Closing for Christmas?

soolin

My usual thread about if and when sellers decide to go onto a holiday footing for Christmas. 

I've not made my final decision yet, but seeing the chaos locally that is Royal mail I might close my business ebay account at least 7 working days before Christmas Eve, I'm seeing far too many items arriving very late but as it's a business account people seem to think I can magically get their items to them next day using 2nd class, and I can do without the stress of all those 'where's my item' messages.I've had 3 INR cases open in the past 2 weeks.

I'm undecided yet about my private account, I kind of wish I could turn off all my custom postage sales and just leave simple delivery ones, but I think trying to do that by ending some and relisting after Christmas would just be too time consuming. I might just close at the same time as my business account and be done with it 

I'm also undecided about Vinted- I get a lot of sales where I am messaged asking me to get the item to them by some unrealistic time frame. I've also got an issue in that my Yodel parcel shop has temporarily paused their contract with Yodel as they had so many issues with couriers , they don't intend to restart as a Yodel shop until the New Year. I do have another Yodel shop further away but they have staffing issues and twice in these past few weeks have not been open when I've gone to drop things off. Evri is still fine, but slow , Relay is possible but unreliable. I have already stopped Inpost to locker as I had a few returns from courier as delivery lockers were full and parcel couldn't be left, but also people just not bothering to collect. Just looking now at my outstanding orders on Vinted- I have several already in their 2nd week showing messages like 'at hub' , and 3 showing as potentially lost, and waiting for a month to see if they magically turn up before I get paid and buyer gets a full refund. 

What are other people doing? 

JWM

I'm stopping tomorrow until early January as all mine are just Royal Mail stamps.
Not worth the hassle over Christmas!

soolin

JWM said:

I'm stopping tomorrow until early January as all mine are just Royal Mail stamps.
Not worth the hassle over Christmas!

Took my pile of post out today for various drop offs, DPD are also becoming a problem with shops not wanting to deal with them until after Christmas. DPD say most Post offices will take them , but I popped my head in on my way past and the queue was horrendous , so off to a local petrol station later today and then switch off DPD on Vinted as well. 

Purple_Jumper

As a private Ebay Seller, I closed my listings early this week, then changed my mind and made 2 sales almost immediately! However, I think I am going to close today as my local post office is currently on reduced hours due to staffing issues and the queues are horrendous when they are open. The local EVRI shop has also been very busy and frequently stops taking parcels as they don't have the room. The Royal Mail/EVRI lockers are full most of the time.

I realise that I may lose money but I just don't want to be chasing around in the cold and wet (I often walk), or the additional stress involved to be honest, my sanity is more important to me! 

And I hate queuing! 

sonearandyetsofa

My physical store is open up to the 21st, and I don't close the eBay shop or website for Christmas. I like to give myself a nice healthy dose of last minute delivery panic up to about the 16th or 18th, and then I'll update all my dispatch times to cover the Christmas period and stick a note up on the website. When we get closer to the end of the holidays I revise the dispatch times down again. My goal this year is not to ruin anybody's Christmas, but inevitably there will always be someone who buys something on the 23rd and wants it before Christmas day.

I should add most of my items are delivered via courier rather than parcel services so we have more control over how long things take to get there once they leave us.

soolin

sonearandyetsofa said:

My physical store is open up to the 21st, and I don't close the eBay shop or website for Christmas. I like to give myself a nice healthy dose of last minute delivery panic up to about the 16th or 18th, and then I'll update all my dispatch times to cover the Christmas period and stick a note up on the website. When we get closer to the end of the holidays I revise the dispatch times down again. My goal this year is not to ruin anybody's Christmas, but inevitably there will always be someone who buys something on the 23rd and wants it before Christmas day.

I should add most of my items are delivered via courier rather than parcel services so we have more control over how long things take to get there once they leave us.

I think if you have more control over couriers it makes sense to risk staying open longer - I'm at the mercy of Royal mail, or the couriers chosen by Ebay and Vinted and I'm already finding things, regardless of courier, taking days to get anywhere. 

RFW

I use Tracked24 which has a high on time delivery rate. My last posting day though will be 19th as we're overseas from 20th. I'd usually stay open throughout, Christmas Day itself has been surprisingly lucrative in previous years. 

soolin

RFW said:

I use Tracked24 which has a high on time delivery rate. My last posting day though will be 19th as we're overseas from 20th. I'd usually stay open throughout, Christmas Day itself has been surprisingly lucrative in previous years. 

I agree about Christmas Day!  I’ll be putting my listings back on Christmas Eve afternoon, when even the most optimistic of buyers can’t expect their item to arrive before Christmas…..although nothing surprises me. 

red_boots2

I will stop the week before I think. Was going to stop at the weekend, but had quite a few sales come through.

soolin

red_boots2 said:

I will stop the week before I think. Was going to stop at the weekend, but had quite a few sales come through.

Sales do seem to have picked up this week, I’ll be reluctant to close if sales continue like this. 

TimeLord1

It amazes me how much stuff sells on Christmas day, what causes that cheering yourself up buying whatever you didn't get. Or guilty folks who didn't buy nothing. 😂