Ebay shop holidays

[mrs maggot]

ok, we are off - not actually on holiday, but working away for 2 events, and are stopping away between the two, so i need to shut the ebay shop for just over a week. so do we do;

A) Put the shop "on holiday" but still let people order - they are not always very observant and will then moan when things don't arrive

B) Temp remove the shop - which is eBays default answer, and then will people think we have gone out of business ?

C) Put the shop "on holiday" but still let people order - but on each listing put in big letters ****We are away until after the Bank Holiday** your order will not arrive until w/c 31/5/16

~At the moment when we go away on a Thursday through Sunday we do A - just wondering what others think. none of the items we sell on ebay are personalised gifts btw

[viccar]

I always hide mine, but if you are going to leave shop open make sure you alter your dispatch time as it doesnt do it for you, so you want a minimum of 7 day dispatch time, so you get no inr or late delivery defects.

[phoenixalpha]

I'd go with hide. Customers rarely check things like holidays and I've had a few bad experiences with just putting shop on holiday without hiding listings. Customers demanding items be sent when they cant read the ETA etc.

[Ian66]

I always hide. I did this last week and within a few hours after turning my shop back on again I had 3 orders so it didn't seem to affect things. I must admit, it was rather nice when I was 'invisible' for a few days. Not good for the bank balance but great for my sanity!

[JMugs]

I hide, saves confusion.

Janners

[mrs maggot]

thanks guys i will hide then, but continue to not hide when its only a weekend, as i have not had any issues so far with that, aaaah i can look forward to a few ebay free days.

[Smart Mart]

Why loose sales? the option for the customers to buy items while you are away is fantastic-something you cannot do on amazon by the way which is very annoying. When i go away for a week, customers still buy items & they are sent an auto response email stating that the item will be dispatched on a certain day as per ebay listing-if they can't wait simply refund them,i have had no problems what so ever with this & you can stay in touch with your customers wherevever you are.

[Ian66]

I think you are living dangerously. For a start, surely a refund triggers a defect on ebay these days, as it will be deemed that you are selling an item which is out of stock. Also, from my experience, some people do not always read emails promptly, and could send a "where is my item" email, which will also trigger a defect. As we all know, the buyer is king as far as ebay is concerned and sellers seem to have no protection whatsoever. Safer to close the shop, have a holiday and actually RELAX!!

[Smart Mart]

Selling an item while holiday settings are turned on is well within ebay policies-not the same as being out of stock. I've been selling on ebay for 15 years,over 15000 feedback,top rated seller & i don't think i live dangerously because i sell on holiday settings! My buyers always read emails if there is a delay in shipments due to holidays-i send a polite email out & i usually get a polite reply back.Sellers do have protection-not as much as buyers which is understandable,but it is there. I do relax on holiday-while the money goes into my paypal account. You are focusing to much on the negative that can happen instead of the positive.

[Ucase Ltd]

Agree with smart Mart - When you "Cancel Order" you have the option to click cancel at buyer request, This is not shown as a defect.
I always use option "C" above in first post and follow that with auto-response.