posted on January 19, 2001 03:04:21 PM
I am wondering how quickly other sellers ship after receiving a credit card payment from the customer, via Billpoint, Paypal, etc.
As a seller I always ship within three business days of receiving a credit card payment. The three days gives me some latitude in case I get the flu or have some crisis with which I have to cope. I normally ship within 48 business hours.
My eBay business is prosperous. Plus I buy a lot under another id.
On January 2nd I won a BIN auction for over $150.00. I paid by Billpoint on the same day. The seller is an antique shop. Three days ago I email the seller and ask where my item is. The next day I get a two sentence reply saying she is looking in to it. Last night on the 18th I send another email, say I still don't have the item, that I wasn't given a tracking number and I was never sent a Shipping Confirmation email. This a.m. I get another short email response, she says the item was shipped on the 10th, that she can't find the tracking number, she thinks an employee might have it in his wallet.
I get the contact info from eBay, call, get an answering machine, leave a message, no call back of course.
Seller has about 100 feedback, no negatives, a couple of neutrals for slow shipping.
I give good customer service to my buyers. I hate it when sellers are a business yet display no business skills, give zero customer service. I think it is ludicrous to ship 8 days after getting a credit card payment. I think it is poor business skills not to send a Shipping Confirmation email with a tracking number on the day the item is shipped, particularly on items over $50. I have no idea which carrier the seller used to ship. Since I wasn't given a tracking number I can't confirm if the package is in transit or not. The seller doesn't communicate. This situation is an example of how NOT do conduct business on eBay.
Plus a BIN auction implies the buyer WIN (Wants It Now.)
I would be a bit disappointed if I were you. Geez, and she cant find the tracking number! I really wonder how some of these people manage to survive on ebay. It's amazing that some sellers just don't care and continually get away with it.
I am usually at the Post Office four times during the week, but I cut myself some slack just in case I can't make it. So, I state that I ship twice a week. I also send an email out when item is sent and then I post feedback. Seems to work ok for me.
Hope all works out for you........
[ edited by pumpkinhead on Jan 19, 2001 03:19 PM ]
posted on January 19, 2001 03:23:49 PM
I always ship within 24 hours of recipt of any payment (online, mailed in, etc),usually same day. Some days it's tough when I have a lot of auctions ending and paypal payement pouring it, or I open my mailbox to find it full of payments (not that I'm complaining, I love having my mailbox full of money).
In my EOA I state shipping within 24 hours of recipt of payment. Occasionally I may dawdle and it takes about 36 hours, at the worst. If anything, it's on a Saturday or Sunday, and I have to wait until Monday to go to the post office.
I also use a second ID for buying. There have been times when I win an auction, the same day many of mine are ending. Often I have received payment from my buyer, sent the item and recieved my positive feedback for the item I sold before I even get a confirmation email from the seller who's auction ended the same day as mine. This has happened when I mail a payment or use PayPal immediatly after the auction.
In my experience,I would say only about half the sellers are quick with shipping. I always like to win an auction on a weekend, pay by PayPal and have the item in possession before the next weekend. With some sellers, I'd be lucky to get it in two weeks. I love it when they try to make exuses about how long it can take or how much shipping costs. Little do they know I'm a sellers and can see right through them. Hah!
posted on January 19, 2001 03:27:04 PM
I have found the best method for shipping as quickly as possible is to ship BEFORE the auction actually ends!....
Seriously, I ship as soon as I receive payment....I have had some items paid by Billpoint in the AM and at the post office that PM...Worst case in the next day (unless of course that is a Sunday or holiday)....Money order & check payments, typically are shipped the day after receipt, as my mail is delivered at about 2:30 - 3:00.....
I can understand your frustration, dealing with a less-than-professional who is supposed to be a professional.....However, good eBay sellers are truly fantastic with their shipping turnaround compared to many many other internet sites....I've purchased from some of the "big boys" like amazon, etoys, etc., etc. and it seems that it ALWAYS takes them days (in the area of 4-5) to ship items....Yeah, they have more inventory & orders, but geez, the also have WAY more $$$ than most of us sellers, in addition to staff to do the packing/shipping.....
posted on January 19, 2001 03:52:01 PM
I ship that day if I possibly can. Otherwise I ship the very next day (outside of holidays & Sunday, of course).
Of course, I don't take personal checks. But when I get one anyway I make the decision whether or not to ship right away based upon the buyer's feedback & longevity.
posted on January 19, 2001 04:08:15 PM
I state in my EOA that I ship within 2 business days after receipt of payment. 99.9% of the time I ship the next day. I'd ship the same day, but my snail-mail doesn't arrive until after 3:00 p.m., sometimes not until after 5:00! I just opened a PO box, which allows me to get my mail much earlier, but to ship the same day would require 2 PO trips.
If an electronic payment is made by 10:00 a.m., it'll ship the same day.
posted on January 19, 2001 04:25:10 PM
I thought of getting a post office box too, but as you say, borgt, it would require two trips to the post office.
My snail mail arrives anywhere between 10am and 3pm, it's very unpredictable. Not to mention, my letter carrier often delivers to the wrong address, and loves to get his workout forcefull cramming magazines and small packges through my mailbox slot, except when I was on holidays, he left small enveloped with cash payments in them lying ontop of my mailbox. All he had to do was gently push them into my mailbox.
I would get a po box for the convenience of more reliable mail delivery, and occasionally I could pick up my mail in the morining and be in the area of the post office later in the day to mail parcels. Otherwise I would have to change my EOA to state shipping in 24-48 hours. Also, I have to make sure I'm home at lunch time or I miss two episodes of the Flintstones and the mid day news.
Shipping within 48 hours is still pretty good, and I don't think people would too upset over that, except the odd impatient bidder who mails payment late and 5 days late wonders why they don't have their item.
I believe many sellers claim to ship in 24-48 hours, but in fact, do it within 3-5 days.
posted on January 19, 2001 04:37:59 PM
I ship most things out the next day after payment, any kind of payment, arrives. It might have to wait a day if it needs to be insured or is international, I only go to the PO every other day.
I feel for you darcyw.
I had the same situation a few weeks ago, only I wasn't dealing with a business.
I fed-exed a $500.00 money order to California. The seller had it on Monday, and shipped the following Monday, a whole week!
And she wasn't even answering emails. I emailed her Tuesday to make sure she got the MO, and she said she would ship "that week"
Friday I emailed and she said "No, she didn't yet"
Monday I emailed and she didn't answer any emails until FRIDAY, when I requested her contact info from ebay. I got an email about an hour later that she shipped it Monday and it should show up.
Showed up Saturday, but some things in the auction were not there. I am still waiting for those. I don't know the exact date, but I know the auction ended in Dec.
The only good I can see out of this is that it makes me a better seller in regards to keeping in contact. I considered myself above average before, but now I am trying even harder.
posted on January 19, 2001 05:00:57 PM
The sellers commenting on this topic ship every day or within 2-3 days. That makes sense because how often one ships can depend on how close you are to the post office or how many auctions you list. I know I ship out 2-3 times a week because I live 15 miles from the post office and shipping daily isn't practical for me. However I have a friend who lives across the street from the post office and she ships out almost every day, but gives herself the 3-day window for when her husband is in the hospital again.
I reviewed the terms of sale on the auction I won. The seller stated: "We accept Money Orders, Cashier Check or Personal Check as form of payment, BillPoint and PayPal. Payments made by money order will receive immediate shipping, personal checks require 10 business days before shipment." My assumption is that a credit card payment is the same as a money order. I didn't get immediate shipment. I suspect I didn't get any shipment at all because if so the package is out over 9 days and it hasn't arrived. I paid $10 to ship an item that weighs no more than a pound and a half, and if the item is double boxed, then the package weighs no more than 4 pounds. With $150 insurance, my package could have been shipped USPS Priority or UPS ground for ten dollars and been here by now.
I've only left two negatives for sellers in the past two years and that was for auctions I won, it got to be 30 days after the end-of-auction, and I still had no contact from the seller. I will probably leave a negative for this seller which shows the importance of having a second id for bidding, so that retalitory negatives don't impact the selling id feedback.
I have another idiot seller story. I won an auction for 4 cups and saucers, same maker and pattern, all the same size. The exact dimensions for the cups and saucers were given. The seller sends me an email, says the cups and saucers are at another location, give him my name and address, he will figure out shipping and get back to me with how much and where to send the money. Find, except I don't hear back from him. A week goes by, I email him, say I want to pay for the auction but I don't have the information to do so. He says oops, here is the information. I send the money. That evening I get an email from a friend who is a dealer/collector in the same category. She says Darcy, I was looking at your bids, saw you bid on that seller, need to tell you that I bought an egg cup from him, it arrived it wasn't as described, full of flaws and gold wear. She said the seller said to return the item and he would refund her. I finally get the 4 cups and saucers about 3 weeks after mailing payment and they are not as described. Cup number 4 is a coffee cup, a third larger than the other three cups and doesn't fit the saucer. You would have to be blind to miss the size difference. I email the seller, explain the problem, he says ship it all back and he will refund. Well I haven't done that yet because my friend never got refunded for her egg cup. It has been about 4 weeks since she sent the egg cup back, an item she spent about one hundred dollars on and she knows the seller received it from the tracking number information. So I don't know what good it will do me to ship back these cups if I can't get refunded. I won't have any cups plus I will have time and cost into shipping another parcel.
posted on January 19, 2001 06:52:27 PM
I finally got another email from the seller this evening.
Their About Me page says that all four members of the family are involved in selling collectibles and antiques on eBay with that user id.
So tonight's email says:
1. They just sell on eBay part time and have other jobs and responsibilites - meaning that taking my $160 and not getting the item to me is less important than other things in their lives; and
2. That the paper work is in her office and she can't look up anything until next Tuesday. Huh? I sent her an email three days ago. That is three business days of this week for her to locate paperwork.
I sent her a response, said what difference does it make if she sells full time or part time. She has my money; I don't have the item. Then I said, why wait to go to the office on Tuesday, why not go tonight? Well I am expressing myself a lot nicer here in this forum.
I guess I should cut my losses, figure out how to do a charge back on Billpoint. If anybody has any advice on that I sure would appreciate it. My impression is that the seller is giving me a lot of stories and excuses.
posted on January 19, 2001 08:24:51 PM
On electronic payments I ship next business day (sometimes same day) that is the biggest disadvantage of electronic payments, the buyer knows you've recieved the payment, and when.
Billpoint won't process the charge back for you. You have to go through your CC company.
The seller will get dinged $10 from Billpoint for the charge back.
I always ship within 24 hrs, 99% of the time on the same day the funds arrive.
posted on January 19, 2001 10:06:33 PM
99% of my packages go out within one business day. The only exceptions are when I hold a personal check for clearance, which I rarely do. In those cases, the package goes out within 7-10 business days.
Here's a funny/lucky thing that happened to me this week, if anyone's interested! I got a check for $40, which I decided to hold for bank clearance (new bidder, bidding on a LOT of auctions, and a higher-dollar check (for me, anyway) ).
The check-holding period passed with no bad news from the bank, so I sent my husband to the post office with the bidder's package, along with the rest of my stuff that was going out that day.
Not 30 minutes after hubby got home from the post office, the mail carrier delivered our mail. You guessed it! A bounced notice from the bank!
Hubby FLEW back to the post office, hoping to catch the package before it got sent out (they dispatch the mail several times a day), and YES!!! He made it! And the post office even refunded the postage.
So even if the check-writer doesn't make good on his check, at least I'm only out the bank fees (which is annoying), but I've still got the $40-worth of auction stuff! Whew!!!
(edited 'cuz I put the wrong smiley face)
[ edited by thedewey on Jan 19, 2001 10:09 PM ]
posted on January 20, 2001 12:17:04 AM
In my auctions I state that I ship the next business day after payment is received or checks clear (I don't usually hold them, but put that in just in case I ever get spooked about a particular transaction). I am a very small-time, part-time seller. I never ship on Saturday (hence the 'next business day' line), as I work nights and refuse to haul myself out of bed on my day off to get to the PO before 2 P.M. to ship a $2.00 widget. So far this works great for me, everybody seems happy.
posted on January 20, 2001 06:44:09 AM
I have just started using billpoint instant payment along with BIN. That means that I can get payments anytime with no warning. Those I am mailing the day after payment.
With mailed payments I ship in 30 hours, usually within 6 hours of the payment arriving. (If there is some reason that shipping is delayed a day, I delay sending my 'received payment' email by 24 hours. )
posted on January 20, 2001 06:56:10 AM
Our cutoff for shipping is 3pm Mon-Fri and noon on Saturday. (our post office closes at 1 on saturday) If payment is received by that time it is shipped same day. Period. After 3pm, it depends on whether UPS has made their pickup, if we have made our post office run, what it is, and who it is. In many cases we will make a special trip to get the package post marked
Our philosophy is: the faster the customer gets their items, the sooner they will come back to buy more.
posted on January 20, 2001 07:10:28 AM
Kind of off topic here but...BIN doesn't always mean WIN (Want It Now).
I've used Buy It Now for the purpose of guaranteeing that I get the item. I wanted a certain widget and was outbid on it every time I was bidding (before I started sniping of course ) so I finally just used the BIN feature so that I could guarantee that the item was mine. It took more than a few days to get it, which was fine. I just used the feature because it kept me from being outbid again on the widget that I wanted.
posted on January 31, 2001 07:00:12 PM
I hate to be the rotten apple here,but I don't think 8 days is bad, I mean when you order a product off tv, it clearly states 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. now if its someone who is selling 10 items aweek shipping should be fast. My company will run at least 1000 auctions a week , when we get payment we mark it paid and place in a pile to ship . its first in , first out system . so you might pay me to night but there might be 500 others that paid eariler in the day so yours will be number 501 to ship, a lot of people thinks they are the only customers a seller has, we will get emails from people 3 or 4 times a day wanting to know where there item is, I have one person who does nothing but answer emails 5 days a week 8 hours a day and most of the emails are dum, they pay tonight and them they call a day later wanting to know when its going to ship. some people acts like a kid at christmas, if people are in that big of a rush, they need to go to the local walmart and forget the internet. In all our auctions we put at the end of the auctions we usually ship within 3 business days after payment , but we ask that you would please allow up to 30 days, you ask why 30 days that is the time frame the us postal service says a mail order transaction should be complete after 30 days you have to offer a full refull, and this is also what ebay recommonds. thanks
posted on January 31, 2001 07:22:20 PM
I have a P.O. Box that has the mail in the box by about 9:30 AM so I usually go there in the morning and pick up my payments, and most likely send the items out that day for those payments I've received, combined with any electronic ones I've received. I state that I hold checks but end up usually not, depending on feedback, etc. I state on my page that I ship 3 times a week, just to give myself some padding. However, I live very close to the P.O. and I have a great relationship with the employees so I usually end up shipping out every day. Hey, its my main form of socialization! I think waiting 8 days to ship is unacceptable, and worthy of your complaint. The only exception to this would be if I did decide to hold a check for 10 days, and this would be only because of very poor feedback, or a specific reason such as that. Good luck with this situation!
posted on January 31, 2001 08:52:33 PM
My view on shipping is...the faster I get it out the better I don't get behind! I package everyday and go to the PO,(send my son),5 times a week.As soon as PP or Bidpay shows up the item is gone.I say that I hold personal checks for people with less than 10 feedbacks, but I don't.I try to judge Personal checks by how people write them, if their SS and Phone # is on them and the emails they send.Knock on wood, I have never been burned with a bad payment on eBay,yet,some looser bidders, sure, but it all seems worth it when you read your feedback and they are thrilled with the fast shipping! It's actually a selfish thing, I'm afraid I will list something I already sold. LOL, so when it's gone it's easier to take inventory!Nice to see you guys also value promptness of shipping!
posted on January 31, 2001 09:11:07 PM
I always ship out my items the same day that I recieve the payment. The post office that I go to closes at 8:00 pm, so I have some time to prepare the packages. I make this trip Monday - Friday. I don't mail packages during the weekend even though my post office is also open on Saturday and Sunday.
Here is an interesting seller that I ran across on ebay. I bought the item with BIN and used PayPal to pay for the item December 30,2000. I figure that the guy would ship my item January 2, 2001 since the first was a holiday. I email this guy Jan 6 to see where the package was. I got a reply that I should recieve it shortly. I got the package Jan. 13. I look at the postmark - it was dated Jan. 8. So, I asked the guy why he took over a week to ship the item. He told me he only ships on Mondays. Since Jan. 1 was Monday, he did not ship until the next week. I was really upset that he did this to me. He did not put that he ships only on Mondays on his TOS. I don't see how this guy stays in business on ebay. I am just glad I got the item over 2 weeks after payment.
Most of the people that I ship to recieve their package in 2-3 days with U.S.P.S. Priority mail. I could not work if I shipped out only on Mondays. I would have to ship out like 40 - 45 packages. Haha, the post office would love that!
posted on January 31, 2001 10:10:32 PM
I state in my TOS that I ship on Tuesday and Thursday. My auctions usually end on Sunday or Tuesday evening, which allows bidders all day to Paypal.
The day before I ship, I go check my PO box for money orders and checks and send those items out with the other items.
I'm only listing about 10-15 items/week, so this works for me.
posted on January 31, 2001 10:56:55 PM
I have a few questions to all who ship when payment is recieved, or within 24 hours, or 48 hours.
How many items do you list a week? What type of items are you listing? Do you have templates for your items that you use over and over again or do you have to write up each auction description each time (ie..is everything different and requires a new description)? What kind of packing do you do...do you just pop the item into a envelope or do you have to take 10 or 15 minutes for each item? How many items do you ship each week? Do you have to spend a lot of time each week acquiring your merchandise or do you just contact your supplier?
posted on January 31, 2001 11:08:31 PMHow many items do you list a week?
Usually 100-150 auctions, most of which are Dutch auctions for 2-10 items.
What type of items are you listing?
Small craft-related items.
Do you have templates for your items that you use over and over again or do you have to write up each auction description each time (ie..is everything different and requires a new description)?
I have a template so I do very little typing (Mister Lister).
What kind of packing do you do...do you just pop the item into a envelope or do you have to take 10 or 15 minutes for each item?
About 60% can ship via padded envelope (love those!), and the rest go in a box, either first class or Priority. The Priority items take the longest.
How many items do you ship each week?
I get a lot of multiple auction winners, so I probably send out 100-175 packages a week, depending on how many auctions are involved.
Do you have to spend a lot of time each week acquiring your merchandise or do you just contact your supplier?
A little of both.
posted on January 31, 2001 11:34:36 PM
Thedewey...thank you for your response.
Would I be correct in assuming that your total time each week to package your items for shipping is less than eight hours? How much time would you estimate you spend listing auctions?
I'm not picking on you...just trying to figure out a few thoughts I have about the question that started this thread
posted on February 1, 2001 12:28:04 AM
I would estimate that I spend 8-10 hours a week on packaging. My husband takes the packages to the post office on his way to work (I've got them stamped ahead of time), so that's a big help.
I spend probably 45 minutes to an hour per week listing, unless I happen to have a lot of new things to take photos of and type descriptions for.
My most time-consuming task is handling e-mails, but since I'm now using a program to automate the end-of-auction letters, that's helped a lot. Before, I was spending a good 4+ hours a *day* just sending totals and answering e-mails (ugh!).
I've tried to streamline things as much as possible (of course, sometimes things still don't go as planned!). he he I get up in the morning and answer any e-mails that came in during the night. The mail runs, and I get the checks for that day. Usually I post the "paper" payments right away, print the receipts, and set them aside to package up later.
Then I get my Mister Lister batches uploaded and reviewed so I can start them just as the current day's auctions are ending. (I like them to end around the same time every day, just because it's easier for me to plan around them.) I send out the e-mails to the winning bidders, then pull their items and put their names on them so that I don't accidentally relist something that's sold (ack!).
Usually there are a number of BillPoint payments that follow, so I post any remaining payments, print the receipts, and package up everything to go out the following day.
Then I go to bed and do it all again the next day! LOL!
posted on February 1, 2001 01:03:51 AM
LOL! If you saw what a terrible mess my office is in, you'd wonder how in the world I can find *anything* in this disaster area!
But I can't clean it up. If I do, I won't know where anything's at!
posted on February 1, 2001 03:03:13 AM
I ship once a week, no matter how the person pays. A lot of sellers look down on that, but I bet a whole lot more ship a lot more infrequently.
To wit: Two weeks ago, I took the standard load of packages to the post office. One Priority Mail box shipped out of the hamper and lodged itself under some stuff in the back seat. It was a purchased paid for by Billpoint at the beginning of that week.
I didn't come across that package until I was getting out of the car on the next post office run a week later. Sheepishly, I mailed it out and waited for the feedback. Strangely enough, I get a glowing positive for fast shipping.
If I can manage to screw up shipping by a whole two weeks and still get a positive out of the transaction (I had already left feedback for quick payment BTW), what does this say about the majority of other sellers out there?
I got a check for $40, which I decided to hold for bank clearance (new bidder, bidding on a LOT of auctions, and a higher-dollar check (for me, anyway) ).
