'Late' post

soolin

How are people doing with their metrics on late arrivals? there was a small discussion on the community boards from people saying that the past few days has shown an increase in the number of 'late' marks they are getting. Ive checked mine and in the past 3 days I've gone from none to 3 :eek: that's just over 1% for me but at 4% I lose TRS and at this rate that is looking very likely.

I suspect it will only get worse as we get closer to Christmas.

charlies_mum

I've got two on one account, one on another and expecting one on the third account for the item that the buyer raised and INR for as it took nine days to arrive

I hated the old defect system, but this is the one that will see me lose my TRS for the first time ever. I hate the fact that when you look at the new report it says "items posted late". No they weren't, but I will never be able to prove it

Thought I hated the old system, but this one is worse

soolin

charlies_mum wrote: »

I've got two on one account, one on another and expecting one on the third account for the item that the buyer raised and INR for as it took nine days to arrive

I hated the old defect system, but this is the one that will see me lose my TRS for the first time ever. I hate the fact that when you look at the new report it says "items posted late". No they weren't, but I will never be able to prove it

Thought I hated the old system, but this one is worse

likewise, I never came close to losing TRS on the old system , but with 3 lates in less than a week I can't see how I can possibly survive with the new system.

KRDmum

Does it make a difference if posing RM tracked or couriers, where ebay/buyers can see that it's not a sellers fault that caused the delay?

NewShadow

I know it's not until after christmas, but this might help: http://sellerupdate.ebay.co.uk/autumn2015/seller-standards

From Feb 2016

Buyers want their items delivered on time. With the new on-time delivery metric, we’re measuring delivery performance based on what you control – posting your items on time. If you post items within your stated dispatch time and upload valid tracking information, or your buyer confirms that the item was delivered on time, you don’t have to worry about it affecting your on-time delivery rate.

If on-time delivery is the only performance metric you don't meet, your seller level will remain Above standard. However, we may restrict your delivery options, including the dispatch times you can offer on your listings. We’ll be in touch to let you know if this affects you.”

An order will be counted as being on time as long as it meets any one of the following criteria:

• Item tracking status shows as ‘Accepted’ within your stated dispatch time.
• Item tracking status shows as ‘Delivered’ within your estimated delivery time.
• The buyer confirms that the delivery was made on time.

Deliveries will be considered late only when:

• You do not upload tracking information and your buyer states that the item arrived after the estimated delivery date.
• Tracking shows that there is no acceptance scan within your stated dispatch time and the item arrived after the estimated delivery date, plus your buyer either does not confirm that the item arrived on time or states that the item arrived after the estimated delivery date.

charlies_mum

Unfortunately, the majority of items I send are less than £5 so tracking is not an option.


Also, some sellers are saying that sending tracked causes more problems as if the buyer isn't home to sign, that can take the delivery over the due date, and you get a strike anyway.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Not unusually, eBay haven't been entirely clear about things. When I first read about the changes coming into effect in February, I thought at least that gives us most of the year to build up a decent on-time delivery score before the inevitable seasonal delays hit. I was horrified when they later clarified:

We’re only counting transactions from 12 September – the day after our standards announcement– towards your on-time delivery rate. This is true even if your evaluation period is 12 months. If you’re on a 3 month lookback, your start date will be 1 November.

I have only one "late" item recorded so far, but I expect this to increase since I'm still awaiting feedback for several recent sales and it's quite normal for mail to take longer at this time of year.

soolin

KRDmum wrote: »

Does it make a difference if posing RM tracked or couriers, where ebay/buyers can see that it's not a sellers fault that caused the delay?

As per the link already posted it will help if buyer marks an item late but tracking shows it was on time. However, sellers are reporting that the tracking , especially with RM signed for, rarely updates and even if it does it often confirms item was late.

The RM delivery estimates are not the same as the ebay ones so we can't actually win.

Someone clever on the boards ha sprinted out that RM state that officially 93% of 1st class items arrive next day. Ebay assume all 1st class items arrive next day, so there is already a 7% discrepancy between the figures. To retain TRS a seller has to stay below a 4% 'late' target, which on these figures is likely to be impossible.

steviebabes

I checked my late arrivals after reading this. I have 1 late delivery from last week so I checked it out further. Item bought on Monday 30th, posted by Special Delivery on Tuesday 1st. Full tracking details show out for delivery on Wednesday 2nd but the recipient was out so returned to the local delivery office. Buyer didn't collect the item until Friday 4th. No feedback has been left and the reason for counting the transaction is given as 'Carrier says late delivery'. So not sure how these so called late transactions can be eliminated as the process seems to be automated.

thebestnameshavegone

I got my first orange blob today - the buyer has left glowing feedback, but presumably clicked 'no' when asked if the parcel arrived by the estimated delivery date.

I'm torn between shrugging my shoulders/letting it go or sending the buyer a nice message apologising for the late delivery (but slipping in a sentence about how the late delivery metrics can potentially damage a seller's account). It won't make any difference this time, but might start educating buyers as to the consequences of their answers - some sellers on the Ebay forums have started to routinely block all buyers that answer 'no' to the late delivery question, but that's a bit drastic for me.

I've already extended my despatch time from same day to one day to give me a little extra buffer, but if I get too many more blobs I might have to go down the 'advertise second class but really post first class' route.

thebestnameshavegone

steviebabes wrote: »

I checked my late arrivals after reading this. I have 1 late delivery from last week so I checked it out further. Item bought on Monday 30th, posted by Special Delivery on Tuesday 1st. Full tracking details show out for delivery on Wednesday 2nd but the recipient was out so returned to the local delivery office. Buyer didn't collect the item until Friday 4th. No feedback has been left and the reason for counting the transaction is given as 'Carrier says late delivery'. So not sure how these so called late transactions can be eliminated as the process seems to be automated.

Did you upload tracking details upon despatch? If so, that should take priority over the 'carrier says late delivery', although the bots haven't quite got the hang of the system yet. In any event, it should be removable, although you will probably have to call Ebay.