posted on February 11, 2001 04:38:15 AM new
I get this comment practically all the time now, do you? I don't even send email until I get my notification from ebay, which lately has been slow to arrive. Yet still I get the comments. I wonder if that reflects other sellers taking days to notify their buyers? Or just a "do it now" mentality in general?
posted on February 11, 2001 07:59:56 AM new
keziak: I get that, and what also puzzles me is that I ALWAYS get feedbacks for "super-quick shipping". The reason this puzzles me is that due to a variety of health problems I don't get out of the house every day, and it's often two days or even occasionally three after a customer pays that I manage to make the trip to the post office to put the package in the post. To me, that's borderline-unacceptable. Yet my customers seem to think I'm the fastest seller in town? I can only imagine (shudder) how many sellers are waiting four, five, six, ten days to mail out their items to bidders, because that's what their comments to me would seem to indicate.
One thing i will say, though, is that our area seems to have fast and efficient shipping. They may be the biggest reason behind the goodwill from customers. I've had only one package lost out of about 500 and I've never had a single report of a damaged package. I also mail order a lot for myself and I have never yet received a damaged package either. So, part of it is probably my wonderful folks at the local P.O.
posted on February 11, 2001 08:34:18 AM new
I have sellers that never contact me. I have to email them. I've waited as long as 6 weeks for things I bought that I paid for with billpoint or a MO. If I get an email from the seller within the 3 day limit or a package that was mailed within a week of when payment was received, I'm tickled pink.
posted on February 11, 2001 11:33:41 AM new
I'm going to speak up for Ebay sellers, like myself, who have full time jobs--sometimes MORE than full time. I feel guilty for letting my paid-for items sit for more than two or three days, but I'd rather be a little late sending Ebay packages, than risk losing my regular job! I think as long as somebody like me is straightforward about these possible delays within their TOS/ad description, people will understand.
posted on February 11, 2001 02:16:47 PM new
"I can only imagine (shudder) how many sellers are waiting four, five, six, ten days to mail out their items to bidders, because that's what their comments to me would seem to indicate. "
It's not the five or six day gap between payment and shipping, but the two and three week gap that makes people like me appreciate sellers who ship within a day or two. Same goes for buyers who get in touch within a couple of days rather than a couple of weeks or months.
posted on February 11, 2001 04:31:44 PM new
two to THREE WEEKS? Are you serious?
If you are, then I must say I'm shocked. There is no excuse for a delay of that kind under normal circumstances. Tons of people on ebay hold full time jobs and still mail out packages in a timely manner. My mom goes to the post office on her lunch hour to mail packages twice a week and appears to be doing both full time work and ebay quite nicely.
I am not referring to a seller with a major, catastrophic problem once in a full moon---house fire, computer stolen, death of a close relative, etc. Nor am I referring to sellers who hold checks for any stated period of time.
In my opinion, people who cannot ship within a relatively short period of time should not be selling on ebay---period. And two to three weeks is not a short period of time. I'll wager no one would have the cojones to put in his/her auction listing: I ship every two weeks, or I ship in three weeks. And why not? because buyers would be turned off. so if you can't tell them about it upfront, why is it okay to do it to them after the auction ends?
If many seller ship out 2 days to 7 days after they receive a payment, then I am a Shipping God to buyers.
I always ship out the same day I receive the payment except the weekend. I go to the post office Monday - Friday. I live in Atlanta and the post office I go to stays open until 8:00 pm.
Most people get their package from me before some people even think about shipping because I ship Priority mail. Wow, I still can't believe that.
posted on February 11, 2001 09:28:54 PM new
I also ship same day or next day for nearly EVERY buyer! (minus weekends) I live in a small town and so I don't have the luxury of a post office that stays open until 8 pm (must be nice) *grins* but still I feel like, hey, I've got their money, so ship the pkg already...I know when I buy and pay online I expect that my pkg is going out the next day...it doesn't take THAT LONG to make a PO run!!!
posted on February 11, 2001 09:55:33 PM new
I have a full time job PLUS I run my own business but I can still make it to the PO about 4-5 days in the week. I think the buyers appreciate prompt service. I know I appreciate it when I get my items quickly.
I also send out my notification emails before I get the end of auction notice from Ebay. Somedays it takes HOURS to get the EOA from Ebay and I like to stay on top of things.
posted on February 11, 2001 10:31:39 PM new
I have a full time job (with unpaid overtime!), plus four kids, 4 dogs, various assorted hamsters, and a life offline - and I still manage to mail within 1-2 days of receiving payment. Although my TOS states within 3 business days - just in case something comes up.
Most of my feedback comments on superfast shipping - it also seems to attract repeat bidders.
Also, being a sometime buyer, I get real frustrated with sellers who don't communicate - I zapped payment to one over a week ago - no merchandise, no note saying item was shipped, payment recieved, nada, nil, zip - and it irks me - I think it's just common decency to say 'Thanks for your payment - your item shipped today (or will ship tomorrow or whatever).'
posted on February 12, 2001 03:37:40 AM new
True - You don't have to be that good to be better than a lot, but also some don't know what to say because the eBay transaction is undefined to them. They don't know if they should be business like or if it is a personal communication. They are not used to dealing with people as individuals in a business situation. It is always a company.
I would not be surprised if someone tips.
posted on February 12, 2001 05:07:44 AM new
I try to end auctions so I'm around at the end and I send EOA within minutes after the auction ends. If a bidder replies to that within 24 hours I usually say "thanx for the quick reply!" I think it makes them feel like they are doing something right, if they are new, and if they are new, it might help them realize that it's nice to be quick, helps the ball roll more smoothly, if ya know what I mean!
posted on February 12, 2001 01:25:59 PM new
I usually have stuff out the door before many sellers even email me, so I can understand why these messages happen so often. Of course, with so many people treating this like a part-time hobby it's not surprising.
posted on February 12, 2001 04:16:04 PM new
about 10% of the time I ship the day I receive payment.
About 75% of the time I ship the day after I receive payment.
About 10% of the time I ship two days after payment.
About 5% of the time I ship three days after payment (Usually in these instances, I was paid late Friday).
Most of my feedback comments on my fast shipping.
Currently, I am waiting on a book that I won an auction for on 2/1. I paid on 2/1 through Paypal. The book is coming from less than 30 miles away. To me, this is unacceptable.
I also won an auction this weekend for an item. In the email I received from the seller after the auction they told me that it may take up to 3 weeks to receive it. This should have been listed in the auction.
[ edited by danilynn71 on Feb 12, 2001 04:17 PM ]
