eBay Make Best Offer Etiquette

[anwe]

Made an eBay sale a couple of weeks ago and shipped, now having this interesting issue with USPS on a package destined for the UK. Everyone see the issue here?

That's terrible.

My dad was supposed to get snow tires when he bought a new car a while back. On the day the car was there but the snow tires were missing, until they found them a month or so later in Bangkok Thailand.

I got a package from Japan a year or so ago that was delivered to the wrong local post office for pick-up, then the package was driven around town for a day or so to different places before vanishing completety. After five days it surfaced in another town 55 miles (US) away for sorting to be sent back to my town.

So these things happen all the time albeit not quite on the level of hilariousness as your particular package.

I wonder do the buyer see the humor in this?

 

[Pixelpiper]

The buyer has been very understanding and thankful that I've kept them up to date on what's going on. The USPS has now put in a service call and said they'll have info for me in 48 to 72 hours (weekdays) and if they can't figure it out that the package will be returned to sender (me). That would be fine except my US return address is a 1.5 hour drive from where I live. I hope they get this sorted properly and on its way.

If I had been selling high volume on eBay I wouldn't even have noticed this as there's no way I'd have the inclination to check on the status of all my outgoing packages.

 

[Pork Chop Express]

Made an eBay sale a couple of weeks ago and shipped, now having this interesting issue with USPS on a package destined for the UK. Everyone see the issue here?

I've had something similar happen to me on a smaller lvl, has something to do with how the USPS routes their shipments. I had a package being delivered to me and it kept bouncing back and forth between NV (Las Vegas) and California for an extra 2 days until it finally arrived.

 

[Pixelpiper]

it kept bouncing back and forth between NV (Las Vegas) and California for an extra 2 days until it finally arrived.

This has now been looping since last week. Ugh.

 

[anwe]

USPS must work in mysterious ways. I once had a package from Canada shipped to a company in New Jersey that ships via Norway so that we Scandinavians can order stuff from people/companies that don't ship outside the US/Canada. That package was sent from Toronto through Buffalo and then Texas and New Mexico if I recall correctly before going to Rochester and finally New Jersey. No back and forth there, but still that package must have been a total loss for them considering the price of shipping.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Got a call back from the local Niagara post office. They obtained an image scan of the package and think it might be looping because they're reading the FROM address as the TO address. The funny thing is, this can only be happening at one post office, the other one must be reading the right address otherwise it would be either sent out of the country or have already made its way back to my US address. Doh!

So Rochester sees Niagara Falls as the destination and Niagara sees the UK and sends it to Rochester from where it's SUPPOSED to go to Jamaica NY or Chicago IL (International Sorting) before leaving the country.

Oh, and it's not a hand-written label, it's a USPS formatted 4x6" printed label output from shipping software.

 

[Pork Chop Express]

USPS cutbacks, they need to add more $ to the budget for coffee.

 

[duck of death]

I've had that happen where USPS read the FROM as the TO on software printed postage for an international package. Except in my case, the package was picked up, went to the local processing center, disappeared for a couple of days, and just when the guy in the UK who was supposed to get it started wondering why the tracking didn't make any sense, the package came back through my mail slot.

I took it to the local post office because I was worried that since the package had come back to me the postage would be considered "used up" and since it had made a loop -- a very short loop -- through their system I'd have to eat the cost and print out new postage, but the USPS lady accepted it back into the USPS system with the original printed postage and off it went a second time, this time successfully.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Finally some change. They've now generated the processing exception, so hopefully it gets sorted manually to the right destination.

The Postal Service has identified a problem with the processing of this item at 3:37 pm on September 11, 2015 in ROCHESTER, NY 14606. The local facility has been alerted and is taking steps to correct the problem

 

[TheFiend]

Sheesh, what a mess. [emoji38]

Not that I'm saying this is your position piper, but I hear some people talk about USPS as the most incompetent organization EVER. Now, I have used USPS for well over a decade in probably 95% of my shipping and don't get this impression at all. I have had a couple hold ups and one package sent to the wrong address( I was the buyer), but was quickly made right. But with the amount of times I've used USPS this is peanuts. Am I just a lucky guy, are some of these people horribly exaggerating or.......
What's everyone's take here on USPS?

 

[Pixelpiper]

I think USPS provides great value and service for the price when compared to any other options I have available to me and compared to the postal services in many countries I've heard from buyers about.

The issue above is a purely mechanical/technical one and didn't involve anyone physically looking at the package - equipment failure - it can happen to anyone in any industry.

 

[hockeyflow33]

Sheesh, what a mess. [emoji38]

Not that I'm saying this is your position piper, but I hear some people talk about USPS as the most incompetent organization EVER. Now, I have used USPS for well over a decade in probably 95% of my shipping and don't get this impression at all. I have had a couple hold ups and one package sent to the wrong address( I was the buyer), but was quickly made right. But with the amount of times I've used USPS this is peanuts. Am I just a lucky guy, are some of these people horribly exaggerating or.......
What's everyone's take here on USPS?

A lot of it is just dependent upon your local office and who works there. The general customer service is abysmal


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pixelpiper]

The general customer service is abysmal

Both employees I dealt with on the phone to report this issue were very courteous, attentive and responsive. A very positive experience, despite having to go through a number of voice prompts to first reach an agent. It would have been only one person, but during my first call, the USPS tracking system malfunctioned - she wasn't able to pull up any tracking info and neither was I from my end.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Does everyone else find that at best, 1 in about 10 buyers leaves feedback, even after you send them a message thanking them for their purchase and asking for feedback? And after leaving them positive feedback first of course.

I'm going to have to start holding back feedback until after a customer leaves feedback, without exception.

 

[Pork Chop Express]

Does everyone else find that at best, 1 in about 10 buyers leaves feedback, even after you send them a message thanking them for their purchase and asking for feedback? And after leaving them positive feedback first of course.

I'm going to have to start holding back feedback until after a customer leaves feedback, without exception.

Lately (this year) I get 6-7/10 that leave feedback. It'd be nice and appreciated to get it on all sales but I've stopped worrying about it a while ago. As long as it's sold and all goes well that's all I really care about. Occasionally I'll get feedback a month later so you never know. Once my part of the transaction is complete I'll leave mine, buying or selling.

 

[Pixelpiper]

I still think positive feedback should be automated by eBay.

 

[67L88Stingray]

Does everyone else find that at best, 1 in about 10 buyers leaves feedback, even after you send them a message thanking them for their purchase and asking for feedback? And after leaving them positive feedback first of course.

I'm going to have to start holding back feedback until after a customer leaves feedback, without exception.

When I left feedback first I was lucky to get 20-25% return. I stopped posting first until buyer leaves feedback and it jumped up to around 50% left for me. I have tried the messages asking for feedback for those who don't, but I get so low a return on them I stopped bothering, 5% MAYBE. I think I will start posting it in my listings so it is clear to buyers they won't get one unless I do, I have been meaning to do that for a while. Some buyer seem to think sellers who are dishonest hold the feedback in case anything is wrong with the item or buyer is unreasonable seller can retaliate, but those days are long gone unfortunately.

 

[duck of death]

I'm very happy with USPS, although I have to admit I became a lot happier with them after I switched to using electronic postage so that I almost never have to deal with standing in lines. My only real complaint is that I send a lot of low weight international packages and let me put it this way: In 2011, the cost went from $1.41 to $1.72. In 2012, it went from $1.72 to $3.00. In 2013, it went from $3.00 to $6.16. Since then it has only gone to $6.39; but even so, in less than five years the cost of sending one measly ounce has gone up by almost 450% which is just a bit more than the average rate change of 7% or whatever figure they boast about in their press releases.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Since then it has only gone to $6.39;

And that's after an online processing savings of 71 cents! If your item isn't bulky, you can send it as a flat instead of package and the rate for 1 ounce drops to about $2.38 - the catch is that while it still includes a tracking number, delivery confirmation to the destination isn't guaranteed. It works perfectly fine for many destinations, like Netherlands, but there are others where it won't. YMMV

The price increases are influenced by the delivery confirmation feature which is standard on First Class Package and the rising costs of postage in other countries (USPS has to pay them to receive the mail of course).

 

[duck of death]

Oh man, I wish I could use that because it would save a ton of money, but I just tried it out in my postage software and I would definitely lose the delivery confirmation.

I hate the disproportionate rates for low weight packages but I really like having real tracking that has absolutely cut down on the number of people claiming their package never arrived. So I guess if the higher rates are the trade-off I have to make to get the tracking (and cut down on the number of thieving scammers), I'm just going to have to suck it up.

Yes, I am sooooooo brave.