Changing handling time and losing Premium badge. Worth it?

[Anonymous]

I post all my items by large letter and with the new postage rates/times from 4/1 i have been considering upping my handling time from 1 business day to 3 business days.

I will still post within 1 business day but im wanting the extra 2 days buffer on estimated delivery times due to Ebays ridiculous estimations on postage times

What i want to know is if i change to 3 days and lose my premium seller badge, is it likely to affect sales in any way?

Im calling out to those who have done this. Have you noticed any difference at all?

Do buyers look that closely at handling times? Do they care?  can you still see "buyer will generally post within 3 days of payment" on listings?

Thanks

[typhoon4u]

Good questions. I'm keen to know myself.

If selecting any more than 3 days, there's a warning "Exception handling times". 

I wonder if that means anything?

[lyndal1838]

As a prolific buyer I have to say that I don't give a hoot about premium sellers, top rated sellers or handling times, but I have to warn you that from reading the boards I would say I am one of the few buyers who does not bother to track their purchases from the minute of payment.   I take no notice of handling times at all and do not go out of my way to look for them.

If I want something that is time sensitive I buy from a local shop and take the attitude that ebay purchases will arrive when the postal system decides to deliver them.

The only time I ever use the tracking is when an item seems to be taking a long time to arrive even by my standards.

[lupercal]

Sorry I can't answer your question, but all this would be less an issue  if eBay didnt automatically calculate postage times on the assumption that everything with a postage price  is a 'parcel'.

I can answer one part of your question though: some sellers - though based on my feedback I'd say a small minority - definately do pay close attention to estimated postage times. I'm afraid I have a local friend - a buyer only - who throws a purple fit if something is a day later than estimated, and usually ends up negging the seller. I've tried to point out that in most of the cases he's described, the seller genuinely seems to be trying to do the right thing, but I'm afraid he seems to assume every seller is out to rip him off.

Personally since returning the only time I've had someone leave me less than 5 stars on delivery time was when they hadn't paid for two weeks and after several failed attempts to communicate, I mentioned the possibility of opening an unpaid item case, upon which they paid me and then docked me stars because it arrived late, which was entirely the consequence of them having delayed paying. Since then I've just let unpaid items go through to the keeper, if they're cheap.

Loop

[stampingpaws]

Hello all,

I use large letters (actually padded envelopes) to post my stamp albums on CD with FREE postage world wide. This year I have extended my handling time to 5 days, send to Australian customers by registered mail lodged at PO counter, and to overseas customers by normal mail with an additional copy being sent by email.

Items will continue to be posted on the day after I get paid. Price has been increased to include these additional postage costs.

So far lots of views and one sale in 4 days, about average.

Best wishes

Robert

P S -- One of the last sales for last year was to a collector of Chinese stamps in Iceland - Strange but true.

[harley_babes_hoard]

As a seller it makes no difference whether you have a so called premium badge or not.

As a buyer I never even bother to look at handling times, in fact when I did look the other day when one of these threads came up. the handling time is lumped intogether with th overall estimated delivery so who cares.

[springyzone]

The only way I can see that it might affect your sales is if ebay itself gives preferences in the listing position for items by 'premium sellers'.

This I don't know the answer to. If losing the title puts your items further down the lists, harder for buyers to find, then yes it could affect you.

But if you are wondering how buyers react to 'premium seller' ratings & if they are less likely to buy if you lose it, I would say the answer is a resounding no.

I see the title as meaning simply someone with a high turnover of sales. A professional seller, quite possibly of low priced junk in a lot of cases.

Prejudiced? Possibly. But that is often what I find. And quite a few of those top rated sellers have more negs and neutrals than a lot of 'lesser' sellers.

I feel most comfortable buying from someone who has a fairly good record on ebay with mainly positive feedback as a seller. Where people have been happy with the quality.

Delivery date? Yep, I look at it. I definitely look at it. And despite being on this board a fair bit and knowing all the problems with ebay guesstimates, I have to admit to expecting/hoping to get my goods in that time frame. I certainly would not give a neg or trash anyone's stars if the goods arrived a few days over though.

But if I look at the dates that way, you can bet your nellie most casual buyers do too and they will start getting antsy past that date.

From my perspective, you would be better off losing your premium seller badge and being able to get the goods to people before the ebay estimated arrival than keeping the badge and getting goods to people after the date. Most buyers will not be impressed if that happens and will think the premium seller label is a crock anyway and mark you down.

[harley_babes_hoard]

Do you really believe that about listing position for premium sellers? I certainly don't.

[springyzone]

I have absolutely no idea. I didn't say it is the case, I just wondered.

People here have sometimes talked of 'choking' which I have taken to mean they believe ebay isn't showing their listings fairly or has put the ads way down the listings.

I am not sure how ebay arranges listings. I guess all I am asking is if premium sellers are given any preference.

If they aren't, then the title itself doesn't mean a great deal.

I suppose it gives buyers some peace of mind that they are likely to get their item but if someone else has a long track record with ebay and very good feedback, I tend to feel reassured too, even without the badges.

[cathyjoyjoy]

Who knows what the criteria is for ranking of listings.  In the past year I've been told many different reasons directly from eBay, but it seems to be always changing.  A simple search with a word like 'tupperware' or 'iphone' shows there's not a clear pattern.  But it does seem that Free Postage or BIN or perhaps new items, take priority in a 'best match' search.