Help thread for 4th Feb 48hr hold for payments

RFW

red_boots2 said:

Has anyone noticed slower sales since the change? It could be a coincidence, but I've barely sold anything compared to the same time last year.

I'm a business seller so may be different but Ebay has been busier than Etsy for me this week which is quite unusual.
I doubt it's much more than a really slow selling period all round and a depressed market.

savergrant

Sold my first item using simple delivery. It says "post by Monday 17th" which is a bit tight...

RedImp_2

savergrant said:

Sold my first item using simple delivery. It says "post by Monday 17th" which is a bit tight...

I can’t work out the … but taking the bait, seems reasonable to be.

girlchops

savergrant said:

soolin said:

savergrant said:

girlchops said:

when sending with Royal Mail do we have to use Tracked 24 or Tracked 48 in order to get paid  upon delivery or can we continue to use signed for and small parcel service that provides a reference number. Until now i was using Royal Mail standard parcel service which gave a reference number i could enter into eBays tracking number field when item was dispatched. Will that still be sufficient? or will using standard parcel services or signed for continue the 14 day hold of funds even if item is delivered? Apologies if this has already been covered but i couldn't find it.

If that number is enough for ebay to issue a green tick when it's delivered then you will get paid two days after the tick. But I'm not sure a 'reference number' is the same as a tracking number.

apologies, I realise in some of my posts I used the wrong terminology. All ebay need is proof of delivery- and if you use ebay labels even standard parcels and Large letters show delivery in about 90% of the time. I was wrong to use the term tracking when I meant proof of delivery.

Even with RM or PO labels standard parcels have a delivery code, and I noticed that my large letters for non ebay sales when I buy online from RM also have a delivery code now. Basically then it's just LLs paid for at the PO and letters generally that have no delivery code.

My point is that @girlchops is being given a reference number when posting the item and is entering that as the tracking number on eBay. I'm not sure ebay will be able to tell when the item has been delivered from that.

I spoke to eBay yesterday and they told me that anything with a reference number that will prove delivery would work for the 2 day after delivery payment option. They also said that signed for and the actual tracked services are preferred because they show where the items are in RM's system.  I pointed out that signed for only gives signature on delivery and doesn't usually show where the item is in the system but was told that the signed for service works as tracking too!

I think it's going to take some trial and error by all of us to see what actually happens. Tbh i'm not so concerned about having to wait to be paid (although i don't like the idea of eBay sitting on our money for 2 weeks) what i'm actually worried about is dishonest buyers who use this new system as a way to get freebies at our expense when the system doesn't update.

girlchops

i sent an item i sold yesterday by RM tracked to be on the safe side and before i spoke to eBay. Previously i would've sent a similar item as a small parcel via the post office. I uploaded my tracking number to ebay but even today it still shows as it's being prepared to send or dispatch on ebay whereas on RM's pages it shows it's arrived at the local delivery office of the buyer. TBH this was my worry that how would we get paid when there's a discrepancy. I really thought RM tracked would remove that problem. 
Before Christmas i sent a few items signed for (i've also got stamps to use up so was more cost effective for me to do this than buy online tracked labels) and according to ebay they still haven't been delivered. One buyer has left feedback the other hasn't.
so in that situation i can see i might not get paid if it had been now!
btw the eBay rep i spoke to said they are keen to get feedback about the new system so i did mention a lot of concerns. I encourage all of you to  report by whatever means any issues or concerns you do have and you never know they may just tweak things for the better!

soolin

Well as I mentioned earlier there is no need to wait and see what happens as it’s already proved.

My large letters and standard parcels sent on Wednesday 13th all but one showed delivery on eBay on Friday 15th . In fact 2 large letters paid out yesterday and the money is currently in my payable balance, which wasn’t even 48 hours after delivery, all but one of the others showed as payable when I checked this morning, so I’m only waiting on one more. My RM48 parcel only showed as delivered on Saturday and shows balance available on 17th. 

My tracking on LLs and standard parcels has always had delivery confirmation - with the caveat it isn’t always 100% and some LLs don’t update. For a £1.55 service having to wait 4 days for payment isn’t too bad, and certainly not worth panicking and running about yelling we are doomed. 

By all means wait or get incorrect  advice from eBay who probably don’t even know what Royal Mail is, but the system is working exactly as it always has for me and I’ll continue using the most appropriate and cheapest postal service I can. If others, that I’ve seen on other groups, are going to start upgrading to expensive and not needed postal services then that might explain why my own sales are fairly steady and even my business sales have increased a little , as competitors price themselves out of the market. 

swingaloo

It had been working ok for me till my last sale. I should have known better but I made a mistake. 
The item was a delicate vase, one of a set of 3. I had sold the other 2 and had no issue but I did hold my breath that they would arrive undamaged.
I sold the 3rd on  and was paid for on the 6th Feb. When I came to buy a label I noticed that the buyer only lived 7 miles away so I decided to deliver the item to eliminate and chance of it getting damaged and give the buyer his postage money back.
I delivered it within 2 hours of payment and the buyer has left glowing feedback thanking me for delivering and saying how she loves the vase. 

Obviously because I had no postage tracking I cant seem to get paid. I have tried the auto-bot but that is like pulling teeth. I explained that feedback has been left confirming delivery but got the response 'If you need to get unfair feedback removed, etc'.

I then spoke to what I 'think' was a human who kept me on hold ages while she repeatedly had a look at the order and then told me the reason that funds are on hold quoted from the standard text I can read myself. 'Once your tracking is uploaded your funds will be released'. I explained numerous times that tracking will never be uploaded but there was proof of delivery in the feedback. 'Yes' she said 'I can see that but this is in place to protect both the buyer and the seller'. 
Talk about banging my head against the wall! 

soolin

swingaloo said:

It had been working ok for me till my last sale. I should have known better but I made a mistake. 
The item was a delicate vase, one of a set of 3. I had sold the other 2 and had no issue but I did hold my breath that they would arrive undamaged.
I sold the 3rd on  and was paid for on the 6th Feb. When I came to buy a label I noticed that the buyer only lived 7 miles away so I decided to deliver the item to eliminate and chance of it getting damaged and give the buyer his postage money back.
I delivered it within 2 hours of payment and the buyer has left glowing feedback thanking me for delivering and saying how she loves the vase. 

Obviously because I had no postage tracking I cant seem to get paid. I have tried the auto-bot but that is like pulling teeth. I explained that feedback has been left confirming delivery but got the response 'If you need to get unfair feedback removed, etc'.

I then spoke to what I 'think' was a human who kept me on hold ages while she repeatedly had a look at the order and then told me the reason that funds are on hold quoted from the standard text I can read myself. 'Once your tracking is uploaded your funds will be released'. I explained numerous times that tracking will never be uploaded but there was proof of delivery in the feedback. 'Yes' she said 'I can see that but this is in place to protect both the buyer and the seller'. 
Talk about banging my head against the wall! 

The problem is that the system cannot be over ridden otherwise it would be easy to scam, and this means that occasionally a seller like yourself trying to be helpful will lose out. As it is marked as despatched though the money should still clear after 14 days , so sometime next week- the date should show if you check the payment in your account.

You are lucky though to have an honest buyer, and I accept most are, as they would of course win an INR claim if they decided to scam. Incidentally feedback was never a requirement for the new release of funs- it's only ever been proof of delivery or the 14 day wait.

If you refer to the first post on this thread , you are in this category for funds being held as none of the others apply.

• For untracked deliveries, or tracked deliveries when there is no delivery confirmation, funds will become available 14 calendar days from the order date

savergrant

You just wish 'mark as received' and 'release payment' were options for the buyer. But I guess as this only applies to private sellers ebay don't want to add extra options.
For future reference though you should consider agreeing with the buyer to cancel the sale and then relist it as 'collection', then you can enter the collection code when you deliver the item by hand.

savergrant

RedImp_2 said:

savergrant said:

Sold my first item using simple delivery. It says "post by Monday 17th" which is a bit tight...

I can’t work out the … but taking the bait, seems reasonable to be.

It's just that an item I sold on Friday was 'send by tuesday' so I was surprised an item sold a day later needs to be sent sooner. I guess it may have something to do with Royal Mail being more limited opening hours than evri/yodel parcel shops