Buyers wanting delayed postage

soolin

I have mentioned before about how a scenario seems to crop up several times, and then not happen again for years- and I have a situation at the moment with buyers asking me to delay postage. I'm now on my third in about 6 weeks.

I prefer not to mess around on ebay, I sell, I post and that's it , anything else gets messy. The first messed me around, wanted a delay of 2 weeks , told me to use a standard LL stamp, mark it despatched and just hang onto it and post it 2 weeks later- his feedback left for others was rather poor and I declined and he agreed to let me send it out straight away (within my despatch window) but I used ebay labels and it showed as delivered a few days later. 

The second caused me all sorts of issues, I did delay as it was an expensive order and I wanted the sale! I marked it despatched , I agreed to hold it for 6 days (which was all I could do due to my own holiday)  and then posted as late as I could using RM48. When it arrived at the mail centre for collection after a failed delivery attempt I let the buyer know. They then started bombarding me with messages about where is the item, what did I mean about it awaiting re delivery- if it was lost then they wanted their money back - etc. 

I explained they merely needed to rebook delivery, explained about the red card they had - only to be told those cards are scams and they had thrown it away. Then they wanted me to phone someone (possibly their postman?) and tell them to deliver it that morning as they were going to be home. I eventually managed to get it redelivered the following day - but buyer still sent me a message telling me the postie had arrived late and had inconvenienced him and he wasn't happy. No feedback yet, and he's still got a few days to leave it.

Just had a third, wants a 2 week delay - which clashes with another holiday of mine - and I've just said no, and have said it's probably best if they just request cancellation as I'm not prepared to hold something for what could end up being 3 weeks or so.

Three delay requests in a few weeks, yet not had one for a couple of years before that.

se2020

Mostly scams.
They want you to wait until after the ebay delivery deadline has passed.
They normally try to talk you into using some "slower" method of postage as those services are not usually tracked.

The day they receive the item they open a "not received" claim and, due to it being well past the delivery deadline ebay may well refund them before the seller even has chance to notice the claim and defend it.
If the seller has fallen for using untracked postage they will not be able to defend it at all.

soolin

se2020 said:

Mostly scams.
They want you to wait until after the ebay delivery deadline has passed.
They normally try to talk you into using some "slower" method of postage as those services are not usually tracked.

The day they receive the item they open a "not received" claim and, due to it being well past the delivery deadline ebay may well refund them before the seller even has chance to notice the claim and defend it.
If the seller has fallen for using untracked postage they will not be able to defend it at all.

Thank you, I am aware of the scams which is another reason I am reluctant to delay. I either require my buyer to agree that item can be sent within my time frame, or I ask them to request cancellation of the sale. My response can also vary depending on the overall feedback that buyer has left for others as that is a great way of gauging a buyer. 

se2020

I've dealt with it before by increasing the bin price of the items, ie. A £40 item, change the price to £999 and tell the buyer to make an offer for £40 when they return from holiday/hospital/the moon.

You can then just drop the price back down when you never receive the offer..

I've also had buyers ask for a delay after purchasing a bin as they have won the same item from an auction a few days later. They look for an item they want and mine pops up as a well-priced bin but they also spot one on Auction at a 99p start.
They hedge bets by "buying" mine as a fall-back incase the auction goes above my price.

I've given up pandering to them now so I just cancel those sales and block.

soolin

se2020 said:

I've dealt with it before by increasing the bin price of the items, ie. A £40 item, change the price to £999 and tell the buyer to make an offer for £40 when they return from holiday/hospital/the moon.

You can then just drop the price back down when you never receive the offer..

I've also had buyers ask for a delay after purchasing a bin as they have won the same item from an auction a few days later. They look for an item they want and mine pops up as a well-priced bin but they also spot one on Auction at a 99p start.
They hedge bets by "buying" mine as a fall-back incase the auction goes above my price.

I've given up pandering to them now so I just cancel those sales and block.

When someone has asked before buying about delaying despatch I have also done what you suggest and raise the price and then lower it when they are around to buy, or tell them I will accept an offer at the lower price. Even then though I won't hold for long as there's potentially other buyers who might be interested and I'd rather a confirmed sale rather than a potential one. However it is rather irritating when they don't bother asking until they have bought an item and paid for it.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

Three delay requests in a few weeks, yet not had one for a couple of years before that.

It's a very odd thing, whatever the issue they always seem to be like buses, none for ages then 3 at once. 

pfpf

se2020 said:

I've given up pandering to them now so I just cancel those sales and block.

in this scenario whats the process that doesn't leave the buyer with the ability to leave a negative?

soolin

pfpf said:

se2020 said:

I've given up pandering to them now so I just cancel those sales and block.

in this scenario whats the process that doesn't leave the buyer with the ability to leave a negative?

You can't stop a buyer leaving a neg, which is why I always engage with them first rather than just say no and cancel. However if I do cancel I cancel on the basis of 'buyer requested' hence me offering either a despatch time within my stated time frame or a cancellation - and it is difficult for buyers then to actually work out how to leave feedback as it isn't obvious.

If I did get a cancellation after offering them the choice I would phone ebay and ask for it to be removed. As usual though communication is the key, always communicate politely, give the buyer choices- only go ahead and cancel if a) they request it or b) they don't answer your message in a sensible time frame.

se2020

I'm pretty sure all my buyers have been scam attempts and I think scammers are more interested in moving onto the next target and probably know that leaving loads of bad feedback looks suspicious. 

I cancel using the 'buyer requesting service not offered' or something like that.  I believe that gives you more chance getting ebay to remove feedback if required. 

soolin

se2020 said:

I'm pretty sure all my buyers have been scam attempts and I think scammers are more interested in moving onto the next target and probably know that leaving loads of bad feedback looks suspicious. 

I cancel using the 'buyer requesting service not offered' or something like that.  I believe that gives you more chance getting ebay to remove feedback if required. 

I don't think I've come across a scammer on ebay using the delay postage as a means to defraud. Mine , especially the three recent ones, have all been genuine buyers who just don't really quite understand that sellers are limited to how long they can delay posting.