eBay estimated delivery dates

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Where does eBay get its so called estimated delivery dates?

I've just moved to a remote isolated community which is a 150km drive from the nearest town with normal mail delivery in/out. Mail only comes and goes Tuesday and Friday. I'm concerned that when I start selling again I may receive more than the average "slow to post" ratings or defects. I will of course detail my location in the listings but it does make it hard when buyers leave feedback and it asks if it arrived by a predetermined date.

My previous location was also isolated but not to the same extent and it used to tell me that parcels from interstate were 2-4 days delivery estimate when the reality was more like 7-8 days. Even the average non priority letter is 4 days now. I never left adverse feedback for delivery times as I knew it was my location that caused any delays but should I be concerned as a seller?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@letscleanupmycupboards wrote:
Can't on a phone by the looks of it.

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just scroll to the bottom of the page on your phone and select "Full" rather than "Mobile" view and you can then edit your post.  Once edited you just scroll to the bottom of the page again and select "Mobile" to get the view back again.

[*tippy*toes*]

I'm not in the express network, so it takes 2 days instead of overnight. I tell buyers that's the case so they don't worry when it's not there the next day.

I increased my handling time to 5 days ages ago. It has not affected my sales one bit. In fact, sales are booming. The big difference I noticed with the increased handling time is a lot more happy customers. I get so many messages thanking me for getting it to them before the first estimate date. It's also reflected in my feedback how impressed they are getting their item before the first estimate date.

The trick is to still post same or next day. Obviously that's not possible for you if you only have 2 mail runs a week. In view of that, I'd be increasing my handling time to 10 days, but still post on the next available day. That should insulate you from most things. If you still find things are still arriving late, increase it to the next increment.

If you post with tracking and you post within your handling time, you are insulated against postage defects. If you get one for an item arriving after the estimate, eBay will remove it by calling them.

[lane-ends]

You seem to sell a collection of unique items, sales suffer kless due to increased handling than commonly available items that may be more competitive. It is therefor just important that your handling time accurately covers you for actual and that items are lodged with a scan.

Your biggest inconvenience with only biweekly pick ups is that you cant afford to miss one, yo can put all the explanations you want in the listing but the auto carrier reporting wil cause you issues. Defects aren't always a result of buyer dissatisfaction. It is a roundabout way of Ebay pressuring sellers into providing full point to point tracking.

[letscleanupmycupboards]

I know for a fact out here there's no facility for signing for parcels on pickup. There's no household mail delivery, everything goes to the local pickup point for collection. So even if someone sends a signed for parcel there's no delivery scan and no signature on delivery. I'm hoping there is for outgoing mail.

To put it in context we sent our daughter a postcard Monday last week and it was delivered today. So 7 days for a letter to Brisbane.