Buyer asking me to post outside of my dispatch time

POPPYOSCAR

kiwi_fruit wrote: »

I confirmed to the buyer that I'd post on Wednesday after last collection, this way I get the tracking number to put into ebay on Wed but it still doesn't gets collected until Thursday.


Later I enquired at the post office about the last collection time, however, and they said that the Special Delivery can't be posted after last collection, even though the PO stays open for another half an hour? Has anybody come across this before or does it sound like BS and I need to try another post office?
Thank you kindly for the responses

If you miss special collection at our PO they will still take it and send it next day.

soolin

Dasa wrote: »

Is this a new thing with defects? I've had buyers ask me to delay sending things until they get back from holiday and I've done it. Never had a defect because of it.

The defects for late postage came in about 2 years ago (maybe 3) , it is one of the most common reasons now for being suspended Orem extricated on eBay. You can see if you have any late marks from your seller dashboard.

Dasa wrote: »

I didn't know they charged as I've never done a refund.Does it apply if the buyer cancels and you have to refund?

Yes, PayPal keep their set part of the fee, which is 30p on a standard account, for any refund, whatever the reason. If you have a micro account the charge is only 5p.

Dasa

soolin wrote: »

The defects for late postage came in about 2 years ago (maybe 3) , it is one of the most common reasons now for being suspended Orem extricated on eBay. You can see if you have any late marks from your seller dashboard.


Yes, PayPal keep their set part of the fee, which is 30p on a standard account, for any refund, whatever the reason. If you have a micro account the charge is only 5p.[/QUOTE




What's a micro account? Can anyone have one?

kiwi_fruit

soolin, do you know if there's a difference between late dispatch defect and a late delivery defect? Sometimes my tracking showed an item being delivered late as somebody wasn't home and the delivery tracked when they collected the item from the post office. But I don't think it ever registered as a defect for me.


I wonder what would happen if I were to print an ebay label at say 6pm on Wednesday. (it say I should Dispatch by 16 Oct at 11.59pm) Will it still register it as posted on Wed, even if I drop it off on Thu.. I've never used ebay supplied labels so would have no idea what to expect.

Dasa

kiwi_fruit wrote: »

soolin, do you know if there's a difference between late dispatch defect and a late delivery defect? Sometimes my tracking showed an item being delivered late as somebody wasn't home and the delivery tracked when they collected the item from the post office. But I don't think it ever registered as a defect for me.


I wonder what would happen if I were to print an ebay label at say 6pm on Wednesday. (it say I should Dispatch by 16 Oct at 11.59pm) Will it still register it as posted on Wed, even if I drop it off on Thu.. I've never used ebay supplied labels so would have no idea what to expect.

I send all my stuff via ebay. It automatically puts the tracking number in on the day you've bought it and not when you've sent it.When you take it to the PO make sure they scan it in and get Proof of postage.

Dasa

[FONT=&quot]Late delivery rate
Transactions where you didn't send the item within your dispatch time or the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Requirements[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All Sellers[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]eBay Top Rated Sellers[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Maximum percentage of transactions sent late[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]7%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Maximum number of transactions sent late[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]8[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]5[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]I'm not really understanding all this defect business. According to ebay help you can be late 8 times.
[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

theonlywayisup

kiwi_fruit wrote: »

Is it really THAT bad? I've checked my account, I've no defects at the moment, will they really ban me for shipping one day late?

I didn't say they will ban you for one day late shipping.

A defect can seriously affect your account. Visibility (or lack of it), lower rankings in search etc. People that don't sell a lot tend not to keep their eye on the extended dashboard and before you know it a lost sack of mail containing a few of your parcels can push you into lower seller standings. It is very difficult and takes a lot of time to recover.

So no, a single defect won't kill you, but if you don't care about every single one, something out of your control can cause your account to be to fall below standard very quickly. The route back up is slow and difficult.

When you put that into context, 30p PayPal fee is cheaper than actually making a choice to take a defect that you have full control over.

prowla

I can usually only post on the weekend, so ebay's postage dates are irrelevant to me.


However, I haven't sold something on ebay for ages anyway.

soolin

Dasa wrote: »

soolin wrote: »

T



What's a micro account? Can anyone have one?

It used to be that anyone could have a micro account as well as a full personal or business account, however just recently other boards are saying that only businesses can now open a micro account- but I cannot find any evidence to support that.

Having said that, opening a micro account is near impossible as there are no links that work and very little online about them. it might be worth a general google search to see what the current state of play is.

The fees are different on a micro, and only works out useful if your total sale on an individual item is less than about £8, anything over £8 is better on a standard account. I have both and just add the appropriate account to each listing, cheaper items micro, normal/higher rate items standard. Obviously I get caught out on occasions as someone will buy two or three cheap items on one invoice and it goes through on the micro - as you can't switch once it's bought.

I've found this, but I haven't looked at it yet to work out how up to date it is and whether it takes into account the new standard paypal charges.

https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/micropayments

soolin

This is the bit on ebay you need to read about late strikes:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/selling/seller-levels-performance-standards?id=4080&st=7&po=3&uci=0&ri=0

Late delivery rates

To provide your buyers with a great service, it's important to make sure you send your items on time. Late delivery rates are determined by the percentage of transactions that you either sent after the dispatch time stated in your listing, or were not delivered by your estimated delivery date.

We'll only consider a delivery as late if:

Tracking shows the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date, unless there's an acceptance scan within your dispatch time or there's confirmation from the buyer of on-time delivery
The buyer confirms the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date, unless there's an acceptance scan within your dispatch time or there's delivery confirmation by the estimated delivery date
If more than 10% of your transactions are classified as late deliveries, we may limit some of the postage options available to you to make sure buyers have the right expectations on delivery times

These strikes are dangerous and I think they are often overlooked by sellers, it is worth making a habit of checking your seller rating once a week in case anything shows up - as ebay will take appeals if you can prove you sent on time.

The difficulty is that the buyer can rate delivery - so although the terminology suggests it is the dispatch time that matters, they actually take into account delivery time as well. So if your buyer says an item was late or courier states it was late you get a strike. You can appeal courier lates if your tracking shows it arrived on time, but you cannot appeal a buyer defect.