The Post Office and other delivery companies are still up and running at their normal pace. Between now and Christmas they will gradually and then abruptly slow down. It is very important for you as an eBay Seller to set your customers expectations accordingly.
It may seem obvious that customers should place their Christmas Presents orders early enough for delivery by Christmas. Sometimes this is the case and when it is not you can end up with some angry customers opening up eBay and Paypal Disputes. These disputes tie up your money and can result in additional restrictions placed on your account by both eBay and Paypal. Not to mention the potential negative feedback you may receive from these customers.
The best thing you can do is be proactive at this time of year.
1. Place accurate handling times on each listing. If you are not able to ship the product for 5 days then make sure your handleing time does not say 1 day.
2. Add the faster shipping options to your listings. Sending a package by 1st Class Mail should be fine at the beginning of December and way too risky on December 20th. Make sure to offer Priority Mail or Overnight as an option. As it gets closer to Christmas you may want to delete the 1st Class Mail and other simularly slow methods all together.
3. Ship out each order as soon as possible. Definitely with in 24 hours after December 10th.
4. Add the Post Office or UPS Delivery Times Schedule to each of your listings. These schedules are already up in your local Post Office.
5. Finally make mention to your customers that you can not guarantee the shipping times the Post Office quotes because extremely bad weather can slow them down even more than expected. Ask your customers to allow a few extra days for delivery and to place their orders accordingly.
It may seem obvious that customers should place their Christmas Presents orders early enough for delivery by Christmas. Sometimes this is the case and when it is not you can end up with some angry customers opening up eBay and Paypal Disputes. These disputes tie up your money and can result in additional restrictions placed on your account by both eBay and Paypal. Not to mention the potential negative feedback you may receive from these customers.
The best thing you can do is be proactive at this time of year.
1. Place accurate handling times on each listing. If you are not able to ship the product for 5 days then make sure your handleing time does not say 1 day.
2. Add the faster shipping options to your listings. Sending a package by 1st Class Mail should be fine at the beginning of December and way too risky on December 20th. Make sure to offer Priority Mail or Overnight as an option. As it gets closer to Christmas you may want to delete the 1st Class Mail and other simularly slow methods all together.
3. Ship out each order as soon as possible. Definitely with in 24 hours after December 10th.
4. Add the Post Office or UPS Delivery Times Schedule to each of your listings. These schedules are already up in your local Post Office.
5. Finally make mention to your customers that you can not guarantee the shipping times the Post Office quotes because extremely bad weather can slow them down even more than expected. Ask your customers to allow a few extra days for delivery and to place their orders accordingly.
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