eBay, etc. General Question/Answer Thread

[holiday123]

Gotcha:
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#accepting-payments
"To be eligible for PayPal’s Seller Protection, you must meet all of the following requirements

• The primary address for your PayPal account must be in the United States [for U.S. accounts].
• The item must be a physical, tangible good that can be shipped.
• You must ship the item to the shipping address on the transaction details page in your PayPal account for the transaction. If you originally ship the item to the recipient's shipping address on the transaction details page but the item is later redirected to a different address, you will not be eligible for PayPal Seller Protection. We therefore recommend not using a shipping service that is arranged by the buyer, so that you will be able to provide valid proof of shipping and delivery.
• You must respond to PayPal's requests for documentation and other information in a timely manner as requested in our email correspondence with you or in our correspondence with you through the Resolution Center. If you do not respond to PayPal’s request for documentation and other information in the time requested, you may not be eligible for Seller Protection.
• If the sale involves pre-ordered or made-to-order goods, you must ship within the timeframe you specified in the listing. Otherwise, it is recommended that you ship all items within 7 days after receipt of payment."

Thank you for your research. I saw that, but the service would be arranged by me under my UPS account so I wasn't sure how much control the buyer would have.

I guess it's a UPS issue then to see if the shipper can specify that address changes are not allowed. I'm a UPS choice premium member and can reroute my packages to an intercept point, alternate address, or UPS store for no charge. This would apparently totally void any seller protection.

 

[holiday123]

Thank you for your research. I saw that, but the service would be arranged by me under my UPS account so I wasn't sure how much control the buyer would have.

I guess it's a UPS issue then to see if the shipper can specify that address changes are not allowed. I'm a UPS choice premium member and can reroute my packages to an intercept point, alternate address, or UPS store for no charge. This would apparently totally void any seller protection.

Ok, found the answer. If you select "direct delivery only" then the package cannot be rerouted. Thanks everyone!

 

[Catbird9]

Ok, found the answer. If you select "direct delivery only" then the package cannot be rerouted. Thanks everyone!

And thank you for bringing this to our attention! I would never have known about selecting "direct delivery only" when shipping with UPS.

 

[Gblb]

Our PO branches have been having trouble with shipments before, during and after the holidays. I called this week and a manager met with several people to discuss ongoing issues as apparently is not an isolated issue. As we know USPS timeframes for first class pkgs and priority mail are not guaranteed delivery timeframes. I’ve had two pkgs that went FC that were dropped off direct to the prepaid desk box that did not get scanned untill they reached the destination facility hub. The PO manager swore the pkgs would not leave the local outbound plant without a scan; which did not happen.

This week shipped a priority package on the 2nd; was purchased on the 1st. The priority estimate was 2 day shipping. Pkg showed receipt scan on the 2nd and was scanned on the 3, 4, 5 saying it was intransit to the buyers’ destination but each scan after the receipt was at 12:39 pm which was odd. Now on the 6, it shows it was scanned at my local regional hub in transit to the buyers’ destination. Had assumed it was long out of the state based upon the three scans after receipt. The buyer paid for priority shipping and the box measurements and weight were correct. Can the buyer ding me on shipping even though the scans show pkg was received by USPS on time, etc?

The buyer has not asked any questions but would be getting curious if viewing tracking scans and knowing it was shipped priority. Would you contact the buyer or let it be?
Thank you!

 

[threadbender]

I noticed tracking on an item that I purchased that it was "scanned" each day at the same time for 3 days. I did eventually receive it but it was odd.

 

[whateve]

Our PO branches have been having trouble with shipments before, during and after the holidays. I called this week and a manager met with several people to discuss ongoing issues as apparently is not an isolated issue. As we know USPS timeframes for first class pkgs and priority mail are not guaranteed delivery timeframes. I’ve had two pkgs that went FC that were dropped off direct to the prepaid desk box that did not get scanned untill they reached the destination facility hub. The PO manager swore the pkgs would not leave the local outbound plant without a scan; which did not happen.

This week shipped a priority package on the 2nd; was purchased on the 1st. The priority estimate was 2 day shipping. Pkg showed receipt scan on the 2nd and was scanned on the 3, 4, 5 saying it was intransit to the buyers’ destination but each scan after the receipt was at 12:39 pm which was odd. Now on the 6, it shows it was scanned at my local regional hub in transit to the buyers’ destination. Had assumed it was long out of the state based upon the three scans after receipt. The buyer paid for priority shipping and the box measurements and weight were correct. Can the buyer ding me on shipping even though the scans show pkg was received by USPS on time, etc?

The buyer has not asked any questions but would be getting curious if viewing tracking scans and knowing it was shipped priority. Would you contact the buyer or let it be?
Thank you!

I'd let it be. It's not your fault and there isn't anything you can do about it. I always ship on the first day, but often it doesn't get scanned. I have packages picked up from my house. If my carrier gets back to the post office before 4 PM, the packages make it on the truck to the distribution center. Most times she doesn't get back in time, and the packages just sit at the post office for an extra day. This is fine if she scans when she picks up. Before Christmas, her boss told her not to scan any packages. I think they thought it made the post office look bad when the packages sat for a day. On my ebay dashboard, it shows one package has a late shipment rate. I guess I should be happy it is only one package.

 

[Catbird9]

Our PO branches have been having trouble with shipments before, during and after the holidays. I called this week and a manager met with several people to discuss ongoing issues as apparently is not an isolated issue. As we know USPS timeframes for first class pkgs and priority mail are not guaranteed delivery timeframes. I’ve had two pkgs that went FC that were dropped off direct to the prepaid desk box that did not get scanned untill they reached the destination facility hub. The PO manager swore the pkgs would not leave the local outbound plant without a scan; which did not happen.
<snip>
The buyer has not asked any questions but would be getting curious if viewing tracking scans and knowing it was shipped priority. Would you contact the buyer or let it be?
Thank you!

I would not contact the buyer. If they haven't contacted you they probably aren't too concerned about the slow delivery.

I dropped off a package at the counter inside the post office before Christmas. It was Priority 3-day service. It took a week to deliver and no scans showed up until the final delivery scan. Of course I was concerned and talked to the manager who told me sometimes they don't scan everything. I said, "I paid for tracking, and yet I'm not able to track it?" Yep. Fortunately my buyer never contacted me.

 

[BeenBurned]

Our PO branches have been having trouble with shipments before, during and after the holidays. I called this week and a manager met with several people to discuss ongoing issues as apparently is not an isolated issue. As we know USPS timeframes for first class pkgs and priority mail are not guaranteed delivery timeframes. I’ve had two pkgs that went FC that were dropped off direct to the prepaid desk box that did not get scanned untill they reached the destination facility hub. The PO manager swore the pkgs would not leave the local outbound plant without a scan; which did not happen.

This week shipped a priority package on the 2nd; was purchased on the 1st. The priority estimate was 2 day shipping. Pkg showed receipt scan on the 2nd and was scanned on the 3, 4, 5 saying it was intransit to the buyers’ destination but each scan after the receipt was at 12:39 pm which was odd. Now on the 6, it shows it was scanned at my local regional hub in transit to the buyers’ destination. Had assumed it was long out of the state based upon the three scans after receipt. The buyer paid for priority shipping and the box measurements and weight were correct. Can the buyer ding me on shipping even though the scans show pkg was received by USPS on time, etc?

The buyer has not asked any questions but would be getting curious if viewing tracking scans and knowing it was shipped priority. Would you contact the buyer or let it be?
Thank you!

I actually had a weird (sort-of similar) situation recently. Scanning on my item stopped on Dec. 21, showing several scans on transit to destination. (I have no idea where those scans were done.) Delivery was shown to be expected on Dec. 21.

Fast forward to Dec. 30 when buyer opened INR. It was at that point I checked the scanning and saw what I described.

Responded to the buyer that because of the long holiday weekend, I'd call the postal facility in her city to see what their tracking showed.

On Tuesday, January 2, I spoke to the postmaster who saw what I did and looked at the carrier's notes for that day. Carrier's notes showed delivery of "small package" but without scan.

I requested that he email me something to that effect, figuring that although I really shouldn't win a dispute without online tracking, I had nothing to lose by submitting that documentation.

The buyer escalated the case and I expected to lose it so when I got the email saying it was closed in my favor, I was truly shocked.

I went back to the tracking (expecting to see what I'd seen before) and for some unknown reason, on January 3, tracking resumed and showed delivery to her.

Whether my call was the catalyst for them looking further for the item or if they were somehow able to get tracking to resume, I'll never know.

-------------------------------
In answer to your question, I don't know whether a buyer can ding the shipping time star for postal delays but it's really so misleading when ebay states much earlier delivery expectations than what really happens!

 

[Gblb]

I'd let it be. It's not your fault and there isn't anything you can do about it. I always ship on the first day, but often it doesn't get scanned. I have packages picked up from my house. If my carrier gets back to the post office before 4 PM, the packages make it on the truck to the distribution center. Most times she doesn't get back in time, and the packages just sit at the post office for an extra day. This is fine if she scans when she picks up. Before Christmas, her boss told her not to scan any packages. I think they thought it made the post office look bad when the packages sat for a day. On my ebay dashboard, it shows one package has a late shipment rate. I guess I should be happy it is only one package.

Thank you all for your responses.

I try to have my packages picked up if possible as definitely convenient. In addition to the recent issues our carrier left and there’s a lottery for the position. The interim carriers aren’t picking up package pickup requests half the time so figured it was safer dropping off. That’s interesting the manager told your carrier not to scan packages prior to Christmas.

I would not contact the buyer. If they haven't contacted you they probably aren't too concerned about the slow delivery.

I dropped off a package at the counter inside the post office before Christmas. It was Priority 3-day service. It took a week to deliver and no scans showed up until the final delivery scan. Of course I was concerned and talked to the manager who told me sometimes they don't scan everything. I said, "I paid for tracking, and yet I'm not able to track it?" Yep. Fortunately my buyer never contacted me.

Thank you. I’m learning USPS isn’t very reliable; especially around holidays.

I actually had a weird (sort-of similar) situation recently. Scanning on my item stopped on Dec. 21, showing several scans on transit to destination. (I have no idea where those scans were done.) Delivery was shown to be expected on Dec. 21.

Fast forward to Dec. 30 when buyer opened INR. It was at that point I checked the scanning and saw what I described.

Responded to the buyer that because of the long holiday weekend, I'd call the postal facility in her city to see what their tracking showed.

On Tuesday, January 2, I spoke to the postmaster who saw what I did and looked at the carrier's notes for that day. Carrier's notes showed delivery of "small package" but without scan.

I requested that he email me something to that effect, figuring that although I really shouldn't win a dispute without online tracking, I had nothing to lose by submitting that documentation.

The buyer escalated the case and I expected to lose it so when I got the email saying it was closed in my favor, I was truly shocked.

I went back to the tracking (expecting to see what I'd seen before) and for some unknown reason, on January 3, tracking resumed and showed delivery to her.

Whether my call was the catalyst for them looking further for the item or if they were somehow able to get tracking to resume, I'll never know.

-------------------------------
In answer to your question, I don't know whether a buyer can ding the shipping time star for postal delays but it's really so misleading when ebay states much earlier delivery expectations than what really happens!

Thank you. That was a good idea to request the carriers’ notes and possibly calling may have been the catalyst for confirmation.

I assumed buyers couldn’t ding a star when shipping is free but could when the buyer paid for it. eBay’s shipping estimates really are very misleading. I allot 2 handling days just to be safe but try to ship the same or next day if after hours. USPS and eBay say 2-3 days for FC pkg and priority which am finding both are taking much longer; sometimes up to a week. Buyers don’t always realize these modes of shipping aren’t guaranteed and expect the 2-3 days.

 

[whateve]

Thank you all for your responses.

I try to have my packages picked up if possible as definitely convenient. In addition to the recent issues our carrier left and there’s a lottery for the position. The interim carriers aren’t picking up package pickup requests half the time so figured it was safer dropping off. That’s interesting the manager told your carrier not to scan packages prior to Christmas.



Thank you. I’m learning USPS isn’t very reliable; especially around holidays.



Thank you. That was a good idea to request the carriers’ notes and possibly calling may have been the catalyst for confirmation.

I assumed buyers couldn’t ding a star when shipping is free but could when the buyer paid for it. eBay’s shipping estimates really are very misleading. I allot 2 handling days just to be safe but try to ship the same or next day if after hours. USPS and eBay say 2-3 days for FC pkg and priority which am finding both are taking much longer; sometimes up to a week. Buyers don’t always realize these modes of shipping aren’t guaranteed and expect the 2-3 days.

I think ebay shipping estimates allow a little fat. When buyers go to give feedback, there is a question that asks if they received the item by a certain date. I wonder if that is what ebay uses to ding your dashboard. The buyer can give stars both for shipping cost (unless it is free) and for shipping time.

After I explained to my carrier that I get rated on my shipping time, she started scanning my packages again. I went through the change of carriers when my previous carrier retired. Apparently, my route is very desirable. I went through some really bad carriers until I got my current carrier. I hope she stays on the job a long time!

 

[LolaCalifornia]

Thank you all for your responses.

I try to have my packages picked up if possible as definitely convenient. In addition to the recent issues our carrier left and there’s a lottery for the position. The interim carriers aren’t picking up package pickup requests half the time so figured it was safer dropping off. That’s interesting the manager told your carrier not to scan packages prior to Christmas.



Thank you. I’m learning USPS isn’t very reliable; especially around holidays.



Thank you. That was a good idea to request the carriers’ notes and possibly calling may have been the catalyst for confirmation.

I assumed buyers couldn’t ding a star when shipping is free but could when the buyer paid for it. eBay’s shipping estimates really are very misleading. I allot 2 handling days just to be safe but try to ship the same or next day if after hours. USPS and eBay say 2-3 days for FC pkg and priority which am finding both are taking much longer; sometimes up to a week. Buyers don’t always realize these modes of shipping aren’t guaranteed and expect the 2-3 days.

This is not necessarily related to eBay, but to USPS. As far as reliability goes, they lost or mis-delivered my PASSPORT in December! Their scans show it was delivered to me— but I never got it. Whoever got it (if someone did), never returned it to the Post Office or to the Dept. Of State. I had to jump through hoops to request another one, but now have to wait an additional 4-6 weeks. Glad I didn’t have a trip planned! So very unreliable!

 

[Gblb]

I think ebay shipping estimates allow a little fat. When buyers go to give feedback, there is a question that asks if they received the item by a certain date. I wonder if that is what ebay uses to ding your dashboard. The buyer can give stars both for shipping cost (unless it is free) and for shipping time.

After I explained to my carrier that I get rated on my shipping time, she started scanning my packages again. I went through the change of carriers when my previous carrier retired. Apparently, my route is very desirable. I went through some really bad carriers until I got my current carrier. I hope she stays on the job a long time!

That’s a great idea to mention to your new carrier about getting rated on shipping time. I hope your new carrier stays for a long time too! Good to know about eBay shipping estimates. Will definitely do that once have a permanent replacement. Our carrier took an office position. She said some carriers don’t care because they have govt jobs and believe they can’t be fired. Her route was also supposedly desirable. We speak and have mentioned some of the issues; she was stunned and suggested a contact. She took pride in her job, knowing the people and brought biscuits to pets on the route. She’d check if you had packages and would stop by to get them while doing pickup. It’s amazing the things you learn when you befriend your carrier. We definitely were spoiled by her attentiveness and kindness, and fortunate too.

 

[whateve]

That’s a great idea to mention to your new carrier about getting rated on shipping time. I hope your new carrier stays for a long time too! Good to know about eBay shipping estimates. Will definitely do that once have a permanent replacement. Our carrier took an office position. She said some carriers don’t care because they have govt jobs and believe they can’t be fired. Her route was also supposedly desirable. We speak and have mentioned some of the issues; she was stunned and suggested a contact. She took pride in her job, knowing the people and brought biscuits to pets on the route. She’d check if you had packages and would stop by to get them while doing pickup. It’s amazing the things you learn when you befriend your carrier. We definitely were spoiled by her attentiveness and kindness, and fortunate too.

My carrier also checks for packages even if I don't set up a pickup. She can see my porch when she drives by, so if she sees something, she'll come up and get it. She says some carriers complain about having to pick up packages, but she thinks of it as job security. I think there are several who do care, and do a good job.

 

[beekmanhill]

I need help again. Situation was described originally in post 7329 in this thread. To summarize, I sold an item on November 26th, mailed it immediately. It was marked "delivered to mailroom" two days later by USPS (postage and tracking purchased through eBay). Seller could not locate her/his package in mailroom (its in Kalamazoo, MI, so I think it is UMich, just an assumption). She/he put in a request to USPS and apparently has received response that USPS delivered it and USPS closed the case. The mailroom for which buyer provided address and to which USPS delivered cannot locate it. I assumed I was off the hook when...........................

Today I received this mail from eBay.
Your buyer opened a request because their item hasn't arrived. It is important for you to respond by Jan 12, 2018.

You can resolve your buyers request by providing tracking information or any additional shipping details. If you do not have tracking that shows delivery, please consider refunding your buyer.

Your final value fee will be credited if you send a full refund.

This transaction is covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee, so your buyer can ask us to step in beginning Jan 12, 2018 to review the case and make a decision. Learn about eBay Money Back Guarantee

I filled in the form provided, and typed in the tracking number that all parties have already; its on the eBay website. I have no other shipping details. I mailed it; USPS delivered it. It cannot be found. I do not live in Michigan.

Oh, eBay also offered me the option of refunding the buyer in full to close the case.

Any ideas why eBay would ask me for info they already have? Thanks for any suggestions anyone might have for me. By the way, the item is less than $80.

 

[holiday123]

I need help again. Situation was described originally in post 7329 in this thread. To summarize, I sold an item on November 26th, mailed it immediately. It was marked "delivered to mailroom" two days later by USPS (postage and tracking purchased through eBay). Seller could not locate her/his package in mailroom (its in Kalamazoo, MI, so I think it is UMich, just an assumption). She/he put in a request to USPS and apparently has received response that USPS delivered it and USPS closed the case. The mailroom for which buyer provided address and to which USPS delivered cannot locate it. I assumed I was off the hook when...........................

Today I received this mail from eBay.
Your buyer opened a request because their item hasn't arrived. It is important for you to respond by Jan 12, 2018.

You can resolve your buyers request by providing tracking information or any additional shipping details. If you do not have tracking that shows delivery, please consider refunding your buyer.

Your final value fee will be credited if you send a full refund.

This transaction is covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee, so your buyer can ask us to step in beginning Jan 12, 2018 to review the case and make a decision. Learn about eBay Money Back Guarantee

I filled in the form provided, and typed in the tracking number that all parties have already; its on the eBay website. I have no other shipping details. I mailed it; USPS delivered it. It cannot be found. I do not live in Michigan.

Oh, eBay also offered me the option of refunding the buyer in full to close the case.

Any ideas why eBay would ask me for info they already have? Thanks for any suggestions anyone might have for me. By the way, the item is less than $80.

Just procedure to make seller jump through hoops... Does tracking show delivered? If yes and PayPal transaction page shows eligible, you'll be covered. eBay may issue buyer a courtesy credit from the "piggy bank.". Not sure how they could open an INR since more than 30 days have elapsed.