Changing my shipping times - comments please

[vintagenorth]

I always ship airmail, NEVER ground for overseas and use "standard shipping from outside USA" but am thinking to change to "Economy shipping from outside USA" to give me a longer ship time. Thinking of doing this for all USA and International listings. I have already had a newbie give me a ding for ship time arrival due to ebay's very short mailing estimates.

Has anyone changed their times and if so has it been very detrimental to your USA sales?

If I changed my International times to Economy do you think overseas buyers will assume I ship by ground? (I never do). To the UK is never a problem but Australia is worrisome.

Do buyers ever really read the shipping information?

[ricarmic]

I have always only listed on .COM

I have coincidentally always used:

-flat rate shipping

-"standard international shipping" for everything outside USA

-"standard shipping" for stuff within USA

I also have stuck with 2 day handling time (because I choose to ship M/W/F and try to have some life inbetween) despite the theoretical visibility punishment it brings.

So far this has worked ok for me, and I ship 35% of my items outside North America.....

[block36]

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@vintagenorth wrote:

I always ship airmail, NEVER ground for overseas and use "standard shipping from outside USA" but am thinking to change to "Economy shipping from outside USA" to give me a longer ship time. Thinking of doing this for all USA and International listings. I have already had a newbie give me a ding for ship time arrival due to ebay's very short mailing estimates.

Has anyone changed their times and if so has it been very detrimental to your USA sales?

If I changed my International times to Economy do you think overseas buyers will assume I ship by ground? (I never do). To the UK is never a problem but Australia is worrisome.

Do buyers ever really read the shipping information?

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I had opinion that since I am not selling "life saving medicine" buyers will be patient about slow delivery knowing that they have saved on shipping cost.  

However, in most cases buyers just were pressing SURFACE option because it was cheaper but they were expecting the fast delivery.

After each shipment I send "thank you" note to buyer and I indicate there the estimated duration of delivery and mention that delays may occur and it is impossible to forecast or to prevent them.

I have read other sellers' recommendation to discontinue SURFACE but was kinda stubborn to do it. 

But have learned my lesson.

What is more upsetting is: when I sell postcards or drawings which are shipped as letters I can drop these letters in nearest mail box, but I purposely walk or drive (or crawl!)  to post office to get their stamp on the envelope as a proof of fast shipment.

Seems that people do not notice (or do not care to notice) these stamps with dates.

New suggested arrival dates imposed by eBay only did things worse and it is not clear how these dates are estimated and if a lot of research was done for this implementation.

[lukey9]

I stopped shipping  out  side of NA awhile back and only ship to US & Canada. OZ was the killer for me both in late arrivals and INR . I ship all my Parcels to the US  using standard  shipping & Tracked parcels when needed and I raised my shipping time to 3 days but still mail the Parcel the same day to try to buy some time. Being on the East Coast even makes it harder with the storms and we have 2 coming next week. So far it has worked out for me but I have to shut down shortly for knee surgery so I really will not know till I start up again

[recped]

I use "standard International Flat Rate Shipping" with 5 day handling (no change for 5+ years).

MY US orders go via USPS so I get acceptance scans on those. On international there it's all untracked, no acceptance so I'm at the mercy of the question to buyers "did you receive on time?".

I expect I'll get a few dings on those, fortunately fewer and fewer buyers leave feedback so not too many will ever get the question.

[hlmacdon]

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@vintagenorth wrote:

I always ship airmail, NEVER ground for overseas and use "standard shipping from outside USA" but am thinking to change to "Economy shipping from outside USA" to give me a longer ship time. Thinking of doing this for all USA and International listings. I have already had a newbie give me a ding for ship time arrival due to ebay's very short mailing estimates.

Has anyone changed their times and if so has it been very detrimental to your USA sales?

If I changed my International times to Economy do you think overseas buyers will assume I ship by ground? (I never do). To the UK is never a problem but Australia is worrisome.

Do buyers ever really read the shipping information?

---

In my testing since November (and comparing against the previous 3 months), switching to a method that displayed as ground in order to get a more accurate/longer ETA fit, I saw no drop in sales. I've not had one question about the shipping information, whether from a listing related question, or a question in relation to an invoice received (where they are more likely to read the information). If has not effected buyer satisfaction either, as my rate of positive feedback hasn't dropped off. It was an ideal fit for me, but may not be for everyone.

[vintagenorth]

To clarify, I list on .com using Turbo Lister. I ship mainly patterns so send using Letterpost and Light Packet. One day handling time.

Keep those comments coming! I'm interested in other sellers reasonings for shipping and what works.

[pocomocomputing]

I am currently using on ebay.com Flat Rate Shipping

Domestic Option

Standard Shipping from outside US (5 to 10 business days)

which gives me with a 1 day handling time

Standard Shipping from outside US (6 to 11 business days) (1 day handling time)

and I am switching to a 3 day handling time

Standard Shipping from outside US (8 to 13 business days) (3 day handling time)

for 2 more days.

I use mainly Light Packet USA and Small Packet Air USA.

I hope this will be good enough to meet the odd case that is a little slower being delivered. If I get Defects, I am hoping that the Defects I am allowed in a year will be enough to buffer those defects I do get. Time will tell if I made the correct decision.

As for International shipping, I am using Flat Rate shipping with Standard Int'l Shipping. I will move to Economy Int'l shipping as it gives a few more days for most countries with an estimate in days or the country has varies which has no question.

I use mainly Light Packet International and Small Packet Air USA International.

I would recommend everyone go with Economy Int'l Shipping over Standard Int'l shipping because of the longer delivery estimate times. In Standard, there are 29 countries with an estimate in days where the question will be asked. In Economy, there are only 15 countries with an estimate in days where the question will be asked. (The USA is listed twice because it will show with the USA option and the Int'l option for some shipping options).

Here is a table I compiled of the delivery estimate times for each country for Standard Int'l Shipping and Economy Int'l Shipping. It was made with a test listing and testing all countries one by one in the Shipping Tab in the listing. It was setup with 1 day handling. All countries not in the list have varies for a delivery time so no question is asked. Since I will be using a 3 day handling, add a couple of days to the times below.

[mr.elmwood]

Standard shipping from outside the UA

One day handling.

Worldwide shipping.

14 months straight of top rated discount.

I have never checked for "dings". Never checked for low ratings. To me, that is a massive waste of time, effort, emotional involvement. I do not care and will never care. Business is simply business.

[ricarmic]

However, for international folks, if I look at my listing like I'm them, the shipping estimate shows:

"Varies for items shipped from an international location"

Someone on another thread mentioned that if this shows up the buyer does not receive the "did it get there on time" question when they leave feedback and it counts like they didn't answer (which is good because it counts in the overall count but not as a negative).

My suspicion is that this is working in my favour.....

[pocomocomputing]

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@pocomocomputing wrote:

I am currently using on ebay.com Flat Rate Shipping

Domestic Option

Standard Shipping from outside US (5 to 10 business days)

which gives me with a 1 day handling time

Standard Shipping from outside US (6 to 11 business days) (1 day handling time)

and I am switching to a 3 day handling time

Standard Shipping from outside US (8 to 13 business days) (3 day handling time)

for 2 more days.

 

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Just a correction to the above. The handing time is not added properly to the first days of the shipping time estimate. This is a quirk that always has been there that I forgot about.

So in the Shipping options in the Sell Your Item form, the option shows:

Standard Shipping from outside US (5 to 10 business days)

With 1-day handling, the Shipping & Payments tab will show:

Standard Shipping from outside US (5 to 11 business days) (1 day handling time)

With 3-day handling, the Shipping & Payments tab will show:

Standard Shipping from outside US (7 to 13 business days) (3 day handling time)

Since we only care about the maximum time, being short a day on the beginning of the estimate does not matter.

[pocomocomputing]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

Standard shipping from outside the UA

One day handling.

Worldwide shipping.

14 months straight of top rated discount.

I have never checked for "dings". Never checked for low ratings. To me, that is a massive waste of time, effort, emotional involvement. I do not care and will never care. Business is simply business.

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Yes, we know you have the perfect product with 90% profit margin and no issues to worry about. Great for you but for the rest of us sellers, the new Defect system based on shipping time for the most part is a real issue to think about and try to plan to minimize any potential issues.

From my experience in buying from some other sellers (on another eBay id), they have not done anything about their shipping options. Some Canadian sellers are still using 1 day handling with Lettermail option on eBay.ca with 3-7 days estimate times. The items are arriving on the last day or after the last day of the estimate. I could have answered no but I answered yes it arrived on time. I also message the sellers (casual seller, 10 items a month) that they need to be aware of the estimate times and switch to Standard Shipping for Canada to get the 2 to 11 days estimate showing.

[pjcdn2005]

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@ricarmic wrote:

However, for international folks, if I look at my listing like I'm them, the shipping estimate shows:

"Varies for items shipped from an international location"

The shipping estimate will says 'varies' for some countries. For example, buyers in the UK and France do see an time estimate. Poco's chart in post 8 shows which countries give the 'varies' message.

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Someone on another thread mentioned that if this shows up the buyer does not receive the "did it get there on time" question when they leave feedback and it counts like they didn't answer (which is good because it counts in the overall count but not as a negative).

My suspicion is that this is working in my favour....

It may be but when there is no tracking and when the buyer doesn't answer the question or doesn't see the question, that transaction is not counted in the overall count.  So if all of your items are sent without tracking and only 50% of your buyers answer the 'on time' question, your overall count will be based on 50% of your total transactions.

[pjcdn2005]

I generally use flat rate shipping for domestic and int'l standard for everywhere else.

I have considered changing my overseas to economy standard but haven't decided for sure.

I have one item to the U.S. late right now so if the buyer answers the question I'll get a ding for late shipping but

otherwise the times seem to have worked out well for the U.S.....so far.

(crossing my fingers and touching wood hoping that I didn't just jinx myself)

[musicyouneed]

I sell on both .com and .ca.

This response is for .ca

BEFORE:   I used to have same day shipping and used, letter mail for Canada, light packet for both the US and international.  I got dinged for 3 late shipments: 1 within Canada, 1 to the US, who used a forwarding service to Kazakhstan and other to a tiny town in Australia.  I do not blame the buyers, they gave great feedback and stars.   

NOW:  I have a 2 days handling and use economy shipping for Canada, light packet for both the US and international.  Since Christmas mail is over I am hoping that I don't get any more late shipments.  I am hoping that ebay adds economy international shipping which they have on .com, otherwise I may have to increase my handling time.

I don't think the changes have affected my sales at all.  I ship the same or next business day and I send an email to my buyers stating when I ship and how.  I also state the shipping date in the feedback that I give them.  

This response is for .com

I use economy for everything and also a 2 day handling. 

[dutchman48]

I just got a ding with that statement for international, so I have no idea what the buyer sees for delivery time. The question is there for buyer to answer!

Just another way so Bay blind sides sellers

[pocomocomputing]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

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@ricarmic wrote:

However, for international folks, if I look at my listing like I'm them, the shipping estimate shows:

"Varies for items shipped from an international location"

The shipping estimate will says 'varies' for some countries. For example, buyers in the UK and France do see an time estimate. Poco's chart in post 8 shows which countries give the 'varies' message.

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Someone on another thread mentioned that if this shows up the buyer does not receive the "did it get there on time" question when they leave feedback and it counts like they didn't answer (which is good because it counts in the overall count but not as a negative).

My suspicion is that this is working in my favour....

It may be but when there is no tracking and when the buyer doesn't answer the question or doesn't see the question, that transaction is not counted in the overall count.  So if all of your items are sent without tracking and only 50% of your buyers answer the 'on time' question, your overall count will be based on 50% of your total transactions.

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I can confirm that a listing with "varies" does not ask the "on time" question. I had a purchase from a Canadian seller who listed on ebay.com using Standard Int'l shipping and for Canada shipping, it always shows varies and I noticed I had no "on time" question.

I do find it interesting that your comment that the more "varies" you get for using Economy Int'l shipping reduces the pool of listings where the buyer can ask the "on time" question and may result in a higher percentage of "no's" to the "on time" question. I did not think about that angle.

I know that Raphael in the weekly sessions says so far the questions is working for most sellers but I am skeptical. Only time will tell how this "on time" question will affect sellers.

[dutchman48]

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@pocomocomputing wrote:

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

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@ricarmic wrote:

However, for international folks, if I look at my listing like I'm them, the shipping estimate shows:

"Varies for items shipped from an international location"

The shipping estimate will says 'varies' for some countries. For example, buyers in the UK and France do see an time estimate. Poco's chart in post 8 shows which countries give the 'varies' message.

-------------

Someone on another thread mentioned that if this shows up the buyer does not receive the "did it get there on time" question when they leave feedback and it counts like they didn't answer (which is good because it counts in the overall count but not as a negative).

My suspicion is that this is working in my favour....

It may be but when there is no tracking and when the buyer doesn't answer the question or doesn't see the question, that transaction is not counted in the overall count.  So if all of your items are sent without tracking and only 50% of your buyers answer the 'on time' question, your overall count will be based on 50% of your total transactions.

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I can confirm that a listing with "varies" does not ask the "on time" question. I had a purchase from a Canadian seller who listed on ebay.com using Standard Int'l shipping and for Canada shipping, it always shows varies and I noticed I had no "on time" question.

I do find it interesting that your comment that the more "varies" you get for using Economy Int'l shipping reduces the pool of listings where the buyer can ask the "on time" question and may result in a higher percentage of "no's" to the "on time" question. I did not think about that angle.

I know that Raphael in the weekly sessions says so far the questions is working for most sellers but I am skeptical. Only time will tell how this "on time" question will affect sellers.

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Mine showed varied and on the dashboard Ebay says buyer stated arrived late so they do see the question. Listed on .ca and sold to the US

[dutchman48]

How can it arrive late if Ebays does not show sellers listing anything other than varies? No days shown.

[vintagenorth]

Okay, I'm not absolutely sure about this but I think it shows "varies" until it is purchased and then the buyer sees ebay's estimated shipping time in days for their country. This seems to happen just for certain countries.