UPDATE 1/23/18: eBay reports the problems impacting international shipping described below have now been resolved.
After eBay’s shipping system broke down on Sunday leaving sellers unable to print shipping labels for international orders, eBay acknowledged the problem Monday evening. That’s the good news – the bad news is that the problem has yet to be fixed and eBay said there is no workaround for sellers, who will have to wait for the problems to be fixed.
There was more bad news: eBay said the problem also impacted domestic shipping – its system is unable to calculate First Class shipping for shoppers in cases where the item weighs between 13 and 15.99 ounces. (eBay didn’t say what its system is displaying and whether it’s undercharging buyers for shipping costs in those cases.)
New USPS rates took effect on Sunday, and it seems likely the incident was related. Sellers report they have been given questionable information by eBay customer service reps. eBay did not respond to our request for information earlier in the day, and it has failed to update its Systems board where it continues to show all Shipping Label Printing services are in “good health.”
You can see our report on the EcommerceBytes Blog and how a change in “First Class Mail International – Flats/Large Envelopes” confused matters. The information that merchandise can no longer be shipped via that service is correct, but it’s not clear whether that change had anything to do with the technology problems eBay is currently experiencing.
eBay announcement follows:
As of Sunday, January 21, two label-printing issues have been impacting the eBay labels platform:
1) eBay is unable to calculate First Class shipping on listings using Calculated Shipping if the item weight falls between 13 and 15.99 ounces.
2) Sellers who have sold an item to an international buyer are unable to print First Class International package labels.
We recognize this is a frustrating situation and we are working to resolve these issues as soon as possible. We don’t recommend any workarounds at this time as we believe the issue will be resolved shortly.
If you are unable to print labels due to these issues, please rest assured that eBay will automatically ensure any late shipments caused by this issue will not impact your Seller Performance Status.
We will continue to update this post as more information becomes available, and until the issue has been resolved.
SOURCE: eBay Announcement
I have had 3 messages from buyers who couldn’t buy for domestic shipping items that weigh one pound or less and are set for eBay to calculate the shipping. This started monday and the latest one was Tuesday evening. My sales are almost non-existant so it must be happening a lot.
More specifically, eBay correctly calculates the correct shipping amount for 16 oz ($6.70) and displays that to the buyer but then tells them, whan a purchase is attempted, “Seler doesn’t ship to New York.” (or another USA state, whichever it may be).