Buyer wants delayed shipping

[the-animal-shop]

A buyer has asked for shipping to be delayed by one week, the item needs to be posted by 29th, will the label still be valid? 

[tressygirl]

The label is valid for 14 days , but you will receive a late delivery defect for a late dispatch.

I always feel it's unfair for buyers to buy an item, and Then ask for a later dispatch.

Personally,  I would send the buyer a polite message explaining what happens to your account if you delay posting,  and the best scenario is for them to agree to a cancellation , which fully refunds them, and for you to relist the item when they are back ,  for them to buy it again.

You then issue a cancellation citing Buyer Requests to cancel,  and this does not affect your seller performance.

@the-animal-shop  

[the-animal-shop]

Thanks for your reply. He did ask before buying, so my mistake.

It wouldn't be a problem before the new postage system, where you have to do it all through ebay. Personally, I don't like it! 

[tressygirl]

The old way you'd probably still receive a late delivery defect ,  as presumably you would not have had a 10 day dispatch time?

I would have still recommended the same procedure, delist and relist , doing so with the buyer' s  permission, when the buyer is there to receive the item.

@the-animal-shop 

[wellingnorth]

This was always a bit of a frustrating occurrence, but at least before Simple Delivery you could mark as dispatched without adding tracking to avoid a defect. On the odd occasion when tracking was added by mistake (automatically from Click & Drop for example) I found that customer service were quite prepared to confirm that the buyer had requested delayed dispatch and remove the defect - it's up to you if you prefer to spend your time contacting CS versus asking the buyer to buy again later.