Thanks everyone! 
btw, one of the new buyers (Germany buyer who won 9 books) just messaged me about combined shipping discount (I already gave him $23 off and I'm also absorbing the upgrade to tracked packet) and then asked me if I could ship after x'mas as he'll be away for x'mas. Personally I don't mind holding the books for a couple months (I even have a Singapore buyer from my website asked me to hold for three months lol) but I'm just wondering if I'd get dinged by eBay for shipping a month later?
This dude hasn't paid yet, so I guess I'll have to see how this one plays out. Oh well, even if this one falls through, this November is still my best month going by my invoices from past 18 months 
Yeah, I'm just waiting to hear back from the buyer. If I don't hear from him in the next 30 minutes I'm going to bed... (my brain is still in graveyard shift mode).
Personally I think it should make it to Germany before x'mas if I get it shipped by Friday, but I'd rather not bring this up myself because I'd be the one dealing with an angry buyer if German post fails me... Fortunately, I had another Germany sale 10 days ago that I also shipped TP ($260 including shipping) so I have something to use as reference for myself.
I have been checking the tracking status because I was curious about how long it takes to get to the buyer. I dropped it off at a postal outlet on Nov 17. It arrived at Germany on Nov 22, but it has been stuck at customs ever since... because of that, I'm not 100% sure if the parcel will reach the buyer before x'mas even if I ship by Friday, so it's better to not take that risk and ship later if the buyer isn't in a rush to get the books. Both Germany buyers bought very similar books, in a similar sized package (just under 1kg) with similar order total (this one $225 including shipping)... Makes me wonder if these two buyers knew each other
Anyhow, fingers crossed
Just mailed everything today (minus the Germany one), sent my buyers my usual "thanks for buying from me, it should take 2-4 weeks to arrive etc etc" message, and one of the new buyers messaged back saying 2-4 weeks is too long... 
So I explained that there could be delays because it's the holiday season and it's international shipment from Canada to USA, but hopefully it should take less than that to arrive...
Hopefully this new buyer won't end up dinging me. Wish I could block Chinese buyers lol (buyer's name is Chinese), they can be a picky bunch 
It's my birthday soon so hopefully my buyers will cut me some slack! Oh well, if I remember correctly, low DSRs don't count towards defect rate anymore, correct?
@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:Just mailed everything today (minus the Germany one), sent my buyers my usual "thanks for buying from me, it should take 2-4 weeks to arrive etc etc" message, and one of the new buyers messaged back saying 2-4 weeks is too long...
Hopefully this new buyer won't end up dinging me. Wish I could block Chinese buyers lol (buyer's name is Chinese), they can be a picky bunch
You mean after you put it in the mail the buyer says the delivery time will be too long?? What did they think you were going to be able to do about it then?
Wait till they move here and order from their own country. Then they'll know what it is to have a long wait. 🙂
Thankfully, DSRs don't count at all anymore, and to my knowledge, neither does neg FB. Looks rotten on the page though.
What DOES count against a seller is when the buyer clicks NO to the 'on time' question and without tracking you can't prove it did arrive by the due date. 😞
@mjwl2006 wrote:
Only items not shipped within your stated handling time, or untracked items reported late by the buyer are defects. Plus seller-cancelled orders.
Uh oh, then what happens when I ship my German buyer's books in January? Do I automatically get a defect because I shipped 1 month after my stated handling time?
@i.am.vivian wrote:You mean after you put it in the mail the buyer says the delivery time will be too long?? What did they think you were going to be able to do about it then?
Wait till they move here and order from their own country. Then they'll know what it is to have a long wait. 🙂
Thankfully, DSRs don't count at all anymore, and to my knowledge, neither does neg FB. Looks rotten on the page though.
What DOES count against a seller is when the buyer clicks NO to the 'on time' question and without tracking you can't prove it did arrive by the due date. 😞
They replied to my second message saying that they understand how international shipment wouldn't be as easy, and will give me feedback once they got their book. I guess they just wanted to complain a little, that's all, or perhaps they didn't realize they were buying internationally (eBay's delivery estimate was Dec 13-19 for this book). I do have 5 days handling set so that helps stretch the time a bit as well. I forgot to mention that it's a Chinese buyer located in USA. I actually don't ship to China 
I'm gonna be late-defect free at the end of December, so fingers crossed that I don't get any new ones...
Just an update 🙂
So I shipped the German buyer's package on Jan 3rd with TP, delivered Jan 18th, and I just got positive feedback back from him yesterday.
When I messaged him that I've shipped the package, I have advised him that if he got asked "Did you receive your purchase by date XXX" please make sure to answer YES because otherwise I'll get a defect from eBay for shipping things out late, which he responded that he will make sure to do that since he was the one who asked to have it shipped later. I'm pretty sure he got asked the question, because when I check my late shipment rate in my seller dashboard, it had more transactions than last week, and of course, he answered YES so I have no new late defects 😄
I also did not get any defects for shipping outside my stated handling time. So glad I won't have to waste time calling eBay! Overall a very successful sale 
