Time Away

You can manage your time away in your Time Away settings. As well as scheduling how long you'll be away for, you can choose if you want to pause your sales or allow them to continue. You can also set an automatic response for buyers who contact you through eBay Messages while you're away.

Go to Time Away settings - opens in new window or tab

While you're on time away, you still need to uphold commitments to your buyers, such as fulfilling orders sold before your time away start date and responding to any open buyer requests related to items sold before your time away start date. eBay fees (such as listing-related fees or any subscription fees you have) will also continue to apply during your time away.

Schedule time away

Here's how to schedule your time away if needed:

1. Go to your Time Away settings - opens in new window or tab.
2. Select Schedule time away.
3. Select Allow item sales or Pause item sales while on time away.
4. Set a Start date and End date for your time away.
   • To start your time away immediately, select today's date.
5. Select Apply.

When scheduling your time away, keep in mind:

• If you choose today's date, a message at the top of your listings letting buyers know you're on time away will display within minutes. It will take a few hours to update the estimated delivery date for your listings. If you chose Pause item sales, it will take a few hours for your listings to be hidden
• If you choose a later date, your time away will begin at 00:01 on your scheduled start date and finish at 23:59 on your scheduled end date
• If you allow item sales, your time away can be up to 15 days
• If you pause item sales, your time away can be up to up to 30 days
• You should schedule your time away to start a day before your time off to accommodate any last-day orders and end it a day later than your return date to process any pending orders

Whether you choose to allow sales or pause them, delivery dates won't be updated for:

• Second Chance Offers
• Auto-accepted offers
• Pending counter-offers
• Seller initiated offers accepted during Time Away
• Items with local pickup, in-store pickup, or Global Shipping Program as the delivery option
• Digital items

You may want to change the delivery format or the handling times on these items while on time away.

Allow item sales

When you allow item sales to continue while you're away, it's important to remember the following points:

• Your listings will still be visible and buyers can still purchase your items. However, buyers will see a message at the top of your listings letting them know that you are on time away
• The estimated delivery date will also be automatically updated in the Postage and Delivery section of your listings, so you don't need to make any manual changes

Pause item sales

When you pause item sales, remember the following:

• Fixed price listings will be hidden from search results and buyers won't be able to purchase your items
• If a buyer previously added one of your items to their Watchlist or cart and tries to buy it while you're away, they won't be able to complete the purchase. They'll see a note stating that you're not processing orders until the time away end date
• It can take a few hours for your fixed price listings to become hidden, so we recommend setting your time away in advance whenever possible
• After time away ends it can take a couple of hours for your listings to re-appear in search results. Listings will re-appear automatically; you don't need to edit your listings

Auction listings: When you pause item sales, buyers will still be able to see and buy your auction-style listings but they'll see a message at the top of the listing informing them that you're on time away. The estimated delivery date will also be updated in the Postage and Delivery section.

End time away early

Here's how to end your time away earlier than the scheduled date:

1. Go to Time Away settings.
2. Select Cancel time away or set the End date to an earlier date.
3. Select Apply.

If you cancel time away or set the end date to today's date, it can take a couple of hours for your listings to appear in search results.

Set an automatic response

You can set up an automatic response for buyers who contact you through eBay Messages during your time away. Here's how:

1. Go to Time Away settings - opens in new window or tab.
2. Select Automatic response.
3. Select Message when on time away.
4. Set a Start date and End date for your message.
5. Type your message in the Automatic response box.
6. Select Apply.

Once you've set up your automatic response, any buyers who contact you will receive a message letting them know when you're back.