How the Iceland Volcanic Ash may Affect Your eBay Business

A volcanic eruption from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland spewed tons of ash into the skies this past week. Airports in 23 countries in Europe have been closed due to the volcanic ash in the air. Volcanic ash can be hazardous to aircraft and can affect the performance of an engine and cause the engine to malfunction. Millions of travelers are stranded.

So what does this mean for an eBay seller in the USA? If you are shipping internationally to this region of Europe, your packages may be caught in the backlog and your customer's order may be sitting on a plane somewhere on the ground.



Keep this in mind if you get any "where is my order" type emails from customers to whom you shipped this week. Be prepared to explain the possible delay. Your international customers may not have made the connection that mail is on those grounded planes, too.