eBay will be amending they estimated delivery dates that they display to shoppers on the View Item page. They have published some information here.
As they note: “Over Christmas, we will automatically adjust estimated delivery times based on the information we have from postage providers. So rest assured, if you receive an order after the cut-off date for the selected postage service, the estimated delivery time shown to buyers will reflect this.”
And in addition to changing the dates, eBay will be displaying a message to shoppers informing them to be cognisant of the possible service delays that occur at this time of year. You can see it below in the screenshot.
14 Responses
Good plan. The one thing that is difficult is the second of January in Scotland. No couriers work on this day but eBay will most likely not recognise that. Same with Amazon I would think.
Ebay should suspend this scourge altogether until after Xmas and the New Year.
Sellers are not responsible for the fact that many carriers will employ seasonal temporary staff for both sorting and delivery, which will impact delivery efficiency.
Never mind that fact that at the first snowflake to land on a pavement Royal Mail will suspend deliveries. They’ve even done if for wet grass in South Wales !!!
Sunday is still being considered a “delivery” day by Ebay in many instances, which is also a nonsense.
I’ve seen Tamebay complain about sellers with massively long delivery dates on items. Well, why should sellers be punished for the sins of carriers?
The only way is to work the system, build in extra time for handling and then understate delivery, selecting a slower delivery method than the one actually used. This is to combat unrealistic customer expectations and Ebay’s poxy metrics.
If Ebay would see sense and abandon its delivery metrics, this stupid situation would end and you’d go back to being incentivised to have real delivery times.
Most of my listings, especially the lower value are 5 – 8 day estimates and higher value are 3 day estimates. Use an automated email to let customers know once they have placed an order it is likely to be shipped with in 2 days and then the courier should have it with them in 2 days. Some times this is even quicker as MyHermes have shipped things next day if in the same area.
I work by the premise of under promise and over deliver. Which is often reflected in my feedback where they are happy to receive the items quickly. I probably lose a few sales estimating longer deliver times but rather deal with this, then the complaints of where is my item, it has not arrived yet.
Can we really trust eBay on this – I doubt it, looking at past performance. Not that long ago they forgot to update international dates until they had passed.
I also wish they would allow us to set an order cut off time. My mail is collected at 3pm – but orders placed after this time still have the same shipping estimates up to 11.59pm… STUPID.
if your estimate doesnt change until 11.59, you’ve probably not got it on same day despatch, so it doesnt matter what time your postman arrives at, you’ve said it’s not going anywhere until tomorrow at least.
So if the buyer decides to read the really small writing below and actually manages to hover their mouse over the question mark, they will then see it, not that it even mentions Christmas! My items are listed as 2nd class delivery with dispatch within 2 working days, yet ebay are estimating delivery by this Thursday!
Thanks ebay, Merry Christmas!