Need support with the issue "not sent on time" | Seller Lounge

bixtron · 2026-02-10T15:53:26.755000Z

Hello, over the holidays, my rate of items not sent on time has shot up - as it does every year - (4.61%). To start with: I buy postage stamps through eBay and will continue to do so. Less effort, I receive invoices, seller protection if applicable, tracking is added to the order and the customer is kept up to date as a result (which it should be). It is still unclear what the base value (number of transactions in an evaluation period) used to calculate the rate consists of. It seems to be neither the number of orders, nor the number of items sold, nor the number of shipments sent. Even a truly competent employee was unable to answer this for me at the time. He was certain that it was item counts - but only (individual) items for which a scan was available. So I checked this myself afterwards, but it still was not fully comprehensible. It is precisely this base value that has a significant impact on the rate. It is also unclear why defects still arise when every employee from the specialist department says defects: "If the postage stamp was bought on eBay in time, the day counts as the day of lodging". And that is correct. How often do shipments only get scanned later or even skip a scan altogether... There is nothing I can do about that, and eBay is aware of this issue, which is actually not even an issue - because DP does not provide a lodging scan. For parcels/shipments with full tracking, it is also the case that they only have to be lodged. Whether the carrier only picks up the parcel in 2 days and the delivery date is therefore exceeded does not matter - you do not get a defect. So why is this requirement missing for letters? Yes, there is no lodging scan. But then there is also no proof of late lodging. If I only buy a postage stamp at 11 p.m., it is clear that one can assume it was not lodged. Although it would not actually make any difference, since DP does not collect it until the next day anyway. Letter boxes can be used around the clock. Sitting on the phone for hours is unreasonable.Apparently only 5-10 defects may be removed per employee. The employees themselves need 1-2 minutes per defect because they have to check everything in a cumbersome way and write a justification.Then I am supposed to call again. Then I have to explain everything to the call center employee all over again until he eventually understands me and transfers me. Then I have to explain everything to the specialist department again, and if the employee is having a bad day, no defects are removed at all, but I am given advice on how I can improve myself or trick the system by manipulating my processing time or shipping cut-off times. But that does not fight the problems; it is just another way of getting around them, to my disadvantage. I can, want to, and have to implement immediate shipping. In the interest of both sides and of the buyers. And with such a massive increase (I was well below 1% before), one simply has to ask whether the seller is really working that badly or whether there is not some kind of "error". I am at 5.0/5.0 stars in terms of delivery time. If I look at my feedback, I see praise for delivery time in almost every review; sometimes I read "Shipment even arrived faster...". So it does not fit. Not at all. In addition to the still incorrect calculation of delivery times - especially around the holidays - there is also this: Customer orders Saturday morning. My shipping cut-off is Saturday afternoon. Processing on the same day (Mon-Sun, since I can also lodge parcels on Sundays). The shipment (parcel) would therefore have to be lodged on Saturday. According to eBay, then only on Monday? I have now done that as a test. Estimated delivery date: Feb 10, 2026 - Feb 12, 202. I am curious... Hermes sees it a little differently: Suppose it arrives 2 days later now and the customer opens a return "item does not match the description". Because amusingly, delivery time falls under that too. I deviated from my own details and only lodged it on Monday - in line with eBay's specification. Am I then at fault or not? Best of all, there will probably be a negative review on top that won't be removed... Orders that I sent by letter and that were placed during the same period had to be lodged on Saturday, which also happened. From November until the beginning of January I was significantly restricted health-wise. Nevertheless, I managed to lodge the shipments on time for the most part. I did not want to accept 8 weeks of absence over the holidays. I am sure that this is also in eBay's interest... Except for a few days on which lodging was absolutely impossible and had to be postponed to the following day, there were no delays caused by me at all. It is nothing new that DP sometimes needs a bit longer to process shipments, especially around the holidays.I am right in the middle of the Ruhr area. What is processed here every day in terms of shipments is absurd. If there were major delays, the buyers were informed, and none of them ever complained. On the contrary, the feedback is positive. When I once wanted defects removed because of significant health restrictions (there were about 10 defects), I was made to understand on the phone that they did not believe me "You lodged it one day and not the next, come on now..." and other statements that make one doubt the "specialist" in "specialist department". Relevant documents were available and I could have submitted them. It would be great if an eBay employee could support me with this: -What is "number of transactions" calculated from, and is there an error in my account? I cannot find/compare "number of transactions" in any metric. -Which requirement is now clearly the top rule? Scan or date of purchase? And how can I have defects caused by a delayed scan removed without having to call every time? Apart from loss-making business (registered mail) or buying stamps directly from DP itself (loss of seller protection). -Do I have any chance of at least getting the defects removed for the period in which I was demonstrably restricted? That should at least bring the rate back below the limit so that I do not lose my status... -...although, to be honest, I would rather insist on the removal of all defects where the postage stamps were bought on the same day. For example, I could compile a list of the affected order numbers. If necessary, also with the date & time of purchase of the stamp via eBay. Thank you very much!

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