several emails to buyers.

Phone numbers are required to complete customs info

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Go to your Manage shipping settings and set Always ask buyers for phone number to Yes.

https://www.ebay.ca/ship/prf

You can also use YOUR OWN phone number for customs if the buyer's number is unavailable.

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[lotzofuniquegoodies]

As per the Canadapost website see section 1.1. An excellent page for most custom questions/answers. See Complete Address requirement information field.

https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGcustoms-e.asp#1420761

It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure all customs documentation and item content are complete, accurate and legible. Failure to provide any of the information required may result in the item being returned to sender at the customer's expense or could result in delays, non-delivery and voids any delivery guarantees. Fines and /or customs seizure in the international destination may apply.

-Lotz

[ypdc_dennis]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

As per the Canadapost website see section 1.1. An excellent page for most custom questions/answers. See Complete Address requirement information field.

https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGcustoms-e.asp#1420761

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Theory versus real world.

Just like how Canada Post collects duty and taxes on all parcels worth more than $20cdn when sent into Canada via the postal system.

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[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@ypdc_dennis 

In the past, I just followed those procedures to reduce the possibility of the assorted shipments(Some of extremely high value, others required in specific timeframes) I was sending by the numerous couriers I used on a daily basis being delayed in customs. Dot your "I's" and cross your "t's" it definitely improves your chances of a shipment arriving sooner, rather than later. Customers, in general, don't understand why their shipment was late. Just that it was, according to eBay's posted guesstimates.

-Lotz

[femmefan1946]

Not everybody has a phone.

And some who do, are adverse to phone calls from overseas strangers at 3 am.

Phone numbers are required to complete customs info

Nope.

Enter your own phone number (with country code). Works fine.

I have doubts the various Customs officers phone the recipient. They don't deliver packages, the postal (or courier) service does that.  And they are delivering to the doorstep. 

 If there was something terribly illegal in the package, the delivery would be by the cops and they wouldn't phone ahead.

A courier might want to call ahead to sort out his route that day, but again, not everybody has a phone and not every phone is at the delivery address.

[hlmacdon]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Not everybody has a phone.

And some who do, are adverse to phone calls from overseas strangers at 3 am.

Phone numbers are required to complete customs info

Nope.

Enter your own phone number (with country code). Works fine.

I have doubts the various Customs officers phone the recipient. They don't deliver packages, the postal (or courier) service does that.  And they are delivering to the doorstep. 

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Doesn't make a lick of difference from what I've seen in thousands of international packages sent. If a recipient doesn't pickup a package or the address is wrong they are never called by the postal services and it is RTS. Like most government bodies, official customs correspondence is by mail. Doesn't hurt to have it, doesn't hurt delivery to not have it. If the type of goods you are sending is restricted in some manner or requires specific documentation then it would make sense to include it. Address and the actual declaration (Appropriate HS code, country of origin, and value) are what you want to ensure is accurate. Blocking buyers without a phone number just further limits your sales.

[ricarmic]

As YPDC says just put your own phone number in there.

When this first came out my PM looked up in what to do in this case in the actual postal manual and that (put your own phone number in) is the official thing you're supposed to do if you don't have the recipient's phone number. (Now this was a few years ago now, this is not a new problem).

I've been putting my own phone number in "since the beginning" of these new forms and have never had a problem on my end or the recipent's end....

[femmefan1946]

I wonder if this is there because some couriers phone ahead to confirm that the recipient is available at the address he is heading for?

With mobiles and two income families, the chances of finding someone at the address are pretty low nowadays.

Still, if it makes the worker's job easier, it's worth doing.

We're all in this together. -- Red Green

[ricarmic]

The phone number is on the PO's non courier services so I wouldn't expect that is the reason. (I don't use couriers of any kind)

So far, I've never received a call from any of my packages that I put my phone number on. (nor actually from any couriers delivering stuff I've purchased, I receive stuff delivered by 3 different companies, none have ever called ahead so far)

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

If you happen to ship by courier online, the(a) phone number is a required field when shipping domestic or internationally. The way I look at it, it's there for a reason so technically it should be filled in. Actually had couriers arrive for our daily pickups and mention fields that were missed on handwritten bills. They do that as a courtesy to prevent possible delays. Going forward I just do it when shipping with CPC as a habit. Having eBay not including a phone number as their choice "could" just become a nuisance in the future. So having that checked off in your settings as a requirement can't hurt.

-Lotz

[marnotom!]

For what it's worth, my wife receives scads of merchandise from overseas and I don't think I've seen a phone number on any of it. Not sure why Canada Post forms require one and other postal systems' forms don't.