eBay

amya4295 · ‎02-26-2016

I know many have had a bad experiences with items coming from China but I feel really sorry for the good ones with this new shipping metric. I have ordered several items in the last few months from a variety of Chinese sellers and all of them have arrived outside the expected delivery date but they did arrive! I gave each of them an additional week or two over an above the time estimate that ebay stated. I will answer "yes" to all of them that the item arrived on time as I understand their lack of control over such things. All were shipped promptly, same day for most so I will not penalize them. Perhaps this is Ebay's way of weeding out the bad sellers from China but just like here, the good ones will be penalized too by being held to a standard that is completely out of our control.

lucitabby · ‎02-26-2016

Or, you don't have to answer "the question" at all, just leave positive feedback.

amya4295 · ‎02-26-2016

True but most, that are buyers only, may not know that they don't have to answer the question.

rose-dee · ‎02-26-2016

@amya4295 wrote:
True but most, that are buyers only, may not know that they don't have to answer the question.

You're exactly right! I brought this issue up with Raphael on the Wed. Board Session a couple of weeks ago (i.e. why eBay isn't telling buyers on the FB page that they are welcome to skip the Question), but unfortunately got the usual prevaricating response.

In other words, eBay doesn't care to let buyers know, which I think is as unfair to buyers as it is to sellers, forcing buyers into a corner where their only choice where a non-tracked parcel is delayed slightly (but the buyer is otherwise happy), is to either answer "No" if they feel they must be honest, or "Yes" and feel it's not accurate.

Moreover, eBay doesn't tell buyers their answer to The Question is not simply a survey without consequences to the seller. How would an unsuspecting buyer feel if they answered "No" (when they were otherwise delighted with the seller's service), then discovered later their response was the "final straw" that put the seller in limbo?

At the very least, there should be a 3rd option in answering the Question: "Don't recall/don't know". I think the whole thing is disgusting, or maybe those people in San Jose are just so blind to realities outside the U.S. that it didn't even occur to them this might be an issue for other countries. Typical of eBay.

faircrochet · ‎02-26-2016

My things don't sell often outside of Canada or the United States. Just had my first sale in a long time to the UK. Paid on Jan 28, mailed on Jan 29. The customer messaged me on Feb 11 saying that was the last date in the range ebay had given them for delivery. Luckily they were very understanding - they let me know that the item arrived yesterday (Feb 25). I have no reason to believe that the delivery time was out of the ordinary - ebay said 9 business days, it actually took 20, and Canada Post said something like 11 to 21 days (don't remember what class of service it was). Thank you ebay.

pocomocomputing · ‎02-26-2016

@amya4295 wrote:
I know many have had a bad experiences with items coming from China but I feel really sorry for the good ones with this new shipping metric. I have ordered several items in the last few months from a variety of Chinese sellers and all of them have arrived outside the expected delivery date but they did arrive! I gave each of them an additional week or two over an above the time estimate that ebay stated. I will answer "yes" to all of them that the item arrived on time as I understand their lack of control over such things. All were shipped promptly, same day for most so I will not penalize them. Perhaps this is Ebay's way of weeding out the bad sellers from China but just like here, the good ones will be penalized too by being held to a standard that is completely out of our control.

I buy sometimes on another eBay ID and have had an item arrive on the last day and another the day after the estimate. I answered "Yes" to the on time questions for both. The sellers were in Canada using Lettermail options with the ridiculous 2 to 6 days estimate and a handling time of 1 day. I am in the Vancouver area and the sellers were in Ontario. Lettermail is very slow and 2 to 6 days is absurd.

I messaged one seller who was a casual seller with just 10 items listed monthly that they need to switch to at least Standard shipping with 1 to 10 days or Economy Shipping with 1 to 15 business days. The seller had no idea about the delivery time estimates.

A lot of sellers are going to be needlessly burned by this delivery time estimate question. Since I am a seller too, I will not give a "no" and will give a "yes" to pad the sellers "yes" count to counteract the impact of the "no".

I might consider a "no" if the seller is really late in delivery and by the post mark I see they never put it in the mail within their handling time. Even then I would hesitate to put a "no".

reallynicestamps · ‎02-26-2016

Shakespeare mentions customs "more honor'd in the breach than in the observance" .

Just don't fill it in.

All feedback is voluntary.

lukey9 · ‎02-26-2016

The only good thing about the new system that most Buyers don't bother leaving feed back or allot more Sellers would be in trouble.

amya4295 · ‎02-26-2016

Growing up in the UK and now living in Canada with constant parcels and letters headed back over the pond to family, I can 100% say that 9 days in most situations in completely unrealistic. Especially if the location is not a major city or hub. What are they thinking? I have lettermail going from Ontario to B.C that takes longer than 9 days. What I find ridiculous is that we are all padding our handling times and choosing shipping methods with the longest delivery estimates even though that is not the method that we will actually use and Ebay is okay with us falsifying this information and even encouraging it. If they thought this new shipping metric was accurate would then really condone that?

@faircrochet wrote:
My things don't sell often outside of Canada or the United States. Just had my first sale in a long time to the UK. Paid on Jan 28, mailed on Jan 29. The customer messaged me on Feb 11 saying that was the last date in the range ebay had given them for delivery. Luckily they were very understanding - they let me know that the item arrived yesterday (Feb 25). I have no reason to believe that the delivery time was out of the ordinary - ebay said 9 business days, it actually took 20, and Canada Post said something like 11 to 21 days (don't remember what class of service it was). Thank you ebay.

rose-dee · ‎02-26-2016

@pocomocomputing wrote:
A lot of sellers are going to be needlessly burned by this delivery time estimate question. Since I am a seller too, I will not give a "no" and will give a "yes" to pad the sellers "yes" count to counteract the impact of the "no".
I might consider a "no" if the seller is really late in delivery and by the post mark I see they never put it in the mail within their handling time. Even then I would hesitate to put a "no".

I agree with all of your comments, and I'm doing the same thing, as I do buy now and then on eBay.

Let's hope we have a lot of buyers who are also sellers that read the policy updates.

vintagenorth · ‎02-26-2016

I'm not even looking at the delivery date. As long as I receive my pkg within a reasonable time I'm just saying yes to the question. I know that sellers have no real control over the shipping time once it has been mailed. Also, eBays estimated delivery times are often not realistic.

mr.elmwood · ‎02-26-2016

@vintagenorth wrote:
I'm not even looking at the delivery date. As long as I receive my pkg within a reasonable time I'm just saying yes to the question. I know that sellers have no real control over the shipping time once it has been mailed. Also, eBays estimated delivery times are often not realistic.

eBay is expecting that.

When I was in San Jose last Sept, I asked about all of this. The answer I was given was that they just want to know THAT the buyer got what they ordered.

PP shipping bases their delivery time estimates on what the various postal authorities tell them. Perhaps this is a way to test the veracity of what they are being told?

I am running one "where's my part" for every hundred sales. I answer quickly with a good timeline explanation. I am TRS for 15 months running. If I can make this work, anyone can.

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