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

[*tippy*toes*]

I changed my handling time from 1 day to 5 days last year and it made no difference to sales. I run auctions, so no idea if that makes a difference or not. I still try and post the same or next day where possible. I did it to fatten out the estimate and give myself some breathing space. On the rare occasion due to work hours it might be 2 or 3 days before I can post, so it covers me for that too. If I buyer does trash my postage star for taking 2 or 3 days to post, a quick message to eBay sees the star and defect removed.

[saarzi]

It hasnt made an ounce of difference to me.

In terms of where my listings appear in search, I was really worried about that when I lost the badge, so I checked all my listings - didnt seem to be any difference - if there was, it was only one or two places at the most.

[digital*ghost]

I would say the main reason 'premium' makes no difference to the majority of buyers is that it doesn't even indicate the calibre of the seller.

The badge actually just says "eBay Premium Service" - you do have to be a Top Rated seller to get that badge, but the badge itself relates entirely to handling time, postage services offered (as well as the first option being 'free', and a generous return policy, and then eBay decides to take the credit for these offerings from the seller with the badge wording, so by and large I doubt many buyers are all that impressed when they see it, and the requirements to get it being deciding factors in purchase decisions is probably in the minority. 

[theforcemedia]

With the new AUSPost delivery times, and the lack of update from eBay, I am going to be changing my handling times from 1 business day to 3. Let's see what happens.

[Anonymous]

i've bit the bullet and done the same.... will monitor...

i guess if it doesnt work i can always change it back

[Anonymous]

An update for those that may be interested

A week ago i changed my handling time from 1 business day to 3 business days and gave up my Premium Seller Badge

Heres a breakdown of my sales in January so far

01/01/2016 to 07/01/2016 - 64 Sales (9.14 per day) - With Premium Seller Badge

08/01/2016 to 14/01/2016 - 30 Sales (4.28 per day) - Without Premium Seller Badge

so as you can see, my sales have halved since i changed my handling time and losing the premium seller badge

It could be a coincidence.. January is notoriously slow especially once people go back to work.. but im not taking the risk

I caved this morning and changed my handling time back to 1 day, and have got my badge back

[mbselections00]

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@Anonymous wrote:

An update for those that may be interested

A week ago i changed my handling time from 1 business day to 3 business days and gave up my Premium Seller Badge

Heres a breakdown of my sales in January so far

01/01/2016 to 07/01/2016 - 64 Sales (9.14 per day) - With Premium Seller Badge

08/01/2016 to 14/01/2016 - 30 Sales (4.28 per day) - Without Premium Seller Badge

so as you can see, my sales have halved since i changed my handling time and losing the premium seller badge

It could be a coincidence.. January is notoriously slow especially once people go back to work.. but im not taking the risk

I caved this morning and changed my handling time back to 1 day, and have got my badge back

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It will be interesting to know if sales pick up again over the next few weeks - keep us posted & good luck (hope they do for your sake)

[robinsonmarineparts]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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

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I was forced into doing it before Christmas, it's the best decision i've ever made on Ebay.

Like you, i still post the same day or within 24 hours, so far no complaints about " Where's my item, Ebay said ....." , sales wise, my

sales have increased, so there has only been a positive outcome for me.

[gec2002]

Yes looks like it has an impact. 

 I didn't change the delivery time over the period 1/1/16 to 14/1/2016

Week 1/1/16 - 7/1/16 was 4.7% less sales than week 8/1/16 - 14/1/16 that is virtually the same each week of the 2 week period.  My sales were some what higher than yours but I don't think that would have an effect.