I really need to stop checking my ebay email account when I should be working or doing something more productive. Had I not checked my email this past Friday around lunchtime, I wouldn’t have seen this doozy, included as a note with a Paypal payment for a stupid t-shirt.

Note to seller
Hi- I need this by tomorrow. It’s for Fathers Day. Please drop in mail today. Paying for next day shipping. Thanks, -Tara

I’ll let my response tell the story:

You know, that is an awfully presumptuous request. You have time to try to negotiate the price, but then you expect me to mail the item within a six-hour window, same day, during business hours when people work. I am on a break at my job right now, and I *should* be able to get home before the post office closes to mail your shirt, but honestly, I can’t make a 100% guarantee, depending if I have to stay late, traffic, etc. Like 90%+ of sellers, ebay is NOT my full-time job.

I have the ebay-minimum handling time of one day, meaning that the buyer pays one day, I ship the next. I accepted your offer before noon yesterday and it took you a little less than 24 hours to pay. It is funny it took you that long to pay, but you expect me to have the item out the door in one-third of that time. Had you paid before I left for work this morning (8am), there would be no problem.

If I am successful in mailing your item today, it will be before 5pm and you will get an email with tracking. If not, it will go out tomorrow morning as I have off. I hope you understand where I’m coming from with this email and the audacious request you’ve made.

Not to repeat myself, but I REALLY hate it when buyers assume stuff like this. I clearly state in all of my auctions that I’ll gladly overnight anything, but you have to let me know a little in advance so I can make it happen.

Strange as it may seem, ebay is not my life; it’s not even close to my main source of income. It’s essentially a money-making hobby. Yes, I check my ebay email fanatically, but that doesn’t mean I’m a walking warehouse. She says it so casually: just drop it in the mail today. If I have a long day at work or I’m out of town for the day, more often than not, I’m simply not going to be able to overnight stuff if you don’t let me know and pay mid-day.

The worst part is when they try haggling with Best Offers to save a few bucks, then pay late, then expect me to drop everything to get their item out within a scant few hours. Basically everything this woman did.

Luckily for this woman and her dad, I managed to get home and mail her item before the post office closed. It was 4:57pm. Another five minutes in traffic and they would have been out of luck.

I never got a response to my email, nor did I receive feedback of any kind. They got the item, so they have nothing to be unhappy about. Except that she paid $45 total for a $4 t-shirt.

So here it is. Lame introductions are lame, so I’ll keep it short. Read my About Me page in the upper right corner if you don’t know who I am or what I’m doing on the internet.