Increase handling time but say we ship same day? Allowed?

[gamer_empire]

Hi there

I see a few sellers are increasing handling time when they ship mostly untracked items to lower the chance of defects from buyers who get items outside the delivery window.

I was wondering if it's ok to increase handling time on eBay's settings to two days, but say in the listing "we aim to ship same day if item purchased before 2pm?"

I don't want to break any rules of EBay's and I'm unsure if this is seen as dodgy or is allowed? As the handling time is seen as an "upto" two days.

Thanks for your help.

[kopenhagen5]

That's fine, you can set your handling time to 3 days and if you ship before that's a bonus for buyers.

And to mention that you strive to ship earlier is also fine.

[clarry100]

We use 3-days but still mail same day if at all possible.
All our stuff is large letter untracked and we've not had a single late delivery point on either of our selling IDs since they started it.
In fact we have noticed a significant upturn in the number of positive comments about how quickly their item arrives.

[gamer_empire]

Awesome thank you for the help. Much appreciated.

[chameleon54]

---

@clarry100 wrote:
We use 3-days but still mail same day if at all possible.
All our stuff is large letter untracked and we've not had a single late delivery point on either of our selling IDs since they started it.
In fact we have noticed a significant upturn in the number of positive comments about how quickly their item arrives.

---

Our handling time has been increased to 5 days and I have also noticed an increase in pos feedback mentioning items arrive quickly compared to ebays estimates. People are definately paying a lot more attention to ebay postage estimates than they used too. Bit of a worry really.

[*tippy*toes*]

I'm the same. I made mine 5 days bleams ago and also get comments about how it arrived before the first estimate date. I've not had a postage defect on any accounts.

I mention in my listings that I aim to post same or next day after payment. It doesn't always happen, but most of the time it does.

[digital*ghost]

A couple of things to consider when extending handling times while still posting daily is that listings with shorter ETAs can be more attractive if buyers are comparing, and you may see an increase in notes or messages asking / telling you to post quickly. 

I have a 2-day handling time (I live in metro SA, which seems to give me a slight advantage for delivery times as none of my packages have to go from one side of the country to the other, unless misdirected), and I have a note about posting same or next day, but the note largely goes unnoticed, so I do get a few messages about when I will post. I'm in saturated and competitive categories, but I have a specialised niche so most times my stuff is either exclusive to me, or unavailable from other local (Aus) sellers, so an extra day or two on the ETA isn't going to hurt me much if the other choice is waiting an extra 1-2 weeks, but even then I know it has cost me a few sales here and there and buyers have opted to get something similar from elsewhere.

All in all I think it's worth the concessions as if an extra day is that important, missing out on the sale might well be a blessing, but I might think differently if the same items I sell were available everywhere (and / or I sent most - if not all - orders with tracking, as then late shipments wouldn't have an impact as long as they were all posted within my stated handling time). 

[springyzone]

---

@gamer_empire wrote:
Hi there

I see a few sellers are increasing handling time when they ship mostly untracked items to lower the chance of defects from buyers who get items outside the delivery window.

I was wondering if it's ok to increase handling time on eBay's settings to two days, but say in the listing "we aim to ship same day if item purchased before 2pm?"

I don't want to break any rules of EBay's and I'm unsure if this is seen as dodgy or is allowed? As the handling time is seen as an "upto" two days.

Thanks for your help.

---

I think it would be useful info.

If I were buying, it might make it more attractive.

But the proof is in the pudding. If you say eg 3 days but that you aim to post out faster, I would be hoping to see it on its way by eg day 2.

[davewil1964]

I have 3 day handling. I certainly don't put any notes in my listings that would undermine that.

I aim to get large letter items out next day. Satchels I am prepared to let go until day 2, as I'm not subject to buyer perception on those.

It really depends on the amount of items I need to post, whether they are where they are supposed to be, what time of the day they are purchased (anything after 10pm will definitely not get posted next day), what sort of mood I'm in...

[gem-boy-g]

why do you put up with this vomit? stopped selling here 2 years ago because of all these impossible rules. Ebay is **bleep**