posted on March 20, 2001 08:10:51 AM new
Some people just have such unreasonable expectations.
I just received a NEUTRAL (which I hate more than negs) from a bidder: GREAT ITEM! But shipment was way too slow.
Ok, I'm in western Canada, he's in east U.S.
Auction ended 2-18. I received payment 3-5. I mailed 3-9. He gets it 3-19. In other words, he got his shipment faster than I got his payment.
This was a $4.99 item, and this troll is so nasty he has to leave a comment like that.
He was bidding on one or two items in that period. I ship upwards of 50 to 75 eBay packages EVERY week. I don't have a staff, but I do have a life, and I simply cannot always mail items the very next day! I don't expect people to coddle me, but surely they can show a bit of common understanding.
Oh yeah, this guy e-mailed me 3 times asking where his item was! (All over a $4.99 item).
I answer the 1st two e-mails promptly & courteously. The final one, received last Sunday, says: "OK, LET'S GET TO IT! It's still not here -- did you in fact ever ship this, and if not, when are you going to?"
I didn't respond to that one, after all I've told the guy twice that it was mailed on the 9th & that surface mail between Canada & U.S. takes generally 7 to 12 business days -- so he gets it the morning after that diatribe & left me that comment.
Sheesh! It just takes one irritating & unreasonable bidder like that to drive any seller up the wall. (Or if it was an unreasonable seller, situation reversed.)
posted on March 20, 2001 08:24:43 AM new
It seems like we were dealing with the same bidder. Only mine started emailing 2 days after the auction ended asking where there package was. This was a book and sent media mail. I was called a bad seller, + alot of other things. This was a first for me. Most all of my feedbacks says Fast Shipping. But this buyer just got to me. I feel a neg coming on from this transaction. I have not left feedback yet. Should I neg????? Or let other sellers know that they try to use blackmail Will file a paypal chargeback if item is not here on XX
posted on March 20, 2001 08:42:07 AM new
By the way, it's kind of interesting, I had 17 auctions that all ended on Feb. 18th.
Fastest to pay was in Germany, used Bidpay on Feb 22nd.
Next fastest used Billpoint on the 23rd.
Rest came by mail.
8 bidders from U.S. got their payments to me between Feb 26 & Feb 28.
Another U.S. bidder got me the payment on Mar. 1
Someone from Calgary (darn Canadians!) & this NEUTRAL commenter finally got their payments to me on March 5.
And 2 people have not yet paid, both have had the NPBA notice filed against them on March 10.
One of them, a bidder with 12 feedbacks, I shipped the item anyway as he apologized and simply said he had forgot, he has promised to send the payment (if he doesn't, well I'm out the item, but I still have feedback to leave.)
The other one, a bidder with 3 feedbacks, has neither responded or paid, and guess what, today is 10 days post-NPBA, so they will get their duly appointed negative.
Sigh, this is the typical life of an eBay seller.
Hooray for Germans!
Every one who has paid now has their items, including the most tardy payment senders.
posted on March 20, 2001 09:05:25 AM new
There are sometimes exceptional circumstances that cause people to get behind on shipping.
Take for instance this scenario. Completely true.
2 weeks ago the mother board our records keeping computer failed (unfortunately we hadn't backed up our files). The shop we took it to said that the turn around time would be 4-5 days. So we were flying blind. Thank heavens for web based email. Then we receive our computer back and then next day it breaks down again and it takes 2 more days to get it back. Now we are behind on shipping.. Then we are just getting caught up and our car breaks down. We pick up our car the next day and gess what, it breaks down on the way home from the Post Office. We finally get the car fixed and now between the car and the computer our bank account is in red ink. We have no money to mail packages, pay bills or even eat. To top it off, and add to all of the added stress, we mail an item to the wrong person and now we are waiting to hear back from that person so we can get the package back and ship the item to the correct party.
As a side note: while my wife was on the phone to the computer tech, the Seattle earthquake hit promptly ending that conversation.
We have been able to keep almost everyone happy but we've been doing a lot of apologizing for late delivery. I am happy to say that the majority of customers out there that are FAR more patient and understanding then what I am seeing here on this thread.
We have had similar problems in the past and have usually been able to work our way out of them. We only have 2 negs and 14 neutrals in over 3500 transactions.
I just think that everyone should step back and think. Life can sometimes get in the way.
[ edited by outoftheblue on Mar 20, 2001 09:51 AM ]
posted on March 20, 2001 09:38:59 AM new
It is astonishing that people don't have a clue as to how to run a business. I won an auction, emailed the seller and he emailed back that he's in process of getting out notices. Why, oh WHY, can't he just tell me how he'd like to get his money?
I prefer to ship stuff next business day. This minimizes the stuff piling up and makes the customer happy. I usually don't bother with a formal shipping notice. If they PayPal the money, I just tell them the money's good and their stuff is going out.
posted on March 20, 2001 10:33:07 AM new
<<It is astonishing that people don't have a clue as to how to run a business. I won an auction, emailed the seller and he emailed back that he's in process of getting out notices. Why, oh WHY, can't he just tell me how he'd like to get his money?>>
Here is where I throw my sympaties to the seller. I can end 10 auctions, and 3 will not wait for the Ebay notice. They will write and ask me what info I need, and do I take Paypal, and how much. Now, since I once did this without waiting for Ebay, and the person didn't realize he was sniped, I gave the answer (I could have looked first, but that's just one more step and time). Luckily, what I sell can be duplicated, because he wasn't the winner..but I had his money. It is just too confusing to not do them in a certain order. Ebay is just a hobby/small biz for me.
I just send a quick notice back now saying I will be in touch as soon as Ebay verifies the end of the auction. Then I send my already typed out canned response, so that I'm sure nothing gets left out, print the Ebay notice, along with my notice, and wait for their info. Nothin I sell is life or death, so I prefer to do it orderly.
posted on March 20, 2001 11:03:59 AM new
quickdraw, if you want to run your business based on re-educating the public to be patient, then all i ask is that you inform your buyers IN YOUR AUCTION LISTING that the item I win may possibly not be mailed up to **3 weeks** from the time you receive my **paypal, cash or money order** payment. Don't want to do that? Didn't think so. Doesn't make a seller look real good. So why is it ok to do it WITHOUT informing the buyer???
And folks, I can tell the difference between a POST OFFICE PROBLEM and a SELLER PROBLEM. When an item is purchased and paid for with Paypal on the 1st and mailed on the 13th, and arrives on the 16th, that's not a post office problem! That's a seller problem! Ever heard of a thing called a postmark? It's real informative! When I leave negs for late shipping, it's because of late SHIPPING, not late postal shenanigans! sheesh, give buyers credit for a brain or two!
posted on March 20, 2001 11:50:44 AM newEver heard of a thing called a postmark?
Yes, and quite often a package won't receive the postmark for DAYS after being dropped off at the post office. The postmark is a very inacurate indicator of when a package was actually mailed.
This is the first message I have posted since I have been using auction watch but this topic hit home today. I received a money order for payment today- Tuesday 3-20 and e-mailed the buyer that I would ship on Thursday. About 20 minutes later I received back the nasty e-mail wanting to know why it would Thursday (3-22) before I sent the package. She stated that she mailed payemnt immediately but the auction ended 3-13 and payment mailed 3-17. She also stated that if I didn't mail the package tomorrow she would leave a negative for me on slow shipping. I wrote back and explain why it would be Thursday and I haven't heard anything back. Any words of wisdom from you all??? Thanks
posted on March 20, 2001 12:38:47 PM newupriver, totally agree.
brigntID, your posts are ****ing me off.
>>And before any of you other sellers start whining about department stores waiting 4-6 weeks to ... YOU'RE NOT A DEPARTMENT STORE<<
No, I am a real person with a real life. I enjoy your posts, but please PLEASE don't ever bid on my items.
I had my biggest sale ever on eBay last week (over $1,000) and the customer was an absolute jewel. It's always the $5.99 items that attract the loonies.
posted on March 20, 2001 12:51:40 PM newmoocat2000 ~ For future reference, don't send payment received e-mail until you can ship the next day. I might try to explain to this person that you have no way of knowing when payments are going to arrive and therefore cannot be expected to go to the Post Office at the drop of a hat [in a nice way of course]. Maybe she'll come to her senses but I wouldn't count on it. Good luck.
posted on March 20, 2001 02:00:22 PM new
I decided long ago that I'm not going to break my neck to get packages shipped out the next day. Heck, sometimes I put it off until next week. Sometimes two weeks.
The vast majority of my customers don't pay until a week or so has passed -- why should I stress out over next-day delivery to the same people?
I've been doing business this way since the start and am well on my way to 2000 positive feedbacks -- and not a single negative for slow delivery.
I myself never expect (or demand) same-week turnaround from people I buy from. It's nice when it happens (rarely) but overall I think a two-week turnaround is the norm.
You overnight shippers are spoiling people, IMHO. Occasionally I get an e-mail saying "Where's my item? I sent you a money order five days ago!"
I really have to struggle with my impulse to write back "Yeah, so?" Usually I just tell them to relax, that I'll send it the next day.
Life's way too short to drive yourself crazy over shipping.
posted on March 20, 2001 02:02:28 PM new
moocat2000,
Do you state in your TOS or EOA your shipping timeframe, such as w/in 48 hours, or twice a week, etc?
And I concur w/nowwhat. If you are a seller who communicates closely w/buyers, you might want to consider using a single email..such as "I have received your payment & your item was shipped on ZXY day".
That way you can allow for any emergency delays in shipping.
Yes, and quite often a package won't receive the postmark for DAYS after being dropped off at the post office. The postmark is a very inacurate indicator of when a package was actually mailed.
I use Stamps.com and ALL packages MUST be postmarked the day I ship out the item. If they are postmarked the day before or the day after I have to re-mark them with the current date.
Before I had Stamps.com I had to have the post office clerk put postage stamps on every single package. I don't understand how you can say the postdate is not accurate - when you stand there in line and watch the postal clerk put a stamp on each package that is dated that exact day?
I've found the postdates on the packages to be very accurate.
posted on March 20, 2001 03:18:19 PM new
I usually have to wait until Friday or Saturday each week to send off packages because of job hours. Only way I'd wait longer than a week is when I hold a check.
posted on March 20, 2001 05:11:14 PM new
Well, I'm sure glad to see how many sellers have so much time on thre hands to be running to the Post Office every day, No us other (STORE PEOPLE SELLERS) Don't run to the Post Office everyday, our letters state Paypal Payments will be sent out on our regular shipping days next day delivery add 2.00 (EXPRESS) we ship two or three times per week, at our post office you can stand in line for over a half hour to mail off one Item, we have Happy bidders!!
posted on March 20, 2001 05:21:44 PM new
Irregardless of how your payment comes in - the ship date should match your auction tos.
Our auctions all state will ship within 3 days of receipt of payment but soon we are going to weekly pickups so we will be shipping only one time a week.
We do notify when payment has arrived and when we ship - why?? Communication to the customer is key and it eliminates answering individual e-mails asking when the item shipped or did you get payment. We would rather spend 5 minutes a day to e-mail at our time than spend various times throughout the day answering e-mails.
Basically whether you pay by check or PayPal - if we were to get your payment today your item would mail within 3 days.
I think it would behoove of sellers to list their scheduled shipping days in their TOS so that buyers know when they bid. Then there probably would not be very many complaints and those that did would really not have a leg to stand on.
posted on March 20, 2001 05:36:19 PM new
brigid, I ship as many packages as I possibly can in two days a week. It's called using my time wisely. Shipping packages is not a productive use of time, it won't make me more money. It certainly doesn't offer a competitive advantage because most sellers can easily ship within three days. It definitely has never increased repeat business. So why would anyone bust their b-hind to ship a package within three days? If you think like a businessperson rather than a charity giver maybe you'd see my point.
While I don't base my business on re-educating the buyers, I do void sales at will if the person is rude, demanding, or gives me bad vibes. That's for both the buyer and my best interest.
posted on March 20, 2001 07:15:56 PM new
Well, I just heard back from my one seller. I wrote to him AGAIN this morning, asking him if he received my payment. (I paid via Billpoint 3 days ago).
His response: [b]I'm sorry for not responding sooner - we have been out of town for the past few days. Please send me your full name and I'll check on the status of
your order.[/b] I sent him the item # and my email address on every email - so he should have already had this information for me. Sounds like delay tactics to me.
It seems an email letting me know that they would be unavailable for a few days - or at least mentioning it in their auction would have been the right thing to do.
posted on March 20, 2001 08:37:26 PM new
ExecutiveGirl, I've figured it out. You're wayyyyyyy too INTO this! Auction ends three days ago, you've emailed like 3 times to see if they've received your payment? You're running around each morning to ship out items and wondering why no one else does? You're posting to Auction Watch between auctions? I'm sure you're a sweetie but BOY that's a lot of energy going to waste.
I've counted at least 3 type of people here tonight:
1. My group: eBay sellers who are too busy to respond to routine emails, send routine confirmations, answer routine (read: unnecessary) questions. We are posting auctions, settling auctions, making bank deposits, multiple daily trips to the post office, buying product inbetween and generally going nuts. We are trying to make a living at eBay. We know that this is a numbers game, we must sell a certain amount of product each week to make our mortgage payments and there are only so many hours in that week. Like you we live and breathe eBay but, boy, I know EXACTLY why and where my time and money is going each and every day. Each minute of my day is valuable (and has a value!)
2. Exec's group: enjoying the social aspects of eBay, not the business ones. Quite willing to spend many many minutes on each transaction. Probably working for $3/hour or so when all is said and done, but quite happy doing it as it passes the time and is fun and exciting. I'm guessing but I've seen it many times before.
3. The eBay hobbyists: doing this all for fun and occasional money, somewhat oblivious to the time and effort they're spending to make only a little money. Competing in their respective categories with dealers in group 1 who are more efficient than they, or eBayers in group 2 who are friendlier than they. The group most likely to drop from eBay after only a few months.
I'm sure I've missed some categories, and I mean no insults to anyone, but if you'd emailed ME three times in three days to see if I had received your Billpoint payment there is a good chance that message would have been deleted three times here without a response. You group 2's and group 3's in the room tonight can yell and scream all you want, but full-timers know the ONLY way to make a living on eBay is to sell quickly and do it over and over and over and over. There is no short cut or easy way to do it any other way. My standard answer to such questions as yours is pasted in as response to many emails regarding status or payment questions:
"You pay, we ship, we do it 1000s of times each week without a problem. If an item is 10 days overdue please email back and I will research it thoroughly. Otherwise, please assume this transaction is proceeding smoothly. I prefer to spend my time selling and shipping. Thx Marie"
I don't need you to "analyze" my ebay doings, but since you brought it up - ebay is NOT a "hobby" for me, and I don't use ebay for the "social aspects". Ebay is my full time job, and I do very well at it, thank you very much. It has paid all of my bills for the past 3 years and then some! Working for $3 per hour? Uh... hardly! But, I did notice the time and effort YOU put into your past post! You took all the time to analyze your 3 different "groups" of sellers. And you say "I'm" way too into this? LOL!
Perhaps the reason I can "socialize" here on the AW boards is because I am EFFICIENT with my time. I sell hundreds of different items per week. In the past couple weeks I've noticed a trend in the sellers I've dealt with and how they ALL run their businesses so differently than I do. Not necessarily always a bad thing, just something I noticed. And I mentioned it here on the message boards. You see.... that's what message boards are for.
So I brought up my one transaction in this thread. Yes, I bid on something 3 days ago. After 24 hours he sends me the "EOA" email which could possibly mean he did not receive my payment. So I asked him if he received it. I didn't receive a response so I asked him again. And he finally answered today. So what's the problem? I find it odd and a little bit rude to not answer a customer's email.. but then again, I answer ALL customer emails. I guess the only kind of person who would find this seller's behavior acceptable is the ones who practice this kind of customer service.
And no, my energy is not going to "waste" - unless of course, you call simple customer service a waste of time. I go to the post office just about every day - you may think that's a waste but I call it customer service and good customer service is what makes my customers come back over and over again.
If you'd emailed ME three times in three days to see if I had received your Billpoint payment there is a good chance that message would have been deleted three times here without a response
And that is exactly the kind of "businesses" that will go OUT of business.
I certainly don't need to get instructions or criticism from someone who calls themselves a "business" who ignores customer emails and is "too busy" for their customers.
full-timers know the ONLY way to make a living on eBay
Like I said, I AM a full-timer and HAVE BEEN for 3 years. Hmmm.. which will the customers continue to go to? Great customer service or NO customer service?
posted on March 20, 2001 09:12:18 PM new
Exec, I kinda figured that's how you'd react. I'm sorry I brought it up. I was trying to help you answer the question you brought up originally. I offered neither instruction or criticism, just observations. I stand behind my observations, BTW, and stand behind the way I conduct business and the way we treat customers and contact. I recognize that all eBay sellers and all eBay buyers are not the same. You raised a question I felt was, well, odd.
posted on March 20, 2001 09:23:55 PM new
I am keeping Jereth's post in my "ebay education" folder.
Why?
Because it makes a lot of sense.
I am the person who is mellow about receiving a package. One took a month, postmark (dubya you ar wrong, I asked my local postmaster: day it gets into their hands, day of postmark) was day he said he shipped it.
I gave the guy three positive feedbacks...and I bought some extra stuff from him.
Why work yourself into a lather?
As far as shipment goes, I don't measure my rate against payment time or other sellers. I turn it around as soon as I can, which is 48 hours.
Anyhow, thanks Jereth.
ps I am catagory 4: Niched nicely. Know my competition and am a hobbiest with a professional eye on overhead.
[ edited by capriole on Mar 20, 2001 09:29 PM ]
posted on March 20, 2001 09:51:45 PM new
Considering that Marie is closing in on 33,000 feedback, I think she speaketh from experience. Seems like they are running a mighty fine "business" to me. Marie, I had no idea you had gotten up to that many feedback, last I looked you were at 20,000. Congratulations to you. Snowy
I shudder about the people who don't shudder at all.
posted on March 20, 2001 10:11:41 PM new
I don't think sellers can be categorized like Jereth is suggesting. There are too many different situations a seller can be in.
I'm a full time seller too, for almost 3 years now. My bills depend on my selling a certain dollar amount of items each month. Unless something is wrong (as in an emergency), all my packages go out within one business day. And I am NEVER too busy to answer my customers' e-mails. In my opinion, there ARE NO unnecessary questions. If my customer felt the need to ask something, that e-mail was necessary to him/her. I send out payment received/item shipped notices, but if a customer has a question in the meantime, their e-mails are welcome.
I'm currently running anywhere from 500-700 auctions a month, the vast majority of which are Dutch auctions. My goal is to treat each customer as if s/he is my ONLY customer. If I couldn't do that, I would either slow down, or I would hire someone to help me. Maybe I'm "waayyyy too into this" too, but this is how I feel.
Edited to add: Maybe it's because I truly enjoy selling. It's not just "a job" to me, even though my income depends on it. (Not sure that makes sense, but hopefully you know what I mean! LOL!)
[ edited by thedewey on Mar 20, 2001 10:16 PM ]
posted on March 20, 2001 10:22:58 PM new
millions of people eat at McDonald's, too---that don't mean it's fine cuisine.
quickdraw, if you say you go to the post office two days a week, then why are you arguing with me? That means the majority of your packages DO ship within three days or so. You're arguing in favor of something that, in fact, you don't do? Why? This is just like the "handling threads" that have some sellers getting so defensive. People defending a practice even though they say they don't do it to the degree that others complain about. Yet it's the *degree* that makes the difference. To me and to many many people there is a difference between 1.00 handling and 5.00 handling. Just as there is a DIFFERENCE between shipping in 4 days (acceptable to me, even though I personally usually ship faster) and shipping in 10 days (NOT acceptable to me and will contribute to the possibility of a neutral). Don't you get it?
to the person who said that postmarks aren't accurate----come on man, you're really reaching. I've mailed hundreds of packages at probably two dozen different Post Offices over the years and never once seen a postmark marked incorrectly. This falls into one of those 'the dog ate my homework' excuses IMO.
twinsoft, i'm sorry i'm ticking you off, but I honestly don't get why. I'm a seller myself. I have a house, family, bills to pay, and a 36 hour a week outside job plus I make most of the items I sell on Ebay meaning it's another 20 hour job or so just making them. All this and I still ship within 48 hours and I've never considered it particularly onerous or a burden. It's just part of the job. If you don't want me bidding on your items, then please include a timeline in your auctions so I know not to count on getting them in the mail very fast. That's reasonable isn't it? Why isn't it OK to want to know?
As far as 'what kind of seller i am'--ho hum. I think i'll stick with what has made me money and paid my rent for the past couple of years, which is selling items and getting them in the mail within 48 hours (72 max). If you run your business differently, fine, but please put a shipping timeline into your TOS so I know in advance what you DO consider acceptable shipping times. I think your buyers would appreciate it and it might save you some headaches too.
posted on March 20, 2001 11:20:06 PM new
I don't put a "time line" in my auction TOS. Some items ship out 24-48 hours after payment, some go out in 5-8 days. Depends on when they were recieved in relationship to my 2-3 shipping days a week and how many payments have come in.
And guess what...I have no headaches!! No problem customers. The problems are so few and far between that they aren't even worth mentioning.
I think some people need to chill out!! In the grand scheme of things a seller not responding in three days is no biggie. Getting your purchase in a few days instead of two weeks isn't going to affect your life much at all.
But the stress you put yourself into when you get all wound up over such insignificant irritants can be harmful to your health. It just ain't worth it!
posted on March 20, 2001 11:59:32 PM new
brighid, you're right most of my items ship within 3-6 days. It's a little game I play called, "I ship item out now/you quit emailing me everyday."
