Ship Faster or Close my eBay Store?

[wingzrow]

So recently eBay sent me a message saying I have 60 days to raise my DSR for shipping speed or they will lower my ebay store's status from premium to basic. When that happens each of my 100 or so listinga will cost $0.20 each month to keep up instead of the $0.05 I'm paying now.

My question is this. Do I start up a new account to start from scratch, or do I try and find a way to bring up my shipping speed? Currently my detailed seller rating says in the last three months I've gotten exactly TWO low shipping ratings. In the last 12 it says i've gotten 19.

Do you think it's possible to bring it up to speed now that i'm shipping on time?

Also, I have no idea if this is because I ship internationally or not. Does anyone think that international sales are making up the bulk of these slow shipping speeds?

Any insight into this would help greatly.

[megasdkirby]

Ebay is making things worse and worse for sellers. Ever since they put "expected shipping delivery" dates, this actually adversely affects sellers. If a package is delivered just ONE DAY from the proposed delivery estimate, buyers will surely either neg or lower DSR's. This is just ludicrous.

Wingzrow, from the day the listing ends to when you actually send the package, how much time transpires? If you take a few days to ship the item, this is probably what is affecting you. Hopefully, with shipping labels from Paypal, you can avoid this and items will arrive faster. Just remember to try your best to ship an item almost immediately (no later than one day) after the label is paid for.

Shipping internationally can also be a pain. I've noticed many desperate buyers from different parts of the world that expect an item to get to them in just a few days after they paid, not realizing it takes much, MUCH longer.

What are your current DSR's? You could try some of those programs that can give you an idea of who where the ones that rated you low and check to see if they were international buyers.

[wingzrow]

Just remember to try your best to ship an item almost immediately (no later than one day) after the label is paid for.

I JUST started printing shipping labels + delivery confirmation, so excuse me if I sound ignorant but, why do I have to ship the very next day or THE day I print the label? I have only done a few so far, but I thought it would be OK to do something like this.

It's the 15th, a Saturday. Someone just payed for an item. My shipping days are Tuesday & Thursday so I mark the shipping label as the 18th. Tuesday the 18th rolls by and I ship the item out.

Is this wrong? Do I actually have to ship the exact same day I make the label even though I've marked the shipping day a few days later? I like to prepare my packages in advance, not make them all at once.


12 Month DSR

Item as described 4.89 0.42% (4)
Communication 4.86 0.63% (6)
Shipping time 4.73 2.01% (19)
Shipping and handling charges 4.84 0.42% (4)

[megasdkirby]

Your DSR's look good.

But it's ironic that the bulk of your customers rate you on "Shipping" time compared to the other DSR's.

Definitely check with that program or other method to see if the international buyers are to blame for the lower score. I since that this is the reason.

[wingzrow]

And what programs would those be?

[Kitsune Sniper]

My only suggestion is to not use Media Mail. Use First Class or Priority instead to keep your shipping times low. Set the shipping date in your labels to one or two days after you print the label. TRY to ship everything the next day, or two days later. That helps a lot.

Also, you can mark an item to be shipped on say, the 18th, but you can drop off the package before and the label will still work.

[Cornelius]

With the shipping labels, yes, what you are doing works. You can date it and ship it about whenever you want.

I think your problem is your Tues. Thurs. shipping schedule. Most buyers won't read that part in your terms, and even if they don they won't think about what it means. That is, a buyer on friday isn't really going to think about how it will be 4 more days before their item even ships. Those 4 days probably DOUBLE the time till they get their package (in the US). From my experience it seems like next-day or at least within 2 days is getting the item in the mail is pretty standard and what I expect. Also, the DSR question is to rate the shipping time, NOT to rate if the seller shipped when they said they would. So even if you state clearly that you only ship T Th, a buyer can still easily justify dinging you on the shipping time.

Have you been notifying buyers when you ship? I think you said you make that setting change on eBay, but I'm not sure that notifies the buyer with an email. When you print your label on Paypal, it notifies your buyer right then that you shipped and automatically provides them with the tracking number. I think it is strange that it notifies buyers right then even if you can't ship until the next day, but this is standard for a lot of retailers to email the buyer when they print the label, so people tend to expect that notice quickly, and probably don't think about the reality of when the item actually ships.

[shadowkn55]

Honestly, if you are serious about running a competitive ebay store, you need to ship more frequently. Shipping only two days a week can really lengthen the total wait time especially if somebody purchases late on Thursday after the post office closes. It'll be another 5 days until you actually get around to shipping it out plus actual delivery time. You may want to consider doing at least shipping 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) if your schedule allows it.

While post dating the postage label a day or two may give the appearance of fast shipping, it still doesn't address the crux of the problem which is total time between time of purchase and arrival on the buyer's doorstep.

[wingzrow]

I think I just figured out a way to cut down on this. I'm not sure if it's true, but I've read that if you set your handling time to one business day, and then your item gets to the customer within 4 days, the item automatically gets a 5 star rating for shipping time because eBay know exactly when it arrived through the delivery confirmation.

I can do this for pretty much all of my items, and then any item that goes within the united states can just be dropped off in my local mailbox, already payed for, and ready to go.

Also, I got off the phone with eBay customer support and was told that international sales do not count toward your shipping time rating.

Any truth to any of this?

[megasdkirby]

I think I just figured out a way to cut down on this. I'm not sure if it's true, but I've read that if you set your handling time to one business day, and then your item gets to the customer within 4 days, the item automatically gets a 5 star rating for shipping time because eBay know exactly when it arrived through the delivery confirmation.

Not quite so.

Your item has to appear under the range specified by Ebay. If Ebay says the "aproximate" delivery is from X date to Y date, and your item arrives in that time frame, then you get an automatic 5 stars in DSR's, because the buyer cannot rate you in that "segment". I would pressume that if your item arrives earlier, then you also get 5 stars in DSR shipping. But if your item arrives just ONE DAY after that time frame, the buyer can and will rate you on shipping DSR.

I've even seen some people try to manipulate this. I don't know how it's done exactly, but maybe the seller says they will ship via Media Mail so that the shipping time frame is more, giving them ample time to ship and the buyer to receive the package. But instead of sending Media Mail, they ship First Class and the item gets to the buyer before the specified time frame, granting them an automatic 5 stars in DSR's "segment". I don't know how exactly this is, so maybe ryborg or Cornelius can chime in about this.


Also, I got off the phone with eBay customer support and was told that international sales do not count toward your shipping time rating.

Any truth to any of this?

Unless something changed recently, that is a lie. There is still a time frame like stated above. I would like to know this as well, because I was able to rate a seller from HK for shipping as well.

[Sph1nx]

If your shipping only twice a week, you really need to go out of your way to let the buyers know. This might help.

I had to start emailing buyers once they paid, then again once it shipped explaining my item was coming from Canada and what the expectations were and the possible worst case scenarios. Basically, I did a lot of hand holding and say my DSRs go up.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I think I just figured out a way to cut down on this. I'm not sure if it's true, but I've read that if you set your handling time to one business day, and then your item gets to the customer within 4 days, the item automatically gets a 5 star rating for shipping time because eBay know exactly when it arrived through the delivery confirmation.

I can do this for pretty much all of my items, and then any item that goes within the united states can just be dropped off in my local mailbox, already payed for, and ready to go.

... whoa.

Guess I'll start adding DC numbers to my eBay page then. :D

[Scissors]

Not quite so.

Your item has to appear under the range specified by Ebay. If Ebay says the "aproximate" delivery is from X date to Y date, and your item arrives in that time frame, then you get an automatic 5 stars in DSR's, because the buyer cannot rate you in that "segment". I would pressume that if your item arrives earlier, then you also get 5 stars in DSR shipping. But if your item arrives just ONE DAY after that time frame, the buyer can and will rate you on shipping DSR.

I've even seen some people try to manipulate this. I don't know how it's done exactly, but maybe the seller says they will ship via Media Mail so that the shipping time frame is more, giving them ample time to ship and the buyer to receive the package. But instead of sending Media Mail, they ship First Class and the item gets to the buyer before the specified time frame, granting them an automatic 5 stars in DSR's "segment". I don't know how exactly this is, so maybe ryborg or Cornelius can chime in about this.


It doesn't matter if the item arrives within the estimated shipping time frame unless the time frame is less than 4 days. To get the automatic 5 star DSR, 4 business days is the maximum length of time it could take.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html#5startime

[megasdkirby]

It doesn't matter if the item arrives within the estimated shipping time frame unless the time frame is less than 4 days. To get the automatic 5 star DSR, 4 business days is the maximum length of time it could take.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html#5startime

That I understand, but the issue is that some certain sellers are somehow manipulating the system to give them more time.

For instance, I won an item on the Feb 10 and the seller shipped on Feb 18. This was because I paid a little late because the seller took a very long time to respond to my messages. In any case, he shipped on the 18th, yet Ebay says that the item will arrive between 02/28/11 - 03/01/11, which makes it 10 days after it was shipped and around 3-4 days to arrive during that time frame.

How is the seller doing this? If he shipped, shouldn't the time frame be until around the 22nd?

I would to find out how this is done, because that helps the seller with more time to ship the item and almost always grant them a perfect score in shipping DSR's because the item will surely arrive way before the specified time frame on Ebay.

[Scissors]

That I understand, but the issue is that some certain sellers are somehow manipulating the system to give them more time.

For instance, I won an item on the Feb 10 and the seller shipped on Feb 18. This was because I paid a little late because the seller took a very long time to respond to my messages. In any case, he shipped on the 18th, yet Ebay says that the item will arrive between 02/28/11 - 03/01/11, which makes it 10 days after it was shipped and around 3-4 days to arrive during that time frame.

How is the seller doing this? If he shipped, shouldn't the time frame be until around the 22nd?

I would to find out how this is done, because that helps the seller with more time to ship the item and almost always grant them a perfect score in shipping DSR's because the item will surely arrive way before the specified time frame on Ebay.

When listing an item, a seller can select a handling time of up to 30 days. The estimated delivery date is based on the amount of time eBay thinks it will take for an item to arrive (for example, economy shipping is 1 to 10 business days and USPS Priority Mail is 2 to 3 business days) plus the number of handling days selected.

It doesn't matter what the estimated delivery date is though. A seller is not eligible for automatic 5 star DSR just because the item is delivered within the estimated delivery date range. The item must arrive in 4 business days or less from the date payment is received. Keep in mind that weekends and holidays don't count as business days. Therefore, February 19, 20, and 21 don't count as part of those 4 business days.

[Rev. Link]

You guys can debate about ways to bend eBay's rules all you want, but really it comes down to this: in this era of DSRs you need to ship more than twice a week. Quite frankly, with shipping time being a rateable category, I'd leave a low rating too if I knew a seller had my payment and still waited four days to ship my item.

Even if you make it clear to buyers that that's the way you operate, they're still within their rights to leave a low rating. You buy from whoever you can get the best deal from, but even if they tell you it's going to take so long to ship, you can still be unhappy with that number and leave them a lower rating.

I would suggest moving to a M-W-F schedule, that's essentially every other day. It might make things a bit more difficult on you, but if you want to be serious about selling on eBay you have to play by their rules, which means you have to keep your DSRs up, and that in turn means keeping your customers happy.

[wingzrow]

I'm shipping every day now, I just hope it averages out before they decide to pull my premium store settings. There's no way I can have things relisting at 20 cents.

If you check my recent feedback everyone who has received a package from me recently has said I've delivered quickly. Thank god for the ability to drop off packages in the mail box.