Esimated delivery dates on order page

[spaven6710]

Hi, 

I always dispatch my items the next working day after receiving payment even though I have it on my listings as dispatch within 3 working days.  I sold an item yesterday (Saturday), the seller selected RM 2nd class service, I purchased a postage label  and got the item ready to take to the post office tomorrow (Monday)

I have noticed that on the order page the estimated delivery date states Sun 18-Tues 20. 

How on earth can this be right?

Is this why I am getting defects?

Another buyer has been able open an item not received case for an item that was purchased  2nd class service  which I posted on Monday 14 Feb. Surely this is far too early as it is probable still on it's way.

Can anyone give me any advice about this as I can't possible dispatch any quicker and have always been proud of the service I provide for my buyers.

Thank you

Elizabeth

[therma-tec]

This is something a lot of sellers (including myself) have complaned to Ebay about. Sadly Ebay believe that there is nothing wrong with the system.

Things will just get worse as you have to ship items earlier than your stated dispatch dates to 'try' and meet the wrongly stated delivery times, Ebay's sytem then sees you dispatch earlier so then reduces the delivery times again. You cannot win!

I have this all the time, sell items on a Friday, Ebay says to post on Monday with a delivery date for Tuesday with a 48 hour courier! Apparantly guaranteed next day delivery takes a day longer, lol

All you can really do is post according to your dispatch times and upload tracking to show it was shipped on time to stop any defects. Royal Mail large letters and above have when it was accepted at the post office  and delivery confirmation which helps.

[pg_kicks]

Hi,

Its broken, well its not its working as planned if you ask eBay but we all know its broken and sadly nothing you can do about it. You can try and complain but they will tell you that they get all the information from couriers and use this to create the EDD and although you have proof that its broken it is actually working as planned. 

Sorry.

[markg8365]

Had the same on my shop in fact 1 day it said that the day it was bought would be delivered that of course this was denied

[tommystrezures]

The problem is in part as soon as you purchase a label through ebay it uploads the details and automatically marks it as dispatched even if the item is sat in your hall way waiting to be collected or taken to the post office, with the weekend scenario you have given. If you had purchased the label on Monday and taken straight to the post office if you will then a different EDD date would be given to the buyer.

I do stand to be corrected with that hypothosis by other responders who I know have more experience than me on this,  but its certainly is applicable when we up load say courier tracking details, our example last week was we purchased the label on a Wednesday at 7pm, direct from the courier, but the delivery date was Thursday. Impossible as UPS weren't due to collect to Thursday!!! This is where EDD is "broken".

[keeptheroof]

Have to love eBay buyers, don't you 🙂 I mean what other online service would they moan so much about delivery costs and email the seller within a few days of buying an item? 

It's so hard on the seller and I understand the pain. My PO is only open till 12.30 on Tues, Wed & Fri so if any buyer after noon on Friday it's Tuesday before I can post it. I won't just give it to the postman or ask for collection because I want the local PO to get a few pence for stamping it.

All you can do is your best.

[spaven6710]

Thank you to you all for your replies. It is comforting to know that I am not on my own. I have contacted a customer service agent this afternoon and they said that they have removed the defects but doesn't show yet, they apparently can't do anything about my rating score.

In future I think I will purchase at post office counter but download the tracking a few days later, within my 3 day dispatch time.

Thank you again.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

Similar story, i sold an item on friday, paid for and i despatched saturday 2nd class.   Buyer left feedback today (positive) as the item had already arrived.  Delivery not updated on e bay but they did have on still that the estimated arrival was sun 18th - Tues 20th whilst underneath it is telling me to post by Tues 20th!!   They really do need to get their heads from out of their.....  Not that i ever pay any real attention, i sell, i send at the first convenient time (usually the next day) and i just cross my fingers it gets there.  I must say that i have found that the parcels i post on saturday quite often get there on Monday whereas Mondays usually take until the end of the week.  Just glad that my livlihood is not dependant on E bay metrics.  

[theelench]

"They really do need their heads from out of their...."

They have no intention of doing so, but at least the chanting of "It's all working perfectly" coming from ebay towers is muffled by them not doing so.

"Not that I ever pay any real attention, I sell, I send....."

Same here, it's all one can do.  My buyers are presumably happy enough with what I put in my listings  --  two day dispatch, (but I usually send either same day as payment when I can, or next day definitely) by 2nd class RM.  I do, once in a blue moon, get someone who asks me to send by a quicker service which I'm happy to do if they pay the extra cost.

Ebay and "the Team" are just making themselves look silly by repeating what is obvious nonsense.  In my case, telling me to "Dispatch by Tuesday" but telling the buyer the parcel will arrive Tuesday or Wednesday. 

They've been asked plenty of times to explain how ebay thinks that is even possible, or which delivery company does ebay recommend that can deliver in accordance with their fantasy.   They've never been able to answer the questions and haven't ever tried.

It's just typical ebay.  They always know better than the sellers who get the job done in the real world.  But this is the sort of lunacy you'd expect from people who put their faith in a flawed algorithm, dismiss hands-on experience and cannot recognise the truth when it's waved in front of them by hundreds of people who know more than they do.

[rjwilmsi]

eBay's calculation of Estimated Delivery Dates seems to have been devised by the marketing department to make deliveries look as fast as possible, presumably to "compete" with Amazon Prime. That "calculation" seems to have changed more recently to be even more optimistic, such that it can be impossible to meet.

What I think is happening is that eBay are using tracking from the seller's prior purchases and cherry picking the best results. So if for example you dispatch a sale same day and it arrives the next day, eBay conclude that your items arrive next day. Then they simplistically apply that to ALL orders to create an even more optimistic date, even if that date is impossible to achieve (e.g. Monday delivery for Sunday evening sale).

Reports on these board are that eBay have refused to do anything about it. I infer that's because eBay's internal metrics suggest it's working for them i.e. increasing eBay revenues, so no motivation for eBay to change it.

To me what eBay should be doing is calculating the EDD as dispatch time plus postal service time so e.g. 1 day dispatch and 1 to 2 days for Royal Mail first class = EDD of 2 to 3 postal days after sale. Then, if they want to adjust that for seller's historic performance, they should only make the EDD LATER if the sellers tracking history shows they regularly dispatch late or the postal services they used are often slower than stated.

What eBay should not be doing is using historical tracking to make EDD any EARLIER than standard. That to me is the root of the problem.

So I now ignore EDD. If it starts to become a problem in terms of eBay metrics etc. then I don't know what I'll do.

[best-range]

You're not alone, check my long post about this ongoing problem on the teach board & the response or lack of that was given by ebay's rep, apparently "absolutely nothing is wrong" !

According to eBay items posted by 2 class economy are being delivered by Royal Mial the same day as posted or the very next day, as they "take all their info from the couriers" . 

The problem is that such courier services dont exist , Royal Mial or otherwise.

There are at least 7 different issues concerning the wrong EDD's presented to our customers that I & many other sellers identified providing proof & many screenshots  but still completely denied by ebay, :

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Technical-Issues/EDD-s-shows-same-day-delivery-as-dispatch-day-for-2...

[btr.style]

Yeah it's a total mess. 

We have some which was dispatch by today (Weds 21st) and yet estimated delivery dates for customers is 21st-22nd. 

It's like someone else says, if you dispatch earler and have items delivered quicker than expected (a good thing for customers getting their items sooner), it eventually comes back to bite you with unrealistic estimated delivery dates. 

We are now at a point where even though we have 3 working days dispatch, unless we send an item on the day it sells, it won't arrive until after the last estimated delivery date. Any slight delay in postage due to courier fault and it opens the door to an INR case. 

eBay make it much worse with their integrated tracking showing on the last estimated delivery date that the parcel will be with them 'today', even if it's not even at the customers local depot yet. Then the next day will show as parcel delivery running late, which then will only encourage people to open a case. 

eBay won't have any of it though and to them it's all working fine. 

[kath3735_wxmjn]

the other part of it is that RM are not updating their tracking either.  My earlier example is not updated as being delivered by RM so now E bay have decided that it is running late even though the buyer left positive feedback the day it was recieved (monday - was posted saturday) and she was pleased with the fast delivery!   I posted another parcel the same day and that is the same situation but as they did not leave feedback i am not sure whether it has been delivered or not!  This system is most definitely broken.....

[btr.style]

That's different to EDD issue though as it's a bug with eBay. They use coded software which grabs the tracking number and updates the status of it through a server which then shows on eBay's tracking. Sometimes either the code or server isn't working as it should and so no updates happen. When it's like that you can copy and paste the tracking number into the tracking section of the couriers website and it will show the accurate status of the parcel. 

With the EDD issue it's the unrealistic delivery times with this estimate. I.e we have 3 working day dispatch. An item that sold for us on the 19th (at around 8pm) has the eBay EDD of the 20th-22nd. Clearly it was never going to be processed through any courier network that late on the 19th so would never be delivered on the 20th. Yesterday no courier collections from us were made. Today, the 21st it's being collected from us (all fine, within our 3 working days dispatch policy). No way will it be delivered tomorrow. Should there be no courier delays it will be delivered on the 23rd, 1 day late according to the unrealistic EDD. 

Yet our delivery settings are up to 3 working days dispatch (which shows our side of things when the sale is made, dispatch by Thursday 22nd). So how can it be delivered by the 22nd when technically we could send it on the 22nd and be within our dispatch timeframe?

[technthread]

I am seeing this again on my sales. It may not be related but a few weeks ago I posted a tracked 48 small parcel to Northern Ireland and it got delivered in under 24 hours. Very impressive by Royal Mail but a nightmare for me as eBay can now use that as a benchmark. Ever since I have noticed my estimated delivery dates are 1 day tighter and everything has to go perfect for me to avoid late defects. 

I sold an item last night after 9pm. Buyer is in Scotland. EDD shown to buyer 22nd-23rd February using a 48 hour courier. When I click on my eBay tracking it shows me an EDD of 21st February-22nd February. 

This isn't anything new other than I wanted to get it off my chest here rather than ask eBay on today's live chat and be told it is working as designed. What a ridiculous position to be in that Royal Mail can perform an excellent service and the eBay seller gets a knot in their stomach because it is a precedent that is likely to work against them and mislead buyers rather than it just be what it is, a welcome anomaly. 

[theelench]

If that's the case then the Marketing Dept. should out of their jobs.   I thought the aim of marketing was to increase sales by making the product / company look better to buyers.  Anyone with the slightest common sense knows that something bought and sent RM 2nd Class is not going to arrive next day and is unlikely to arrive even the day after that.   So marketing is undermining the perceived reliability of anything ebay says.

They have also forgotten (or perhaps never knew) one of the basics of Marketing  --  "Under promise and over achieve."  Not do their best to make me, as a seller, look "couldn't care less" or lazy.

As you say, ebay should be adding the sellers handling time to the delivery company's estimated delivery date and telling the buyer, that is the minimum time to expect delivery. 

Imagine how pleased many buyers would be if their parcel arrives early, which many would as (like me) so many sellers extended their handling time back when ebay started this stupidity.  I can sometimes post Same Day but always post Next Day at the latest, not the 2 days I tell ebay.

I also ignore ebays FDDs and I know exactly what I'd do if it becomes a problem with my metrics (and I'm only allowed 5 late deliveries on a rolling 12 month basis).  I pay ebay 13.9% + 30p for the "pleasure" of using their site with ebay freely spreading their dis-information, that's quite enough IMO.  They're not getting a penny more, especially when the cause of my 'failure' is solely because of their rubbish 'calculations'.

[technthread]

It is just silly, I have worse examples, Saturday sales bizarrely show EDD's on the Monday. I was seeing ranges including Sunday's the other day as well, it changes like the wind. 

I think someone at eBay needs to look at it take into account that couriers have different cut off times and it massively changes what we can do. Evri have been collecting near me before 12 noon, Yodel can be as early as 9am. Royal Mail collected from my local PO well before 11am on Saturday which caught me out so that one could be considered 'late' when I didn't have to dispatch until Monday anyway. We have to rely on buyers being fair, eBay can say we will remove automatic late defects but they can't protect us from buyers being annoyed or marking things as late in their feedback. 

They give the impression from the EDD's that we should all have overnight courier contracts, the time of a sale can be irrelevant to eBay depending on the day of the week that the sale is made.

[best-range]

---

@technthread wrote:

I am seeing this again on my sales. It may not be related but a few weeks ago I posted a tracked 48 small parcel to Northern Ireland and it got delivered in under 24 hours. Very impressive by Royal Mail but a nightmare for me as eBay can now use that as a benchmark. Ever since I have noticed my estimated delivery dates are 1 day tighter and everything has to go perfect for me to avoid late defects. 

I sold an item last night after 9pm. Buyer is in Scotland. EDD shown to buyer 22nd-23rd February using a 48 hour courier. When I click on my eBay tracking it shows me an EDD of 21st February-22nd February. 

This isn't anything new other than I wanted to get it off my chest here rather than ask eBay on today's live chat and be told it is working as designed. What a ridiculous position to be in that Royal Mail can perform an excellent service and the eBay seller gets a knot in their stomach because it is a precedent that is likely to work against them and mislead buyers rather than it just be what it is, a welcome anomaly. 

---

Same happens everyday for me, promising that items will be delivered same day as posted, I just posted screenshot of the latest in my other thread.

I do question  the idea that EDD's are set by some "past delivery records precedent" because in 20 years of selling on ebay I never had an item delivered the same day as posted nor I ever had an item delivered the next day - if posted by 2 class economy RM service.

I never had an item bought on Friday night & posted the following Monday ever delivered the day before posting it, on Sunday - so travelling back in time.

None of the above scenarios ever happened so why this is exactly what ebay advertises to my customers?

There is no such  "past precedents"  in my case.

I'm convinced it's all coding error on top of another error , on top of another error, piling up multiple errors, part of that is counting Saturdays & Sundays as "normal working days" for the EDD's yet majority of sellers dispatch days are Monday-Friday, as no couriers collect business mail at weekends.

Also another error is the wrong time zone being attached moment the tracking is automatically uploaded to the order, the time zone is not UK, usually approx 8 hours ahead before the actual sale has happened.

Of course this might be different for private sellers who dont use tracking & do post Saturdays unlike business sellers using courier collections from premises.

In my own case, the great majority of economy 2 class post has always been delivered in 3 business days, a very small % of items got delivered in 2 business days & small % get delivered in 5-7 days esp to Northern Ireland & Channel Islands.

So this should be set as the "past precedent"  for the correct EDD's & not some fantasy "Same day delivery as dispatch" for 2 class post which seems to be the case now.