Buyer asking me to post outside of my dispatch time

kiwi_fruit

Have sold a pricy item, to be shipped via Special Delivery. My dispatch time is 3 days (although I post the next day pretty much always)
Buyer paid today and asked for the item to arrive on Friday, as they won't be home until then and don't want other family members seeing the parcel. This would mean me posting on Thursday, which is past the ebay deadline I have for posting that item? Am I only risking late delivery defect for doing so or are there any other reasons why I shouldn't do it? Thanks

soolin

kiwi_fruit wrote: »

Have sold a pricy item, to be shipped via Special Delivery. My dispatch time is 3 days (although I post the next day pretty much always)
Buyer paid today and asked for the item to arrive on Friday, as they won't be home until then and don't want other family members seeing the parcel. This would mean me posting on Thursday, which is past the ebay deadline I have for posting that item? Am I only risking late delivery defect for doing so or are there any other reasons why I shouldn't do it? Thanks

yes you are risking a late defect, I get this requested occasionally and always explain to the buyer that i can't delay posting , especially for tracked items. The last one asked me to send as late as I could to avoid a defect, and they then collected it on their return from the delivery office.

theonlywayisup

If you explain to the buyer that ebay require you to ship on that date or risk account defects, then they may understand - lots of buyers don't have a clue.

kiwi_fruit

Thanks guys- I did explain, they still don't want it before Friday (but happy for me to mark it as dispatched etc beforehand, which doesn't really help as it's a Special Delivery). So I guess defect it is.

pinkshoes

Just refund them and ask them to pay again on Wednesday?

dantendo

What's their feedback like?

If it is good I'd have no issues delaying dispatch, if it is very low, less than 20 I'd have doubts and maybe even cancel sale.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Although eBay have gone a bit quiet on it, the policy is you need to upload tracking before the ETA to be protected from non-receipt claims.

If you buy a label from Click and Drop on Wednesday it should say it must be used by Thursday giving you a tracking number on time (which you must add to the order via the add tracking link) and the ability to delay posting by one day.

There is the likelihood of a defect as the tracking will show late delivery if your listing has a 24 hour service as the postal method.

Only caveat on this is I'm not sure if SD is the same as other services, i.e giving you till the next day to post.

FYI Click and Drop is here:

https://parcel.royalmail.com/

Just select Get Started Now under Sending a one-off, or a handful of items? when you are ready to buy the label.

The parcel needs to be taken to a Post Office.

Other option is ignore them and post it Wednesday.

soolin

dantendo wrote: »

What's their feedback like?

If it is good I'd have no issues delaying dispatch, if it is very low, less than 20 I'd have doubts and maybe even cancel sale.

A defect for late postage is very serious, just one can put you below standard and make you ineligible for free listings (if you are a private seller) or add a penalty of 4% on your FVFs (business seller). I really don't think it's worth it, and a reasonable buyer will understand.

kiwi_fruit

Feedback is fine, no reason to think they aren't genuine. But from their message I got the feeling they won't be happy if I ignore their request and post as usual. Refunding their payment and cancelling the transaction would almost certainly not go down well. So a choice between defect or possible negative feedback for me?
Lunatic, great idea actually. Maybe I could post after last collection on Wednesday, upload tracking number. It arrives after the latest ETA, but would've been posted on time (according to ebay I need to post before 16th Oct 11.59pm)
Thanks for the replies

soolin

kiwi_fruit wrote: »

Feedback is fine, no reason to think they aren't genuine. But from their message I got the feeling they won't be happy if I ignore their request and post as usual. Refunding their payment and cancelling the transaction would almost certainly not go down well. So a choice between defect or possible negative feedback for me?
Lunatic, great idea actually. Maybe I could post after last collection on Wednesday, upload tracking number. It arrives after the latest ETA, but would've been posted on time (according to ebay I need to post before 16th Oct 11.59pm)
Thanks for the replies

Don't just cancel, always get the buyer to agree first so you can use the 'buyer requested' choice.

As for a defect V negative feedback, a late defect can be more dangerous than a neg depending on your seller dashboard. However, if you get buyer to agree to posting early a beg can be avoided, and if the buyer doesn't agree to cancel and then negs you for sending on time I would phone eBay and show them all the messages.

lindens

I've done this a few times. I mark as dispatched asap. but dont actually dispatch, and warn the buyer i am going to do this. Then on the Thursday I would unmark as dispatched, buy postage and upload tracking. If i get a ding i contact ebay who can see the messages back and forth and they always remove it. Ebay always comment they are happy I am trying to give good customer service to buyers so are happy to remove any dings for this reason