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.

[gem-boy-g]

so is Australia Post

[heihachi_73]

You can say that again. It's 9:30AM, I have sold things, it's time to post them. Guess what? Australia Post is closed today because it's a Sunday!

[jellybirddesigns]

I have a 5 day handling time for my items as 40% of my sales go overseas, so I like to have the buffer.

I don't put anything in the description about when I will send it, even though I ship the next business day.

I've only had 1 defect for late arrival in the last 12 months and even that got randomly removed when I last checked my stats.

Many of my customers comment on how quickly the item got to them as the 5 day shipping sets a certain date in their head and then suddenly the item turns up earlier so they're mighty happy!

[rocket2retro]

As you can see many/most sellers have increased their handling times to meet eBay postage deadlines. In my case I went from 'Same Day' to' 4 Days' handling although I still post daily.

The irony is that it defeats the very purpose it was designed for. Now when a buyer looks at my item they see what appears to be a slower delivery time than in the past (irrespective of the actual delivery time which is the same as it was).

Unfortunately the 'powers that be' at eBay don't seem to realise that penalising sellers has actually dramatically worsened perceived delivery times from a buyer's perspective.

[lm-entertainment]

i wonder how that works?

i have a same-day handling time and items i've sold say "post by 3rd july" - which obviously excludes weekends. 

[digital*ghost]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

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

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I guess it depends on the reason for the extra days. I don't know how eBay decide under which circumstancs it's displayed, but a lot (if not the majority) of listings don't display the seller's handling time anymore, in the postage and payments tab where it used to have the line that was something like 'will post within X days of cleared payment' it often won't have anything but the ETA, so having a note re: handling times doesn't contradict or undermine much (if anything). It's more akin to saying "I'll post straight away, and arrival will be in the realm of (x date)". 

I suspect my handling time has been visible to some, which is where I get some of the questions to post earlier come from, but for those buyers I just explain my postage schedule and advise the longer handling time is primarily there to ensure ETAs are a little more realistic, particularly for those in rural locations. 

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@rocket2retro wrote:

Unfortunately the 'powers that be' at eBay don't seem to realise that penalising sellers has actually dramatically worsened perceived delivery times from a buyer's perspective.

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 The sad and frustrating thing is, they would if they paid any attention to sellers at all. Quite a number of my decisions and actions are made to protect myself from eBay, which - more often than not - do not serve the customer's best interests or needs. 

Confidence to buy (which they try to inspire with all their slogans, programs, policies [or lack thereof], misleading ETAs etc) means nothing if the end result is that members don't have the confidence to by again after having their expectations raised but not met. 

[springyzone]

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@cushioncovers wrote:

I have a 5 day handling time for my items as 40% of my sales go overseas, so I like to have the buffer.

I don't put anything in the description about when I will send it, even though I ship the next business day.

I've only had 1 defect for late arrival in the last 12 months and even that got randomly removed when I last checked my stats.

Many of my customers comment on how quickly the item got to them as the 5 day shipping sets a certain date in their head and then suddenly the item turns up earlier so they're mighty happy!

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I am sure you are right.

These days, the things that catch your eye in ebay ads (apart from the actual product details) are postage costs and estimated delivery date.

I can understand why sellers give themselves a longer handling time, I certainly would too.

I know the estimated delivery date is just that, an estimate, but I think a lot of buyers do pay attention to it and might start getting anxious if it goes several days over. It doesn't set up a good perception. Perception is just about everything.

Get it there before customers expect and they'll be impressed.

[*tippy*toes*]

The delivery estimate is just an estimate, but many buyers see it as gospel. We could post within an hour of payment but still get blamed when Aust Post take 2 weeks to deliver it to the next suburb. EBay has convinced buyers that sellers are to blame for everything, including it taking longer than normal to arrive. How can you blame a buyer when it's shoved in their face, if it's not there by X date, get a refund. Read, it's all the seller's fault a government organisation can't do their job properly, and we will punish the scum.

It's no wonder sellers retaliate and protect themselves by having extended handling times.

[springyzone]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

The delivery estimate is just an estimate, but many buyers see it as gospel. We could post within an hour of payment but still get blamed when Aust Post take 2 weeks to deliver it to the next suburb. EBay has convinced buyers that sellers are to blame for everything, including it taking longer than normal to arrive. How can you blame a buyer when it's shoved in their face, if it's not there by X date, get a refund. Read, it's all the seller's fault a government organisation can't do their job properly, and we will punish the scum.

It's no wonder sellers retaliate and protect themselves by having extended handling times.

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I'd go further than that. What I am noticing these days with ebay is that from the ads on their home page, and from emails I have received, the customer could easily gather that if they buy something and are not happy, for any reason, they can just return it free, no problems.

I know all that is not how it really is, that it is simplifying things, but that is the impression anyone could get from a quick read.

I deleted the email but it was something about parcel points, places to drop off returns, and there wasn't much mention made of any cost involved, from memory. I know sometimes sellers pay for return postage but the way the ad read, it was certainly trying to make the impression a buyer could usually return an item for any reason (I think they quoted 80% of sellers allowed it).

Ebay (I strongly suspect) is trying to whip sellers into shape, and the shape they like is fast, 'free' postage and returns for any reason.

I also suspect I'd be one of the 20% recalcitrants.

[brerrabbit585]

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@springyzone wrote:

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

The delivery estimate is just an estimate, but many buyers see it as gospel. We could post within an hour of payment but still get blamed when Aust Post take 2 weeks to deliver it to the next suburb. EBay has convinced buyers that sellers are to blame for everything, including it taking longer than normal to arrive. How can you blame a buyer when it's shoved in their face, if it's not there by X date, get a refund. Read, it's all the seller's fault a government organisation can't do their job properly, and we will punish the scum.

It's no wonder sellers retaliate and protect themselves by having extended handling times.

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I'd go further than that. What I am noticing these days with ebay is that from the ads on their home page, and from emails I have received, the customer could easily gather that if they buy something and are not happy, for any reason, they can just return it free, no problems.

I know all that is not how it really is, that it is simplifying things, but that is the impression anyone could get from a quick read.

I deleted the email but it was something about parcel points, places to drop off returns, and there wasn't much mention made of any cost involved, from memory. I know sometimes sellers pay for return postage but the way the ad read, it was certainly trying to make the impression a buyer could usually return an item for any reason (I think they quoted 80% of sellers allowed it).

Ebay (I strongly suspect) is trying to whip sellers into shape, and the shape they like is fast, 'free' postage and returns for any reason.

I also suspect I'd be one of the 20% recalcitrants.:smileywink:

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The 80/20 rule applies to most things, and it's usually the 20% that count, depending on which way you word things.  

We sellers may be making things worse for ourselves down the track because we're setting up false expectations for the buyers (that are even worse than ebay's) by having our items arrive well before the expected delivery date.  If this happens a lot, buyers will have even less patience when the odd thing arrives late.  Can't win either way...