eBay's false estimated delivery dates, now several messages from buyers not happy.

[lincolnshiremarine]

I have been going on about this issue like a broken record.  I have reported it several times and even been on the community chat several times.  Ebay claim the EDD's are working fine.  They are not.

Ebay are giving buyers delivery dates as same day deliveries, next day deliveries.  Even when buyers have  have selected the free, three day delivery, they are including non working days as delivery dates being Saturday and Sundays.

I know that other sellers are being affected by this too, and have reported it too.

However, I am now spending hours replying to buyers whom think their parcel is late based on ebays estimated delivery dates. 

This leaves my business open for negative feedback and the issue of asking ebay to remove it.

The messages I am getting from buyers are:

" Hi not to pleased due to the fact I ordered this part from your company because of the delivery time and it’s not happened! Hopefully this item will turn up soon"

"parcel not arrived yet ??"

Both of those cases where when they purchased over a weekend, and they were dropped of at the parcel shop for collection the same day of purchase. However, this was over the weekend.  Ebay tracking has said to expect the delivery on Monday, which is wrong, as they included weekends as the courier collection and delivery days.

When you look on the couriers webiste the delivery dates are correct and ebays are incorrect.

We have had the same issue with Royal Mail tracked on ebay too.

How many more sellers are now getting messages like this on a daily basis, and what are you telling the buyers.?

I have been selling on ebay for 16 years and we dispatch the items on time, but, this ebay EDD are on another level now.

We look like we are fabricating delivery dates just to obtain a sale, and although we have tried tweaking the postage days etc, it does not help.

marco@ebay

Katie@ebay

Dave@ebay

[dch2112011]

I understand your frustration, but 'dynamic' estimates can work really well -  we ship around 200 ebay orders a day and the estimates are very accurate but then we have not changed from same day dispatch for years and use fully integrated tracking - in other words the system has settled down to work as it should  -  we on the other hand have to make sure orders are dispatched at the earliest opportunity - the big sellers on ebay are almost certainly offering next day and in some cases same day delivery.

The carriers supply information to ebay regarding delivery aims for each service and delays in the service across the regions which only when officially notified are linked to the dynamic system which changes the estimates - note if they are not officially acknowledged as delays by the carrier - even at peak times or extreme weather or any other reason the estimates are not affected and will continue to display optimimum delivery estimates.

If you do not use tracking, the system uses the carrier information and cannot use your delivery data to adjust estimates based on your results, I do not know if the system substitutes geographical or category based data instead ? I would like to think not but it is possible.

When changing dispatch times - it takes time for the system to adjust to your new actual dispatch times before it is reflected in your EDD.

What confuses a lot of sellers who assume that the EDD earliest date cannot be before the latest date for dispatch which is why when they complain ebay tell them the system is working as it should

Put simply the EDD calculates from Day 1  and from the last day to give a range of dates so if you specify 5 day dispatch day 1 of five is used as the earliest date for calculating EDD and day 5 is the latest date used for calculating EDD

The worst estimates are when sellers use 'other carriers and a long dispatch time - these choices are for unusual items needing specialist delivery and when used for 'normal' deliveries because of the lack of data the estimates tend to be longer than necessary as far as I can see - until the seller dispatches early and or enters a normal tracking number and identifies a known carrier being used which is data that the system will gather acknowledge and adjust estimates to.

At the end of the day customers are highly expectant of receiving tracking information and quick delivery from date of order - it is pretty much the norm when shopping online and is one of the biggest decision influences when purchasing online. 

It is not just ebay, private websites and the likes of Amazon are way ahead of ebay sellers in hitting delivery next day or within 2 days  from date of order - some are now offering 7 day a week deliveries - ebay are trying to get sellers and themselves to be competetive on delivery, price is often a secondary consideration although it is still important.

All of this is led by customer expectation 

[dch2112011]

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@your.home.consoles.world.ltd wrote:

The suggested delivery time should be determined by the seller, as he is responsible for the whole process, ebay may suggest faster delivery based on the delivery history ( as an incentive but never as a guarantee )

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In the ideal world sellers should be trusted to give accurate delivery estimates and dispatch goods at the earliest opportunity and certainly many are and would be capable of doing this but this is ebay and whether it is the comfort of hiding behind ebay or just the nature of a large proportion of sellers operating from home who are very interested in getting paid but not so interested in packing, dispatching and using a delivery service that fulfills buyer expectations  that has and is prompting ebay  to implement systems that 'encourage' sellers to  meet those expectations

[your.home.consoles.world.ltd]

I don't really understand what business has to do with the story of an ideal world.
These are very simple settings, companies as a rule set a system of work that simply works, if it does not work, the company lose money.
After all, if it wasn't about delivery time and meeting certain standards, this topic wouldn't exist.

[custom-giftsuk]

I posted this elsewhere but I'll post here. I was looking at eBay's EDD the other day and found that 1st class, RM24, RM24 tracked, Parcelforce 24 next day, 2nd class, were wildly out of step. Before you say but what about cut off times or delays in dispatching items - three sellers, with 1st class taking 2-3 days, 2nd class taking 2-3 days, Parcelforce 24 next day 3 days, RM24 Tracked 2-3 days, RM24 2-3 days, 2nd class 2-3 days.

They cant *ALL* be 2-3 days with the only next day guaranteed being 3 days.

RM 1st class & 24 are supposed to be next working day delivery, with up to 3 days possible.
RM 2nd class is 3 working day delivery, with up to 10 days possible. 

So why does everything according to eBay estimated at 2-3 days?

What is the point is selling an item at a premium to account for 1st class post when the same item can be cheaper using 2nd class when eBay estimate that all delivery dates are the same?

[custom-giftsuk]

Here is something I looked at there just now.

So its Friday morning - 10am. Items could still be posted today or even tomorrow Saturday.

Estimated delivery for 2nd class post, Monday 10th/Tuesday 11th
Estimated delivery for 24 Tracked, Monday 10th/Tuesday 11th.

Why pay the extra £5.99 that Tracked 24 that the seller is offering if eBay EDD is the same?

In fact eBay would make a cut of the £5.99, which makes even less sense to have both dates being the same, because if the item doesnt arrive by the 11th, the buyer can quite happily put in a INR claim and get their money back (also because its 2nd class post and unlikely to be tracked - they would win without issue)

[dch2112011]

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@your.home.consoles.world.ltd wrote:

I don't really understand what business has to do with the story of an ideal world.
These are very simple settings, companies as a rule set a system of work that simply works, if it does not work, the company lose money.
After all, if it wasn't about delivery time and meeting certain standards, this topic wouldn't exist.

Buyers want same day delivery ideally, to match buying in a high street shop when buying online  from the comfort of their own home. This is the aim and aspiration of major online businesses to give the customer the ideal world when shopping online.

The different approach between  large businesses who understand the concept of creating an ideal shopping world online (increasing sales), to small part time businesses and private sellers who once paid feel that it acceptable to delay  delivery (decreasing sales)  are poles apart. 

With private accounts ebay have felt compelled to improve the buyer experiance  by introducing simple delivery and holding back payments to incentivise quick dispatch .

Across the board Dynamic EDD was introduced to give realistic data based delivery estimates to buyers 

Let's hope ebay don't increase the stranglehold to small businesses  to be able to allow EDD to work.

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[dch2112011]

The EDD that you refer to for an order placed and posted Saturday morning

2nd class standard delivery aim RM 2 to 3 working days including Saturday would make estimate Monday 10th or Tuesday 11th - This ties in exactly with ebay's EDD

Royal Mail tracked 24,RM aim for 1 to 2 working days  which should mean If received before cut off time delivery aim as Saturday 8th or Sunday 9th for parcels, Saturday 8th to Monday 10th for non large letter or parcel from a registered high usage seller registered with RM. After cut off times for a parcel  Sunday 9th to Monday 10th, non parcel / large letter Monday 10th to Tue 11th

For everyone else if received by RM before cut off time  it would be Saturday 8th to Monday 9th 

If after cut off time aim would be Monday 9th to Tuesday 10th- So ebay's EDD may be correct depending on seller postage policy 

The big problem is you do not know what seller preferences have been applied to work out how accurate the 'misleading' EDD's are - so an assumption is made that on face value they are incorrect which may also be incorrect ! Clear as mud !

[custom-giftsuk]

Ok so lets say you are correct, I posted that comment at just after 10am this morning, Friday.

So lets look at the postage estimates, same seller, same details, same item, Friday afternoon, just after 3pm.

2nd class post has now jumped from 10th/11th March to 11th/17th March
24 Tracked jumped from 10/11th March to 11th/15th March.

You can see that from the attached image which was screenshotted at 3pm today.

A jump of almost a week for 2nd class, nearly 4 days for RM Tracked 24 in 5 hours.  

So if you ordered at 10am this morning, you could expect it, irrespective of 1st class or 2nd class be there within 4 days - Saturday to Tuesday. If you order at 3pm today it will be delivered within 10 days for 2nd class & 8 days for RM Tracked 24. 

[dch2112011]

Yes it looks odd but it might be the seller preferences being changed - the problem with dynamic EDD is that changes that are hidden alter the estimates.

If the seller changed dispatch times  to 5 days  for 2nd class standard 2-3 day delivery aim- earliest date would be 11th March  latest EDD would be 17th March - 

Date would be 8th Saturday for dispatch earliest arrival aim 2 working days becomes Tuesday 11th, latest date for dispatch 5 working days becomes 13th March latest delivery aim 17th March (3 working days  -  EDD should read 17th March 

Anyway this is how I believe it is worked out - this is why long dispatch periods give extended EDD's ?

[awestelectricals6]

Please see attached pictures of my Cut of times and the days i dispatch. Todays date is 8th Feb 2025, No I'll not be dispatching until the 10th Feb 2025 that is a Monday. Then the next picture shows when the EDD is. How does 2nd class equate to 1st class service. And Ill not be dispatching until Monday. Yes the special delivery sevrice is correct but the free 2nd class service is wrong why they saying Tuesday to Wednesday. Should this be more like Wed to Thur. This is Why customers start to complain. eBay IT need to look into this as i've never had any RM 2nd class mail arrive the next day after dispatch.

[arc3110]

ebay know it's wrong, the shipping team know it's wrong and have done for quite sometime. Many have attempted to get ebay to do something about it, me included, but the super complex, highly efficient programming is working as designed we are repeatedly told! After all, this is a system that is so complex and accurate it knows exactly when you are going to be ill, take a day off, know exactly what the weather is going to be for that postcode for week, so what ebay say must be right.

It's not hard to see there is a problem with cut-off times, dispatch days and the difference between a 1-2  and 2-3 working day service, yet here we are years later all complaining about the very same problems. Sellers are still showing examples of there being errors, still having to deal with disappointed buyers, a drop in service metrics etc.  yet we still continued to gaslighted about it.

Surely it's a simple correction no? Look at the service selected, when it will be dispatched and then add carriers stated delivery time for that service, it's really not that difficult is it.........

[custom-giftsuk]

I completely agree. Calculating should be EDD is super simple. 

If I dispatch an item next working day, which today being Saturday - would be Monday 10th.

RM say 1st class is probably next working day, but can take up to 3 days. So EDD should be Tuesday 11th - Thursday 13th. eBay has it at Tuesday 11 - Wednesday 12th (so not that much out)

RM say 2nd class is 2 working day but can be up to 10 days, so EDD should be Wednesday 12th to 21st March but eBay has it at Tuesday 11th - Thursday 13th. (which is a HUGE change).

So eBay always miscalculate to ensure that the EDD is a lot closer than it actually is so that buyers will think oh.. ok... I can get that from A**zon next day but its really expensive, but if i go with eBay... maybe a day later than A**zon its worth the cost differential. BUT they are putting customers off with unrealistic expectations not to mention generally equating 1st class postage with 2nd class postage, so a seller who posts 1st class will generally charge more than someone posting 2nd class (generally speaking) but a buyer looking at the price wont see that differential unless they look at the postage options, which very few do.

[knit-in-styles]

This has been going on for years, right back to before 2021. I started a thread back then which had pages of replies as I was so angry a buyer was able to open an INR BEFORE my latest dispatch date I wrote to the Executive Team with an official complaint. I still have the reply and it was in June 2021. The reply was the standard eBay rhetoric re how EDDs are calculated which I totally disputed. I also totally object that I set a 3 day handling time (although I ALWAYS post within 24 hours) but I like to have the option there just in case for whatever reason I cannot manage out with my mail or if I am away from home. Ebays EDDs do NOT take account of this if you post within 24 hours.

For example they say "The location of your item and your buyer's delivery address". This is total nonsense. 

It makes no difference if an item is going to my next Street or going to the other end of the Country. 

I use business mail. My mail is dropped off at my local sorting office in Central Scotland. It goes from there unopened in the Royal Mail sack to Edinburgh and in Edinburgh, I believe that is where it is opened and sorted. So, if I have an item going to my next Street, it is not going to arrive any quicker than an item going to London.

[dch2112011]

Regarding your post with cut off time 2.30pm same day shipping which is what you have ticked 

2nd class Order placed before 2.30pm  today shipped 8th March - aim 2 to 3 days delivery EDD earliest will be 11th March, EDD latest 12th March  which is exactly what your EDD reads !

Bear in mind Saturday 9th is classed by RM as a working day so counts towards your EDD

You need to remove your cut off same day dispatch settings to change it  especially as you say you are not shipping until Monday !

[awestelectricals6]

Today is Saturday and I don't dispatch on a Saturday. You will see thats not ticked


Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[dch2112011]

EDD is calculated using RM's delivery aims as stated in their terms and conditions - only changes when RM officially announce delays or changes are officially made to the terms and conditions - the what if's and maybe;s on RM website referring to 10 days, or the man in the moon is totally irrelevant.

Second class delivery aims are 2 to 3 working days and RM class Saturday as a working day but if you do not work on a Saturday any EDD with dispatch before Saturday counts Saturday as a delivery day - any order on Saturday starts the delivery estimate from Tuesday with dispatch on Monday as the earliest day and finish 3 days after your latest date for dispatch  unless you offer same day dispatch when it would start on the Monday and finish on the Tuesday

[dch2112011]

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@knit-in-styles wrote:

For example they say "The location of your item and your buyer's delivery address". This is total nonsense. 

It makes no difference if an item is going to my next Street or going to the other end of the Country. 

It absolutely makes a difference - RM for certain postcodes give a totally different delivery aim than for the rest of the country - so ebay will calculate EDD's based on this information.

Likewise RM in certain locations do not collect and ship same day - they offer collection same day but processing following day - ebay use these locations to calculate EDD as per RM information

Because you have not been affected does not mean that other locations are the same  - as they are uncommon  they only show on the EDD after dispatch to the customer -

Do you check every EDD after dispatch on your customer order  information - they change depending on actual dispatch date and customer location.

Your EDD before dispatch is based on your location and will remain constant 

[dch2112011]

Yes apologies thought it was Friday 

What is possibly happening is that if you are using business click and collect that your 2nd class items are being delivered early by RM  - maybe not all but a significant number -  you can check a sample for delivery dates , if so the dynamic system is picking up the actual dispatch and delivery dates and dynamically adjusting the EDD to match what is happening in real terms.

We get this from time to time most of our RM48 items are delivered following day and virtually all are delivered within 2 days  - you get the occasional straggler  - the EDD's reflect this but can then change when the items deliveries slow down 

It might be worth checking a few  and see if this is what is happening otherwise it is a system error that is counting Saturday as a dispatch day for second class - there is a poster @your.home.consoles.world.ltd  who is experiancing the exact same problem with 2nd class 

If it is a system error the road to change is via ebay to get them to raise a ticket to the back room to solve it - could take some persistance to get any priority

The other thing to check is what the EDD changes to when dispatched on the customer order  - may not be relevant but worth a look to get the full picture 

[billynot-8]

Don't  waste time complaining to liars 

[arc3110]

"It might be worth checking a few  and see if this is what is happening otherwise it is a system error that is counting Saturday as a dispatch day for second class - there is a poster @your.home.consoles.world.ltd  who is experiencing the exact same problem with 2nd class "

This is the major issue, the system counting Saturday as dispatch day for second class/48, how many more times does this need to be bought to the shipping teams attention? I know a few sellers that have had face-to-face discussion's at open event's, myself included. Promised follow ups have never materialised, despite being chased with CS, Concierge, Pro-Traders, years later we are still talking about the same thing.

If it is a system error the road to change is via ebay to get them to raise a ticket to the back room to solve it - could take some persistence to get any priority"

A bit like my comment above, how many tickets have to be raised about this? I know that hundreds of examples have been given yet the problem still exists. My issue is why? Who benefits from it? Buyers, no, Sellers no, it annoys both of these.

If you give a realistic EDD your buyer is happy when it arrives on time, even more so if it arrives early = Happy Customer. If your are over optimistic and unrealistic, as is the way with EDD,  and the item doesn't arrive next day as ebay promised then your buyer is unhappy = Lost customer. Feedbacks prove this.

Buyers simply do not understand, they only see the first date and expect their order to arrive by then. They have no concept that it is only an estimate (as ebay tell us) and they expect their order to arrive then. This is expectations of buyers now, they are not interested to hear about the weather, strikes, road closures, you only dispatch every other day etc. they want their delivery when they are told it will arrive or before. As far as they are concerned it is the sellers have told them it will arrive then, so the seller is to blame.

As I and many others have said, it's not that difficult to calculate. Look at the service selected, when it will be dispatched and then add the carriers stated delivery time for that service. It seems that when the item is dispatched is the issue because from examples given by many, cut-off and handling times are being ignored. How can you have the same EDD displaying for before and after a same day dispatch cut-off time? 

For us, we have 2pm cut off, Monday to Friday, no dispatches over the weekend, and have never had those selected in postage preferences, we have never dispatched on Saturday either, not once. If you order Monday to Friday before the cut of time the EDD is spot on, working as intended, go past that cut-off time and the EDD remains the same until midnight when it changes. Worse are Saturdays when a buyer can expect their RM 48 delivery on the Monday or Tuesday, but go to Sunday and it's a bit more realistic with Tuesday to Wednesday shown to the buyer, but even that is wrong. Come back to Monday before cut-off and everything is back to being realistic.

There are literally hundreds of examples of this from sellers all over the country, yet everyone is told the same, it is working as intended. So back to my issue, why? Why ignore your customers, come on ebay read the room, it's tough enough out as it is.