Online Sellers Urgently Need Messaging on Shipping Delays

by: comments

As I said in a previous post, these delays are catastrophic! I have buyers messaging me every day to either ask me why their packages are in locations no where near them from improper routing or in other cases I have packages from black Friday week STILL out there. I have one $850 package bound for a CA buyer. The package totally disappeared until I was right about the refund the buyer and it appeared in TN, a VERY long way from CA. I also had a bunch that went though IL sort facilities even though neither me nor any of those buyers lived near IL.

I just dropped off a ton to the PO the other day. All the first class packages went though the sort facility all the priority just sitting at the acceptance location or weren't scanned at the sort facility.

This is beyond crazy. DeJoy needs to be brought before congress to explain himself or be removed outright. It is okay to have delays but new packages are arriving while older shipments are sitting idle. If USPS were actually investigating package research requests then these bottle necks could be identified and fixed. Since there is no accountability though no one has any reason to care. The only way this guy should be brazenly bragging about the 76% on time rate is on the line in the unemployment office.

I bet USPS is really going to be in the red after paying out billions in insurance claims. $50-$100 in included priority mail insurance is available after just 14 days.............

by: pennyemporium

''Things are getting ugly for sellers as the USPS is getting bogged down''.  

and it's not just USPS, as a buyer i have a FedEx pkg with a 12/07 delivery date, and every time i call in, the reps says ''COVID. Two more days, please''.  no expected delivery day.  considered lost after 7 days from mailing date, i should file a claim, right?

same with shipping all priority pkgs via USPS as a seller.  stood in line for the acceptance scans, pkgs left originating post office and then..... nothing.  with buyers demanding refunds, i have no choice but to file lost package claims with the post office.  and this is for packages shipped WEEKS ago!

sellers would be insane to ship ANYTHING in the current conditions, as a refund awaits the buyer in two weeks and eventually, if and when the post office delivers, they will get free widgets.

we're running businesses here, not charities.  yet we literally have no reliable way to ship anything.  my post office tells me that the guaranteed overnight priority pkgs will take 1-8 days extra.  if they get delivered.

i need 2020 to be over with NOW.

by: NorthCoast

My recent mailings seem to be getting delivered on time, but I filed Missing Mail Research Requests for a lot of packages mailed on 12/2/20 and 12/7/20 with no movement at all. The USPS responses came back:
        Sorry for our Covid delay. Case Resolved and Closed.  
Gee, thanks! I can handle delays but handle the mail FirstIn,FirstOut.  

by: CanBrit

I have been shipping UPS from Canada. Last shipment was Saturday to Pennsylvania. Shows it will be delivered tomorrow. I won't touch USPS right now. All of my customers are getting their items in less than a week at less cost to me.
Crazy stuff.

by: eBaySince2006

Thanks for posting this. It has been brutal for me this year. I'm getting cursed at and buyers are accusing me of fraud for USPS delays.

I have "item not received" requests being opened daily for Priority Mail packages that have been delayed 2 to 3 weeks.

I already have 2 negative feedbacks for "slow shipping" and because the buyers opened the item not received cases eBay is refusing to remove the feedback until the items are delivered.

One customer said they are filing a chargeback with their credit card company and 2 other customers are livid saying they're leaving the country so they won't be able to receive their items.

eBay is no help in any of these matters. I hope they would temporarily stop these cases from being opened and stop buyers from leaving these negative feedbacks.  

by: mjr55

Seriously, USPS can kiss my a**.

They knew they were going to be severely understaffed....yet they still RAISED prices for holiday shipments knowing packages would be way late. I've been doing this 20 years.......9/11, COVID riots.....I've never seen the mail slow like it has the last 3 weeks.

Shameful crooks.

by: cmlt

I've bumped my handling time up on my listing to help compensate. I also clearly state that there are no guarantee that it will get there before Christmas.

by: The End

My clients are REQUESTING UPS now.

by: toolguy

Being an eBay buyer in 2021

Me asking seller: Are you a democrat or a Republican?

If you answer democrat I'll be buying somewhere else!

by: I Must be Crazy

I have had a few shipping issues. One delivered to the wrong address, two late deliveries. It looks like orders are taking up to 10 days to arrive. Priority Mail is about 5. There is a lot of inconsistency within USPS. At least for me, orders have reached near all time lows (I am reaching my annual sales limit so eBay is sliding me toward the figure reached within a 1 percent variance for the last 5 years. Not sure how that happens. But throttling and sales limits are real). So no orders, no shipping problems.

This is going hurt eBay...further. They don't any control over logistics beyond telling sellers to "do this or else". They did not innovate or make the necessary investments and are now paying the price. Yes, Amazon has delays as well. But those are volume related and they do everything they can to get items out on time. If it means hiring more people, done. Pay USPS for extra delivery hours, done. Contract with airlines and trucking companies to transport, done.

Ebay does none of that. They are entirely dependent on what the carriers will be able to do. And every one them sees Amazon as the priority.  

by: 4yourinfo

I sent 2 identical packages same recipient two days apart - the 2nd package arrived only one day late and the first is still departing the 1st facility a week and half later... A priority package to NY from NJ over 2 weeks later still departing a facility...

by: Swordfish

USPS has been a total disgrace for us this holiday season over 15 packages lost in a single day and they have no idea where they are. Postal Inspector are of no help, consumers affairs phone numbers just gives answering machine all the time. Over $3000 lost and their answer is basically "sorry we will improve"

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by: RL15

sellers, just remember that priority mail has insurance built into the price....

15 days after shipping you can file claim with the usps to get some of your $$$ back for the lost packages.

by: lostliz

Watching an item I purchased that has guaranteed delivery.  It took 8 days to go 29 miles in Missouri, and it appears it was scanned into USPS system on the day of purchase.  It still has half of the US to transit across.  The GD date is already 4 days past due.   eBay reminds me each day that I qualify for GD.  Based on this experience, no way.

by: HenryS137

I notice recommendations above that people submit insurance claims for Priority Mail packages.  Under normal circumstances the automatic $50 insurance is helpful.

But the USPS is not paying insurance claims.  They used to, but not in recent months, if my experience is any guide.  The claims are not acted on, the messages to ask for acting on the claims are ignored, and.......nothing happens. At least I have no response after 5 months.

I've lost thousands on Priority packages that had USPS insurance (which is expensive).  But they aren't paying. Go for third party insurance, not USPS.

by: Mighty Mouse

Been using UPS Ground exclusively for most of the year now, but even then we stop shipping on the 14th and closed our store until the 26th, not worth the headaches over a few more sales.  Last year both FedEX and UPS had delivery problems over the holidays and USPS was the shining star.

Between Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) and Dec. 16, 2019: (Source CSA)

FedEx had an on-time delivery rate of 68.3%, compared to the 77.5% during the equivalent time period in 2018.

UPS also declined, dropping to 80% from 86%.

Meanwhile, on-time performance by the USPS jumped 13% to 86% in 2019, from 76% in 2018.  

COVID had a bigger impact on USPS than the other two carriers and once you get behind, the systems just gets very inefficient and hard to manage.  

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!    

by: Fiestaforrest

@Toolguy...why are you blaming this problem on Democrats?  It seems to me there is Republican in the White House who hired DeJoy (a known supporter) and he is the one who took all of the sorting equipment offline.  

This problem has been created by Republicans, not Democrats and if you asked me the question you posed, I would not be selling to YOU1

by: onlinesales

Everyone you should be complaining to congress and the post office. the real issue is Amazon, UPS and Fed Ex got great deals under the current adminsitration (Dejoy) to deliver the package to the end user. UPS dropped off at my little post office here in PA so many pallets of boxes from Amazon, that they had to store them outside. The post office told me if true they lose on each item, who the heck made this deal? Again it is the taxpayer subsidizing by paying more for each delivery now and our packages aren't getting delivered!!!

It is nuts nuts nuts. We are subsidizing Amazon, UPS and Fed Ex do you see the damn problem? Instead of screaming republican democrat or whatever scream quit the corporate cronyism that after all this time is still there and much worse.

I have packages from November 20th that haven't arrived for God Sake. Just like you do.  

by: MichaelP

"But the USPS is not paying insurance claims.  They used to, but not in recent months, if my experience is any guide.  The claims are not acted on, the messages to ask for acting on the claims are ignored, and.......nothing happens. At least I have no response after 5 months."

I'm having exactly this experience now after previous claims filed earlier this year were paid out promptly. My current insurance claim has sat "Under Review" for 3 weeks with no change or update in status. I complained to the USPS on Dec. 13th asking for my claim to be updated but they have done nothing.

Every single complaint against the USPS made by every single poster above me...I've had them all happen in the past month!

by: lancecorp

This is not a political situation! Each year we have problems around the holiday with the increased volumes of packages being processed. This year is worse than ever due to Covid 19 - the amount of supplies being ordered online due to the lock downs and the amt of employees of all delivery services that are sick.

Each and every seller should have taken this into consideration and either put a disclaimer on their listings, adjusted their handling times or shut down their venues. The situation we see this year is unprecedented and people didn't look far enough ahead to see how this would affect their business.