Sellers marking items as dispatched when not

[doorengineer]

My gripe is, frequently when ordering online with eBay I seem to get an automatic “Dispatched” and often a tracking number as if the seller is on autopilot, yet it seems days before the parcel is in the care of the delivery firm/couriers, is this due to the courier not collecting in a timely manner? or the seller not dropping the parcel off at the courier's collection point for days? or really the fault of the delivery firm? should courier protect their reputation if the delay is due to the seller by stating on the tracking information the reason for the delay??? my thought is that sellers raises a dispatch invoice, postage, and tracking number automatically and use it as a picking sheet next time they go to their storage units which may be many days after the item has been marked as dispatched.

[four_mid_able]

This may be down to the seller purchasing the postage through Ebay who automatically send a dispatched notice and tracking number once purchased.

Seller can post any time after that which leads to the confusion and defects for the seller for late delivery if tracking shows delivery after latest estimated delivery date.

[bennotbill]

The problem is generally with eBay. Most problems are with eBay not the seller, who has to work as best as they can with this morass of bad programming.

As said when postage is purchased through eBay for some unfathomable reason it's automatically marked as dispatched by eBay. When the reality is the postage has only just been purchased, nothing more.

[treetopsminicottages]

I agree with the posters replies here.

As it is all automated I do not see why an item cannot be marked as 'dispatched' until it is actually sent.

The first scan, say at a post office or a drop off shop, would then trigger the dispatch message not a seller just buying the postage through ebay. Maybe it would encourage sellers to post more promptly?

[lemon-p]

Don't blame the seller or the couriers, this is ebay marking the order as dispatched as soon as the seller purchases the postage label, it provides even more problems for the seller than it does for the buyer.

[insidethe93]

"despatched" means the label's been printed using eBay's system. It means the item's started to be processed. The term "being processed" would be better.

If buying from a private individual be aware of the day of the week. Auctions often end on Saturday or Sunday, so sellers can deal with items in their time off. Labels for all customer parcels might be printed in one go at the weekend for recent orders. But post offices don't open on Sunday; on Saturday many close by lunchtime. No pillar box collection until probably Monday evening.

[doorengineer]

Some good replies, yes eBay could and should do more but there is an issue with some professional sellers taking days to dispatch items, I see no reason why a professional seller can not dispatch the same or the next working day, one thing eBay could do with couriers they are working with is to get them to flag up dispatched when they first scan it not the seller then eBay could score sellers on reliability to dispatch same or next working day, they could also flag up that the seller was using his own courier if the seller manually flags the item as dispatched.

[crafty_cat_lover]

There are valid reasons why a professional seller does not despatch on the same or next working day. They may work full time as well as running an online business. They may live out in the sticks and not have easy access to a post office. They may be a carer to a family member and only able to process orders when they have cover. As long as they include this in their processing time I cannot see it being an issue. I would suggest that if the item you are looking to purchase is time sensitive, eg for a birthday present, maybe go to a B&M shop or buy from the river where they have their own fleet of couriers.

[bennotbill]

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@doorengineer wrote:

eBay could score sellers on reliability to dispatch same or next working day, they could also flag up that the seller was using his own courier if the seller manually flags the item as dispatched.

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You have to bear in mind that sellers set their own dispatch time, which eBay ignores. Often 2-5 days. That combined with eBay's disingenuous automatic dispatch notice, and the outright lies of eBay's estimated delivery dates, is what causes most of problems between sellers and their buyers.

[kit-kaboodle]

I'm a eBay seller, my items are automatically marked as dispatched by eBay, upon postage payment, I never ever  mark as dispatched... 🙂

[gallovidian]

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@four_mid_able wrote:

This may be down to the seller purchasing the postage through Ebay who automatically send a dispatched notice and tracking number once purchased.

Seller can post any time after that which leads to the confusion and defects for the seller for late delivery if tracking shows delivery after latest estimated delivery date.

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That-s right, and the seller can't very well do it on the post office counter. I more often get "The item is being posted", and I don't know if the seller gets the choice.

Posting a few hours or a day later doesn't seem at all unreasonable. For a seller to print the label just before finishing work for the weekend, possibly after the post office has closed or courier has collected, and dispatching it on Monday morning, may get the item to you faster than starting the operation on Monday.

If there is a gap of several days with the item remaining in the seller's possession, it is hard to see how a morass of bad programming could bring that about. If it  ould, though, it is hard to see how those aware that it causes most problems, can bear to go on selling on eBay.

[bennotbill]

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@gallovidian wrote:

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If there is a gap of several days with the item remaining in the seller's possession, it is hard to see how a morass of bad programming could bring that about. If it  ould, though, it is hard to see how those aware that it causes most problems, can bear to go on selling on eBay.

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As Dirty Harry might say, a seller has to know eBay's limitations. And work around them as they would on any site.

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[naughty_neena]

The only thing that counts and which judging by many recent posts buyers do not read is the expected delivery date that is on each listing.

Even if a sellers posts out 1st class (24hrs) if they have set there postage at say 3 days you cant expect it until at least day 4

[treetopsminicottages]

Sorry I but I disagree with your suggestion that we buyers do not read the expected delivery date, I for one certainly do and it is clear on all the purchase confirmations from ebay.

The issue, as I see it, is that if a seller buys the postage on ebay the item is automatically dispatched which of course it isn't but it is misleading. As I suggested in my earlier post It would be nice if buyers got a message after the first scan if it is a trackable item.

[treetopsminicottages]

From what I can see the OP was not specifically referring to time critical orders.

I hope you add that other shops are available! (Who goes to B & M for birthday gifts?)

I am not sure also what you define as a 'professional' seller or did you mean a business seller more likely have the system in place to dispatch promptly.

The issue is, I see it is, the automated dispatch notification that is sent out when postal is brought through ebay. It is misleading and sends out false hopes of earlier than expect delivery.

[purveyor_of_tat]

Woah, woah, woah [Sweet Child O' Mine]!

It's irrelevant when a seller marks an item as 'dispatched', if they even do. All that matter is the Estimated Delivery Date (EDD)

It might make sense for a seller with a 10-day dispatch window to mark as dispatched on say, day five. But even so, it's just not important. Me, you, they: the buyer - the order has been confirmed with an EDD of X, that is what should be focused on. 

[crafty_cat_lover]

B & M as in bricks and mortar, an abbreviation I've seen used on here before.

My reference to professional seller was in response to doorengineeer's comment "some professional sellers taking days to dispatch items, I see no reason why a professional seller can not dispatch the same or the next working day", and no, I don't expect a business seller to despatch promptly for the reasons I gave, I just expect them despatch within the time frame they provide to Ebay. If the EDD is a week or two away then that's fine.

[insidethe93]

Thanks for explaining "B&M". Earlier I thought you meant the chain of stores called B&M.

Tried a quick but unsuccessful google to see if those stores are called B&M for bricks & mortar; I could've spent longer doing it but I didn't care.

[masw_1661]

As a seller myself I can answer this

ebay auto updates to dispatched as soon as I purchase a label through them with tracking. I normally update my buyers when I've actually dropped it off so they don't get anxious with the tracking. Me being me there might be a few delays with getting the items posted as I'm a university student but yeah it's not always a thing sellers can control.

[more-ackers]

I most often use Parcel2go and their system linked to ebay. (It is called, "Smart send".)

When you purchase the postage/courier the system marks it on eBay as "sent" although, critical in this conversation, the tracking at Parcel2go shows as sent but also shows and dates the next stage which is "drop off", (the seller actually dropping the package off for the courier to collect). Additionally, the tracking will show when the package is picked up by the courier from the drop off.

With Parcel2go "smart send", if you were to purchase the shipping on the last day of your dispatch window and yet left it until the next day to "drop off", eBay system will show it as having been late in sending.

An issue is, Royal Mail and Parcelforce are not linked to eBay, other than you can purchase the postage through eBay and so a "first scanning" cannot be recorded. .