eBay to Protect Sellers Dealing with Widespread USPS Delays

The Houston-area postal delays that impacted people during the Christmas shopping season have spread to other parts of the country – including Virginia and Georgia, and eBay indicated it would protect sellers who run into problems as a result.

“Across the country, residents and businesses have been reporting widespread slowdowns in mail and package delivery by the U.S. Postal Service,” NBC News reported today, April 6, 2024. It noted that the delays have become so persistent that lawmakers have urged the USPS to correct course.

eBay is keeping an eye on things, according to the eBay for Business podcast. In Tuesday’s episode, the hosts said they saw a map of delays that indicated the entire country was experiencing delays but said they were pretty sure the eBay Shipping Team was covering for the delays so that there would be no consequences.

The issue arose when the podcast hosts were discussing the dilemma of a seller whose buyer opened an Item Not Received claim and sought advice on whether it was best to refund the buyer despite eBay Customer Service advising him to “wait it out.”

In today’s article, NBC said the delays it reported on appeared to stem from the USPS overhaul “that will eventually funnel all the nation’s letters and packages through a consolidated network of 60 regional distribution centers” – part of the 10-year Delivering for America plan. But weather may be compounding matters. Colleagues advised a seller today about what to do after he experienced a spike in Item Not Received claims that he suspected stemmed from weather-related delays.

eBay generally posts announcements about specific events and how it will protect sellers from delays, such as this announcement from last month that explained how it would automatically protect seller performance.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She’s a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of “Turn eBay Data Into Dollars” (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, “Blogging Heroes” (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 – present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 – present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.