eBays ETA on shipping screwing sellers over

Once again eBay is making changes. In the all the years we have been selling online eBay has made more changes in the past 5 years then Amazon and etsy combined!

Why is that?  Who really knows, but I am noticing a new things that is really bothering me. Does eBay own the post office now? Amazingly they know delivery dates. Why does eBay think its ok to tell a buyer when they will get the item?  Ive been doing this for many years and yea there are others doing this a lot longer than I have.  But one thing is always the same, the post office service is unpredictable.  How can eBay say an item would take 4 days to get across the country?

Let me explain:

I had a buyer purchase an item on Saturday May 25th after 5PM pm here on the east coast, so 2PM on the west coast. The buyer is located in the state of Washington.  Well naturally we could not ship as our local post office closes at noon on Saturday, not to mention it was already after 5PM anyway!  Sunday we packed it and knew it would not go out until Tuesday because Monday was Memorial day and the post offices across the US would be closed.  Tuesday came we took the package to the post office and it was on the way.

On June 3rd I notice we got a 'neutral' feedback and wonder what now!  Well this buyer is complaining because the package is 3 days late and we are wondering how is that possible.  After researching it, the order is telling the buyer that this item is 'Fast N Free' and will arrive on or before May 31st, how is that possible?  How is it possible for us to ship an order on Saturday when everything is closed and how is it possible they were told it would be delivered on May 31st?  And why does the USPS indicated it would be delivered on June 3rd?  And why does the buyer blame sellers when packages arrive 'late' according to eBay?

This buyer is not taking the time difference or the fact we are on the opposite coast as they are into consideration.  Nor the fact that it was a holiday weekend.

So we call eBay, they think Im asking for feedback removal and I keep reminding them thats not why I was calling. Why would eBay promise to a buyer that a package would arrive by a certain date?  Why would they not take into consideration the fact that the buyer purchased this out side of 'normal business hours' and it was impossible for us to ship the same day? Had it been any other day we would have been able to ship the same day.

When I review my listing Im thinking its because it has 'FREE' shipping!  Ive changed the shipping zip code to NC, FL and CA and it consistently shows the item will arrive in 4 days, how is that possible?  They of course say the feedback would not be removed and I continue to say thats not why I was calling.   Then they tell me I should contact the buyer and ask them to change it!  But this is not something I created, we've done nothing wrong, we never told the buyer it would arrive May 31st,  its something eBay created!

You've seen it,... I have shipped packages to Hawaii that arrive in 4 days, I have also shipped packages 4 hours north of my location and seen it take 2 weeks!  How can they be allowed to make false promises to buyers?

Another peeve I noticed is the time, have you ever tried to print a label after 6PM and it still shows todays date?  If I go to purchase an item after 6PM it will still say it would be shipped today even if it can not be.  Not until around after 8PM if I try to print a label would the system actually adjust the date for the following date.  Call me crazy but they should not include Saturday at all since every location has various hours on Saturday and some are not even open on Saturday.

Their posted hours are on the pacific coast time which leaves the east coast with an unfair advantage.   They need to reconsider their program that gives these ETAs and modify it.

Requirements of USPS.

We have been using the USPS for sending out our packages for years now. Why? Because it does have the better rates out there. Considering majority of our packages are well under a pound it makes sense to stick with them.  Every so often I get the feeling I should just move to UPS or FedEx or something, especially when something happens. I cant tell you how many packages have gone lost!  Or lost in transit, or mis delivered.  And the USPS has this 'oh well' attitude about it. No one cares and you cant get a refund of the postage you paid or on the product unless you get insurance.  Well if we got insurance on our packages the prices would go up by a lot and for that we should just use UPS or FedEx!  So I grit my teeth and keep using the USPS.

Today I got a letter from them thanking me for using their click and ship program but... my packages are not meeting the requirements! Ok first of all I am not using the click and ship program Im using the interfaces with Amazon and eBay - is it the same thing? Maybe I don't know, and don't care. But what requirements?  Turns out, in order for my packages to be allowed to use delivery confirmation the packages need to be at least 3/4 of an inch thick! If not then I have to use Priority mail - my customers could wind up paying the difference upon arrival, there could be a delay or even the package returned to me! Believe this nonsense?

eBay says I have to use Delivery Confirmation for my packages or I could loose my discounts, USPS says my packages have to be thicker or I cant use Delivery Confirmation and/or my customers would pay the difference?!!?

Many of my products are very light, flat and small. Barely an ounce so I have doing my best already to make them thick, any thicker I would be heavier and the shipping costs would go up. I used to send a lot of these in envelopes but thats not allowed anymore.  I had someone complain about shipping costs - they paid $1.75 and said it was too much, I paid $1.64 for that and if I went in person to the post office it would cost me even more. Im thinking of just going back to envelopes and screwing the discount.

How does one continue to deal with these requirements?

Has anyone even noticed that the labels say 'USPS tracking' on them now?  But is it?

High Shipping Prices.

Just got this message in feedback the other day...

'Really light and small charged to much for shipping'.  It was positive score but Im 'positive' they gave a low DSR for the shipping section.  So Im a little peeved because we have very low shipping rates. While many of our products offer FREE shipping, equally many of our products do have a cost. All our rates are based on weight and sometimes we use the flat rate charges instead.  When we enter 1 ounce the minimum eBay shows shipping fees is $1.95 - when we use a flat rate I use $1.75.  (This is under our settings)

A lot of the products are well under 3 ounces, so everything is light. We do get discounts for printing online labels on eBay and Amazon. Free delivery confirmation is one of those discounts but if you took this package to the post office they would charge you the same charge we pay. The lowest price I would pay for shipping is $1.64 not counting the cost of the envelope, my travel time to and from the post office, my time to pack the item and anything else you can think of. At the post office delivery confirmation is an additional fee. When someone wrote $1.75 is too much for shipping I was floored.

We used to send some of the tiny items inside envelopes and sold them like crazy and shipping costs were 50 cents.  Unfortunately because of new eBay requirements they wont let us do that.  I would save everyone a lot of money if I put these things in envelopes and used a stamp.

I thought of just including the price of shipping inside the price of the item and marking it free shipping but then my item would be 'too expensive'.

Call me crazy but if you agree to pay the posted price you shouldnt be able to complain about it.