eBay have reminded buyers and sellers that US shipping is hitting record highs this year due to COVID-19 and as a result shipping times are less predictable than in previous years this Christmas. In order to protect sellers, they are using more signals to protect late shipping metrics for US sellers.
There’s a ton of on site messaging requesting buyers to be patient with sellers as part of the eBay measures to protect late shipping metrics and eBay have put additional measures in place to help sellers.
eBay Late shipping metrics protection
“Late deliveries this holiday season will not impact your seller performance rating as long as you continue to meet the expectations you set in your listings. You receive credit for shipping on time when any one of the following happens:
- Tracking shows a physical carrier scan any time within your stated handling time
- Buyer answers “Yes” to item arrived on-time when leaving feedback
- Tracking shows a delivery scan within the latest delivery date for the shipping service selected
Even in cases where a buyer may see a faster delivery estimate, your shipment will be considered on time if it arrives by the latest day for the shipping service. For example, if you use a standard shipping service with a 1-5 day delivery time plus your stated handling time of 2 days, the item needs to arrive within 7 working days. If your package is delivered any time during this period, we recognize that you shipped on-time.
If you meet one or more of the above requirements, we’ll automatically reflect on-time shipping for the transaction. You will not need to contact eBay customer support. We continue to monitor and evaluate carrier transit time and delays and we’ll make adjustments where necessary.”
– eBay
The really key thing to note here is that a carrier scan ANY time within the stated handling time will count as on-time shipping.
Estimated Delivery Dates
eBay are also updating estimated delivery dates ‘to provide buyers with the best information possible‘. We’ve already seen this in the UK with eBay using the most pessimistic delivery estimation rather than the more optimistic earliest delivery we’re more used to in normal times.
You can also help to late shipping metrics by shipping as speedily as possible – just because you have a two-day handling time doesn’t mean you can’t ship within one-day or even same day! eBay are asking US sellers to meet their handling times, do their part by shipping as quickly as possible, work with your buyers when an issue arises, and keep inventory up to date.
Item Not Received Claims
A buyer can only open an “item not received” request after the estimated delivery date plus 1 day. When a request is opened the seller has 3 business days to respond before the buyer can ask eBay to step in.
If tracking on the item shows movement within the past 10 calendar days and the parcel is in the destination country, eBay will keep the request open for 10 more days from the time the buyer asked eBay to step in to allow additional time for the item to be delivered. After that time, if there is no updated activity, eBay will consider the item lost and we’ll ask the seller to refund the buyer.
