Delivery estimates are getting stupid now

[teap0t42]

Just had a very irate email from a customer. He placed an order on Saturday afternoon and was told it would arrive yesterday.

Problem is, I do 4 working day despatch (so today is the last working day of the 4) and second class post (so even if posted on Monday it would be pushing it to have arrived yesterday).

What on earth are eBay playing at? As it happened I posted yesterday and upgraded the postage to first at my own expense - mostly because eBay give unrealistic dates. I try and post within a couple of days, but personal circumstances prevented it this time - thus why I say 4 working days, to give me breathing space when I need it. Seems eBay take that breathing space away and more.

I'm sure the incoming neg won't be appealable either, after all it's the buyers opinion how long it should take to get to them, mere facts don't come in to it.

[cactuscollarsleads]

 

I get similar messages at times, I reply saying that I have 5 day despatch, RM 2nd is 2/3 days and then doing a copy/paste from the order - see below - and explaining that this is what I am told and what I work to. I also 'apologise for ebay giving them unrealistic expectations and getting it wrong - yet again.  It has worked everytime so far

Dispatch by 11 Sep at 11.59pm BST

Make sure you send your order within the dispatch time you specified in the listing.

Estimated delivery date shown to buyer: 7 Sep 2024 - 12 Sep 2024

[morphiuscraftsuk]

I am despairing with EDDs it's causing so many issues and stress. I've lengthened the dispatch time, but this has made no difference, since when is 2nd class delivery with 2 day dispatch meant to arrive the next day???? Having to do so many refunds/replacements and customers even asking for compensation. 

I'm beginning to feel like I'm working for nothing. It's causing so much stress, I just feel like packing it all in!!

[teap0t42]

I've updated the despatch time on the listing in question to 7 days. Checking this morning in a private window I was being offered delivery between this Friday and next Thursday. (I use 2nd class post)

I mean?

They've also hidden the despatch time, or at least made it much less visible than it used to be, while boosting the visibility of their made up estimate which is totally unrelated to what we offer and what the postage service we specify works to.

[pure_seeds]

Use other courier 5 days usually solves this, instead of ebay using it's algorithms to work out how long the 2nd class item might take. 

[padanpcparts]

It's the international ones that kill me. 

USA - 1 Day

Germany - 1 Day

Reunion Island 2-5 Days

Brazil 4-10 days. 

It is an utter joke.

[bearandballoon]

I have had 5 items not received requests this week due to this. I have had to refund 3 of those.

I have tried selecting “other courier 5 days”, but it still shows free 2–3-day postage on the listing page. My only work around at present is to leave it as Royal Mail 2nd class and increase the dispatch days even though I post the same day.

I’m now convinced there is an agenda to get us 2 post as fast as possible even if it’s not feasible. I worry selecting longer dispatch and postage times will affect search placements and sales as it seems eBay want free 2-3 days postage as standard.

[teap0t42]

I've noticed a significant drop in sales which coincides with me increasing my despatch time.

I think eBay simply can't cope with the idea that not all sellers are box shifters who do this as their only occupation. Which is a shame, as the variety of specialist sellers is what made eBay great in the first place, but they do nothing to encourage and support them.

[vintagechinashop]

Yes I've discovered that this is the way to get around it. I'm 100% sure that eBay are totally disregarding despatch times now. So even if you set your despatch time to 7 days it will make little or no difference as to the date the buyer is shown for arrival 

[pg_kicks]

I was at the eBay event on Thursday so extended by dispatch to 3 days, sadly eBay dont take this vital information into the figures, its all on historical data so if you have it set as 5 days but usually you dispatch within 2 thats what your buyers will see. One I showed the team had please dispatch by the 16th and EDD as the 16th, this is an item that needs to be sent to eBay for authentication so no chance of it happening.

They read the boards (hi shipping team) so they know its an issue and they are trying to fix it but they want the buyers to have a realistic time frame so use historical data but know that then creates problems when we need to actually have those extra couple of days. Keep bringing it up in the weekly chats so we can give order numbers to the shipping team as the more info they have the better.

[teap0t42]

I wonder how they use the historic data though? Sometimes I post 30 minutes after the order gets placed (if the buyer times it right) while other times it's 3 working days.

Surely they should be using a median of times at the very shortest, not using your quickest and applying it to all sales?

[bearandballoon]

I have just had a discussion with eBay support who have advised exactly as above, it basically doesn’t matter what you change your handling time to unless it’s crazy like 10 days, eBay will use historical data to work out your likely dispatch time and estimate delivery based on that. I’ve now changed my handling time to 3 days and even though I will likely post same day I will mark as shipped the day after, I will confuse the algorithm!

[nebs9999]

So, maybe the way to solve this is to message each buyer to tell them their item has been posted, then the next day/2 days mark as dispatched on ebay.

[artybeeshop]

We have been facing the same issue for the past three years, and despite reporting the problem twice in the last 10 days, we have not seen any resolution. Unfortunately, it seems that this matter is not being given the attention it deserves.

Our dispatch settings are clearly set for 3-5 working days, yet eBay continues to show “next day delivery” on our listings. Despite multiple changes on our side, the issue persists. Moreover, listings with both Royal Mail 1st Class and 2nd Class services show the same estimated delivery times, which is incorrect.

This is misleading our customers, causing us to lose business, which is deeply unfair. While we continue to experience this issue, it appears that eBay is more focused on fees rather than resolving a critical problem affecting sellers.

As a result, we will be raising a formal complaint and seeking legal advice through the Ombudsman Service and Trading Standards, as we believe this is a violation of fair trading practices.

We look forward to a swift and proper resolution.

Best regards,

[orangerx-uk]

I had a very upset / angry buyer because his £6 order that was placed at 4.30pm on a Friday afternoon wasn't delivered on the Monday. 

eBay told him Monday to Wednesday delivery window. eBay told me to dispatch by the Tuesday (I have two day handling) but it was posted Monday morning.

Buyer was very angry and it was all my fault and said I should not advertise false delivery times. 2 day handling plus 2nd class post and ordered late Friday afternoon. No way this if going to arrive Monday especially when my order cut off time is 11am.

Anyway the order was delivered on the Wednesday. Saturday morning the buyer left a neutral feedback claiming it arrived late. eBay however did remove this feedback as I sent using 2D tracking. The item would have fitted in an envelope but I had a weird feeling when packing the order so upped it to LL which had the 2D tracking. Postage cost me almost double but glad I did it.

[arksglobal]

It's becoming increasingly frustrating for us how eBay ignore the handling times we specify and just make up unrealistic delivery estimates.

What is more frustrating is how many buyers just ignore any estimated dates shown and just seem to assume that whatever they order will be delivered the next day.

All they're doing is looking at the delivery service, not the estimated dates.

For example we have items that we ship with 'Other 24hr Courier' but we specify two or three days handling. Despite the estimated dates being 2 or 3 days away, buyers are asking us the following day where their item is - "but your listing said 24hr delivery" etc

Please eBay, as well as the delivery service and the estimated delivery dates, make it more obvious to buyers that there is a handling time specified!

[theelench]

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[rorycorp]

Almost every item says "get it in 3 days" which more often than not turns out to be 10-15 days in reality.

It's no wonder buyers are disgruntled.

[teap0t42]

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@rorycorp wrote:

It's no wonder buyers are disgruntled.

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It's also counter-productive as I've had a buyer disgruntled because an item didn't arrive as soon as eBay told them it might, and further disgruntled because they could no longer buy from me because I'd blocked them due to the negative feedback.

Couldn't grasp that a neg has a material aspect on my business and that I'd no longer want to trade with someone who harmed it.

[andha-21]

Never had the negative feedback from this issue to date but I know where you are all coming from.

As far as I'm concerned eBay are false advertising. Probably just to make themselves look better than they are. Closer to Amazon as it were. They also know that it's the sellers that will take the majority of the grief as it's easier to contact them.

My solution was just to screenshot the dispatch date area of my orders page. Show the buyer that eBay are lying.