Wow, I get a neutral and than this...

kmnorton · October 16, 2008 12:14PM

So, I get a neutral feedback from a dude who wrote slow delivery. He purchased the card on the 5th, I created a shipping label on the 9th (through PayPal) and he received it yesterday. I sent him a note saying he probably should be a little more lenient with the neutrals (he only has 17 feedbacks) and that I sent it in a reasonable time and beyond that, it's hard for me to control. I get this back...

Q: I will keep it in mind. Your item is one of te first ones I've purchased through EBAY, and will rate my future purchases based on what the average time is for all the items I've won.

I do have an additional question, as I am looking into selling baseball cards on EBAY myself. It seems that everyone is really high on the shipping cost. Most of the items I purchase are costing 67 - 82 cents. Including the envelope I don't see how the shipping cost should cost $2 - $3. Is the shipping cost, someone makes up on thier own, or does EBAY have an rate system to tell a seller what to charge for shipping? Any additional info on this matter would be appreciated.

I rose above my feelings and responded back, but thought it took some stones to ask this basically after dinging somebody.

Whammy

VitoCo1972 · October 16, 2008 12:18PM

Sounds like the dude doesn't understand and is new to the game. I wouldn't sweat it. Maybe he'd be open to withdrawal. Can you still do that?

rube26105 · October 16, 2008 12:19PM

tell him gas is up and you live 20 miles from post office/ padded enveopes/your time/packaging materials/ink for your printer,paper/ ect... e-its called trickle down ecomomics-ebay/paypal and everybody else in the world does it
everybody else passes it down to us, i just pass it down to the buyer-they dont want to pay my shipping, go buy it off of somebody else

<Maybe he'd be open to withdrawal. Can you still do that?>
somehow ya can appeal it or something, its bs though, i got a neg and tried to get it outed,they wont do it till they come up with a system where ya gotta pay ebay for it ,watch and see

nam812 · October 16, 2008 12:30PM

I am sleeping with your wife. Your wife is one of the first wives I've slept with, and will rate my future adulterous encounters based on her.

I do have an additional question, as I am looking to sleep with her again. If I bring over a bottle of wine, does she prefer white or red? Any additional info on this matter would be appreciated.

Leiascards · October 16, 2008 12:33PM

Your shipping was a little slow. IMHO.. You are lucky you just got a neutral

goraiders · October 16, 2008 12:38PM

<< I am sleeping with your wife. Your wife is one of the first wives I've slept with, and will rate my future adulterous encounters based on her.

I do have an additional question, as I am looking to sleep with her again. If I bring over a bottle of wine, does she prefer white or red? Any additional info on this matter would be appreciated. >>

good stuff right there

storm888 · October 16, 2008 12:40PM

After October 20, buyers can "change" their NEGs and NEUTs to POSs.

The BETA process is:

Seller asks buyer to please change the FB.

If buyer agrees, EBAY sends buyer a code to enter for the change page.

Buyer changes FB.

Just another way for the FILTH that masquerades as "buyers" on EBAY to EXTORT
honest sellers.

.........

Mailing items 4-days after purchase/payment is no longer acceptable on EBAY.

24 to 48 hours is the MAX number.

kmnorton · October 16, 2008 12:43PM

So, it's you, Nick! I thought it was somebody I knew.

You sleep with one eye open whilst you are sleeping with my beloved.

Really, 1 week (to 10 days) is too long? If that's the case, I should have been negging the crap out of almost all sellers. I consider it splendid customer service if I get the package within 4-5 days.

PoppaJ · October 16, 2008 12:45PM

<< I am sleeping with your wife. Your wife is one of the first wives I've slept with, and will rate my future adulterous encounters based on her.

I do have an additional question, as I am looking to sleep with her again. If I bring over a bottle of wine, does she prefer white or red? Any additional info on this matter would be appreciated. >>

DeutscherGeist · October 16, 2008 12:46PM

The guy obviously does not have much experience in ebay and does not know how to guage shipping time. In my opinion, you are all right, but the reality is that buyers expect you to ship the item within 48 hours at the latest. For big sellers, this is not a problem as they have stuff to send out constantly. For small time sellers, this becomes more difficult because they only have a few packages to send out on any given month. It would not make much sense to go to the post office for one package especially if its not on your way to work. I cut small time sellers a lot of slack for this because I empathize, but the average ebay buyer is more cruel with shipping time. Sometimes I feel the speed of delivery makes buyers so happy they overlook a lot of flaws on the item that were missed in the auction description. I think receiving the item just as described is the most important thing all the other stuff, I do not sweat it.

DeutscherGeist · October 16, 2008 12:52PM

I you want the neutral removed, follow what Storm888 stated. I would email the guy in a few weeks and apologize again if he thought the package came late and tell that the neutral severely affects you. Say you are a small time seller (if that's the case) and shipping is done on specific days since you don't have high volume to be shipping everyday. Hopefully he will understand and just give you a break. I say wait a couple weeks so he can see how other transactions go.

grote15 · October 16, 2008 1:03PM

I don't think shipping an item out 4 days after payment is waiting too long. Maybe you'll get one moron out of 500 who would neg you for that.

rube26105 · October 16, 2008 1:04PM

i get people that pay me 15 -30 days later for stuff

i just send a invoice every day till i drive you nuts

BunchOBull · October 16, 2008 8:59PM

On the rare occasion that I can't get an item out same or next day, I go ahead and bump it up to priority shipping on my own dime...an act of good faith I guess.

bobbyw8469 · October 16, 2008 9:08PM

Dont forget the cost of bubblewrap to put around the card, the cost of your mailer (hopefully you are NOT just using an envelope and a 42 cent stamp), the cost of your labels if you use click n ship......it adds up......anything under $5 I think is ok......

Blackborder · October 16, 2008 10:16PM

<< Your shipping was a little slow. IMHO.. >>

I agree. Not unreasonable, but a little slow.

Blackborder · October 16, 2008 10:18PM

<< I don't think shipping an item out 4 days after payment is waiting too long. >>

I hate to parse words, but he created the label 4 days later. I don't think we know when he shipped it. But again, I don't think it was unreasonable, just a little slow.

leathtech · October 16, 2008 10:49PM

I agree with others I think you were a little slow... why did it take you 4 days to print the label? The auction was paid for on Sunday and you printed the label on Thursday. I would not natural someone over that but I would be annoyed - mainly because I always strive to ship out the next day the PO is open.

With today’s ebay buyers have all the power and it’s in a sellers best interest to try and keep them happy.

cwazzy · October 16, 2008 10:51PM

I'm not a big time buyer but in the last year I think I've had 2 packages take more than a week to receive. Maybe I'm just lucky but it seems like most sellers ship within 48 hours. I guess I'm with the crowd that says, although your shipping time wasn't totally unreasonable, it was fairly slow.

Chris

Leiascards · October 16, 2008 11:53PM

When you consider I had a buyer who paid for an item on September 16th and recieved it on the 20th give me a negative that says took 4 days to recieve slow shipper you are lucky you got a neutral.

stevek · October 17, 2008 12:01AM

How many times does this have to be mentioned on this forum? The whole key almost always, to preventing neutrals and negs is communication. COMMUNICATE right after the sale and TELL the customer that their order will ship in 4 days and they'll receive it a few days after that, and you almost certainly wouldn't have gotten the neutral. The customer will e-mail you back if say they need the item to ship sooner because it's a birthday present or something like that, and then you can make arrangements to ship the item sooner if you can. One more time I'll spell it...C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N and right after the sale, not 4 days later, not 2 days later...right after the sale definitely within 24 hours or much sooner communicate with your customer.

WinPitcher · October 17, 2008 12:20AM

It is so easy to communicate too especially if they pay via paypal. Simply reply to the email paypal sent.

Steve

nightcrawler · October 17, 2008 12:50AM

I personally don't care how long it takes to ship, if I get my item all is well, if I don't, I will communicate.

But I know that for some buyers, fast shipping can mean the difference between life and death.

Leiascards · October 17, 2008 12:57AM

Sometimes communication can backfire on you. Right after Ike came through I emailed all my buyers and explained that my local PO would probaly be closed a couple of extra days due to power outages, but I would try to get mail out by Tuesday or Wednesday. I had one go into a rant saying I was just making up the whole Ike thing, blah,blah blah, he got the item, but so far no feedback has been exchanged.. The neg I speak of was also one of those packages, they were all shipped that Tuesday..

mtcards · October 17, 2008 1:31AM

Considering that many of the Ginzu knives and the like on TV state, allow 4-6 weeks for delivery, 4 days to ship is not that long at all. Considering the added cost of fuel to the post office, I would hate to run a dozen or so auctions that end on Sunday and have 3 paid Sun, 3 paid Mon, 3 paid Tue, and 3 paid Wed and have to run to the PO four times in a week. Buyers want to complain about shipping costs, but shipping costs are more than just the actual postage. If it costs you 50 cents in gas to go to the post office, that is part of the COST of shipping.

Could the seller have shipped next day, of course, did the buyer leave an undeserved neut, probably. Is ebay turning into a slime infested pool of whiny, over demanding buyers who expect everything "their" way without paying for the service they get? DEFINITELY.

But, as usual, since their is no other alternative, take the neut and dont worry about feedback. Running my own business, I have my share of over demanding customers, the majority of which would realize that they are that way if they ever went anywhere else, but since they keep coming, we both win.

GOODLIEU · October 17, 2008 1:40AM

<< Considering that many of the Ginzu knives and the like on TV state, allow 4-6 weeks for delivery, 4 days to ship is not that long at all. Considering the added cost of fuel to the post office, I would hate to run a dozen or so auctions that end on Sunday and have 3 paid Sun, 3 paid Mon, 3 paid Tue, and 3 paid Wed and have to run to the PO four times in a week. Buyers want to complain about shipping costs, but shipping costs are more than just the actual postage. If it costs you 50 cents in gas to go to the post office, that is part of the COST of shipping.

Could the seller have shipped next day, of course, did the buyer leave an undeserved neut, probably. Is ebay turning into a slime infested pool of whiny, over demanding buyers who expect everything "their" way without paying for the service they get? DEFINITELY.

But, as usual, since their is no other alternative, take the neut and dont worry about feedback. Running my own business, I have my share of over demanding customers, the majority of which would realize that they are that way if they ever went anywhere else, but since they keep coming, we both win. >>

I totally agree with your comments. EBAY has and will continue to put all the weight of the transaction in the hands of the buyer. As we have seen this for the most part opens up the doors to negative criticism of even very minor aspect of a transaction and takes away from the real important part of the deal and that is the item quality is what the seller stated it was and the honesty and integrity of that seller in conducting his auctions IMHO

stevek · October 17, 2008 1:50AM

<< Sometimes communication can backfire on you. Right after Ike came through I emailed all my buyers and explained that my local PO would probaly be closed a couple of extra days due to power outages, but I would try to get mail out by Tuesday or Wednesday. I had one go into a rant saying I was just making up the whole Ike thing, blah,blah blah, he got the item, but so far no feedback has been exchanged.. The neg I speak of was also one of those packages, they were all shipped that Tuesday.. >>

What, did he think you made up hurricane Ike and the fact that there were power outages all over the place, including the post office? What's he think that each post office has their own independent little nuclear power plant generator inside to produce electricity? LOL

Bottom line - You were smart to communicate the problem, and you would in my view been definitely worse off without doing that. He may have needed the item quickly for some reason, and was just venting - I'd rather get no feedback than a neg. On the average, only around 2/3 of the time, is feedback is left anyway

KbKards · October 17, 2008 2:14AM

Located in California and ship a lot of stuff to East coast. Shipping cost is reasonable and everything is shipped immediately after being paid the same day or next day if after hours. Got 4.9+ in all DSR except for shipping time. Came to figure out that the slight hit in shipping time DSR was due to large quantity of east coast shipments. Mentioned the theory to Ebay rep and was surprised to hear that I wasn’t the first person to tell her that. She said she heard it many times before from other east and west coast sellers. Not sure if they’re trying to do anything about it but it’s a known problem. You’d think that a guy in NY would know that it takes longer to get a package from CA than it does NY but all you need is a few hits from the unconscionable 3-4 day wait and you lose big bucks in seller discounts that are based on your DSR ratings.
Instead of c-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-i-o-n some buyers need g-e-o-g-r-a-p-h-y l-e-s-s-o-n-s.

stevek · October 17, 2008 2:45AM

<< Located in California and ship a lot of stuff to East coast. Shipping cost is reasonable and everything is shipped immediately after being paid the same day or next day if after hours. Got 4.9+ in all DSR except for shipping time. Came to figure out that the slight hit in shipping time DSR was due to large quantity of east coast shipments. Mentioned the theory to Ebay rep and was surprised to hear that I wasn’t the first person to tell her that. She said she heard it many times before from other east and west coast sellers. Not sure if they’re trying to do anything about it but it’s a known problem. You’d think that a guy in NY would know that it takes longer to get a package from CA than it does NY but all you need is a few hits from the unconscionable 3-4 day wait and you lose big bucks in seller discounts that are based on your DSR ratings.
Instead of c-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-i-o-n some buyers need g-e-o-g-r-a-p-h-y l-e-s-s-o-n-s. >>

Well then, give them a "geography lesson" in each communication e-mail. Tell them you're shipping from California to say their location in Maine, and the time frame in which they should receive the order - i believe that communication like that would improve your shipping time DSR. They're not lowering your DSR for the 3-4 shipping time, they're lowering your DSR because your shipping time is slower than they expected. If you tell them the shipping time is 3-4 days, and they receive the item in 3-4 days, then that will improve your DSR, there is no doubt about that.

People for the most part will accept "problems" as a way of life, a way of doing business. It's being ignored, or uncertainty, that customers don't like and fast, effective communication takes care of both of those things. Even if the item gets lost, the customer will generally work with you knowing that you appreciate their business and will work to solve the problem. Hey, you've got nice DSR's in the other categories so you're certainly already doing a lot right.

Leiascards · October 17, 2008 3:06AM

DSRs will improve when Ebay stops lying to buyers about what they mean.

Most of my items shipped last month were with FREE shipping I have a 4.5 on my last 30 days for shipping and handling costs. I have 208 feedback in the last 30 days only 18 of those items had a shipping costs attached 10 of them I lost money on shipping.

StopYurWhining · October 17, 2008 3:30AM

free shipping is a farce. charge a fair amount; free shipping hurts the seller and gives more money to FEEbay.

grote15 · October 17, 2008 3:59AM

What's clearly evident here from this thread is that even if a seller does everything right, there are buyers out there who still won't be satisfied.

Wow, I get a neutral and than this...

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