eBay UK have announced that the estimated delivery dates shown on the site will now be variable based on the postcodes declared by both buyers and sellers.
“From 23 April our estimated delivery dates for certain carrier services will be based on the postcode of the item location the seller has specified as well as the delivery postcode specified by the buyer.
We are making this change to improve the accuracy of delivery estimates. The delivery address postcode used to estimate the date of delivery will be shown along with the item estimated delivery date on the view item page.”
Hopefully this will prove to be a good change with more accurate information being displayed to buyers regarding delivery times and also, equally, act as a defence against unfair defects.
But the proof is always in the pudding and we’d be interested to know if you see a difference. We’ve also asked eBay for more details.
7 Responses
The best defence against unfair defects would be to change Ebay’s dumb policies.
We got 7 defects recently for agreeing to cancel an order when a customer changed their mind.
Ebay customer service response: If Ebay loses their fee, either the seller is getting a defect or the buyer is getting a strike.
Guess which will happen.
What I have noticed on my orders/listings is that eBay are giving a quicker estimated delivery date. I have a 1 day dispatch time on all of my listings and the majority of my items have free Royal Mail second class postage, which should give a 2-3 working day estimate, however most of my order details and listings are showing as 2nd class but with the fast and free logo and just a 2 day estimated delivery. So rather than being more accurate and fair to sellers eBay are promising buyers 2nd class orders will arrive sooner, in just 2 days, which means item not received cases can be opened a day earlier and has the potential to result in more defects, not fewer. I have not noticed any difference to the 1st class estimates, they seem to be the same, 1 working day.
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I post with RM 1st class or SD from Eastern England.
The delivery estimates on my listings for 1st class to N Ireland and for most postcodes in Scotland are now 1-2days. eBay seem to be relating delivery time to distance rather than the way RM offer it which is on a systemic basis.
In my experience delivery to Birmingham or Bristol is just as likely to take 2 days as it is to Edinburgh or Aberdeen.
Are we really expected to believe this from the company that forgot when Easter was this year?
They even “Forgot” when Christmas (or at least when the last posting dates were) was 2 years ago!!
Call me a cynic but I don’t trust eBay on any of it’s so called delivery date’s & I’m pleased to say most of my customers also don’t believe the crud that eBay promise – ON OUR BEHALF.
We need a cut off time for normal posting not just “Special Delivery’s”.
They also need to add an extra day between “Special Delivery & 1st Class” and disguised between the two. Special delivery Is next day guaranteed with compo, 1st class is 1-3 days & not next day and has 0 compo.
I do wish that some of these high fliers within “Freebay” actually used the crud that they keep rolling out to professional sellers.
BE CAREFULL MULTI-VARIATION AND SINGLE ITEM LISTINGS THAT HAVE ENDED WITH ONE OR MORE VARIATIONS SOLD OUT ARE NOT RELISTING PROPERLY ON EBAY – QUANTITIES ARE ALL KNACKED UP.(THIS IS NOT THE “NORMAL SOLD OUT VARIATION GLITCH”,WITH ONE VARIATION SELLING OUT)
We have called ebay yesterday with no call back as yet. however they are aware. Can see some sellers getting hit with some serious defects on this one for items not being supplied.(just wonder if ebay will fess up on this one)