Issues with "Untracked" parcels
Summary: nipponcards is facing difficulties with eBay's tracking and defect system. They sell items for less than £2, using the cheapest Royal Mail option without tracking, but eBay has marked some items as sent late, affecting their defect rate. They note that appeals based on receipts are often denied since eBay doesn't allow photo evidence. Other participants discuss similar issues, emphasizing the challenges in proving timely dispatch and suggesting that using eBay's shipping services could alleviate these problems. The discussion also touches on how eBay's system seems to favor using their shipping options to avoid defects.
I'm currently facing a dilemma, I currently sell an item for less than £2 and to make it worth while I offer the cheapest possible shipping 2nd class royal mail letter, the issue arises where Ebay CLAIMS I've not sent it on time because theres no tracking? now this doesn't happen for every item sold this way but happened twice in a row taking my sent late tally from 0% to 1.87% the limit being 3% defect rate so this is concerning, this wouldn't be a issue if it was true though as I'd just be a better seller and send quicker, I have royal mail receipts showing I most certainly sent it that day despite my listings being set to sent within 1 day (not same day) I still send ASAP THOUGH, but being untracked means eBay never registers I've sent it on time so if the buyer says its arrived late its auto assumed I sent it late. Using a tracked service isn't worth it for me or the buyer. I still want to sell the item but I don't want more dings on the account because the item sells frequently. Now I know you can go into the defect section and fight your case to eBay, but if I select the reason that I sent it on time and then explain that, I also say I have a literal receipt backing it up my statement HOWEVER they denied me both times, which makes zero sense, unfortunately they don't allow to you ever upload photo evidence to back up your case just a written statement that gets dismissed. Im at a loss what to do here as I don't want my account to be ruined for doing nothing negative to impact it.
Any solutions, or suggestions?
maarsy
·2 weeks agojust had to refund a buyer that bought a small item by letter that had been waiting over 14 days now , so out of the 5 standard 2 nd class letters 4 have taken over 2 weeks to get there
cheekychippy210
·2 weeks agowhat happens if item is lost?
how do you get compo?
RM require proof of purchase of goods..
boundarycoins
·2 weeks agoI say this with low conviction. If you had Royal Mail collect from home it might pull through the collection on the eBay tracking and give eBay something to go off to remove defects.
If these were large letters I would be sure of the above. I use lockers to get the scan but I’ve found it doesn’t pull through on eBay tracking for letters.
When sending untracked letters you’re in a difficult position. If you add the reference as tracking on eBay, you get buyers expecting tracking and nothing happens so it opens up a bigger can of worms with buyers thinking you haven’t posted or seeing an opportunity to claim an INR.
I just leave it in buyers hands. If they claim a letter is late when leaving feedback I think you have to accept it. In practice it seems to me that many buyers decide to abstain rather than mark a letter as late or they even tick the box to say it arrived on time when it didn’t to protect the seller.
cheekychippy210
·2 weeks agodo you sell under simple delivery?
nipponcards
OP2 weeks agoYes for most items just not super cheap letter sized items worth less than £2
c_of_e84
·2 weeks agoEven if you dispatch on time and use a tracked service you can still get defects for late dispatch, I have had a few lately on my business account, I appealed both of them and lost both cases, this is some arbitrary thing to raise selling costs.
nipponcards
OP2 weeks agoMakes zero sense, this goes back to me saying why do they not let us appeal these things with " visual proof" why can't I upload a receipt showing I did indeed send on time.
c_of_e84
·2 weeks agoIts not in ebay interest to do it, they want you to use ebay shipping so the best way to do that is create a problem the sell the solution, use ebay shipping and the problems just goes away.
sml192
·2 weeks agoThe 3% late delivery rate limit only relates to 'Top Rated' seller status which only applies to Business Sellers, not Private Sellers. There is no minimum requirement other than that:
'A high late delivery rate on its own won't cause your account to be evaluated as Below Standard, but a low rate is required for Top Rated status'.
nipponcards
OP2 weeks agoOkay thats good to know and a lot less worrying but even so are you sure? I would hate for my account to be hidden more because of falling below the threshhold?
jonatjonatjonat
·2 weeks agoHow are you actually posting them? Is it just a stamp and putting it in a postbox?
One option would be to buy your postage via ebay.
nipponcards
OP2 weeks agoBought through eBay, Digital label, QR code printed and posted at a post office. Never through traditional stamps
c_of_e84
·2 weeks agoProtection against late dispatch is part buying shipping through ebay.