Wrong shipping estimation ebay - Canada Post
Summary: chicweb discusses a problem with incorrect shipping estimates on eBay, where delivery dates do not account for their two-day handling policy, showing implausible dates like September 19, 2024, even though shipping today wouldn't make this possible. lotzofuniquegoodies and other participants agree, noting the issue can affect seller ratings and has been a long-standing problem with eBay's estimates not considering factors such as weekends, rural areas, and handling times. calico_countess mentions a flaw in how eBay marks items as shipped once a label is printed, adding to the confusion. mrdutch1001 suggests relying on experience and flat rate shipping to manage customer expectations, while **scents-of-glamour** and others voice their frustration with eBay's estimates which have been inaccurate since 2006. The discussion touches on manual adjustments and communication strategies sellers employ to mitigate the problems, with chicweb noting a temporary fix in estimates but still expressing concern over consistent inaccuracies.
See this.
I have setup 2 days handling on all my business policies.
How is that even possible that the Sep 19, 2024 is shown to the buyer ? How is it even possible to make it at this date, shipped today... The buyer is in another province. It would at least take 2 days minimum (if not 3).
This is by Expedited lite. Something is very very wrong with ebay estimates on shipping.
**scents-of-glamour**
·1 year agoI hear you ! I don't even wait for a buyer to write, I write a shipping advice to all my buyers with the REAL delays I've experienced since 2006, this way, people who actually read know upfront that the displayed delays are wrong.....
chicweb
OP2 years agoSeems fixed now? Weird.
It shows Sep 23 on that item.
Either @devon@ebay is quick or there's a caching mechanism in place ?
🙂
Thanks
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@chicweb
@devon@ebay
If you ever want to do some random comparisons between eBay and CP you can use this link.
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/tools/delivery-standards.page
About shipping delivery standards
We base delivery times on normal delivery conditions. As a result, delivery times are subject to change without notice.
We may change or suspend the on-time delivery guarantee during peak period due to causes beyond our reasonable control. These reasons include, but aren’t limited to:
In checking out my listings I am also seeing next day delivery (19th to 25th) for expedited to E Ontario. Exact same estimate with Xpresspost to Ontario with 1 day handling. According to CP it should be 5 Days for Expedited/3 days for Xpresspost. So still appears to be a bit whackadoodle. I use calculated for majority of my listings.
-Lotz
chicweb
OP2 years agoSo you are having the problem too?
I just checked and could it be linked to the Same day handling configuration? Do you have anything set there? Cut-off hours? I have made some changes there. Maybe it's the problem?
https://www.ebay.ca/ship/prf/cutoff
I set all the Cut off time for same day handling only for "not offered".
A few minutes later, I checked my listing again and the dates were OK. But I don't know if it's because of this or not.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@chicweb
The time shown by eBay has, for lack of a better word been generic for years. It's been complained about and asked to be checked into but nothing has really ever happened 1 way or the other. I only worry when something is big time off the rails late or delayed and just explain to customers that those estimates are "best case scenario" with a number of factors in play. Most customers are understanding.
The interesting juxtaposition to all of this is when the reverse in play...USA to Canada....The window is substantially longer. I guess that builds in the 7 to 10 days for customs handling!!! If an item arrives in the window...awesome. It would like a seller offering 10 days for handling time.
Does the ticker start as soon as the label is created/and or scanned? I don't believe I've ever seen an answer to that question but to my observations it seems to be the case.
-Lotz
As a side sellers on the dot com report issues with transit times being "inaccurate" also.
chicweb
OP2 years agoEach time I play with the Business Policies I get nervous. There's always bugs with it. It's crazy.
At the moment, I just decided to use Economy Shipping with handling time of 1 day. It gives a bigger window.
For Expedited Shipping, it uses tracking, so I guess I'm kind of protected if it takes longer ? As long as I ship within my handling time.
The only thing that could cause problems is international shipping without tracking. We will see how it goes and if it gets fixed.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years agoAs an FYI the delivery guarantees on Canadian shipments are in play. USA, the last time I checked were not except for Xpresspost and Priority.
No guarantee for tracked, expedited or po boxes and just continental USA.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoeBay's delivery dates are "ESTIMATES", same as are for any materials shipped via Canada Post.
chicweb
OP2 years agoThey are. But they also asks customers if they receive it before that estimated date. If the customer say No, we get a Ding in Late delivery and could have consequences on our account.
It is more than estimates, at this point. It is used by ebay to evaluate us.
And here, it 's clearly a bug.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agono moreso a bug on eBay than it is on Etsy or Amazon as these sites use Shipping/delivery ESTIMATES same as eBay and those estimates are just as inaccurate on those sites as on eBay...as a buyer on Amazon I KNOW that to be the case and as a seller on Etsy I also KNOW that scenario to be true...
As sellers all we can do is accept, adapt,adjust and carry on as best as we can and hope that our buyers are patient, understanding and kind if/when they leave feedback...
C'est la vie!
Que sera,sera!
chicweb
OP2 years agoNo, there was a bug, that is now fixed on my products 😉 The dates are now showing correctly. It wasn't before.
Of course, we want it to be an estimate only. And it should be.
Seems ok for me at the moment. Except for the order already in place... it still shows Sep 19 (which is physically impossible and didn't take into consideration my handling time). But I will live with it and hope the customer will be patient. There's a tracking on it anyway. So it shouldn't be a problem.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoHave had a 3 day handling time for years and have never had any issues with any of the estimated delivery dates....
chicweb
OP2 years agoI understand. But if the estimate calculate that 3 day handling correctly, everything is good.
It wasn't for me.
Just trying to find what was causing it. Maybe the cut-off time setting. Not sure. But something was overiding the handling time.
mrdutch1001
·2 years agoI never look to see how the handling fee is calculated into the equation...I only concern myself with the end result of what my listings show as the "Delivery: Estimated between...."> that is what is important to me, and if that looks ok, all is good with me...(it might be noted here I never use eBay's calculated shipping...I have been a seller long enough to be able to rely on my "flat rate shipping" prices which are applied to "Standard shipping" which allows for an adequate time frame for delivery). In the past, when needed I have used "economy shipping", but only if needed during the holiday season... However, I rarely ever list items from Dec.1st. to December 24th.)
chicweb
OP2 years agoEven more weird.... (doing more tests).
Changed a handling time from 3 days to 2 days in business policies. This is for "fixed" shipping prices.
It was Sep 25... after my change, it went to 24 Sept for lettermail. Good.
But look at Expedited... No handling calculation at all, even with fixed shipping prices...
In this situation, it should be at the very least Sep. 20 (2 days handling) + 1 day shipping minimum: 21 Sep... Which is a saturday. So it should show Sep 23.
chicweb
OP2 years agoAlso, I just did a check. It seem to be affecting only the Automatic Calculation... The Fixed priced shipping seem to take the handling into consideration.
Here's a direct exemple:
I have setup 3 days on this product: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/176467354342
As seen here, in the Shipping Details of the product
But, Delivery Estimated between Thu, Sep 19 and Thu, Sep 26.
My handling time is not calculated, first of all. AND the minimum date is unrealistic. note that this item is using Expedited shipping automatic calculation...
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 years ago@devon@ebay is this being addressed? Many of the estimates shown with Canadian sellers are very generic with no factoring in from rural to urban, urban to rural etc. As per the OP even their handling time is not being factured in to the calculation. Throw in weekends(where there is no delivery and many areas no pickups from depots in Canada) most estimates are best case scenario only. Many buyers believe the estimates they see are written in stone leaving the seller to explain why something could be a few days later due to no control of their own.
-Lotz
chicweb
OP2 years agoIt's even more important. That bug could have consequences on the Feedbacks left by customer.
In the feedback form, eBay asks if they received the item before the last estimated date. If they answer No, then we get a ding as a seller. Sellers could lose their Top Rated for this.
The calculation not taking the handling time into consideration is dangerous.
devon@ebay
Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! I know this is something the the Shipping team has been looking into and I will send this thread over as another example for them to use.
**scents-of-glamour**
·1 year agoBeen here since 2006... The delays displayed by Ebay regarding Canada Post ARE WRONG since 2006! I have to write personally to each buyer to explain the estimation of delays displayed doesn't include rural and other factors... It would be nice that E-bay fixed this after 20 years ????
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year ago@**scents-of-glamour**
We've passed on to eBay for years that shipping estimates are/have been inaccurate, exactly how you've stated. They also do not factor in customs delays when it comes to international shipping. Also befuddling how they can show transit times when even CP no longer states transit times for untracked services. This all appears to be not on their radar as an issue for sellers spending much time trying to defend themselves. When my buyers message me I always make sure to explain that eBay estimates are best case scenarios and then ask them to be patient. Items usually show up shortly there after 99 times out of 100.
-Lotz
chicweb
OP2 years agoHere is the estimation on Canada Post website with the tracking.
That 19 Sept, 20 September is impossible to fulfill. I really wonder why eBay even show this to customer... And that's not even counting my 2 days handling. Order was made today, I printed the shipping label 10 minutes after receiving the payment...
calico_countess
·2 years agoThat's why. As soon as you print the shipping label, they mark it as shipped. It's stupid really. We should be able to print the labels to prepare for shipping within the window of time we list, then mark it shipped after actually shipping.