How do I upload tracking to eBay so it counts on time?
In Seller Hub open Orders, find the order under Paid and shipped, select Add tracking number, choose the carrier and save. eBay marks the order Shipped and emails the buyer. It counts as on time only when the carrier is one eBay integrates with and the carrier scan lands inside your handling time.
Add the tracking number in Seller Hub
Open Seller Hub and go to the Orders page.
Find the order under Paid and shipped, or open it from the Orders section of My eBay.
Select Add tracking number.
Enter the number and pick the carrier from eBay's list rather than typing it in free text.
Save. The buyer gets an email with the order tracking details.
You can add up to 6 tracking numbers to a single order, which is what you use when one order ships in more than one box.
Labels bought on eBay upload themselves
If you use an eBay issued label, the tracking number comes from one of eBay's integrated carriers and is uploaded automatically, so there is nothing to type. Labels bought anywhere else have to reach eBay some other way, either typed in by hand in Seller Hub or posted by an application connected to your seller account. Whichever route you use, the carrier on the record has to be the carrier that actually carried the parcel, because eBay validates the scan against that carrier.
Uploaded is not the same as on time
Handling time ends at the carrier scan, so an upload at 9pm with a first scan the next afternoon closes the window on the next day. Top Rated asks for at least 95% of transactions with tracking uploaded within handling time and validated by the carrier, which is the second half people miss. For a late shipment to be removed on review, the tracking has to have been uploaded before the latest estimated delivery date and show an acceptance scan within handling time or delivery by that date.
Fix the four things that break an upload
| Problem | What it costs you | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier typed, not picked | Tracking may not validate | Reselect the carrier on the order |
| Number uploaded days later | Fails the tracking uploaded standard | Upload when the label is bought |
| No acceptance scan | Handling time never closes | Hand the parcel over, or use a scan form |
| Typed digit wrong | No scan events ever appear | Paste the number, do not retype it |
Key takeaways
- Seller Hub: Orders, then Add tracking number, then pick the carrier.
- Up to 6 tracking numbers per order.
- eBay issued labels upload their tracking automatically.
- The upload counts on time only when the carrier scan lands inside handling time.
The label purchase is the upload
When you buy a USPS or UPS label against a synced eBay order, we post the fulfilment to eBay with the tracking number and carrier code, and eBay moves the order to Shipped and emails the buyer. There is no spreadsheet step and no second visit to Seller Hub. If eBay does not accept the write-back on the first try, it retries for up to 7 days.
Related questions
Seller Hub handles them one order at a time, and an application connected to your seller account can post the fulfilments for you instead. The cheapest version of bulk is not doing it at all: when the tool that bought the label is connected, the number lands on the order as soon as the label exists.
Yes. eBay emails the buyer the order tracking details once the number is on the order, and the order shows as Shipped in their purchase history. You do not need to send a separate message, and doing so usually just produces a reply asking where the parcel is.
Enter the tracking number from the receipt against the order and pick the carrier from eBay's list. Uploading it before the latest estimated delivery date still matters for defect removal, so do it the day you find it rather than waiting for the buyer to ask.
Yes, you can edit tracking on the order in Seller Hub. Correcting a mistyped number is worth doing immediately, because eBay validates scans against the number on file and a number with no events looks identical to a parcel that was never handed over.