eBay

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

Saw the 'new workflow' offered today, so I tried it. Immediately regret doing so.

It imports all item dimensions from the listing which would be nice except when you need to change those, it doesn't allow you to do so, and also prints a label for you as soon as you click on the service option to see anything about it.

So, yes, faster... but all wrong.

I had to go back to the old workflow in order to print another label which means I have to get them to agree to Void this one which we all know is a big pain in the butt. With the new workflow, it allows you to enter new dimensions but it won't re-calulcate postage for it. Unless I did it all incorrectly, I couldn't say. I tried twice and failed both times.

Boo.

momcqueen · ‎05-22-2018

More from Shippo. All paraphrased.

I wanted to pass along an update regarding the technical issue that we have been discussing. The original issue should now be fixed; you can use our new label creation flow without worrying about the rates not populating and updating correctly.

So it has been fixed. Good news abounds. But since I had their attention, I decided to make my point about the single default postage potion in the new workflow. (For the record, you have to choose to use the new workflow. It's not forced.)

'Thanks, I noticed that when I opted to give the new workflow another attempt this morning with a Tracked Packet USA label. I had to change the weight and it worked fine when I went to print the label, as expected.

'That being said, I appreciate that Shippo is trying to streamline the process but to default to the cheapest postage service is not wise. Many of us sellers don’t care about cheap when we what we need is tracking.

'Like with international shipments outside North America, the default is Surface Packet but it really should not be. Surface Packet is untracked and takes four to six months to deliver so any seller using it as recommended by Shippo as the default will lose any and all Item Not Received cases with ebay.

'I’d like to set my own defaults: Tracked Packet always for international and Expedited Parcel always for domestic.'

So we'll see if Shippo has a response to that. I find Shippo to be attentive to suggestions. I don't know if a user-set default is possible but I think it would be lovely if it were.

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lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-17-2018

Thanks for doing the pretest and i guess also condolences. Will steer clear. I've been trying to get them to add preview before you accept from Day 1. They told me it was a good idea but so far nothing has happened on that front. I've found minor discrepancies(not as inputed weights) after printing but difficult to show variation after the fact. I also asked for the option to customize/personalize the confirmation email to customers. No luck on that either. Stuck with sending a separate email in certain cases. I wonder how much actual testing gets done with these "improvements" before they show up on our doorsteps or if any? Did you email Shippo with your concerns?

-CM

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

I did email them immediately because I can find no way to void the label myself. I received the standard ‘thank you for writing’ message with a promise of a response within 12 hours. I’ve not had real trouble with their Customer Service before this but we shall see how they handle this.

I also asked to Customize the Message/Notification to Buyer on Shipment too. It’s such a butt-pain to print separate packing slips now that I don’t bother anymore. I used to use that as my shipment notice. Oh well.

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

Also, every seller is going to strongly dislike that SHIPPO picks a recommended postal service for you and shows ONLY that one unless you click another thing. I predict a hue and cry about that alone. The recommendation they gave me was for Regular Parcel to save 43 cents. As if. It will be interesting to see what postal service gets recommended for international shipments: the cheapo untracked ones or the Tracked ones.

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

For the record, the new workflow did NOT save me ten seconds. It cost me an extra 40 minutes and an incorrect label valued at $37.

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Exciting-Changes-Coming-to-Shippo-Just-in-Case-You-Didn-...

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-17-2018

There seems to be a problem with voids registering properly in their system from time to time. If you can get a hold of the right person, they can usually fix promptly. Their responses quite often take longer than 12 to 24 hours to arrive and include an apology for the delay followed with a vague answer that really didn't answer your first concern. (Just say no...We have no plans to change that if that's what you really mean.) Credits for voids can take longer than 10 business days unless you stay on top of them. Not sure why they can't issue a refund when they do so with USPS, other than its their arrangement with Canadapost. I always include a packing slip with each order as standard procedure. If its going to a business it's a requirement for receiving. It also helps at their end if they are purchasing the same item from several sellers. And this way I can do my part to support the Canadian Logging Industry and my ink supplier. Is the new system set up as an opt in if you so choose situation?

-CM

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-17-2018

Currently with the shipping calculator for multiple quantities of the same item is not working properly(Still). When I've gone to send a manual invoice after a sale, it is defaulting to a single option of either letter rate for a 1 Kg package or pickup for USA orders??? Neither of these options were originally offered. And once you try to modify using a manual invoice, for example, if you include 2 choices the 2nd choice sometimes poofs before you have a chance to hit send. As for the new Shippo workflow you are describing, very sure I would prefer the option to personally be able to over-ride service if I wanted to vs the system deciding.

-CM

PS. Sadly so called Smart Systems are rarely a time saver!!!

kawartha-ephemera · ‎05-17-2018

Sounds like an awful experience. Their old system which is very basic at least worked OK most of the time ... BUT the user had to be very careful with that last selection. The fact there is not a " confirm purchase" screen caught me. I purchased the wrong label and had to void... I couldn't find a place to request it either.

After searching their help pages I discovered there was supposed to be a cancel option in the drop-down on the shipments page, went and looked there again and found it OK.

I swear the option didn't exist immediately after the purchase but it was there after a bit of time passed.

In the interim I had emailed support about the lack of a way to void a label...their reply was very slow... at least 24 to 48 hours later.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-17-2018

Several months ago for a shipment that I needed to void going to the shipment page it displayed "Refund Rejected". In this case the customer had put in a request for a return after I had processed their package but was still in my possession. Had to contact Shippo to get them to manually cancel for me. The other error message I've received is "View Error" but in those cases they were not able to connect to Canadapost so no label would have been created and therefore would not have been billed.

-CM

kawartha-ephemera · ‎05-17-2018

Quote
Also, every seller is going to strongly dislike that SHIPPO picks a recommended postal service for you and shows ONLY that one unless you click another thing. I predict a hue and cry about that alone. The recommendation they gave me was for Regular Parcel to save 43 cents. As if. It will be interesting to see what postal service gets recommended for international shipments: the cheapo untracked ones or the Tracked ones. UNQUOTE

I don't like the sound of this at all.

If I recall correctly the old work flow placed the least expensive service at the top of the list.

Not so long ago I wanted to purchase an International Air label ... everything went as usual until I reached the last page where the shipping options were listed... saw International at the top of the list as expected and clicked ... big oops!

Shippo had included International Ground (still very expensive) and I hadn't noticed.... uttered a few choice words and went looking for the void button. A clearly presented " confirm purchase" screen would have been much appreciated.

If they choose Ground as the best international option in this new system I certainly will be very annoyed.

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

Thanks for the tip. I went back and found it under Orders whereas before I had perhaps looked under Shipments. Or vice versa, I cannot recall now. But I was able to 'refund label' or something akin to that. We will wait and see how long the process lasts before I see a $37-credit to my account. I'm annoyed.

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

Also, the default choice under the new workflow is the absolute cheapest service with no other options available until you opt to view more. Meaning this is what it recommends for shipping to Australia. Surface Packet which all veteran sellers know takes six months and is 100 per cent untracked. Every new seller will fall victim to this and their buyers too. Serious misstep on the part of Shippo.

Bad news: this is very bad advice

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

If you opt into the new workflow, you can easily opt out again for the next shipment or even new view of the existing shipment. You will need to do this to address changes in weight or dimension.

Also, you can experiment with the new workflow by going into old orders and choosing 'print another label' or whatever it says to that effect. Just don't CLICK on any of those postal services or you will have bought a new label. Proceed with caution.

If there is a way to set the postal service default selection to least expensive tracked for international shipments and always Expedited for domestic, I'd like to hear that from Shippo. If they ever get back to me, that will be what I tell them.

This new 'workflow' cannot be called an improvement at the moment. Shippo has once again proved to ebay sellers that 'improvements' means only that 'we'll wreck stuff for no reason when it used to work just fine'. Seriously!

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2018

(Also, I should correct myself. I keep exaggerating the cost of the first label Shippo sold me under the pretence of incorrect dimensions carried over from the listing which would not be altered. The cost of the incorrect label was $33.61 and not the $37 I keep saying.)

rose-dee · ‎05-18-2018

@momcqueen wrote:

If there is a way to set the postal service default selection to least expensive tracked for international shipments and always Expedited for domestic, I'd like to hear that from Shippo. If they ever get back to me, that will be what I tell them.

This new 'workflow' cannot be called an improvement at the moment. Shippo has once again proved to ebay sellers that 'improvements' means only that 'we'll wreck stuff for no reason when it used to work just fine'. Seriously!

Well, reading all of the above posts may just send me back to CPC's Snap Ship. I use Small Packet Air (US and International) quite a lot, so there's no particular cost advantage to using Shippo. It's rather infuriating that just when we've all finally got used to the Shippo service and its convoluted system, they feel the need to completely change the process -- especially if it's not clearly for the better.

However I suppose that, unlike Paypal shipping, which was conjoined with eBay for many years and aligned with eBay sellers' particular needs, Shippo serves a wide range of customers, mostly in the U.S. Their processing flow has to accommodate everybody, which of course means it won't be brilliantly efficient for anybody. How I miss the days when we could go from sold transaction on eBay, jump over to Paypal instantly, do a label in a flash (along with any customized notifications), print out transaction information then and there, then jump back to eBay.

As an aside, I'm not sure I'd want Shippo to show "least expensive tracked" as the first international shipment option, since many of us still rely heavily on Small Packet Air.

mrdutch1001 · ‎05-18-2018

"How I miss the days when we could go from sold transaction on eBay, jump over to Paypal instantly, do a label in a flash (along with any customized notifications), print out transaction information then and there, then jump back to eBay. "

I and partner, with both our shops still enjoy that ability to go from sold transaction to PayPal & do shipping labels in a flash!

....sellers do have a choice...sellers do not have to use Shippo!

kawartha-ephemera · ‎05-18-2018

Quote
I and partner, with both our shops still enjoy that ability to go from sold transaction to PayPal & do shipping labels in a flash!
....sellers do have a choice...sellers do not have to use Shippo! UNQUOTE

Question. Do all of the shipping details still automatically transfer over to ebay when a label is purchased through PayPal? Do you now need to manually add tracking number?

Snapship provides the best purchasing experience imo but the downfall is the need to cut and paste addresses etc. and then manually transfer shipping info over to ebay.

I wonder how much longer PayPal will remain convenient ... once ebay begins to implement their new payment system some transactions will not appear in PayPal .... at that point it will be necessary to cut and paste info for those transactions.

mrdutch1001 · ‎05-18-2018

"Question. Do all of the shipping details still automatically transfer over to ebay when a label is purchased through PayPal? Do you now need to manually add tracking number?"

ANSWER: ...many months ago, did still have to manually update &/or add the occasional tracking # to eBay, but for the past several months all has been good, all tracking numbers have been uploaded to eBay. Since PayPal is the accepted payment method on other selling venues, I expect PayPal to remain convenient, and at least convenient on eBay until eBay makes its own payment system mandatory....at which time I/we plan to be gone from eBay anyway.

There are other platforms to sell on... eBay has lost so much of what made it the best place to be.... that eBay is long gone ...eBay no longer attracts buyers the way it used to... My sales on eBay have dropped 80% over the past 2 years...time to move on...

momcqueen · ‎05-19-2018

So I heard back yesterday. A message from Shippo to the effect of (paraphrased): 'I'm sorry to hear you had difficulty printing your potage label but we looked at your account and saw you were able to initiate a void for your label and create a new one. Good work! Do you have any additional questions about this? Your refund will be processed 14 business days after the shipment date indicated on your label. Credit for the refund will appear on your next Shippo invoice under Billings. If your refund hasn't been applied to an invoice yet, you can find them by going to the Settings , click on Billing, and then click on the Unbilled Transactions button.'

To which I replied (again, paraphrased): 'Thank you, you are correct in that I did discover how to void my own label but that is not the biggest part of the problem I experienced. With the new workflow, package dimensions are input automatically and cannot be altered even when you alter them yourself, the label still prints at the original size regardless of what you have told the application. I tried twice and was unsuccessful both times. It appears the data is entered but the label prints with the characteristics originally brought forward from the item.'

Like?!

So then they replied (paraphrased): "Righto! I looked again and see you had difficulty with inconsistent pricing and that you did print a less costly label the second time, I will escalate this to our Technical Team for investigation.'

Hopefully, when the Shippo Technical Team looks at this, they will see the problem does not lay with 'inconsistent pricing' but the dimensions carried over from the listing which cannot be altered. If there is some thing that I did wrong to cause the problem I experienced, all I can say is that I tried twice with the new workflow to print the label I needed and failed both times.

There is a problem. If the problem is me, then as a user, I need better guidance while using the application. It's not like I don't know how to input data to print a label, I've done this thousands of times already. I maintain it was the software, and not some glitch with inconsistent pricing. The label that I had to void had dimensions listed on it that were not the ones I input for printing, they were the ones carried from the listing that I needed to alter and did.

rose-dee · ‎05-19-2018

@mrdutch1001 wrote:
I and partner, with both our shops still enjoy that ability to go from sold transaction to PayPal & do shipping labels in a flash!
....sellers do have a choice...sellers do not have to use Shippo!

What I meant was the seamless (and effortlessly convenient) way eBay and Paypal used to be connected, like an escalator taking you up to another floor, then back down to your starting point again, no muss, no fuss, everything connected.

Putting aside the technical issues within Shippo itself, I find there is little difference now in the actual workflow between eBay and Paypal or eBay and Shippo -- we just can't do a label for an eBay sale (and all the related actions) in one, elegant, uninterrupted flow and get back to where we started with virtually no interruption. That's what I miss. Oh well, those days are gone.

And I agree that as eBay and Paypal disengage even further, and eBay introduces its new payment system, things will no doubt get even more complicated.

BTW, I haven't been using Shippo at all lately for Expedited (USA) and Xpresspost. Does anyone know how their current discounts compare with Snap Ship? I know the discount on Small Packet Air has vanished on Shippo.