Late shipment rate

[texaslex]

Hi,

I read the Ebay pages about late shipment rate and searched this forum but I have not found an answer.

Since I am now fulltime and want to become a top rated seller I am watching my seller level metrics more. I noticed that my “late shipment rate” and “tracking uploaded on time and validated” are (very slowly) rising.

The main reason I am a bit worried is because the tracking info is not always getting through too Ebay at all if I look at the tracking details it seems. It for example 50% of the time only shows tracking number provided or some lines but not that it is deliverd although if I go to the tracking website of the I can see it was deliverd. I use two post carriers (postnl and dhl) and both have the same issue. I wonder if someone can explain if and how the seemingly not getting through of tracking details influences the metrics mentioned above?

The other question is can someone explain the relationship between shipping services selected under domestic and international shipping in a listing and the metrics mentioned above? Currently for domestic shipping I have “Standard shipping from outside US (5 to 10 days) but it sometimes takes longer so I think I should change it too “Economy shipping from outside US (11 to 23 days). For international shipping I have “standard international shipping” selected and it does not show any amount of days for some reason. Does this mean only the domestic shipping amount of days are taken into account for the “late shipment rate” metric?

Hopefully you can help me to shed some light on this slightly confusing topic.

Thanks.

Best regards,
Alex
VDBshop

[Sharyn]

I don’t have the answers to all your questions, but I will try best I can.

Do you buy your labels at the post office or outside of eBay? I highly recommend buying the labels directly through eBay. Their prices (at least for priority mail) are discounted and the tracking number automatically gets uploaded. One possible issue with tracking not being in the system is that you typed it in incorrectly. You can pay for the postage right in eBay and print out a label to your printer.

For international shipments, have you considered eBay’s global shipping program? As long as you get the package to their warehouse in Kentucky, they take care of the shipping from there on out. You won’t be responsible for late shipment.

If you ship direct, some countries do not provide tracking for first class packages. So eBay has no way to tell whether the package delivered on time or not.

Lastly, make sure that your packages get scanned at the post office. I personally bring the packages to the clerks and get them scanned right there and then. Some sellers work with their carriers to pick up at the house and scan packages as they go in the truck. Look into scan sheets and how to get them printed out. They save the clerks or your carrier significant time.

[Sharyn]

Oh boy, I just saw that you location is in the Netherlands. I don’t think that I can answer your questions for outside of the US. Maybe my information will help, but maybe it won’t apply in your country. Is there a forum inside the Netherlands that might answer specific question about shipment?

[Jay]

Yeah, most of us here are US based so we can solve issues dealing with USPS. Sounds like you need to discuss the issues using DHL or PostNL.

–Do you think DHL or PostNL are not properly scanning your boxes? Or is eBay not updating that info?
–What percentage of your items sell to the US? Are these the most problematic packages?

[texaslex]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

I am aware of the additional shipment Ebay offers for US users. Unfortunately I can not use them. There are not many Dutch Ebay forums and the Dutch Ebay forum itself I never have gotten any respons on different posts (it’s like a ghost town 🙂 ).

I am sure the packages are being scanned because I see them do it. It is more like sometimes the tracking info does not go through the different systems properly after scanning. What I am currently not doing myself but will do from now on is scan the tracking numbers myself on the Ebay app. Maybe this also helps.

About 50 percent of my shipments go to the US. I will double check but the problems seem quite random apart from example Australia and Israel who most always have issues with the tracking but that is a result of there local sub par postal carriers.

So you US based users hardly never have problems with the tracking not updating properly?

Can you guys shed some light on the relationship between shipping services selected under domestic and international shipping in a listing and “late shipment rate” and “tracking uploaded on time and validated” metrics?

I will contact Ebay directly and maybe contact my postal carriers in the hopes they know what I am doing wrong.

Thanks.

[Jay]

Most US sellers have issues with USPS not scanning their items on time. eBay expects “same day” scan. So this would be the first thing to check.

If your mail service is scanning the items immediately, but that info does not get transmitted to eBay, then you need to definitely call eBay.

Can you guys shed some light on the relationship between shipping services selected under domestic and international shipping in a listing and “late shipment rate” and “tracking uploaded on time and validated” metrics?

Since we ship through the Global Shipping Program, can’t help you here.

–Do you mainly list on eBay.com or eBay.NL?
–Do you have access to GPS is the Netherlands? https://www.ebay.com/help/global-shipping-program/default/global-shipping-program

[texaslex]

Thanks for the response.

In only list on ebay.com because of the broader audience. GPS is only available for UK and US sellers unfortunately. That would have been a nice solution.

I am currently contacting DHL and Ebay about my issue. Hope they can help me with the tracking issues.

[Author]

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