Buyers perception of postage times

[caladan71]

I asked ebay to increase my selling limits and was advised that I had low scores for my postage times – I post everything the same day or if a buyer buys in the evening I post first thing in the morning, the ebay sales person says I need to post quicker and they will consider allowing me higher selling limits, I said any quicker and I will need to post before a person buys an item.  I live in Perth Metro area and it does not help that ebay gives an approx. delivery date which is nearly impossible from Perth – it takes at least 3-4 days to another capital city and can be up to 10 days to a regional area.  How can I overcome this

I purchased an item this morning which says estimated delivery 3-5 days which is nearly impossible as its coming from Brisbane, even Australia Post has 3-6 business days which doesn’t include weekends

[annies_fancy_dress]

YOu need to type up a message explaining your postage situation and save in a notepad file.

Each time you sell something, cut and paste this message in an email to the buyer.

It will help lots.

[digital*ghost]

You may have gotten a couple of low ratings (1's or 2's) from someone who rated on delivery time rather than postage time. You can check your seller dashboard to look at the ratings, though it won't tell you which purchase / buyer received what rating.

This isn't suitable for everyone, especially if you have a fairly high volume of sales, but I send a direct message via eBay to every buyer as soon as I am aware of a sale and payment. It only has three lines, one to thank the buyer for the purchase etc, one to give the exact posting date, and one to let them know I will be happy to help with anything before or after they receive their item.

I choose to do that for a few reasons, the primary ones being the auto-generated emails from eBay often go to spam folders and are missed, plus the buyer has - in the majority of circumstances - immediate acknowledgement by me and not the generic ones they get from every purchase, plus all the details they could need about postage. I personally think that's important, in that the first they know about postage is right after purchase whereas relying on the auto-emails means half the time the first they'll know anything is when they receive it; cutting out that few days or even week seems to go a long way.

Some people aren't fussed and would probably prefer to receive minimal to no communication, but I find there are many more buyers that like this method and both my communication and postage time DSRs are currently on a full 5, so I think it helps.

[olesilva]

You might also want to add an estimated delivery time in your listings. eg Postage time 3-10 business days within Australia or something similar. (Thats what I use and im from Melbourne) But you might want to add 4-12 business days.

I find that helps and you get a lot less questions asking when will the item be arriving.

[aj111003]

When sending emails to buyers confirming that I have posted their item, I have added a sentence which states.... As a general guide, Australia Post's expected delivery time for interstate parcels from Sydney to Western Australia is approximately 4 - 5 business days.  The tracking number is..........

I have found by adding this, it sets a reasonable expectation in the buyer's mind how long their item is going to take to reach them and is an approximate guide. (I have also highlighted public holidays when they have come up and have told buyers to allow for extra delivery time).

I know some sellers may say I should be extremely careful about quoting Australia Post’s delivery times and they are not really believable.

But I have found this has worked for me.  I understand things go wrong with Australia Post, nothing is perfect. In my case, my items are all sent with a tracking number.  When lodging at my post office I ensure the tracking number is scanned and I obtain a receipt.  If a parcel was delayed or did not arrive, I would want to know about it and am more than happy to help a buyer resolve any issues which may arise after I have sent out the item.  JMO

[jensmanchester-australia]

As a WA based seller I fully understand your frustration with the incorrect information supplied by ebay with regard delivery times.

The item posted email I send advises every buyer that the parcel is coming from WA and that regular post takes 7 - 10 business days.

If sending express I advise them it takes a few days from WA.

If it is suitable for the type of product you sell then you could look at offering express post as an option as well as regular post. The majority of my listings have an express post option and it always surprises me how often buyers will pay the extra for that service.  

[the_hawk*]

I dont know where some of you are getting your times from.

I am in Adelaide and items arrive here from NSW and Vic any where from 3 to 4 days

How something could possibly take 10 days is unbelievable as that is how long items from the US or the UK take to get here

[aj111003]

Hi Hawk,

I use the Australia Post Calculator as my guide.

[jensmanchester-australia]

I dont know where some of you are getting your times from.

I am in Adelaide and items arrive here from NSW and Vic any where from 3 to 4 days

How something could possibly take 10 days is unbelievable as that is how long items from the US or the UK take to get here

It is not unusual for parcels from WA to country Qld, country NSW, Tasmania and the NT to take up to 10 days.

Parcels coming from the US or UK are sent by airmail and often they arrive quicker than parcels sent within Australia.

Regular parcels within Australia go by road and it is long way from one side of Australia to the other.

[crypsynight]

I dont know where some of you are getting your times from.

I am in Adelaide and items arrive here from NSW and Vic any where from 3 to 4 days

How something could possibly take 10 days is unbelievable as that is how long items from the US or the UK take to get here

Last two items I got from the UK took 30 days each!

From rural WA to VIC or NSW takes an average of 8-10 days, and to QLD an average of 10-11 days.

Also, items to SA average 6 days. If it takes 6 days to get to Adelaide, and from Adelaide to NSW / VIC takes a further 3-4 days...then how is 10 days not plausible? (6+4=10)

And my figures don't come from 1 or 2 parcels but from 100's, and I would guess Jen's do as well.