Podcast: What questions do you have about shipping during the holidays? | Etsy Success

fidosflowers · 2021-09-29T19:13:49.157000Z

Jake Hipps is the vice president of Global Fulfillment at Etsy. He leads the team that develops tools to help advance shipping technology and operations for sellers. We’re chatting with Jake for an upcoming Etsy Success podcast episode. What questions do you have for him about shipping during the busy shopping season? Share yours here for a chance to hear him answer it on the show! If you’re unfamiliar with our podcast, you can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, or follow us on Spotify or SoundCloud. Please remember that all comments should remain on topic and in line with our community policies. Any comments that violate our policies will be removed.

fidosflowers

AdminOP4 years ago

Community Manager

Thank you for submitting these great questions for Jake! This episode is now available to stream on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. Tune in to learn how to make the shipping process as smooth as possible for you and your customers this year.

StudioAvai

·4 years ago

A general question I have is how does income tax work on items with free shipping.

StudioAvai

·4 years ago

Sometimes, when I input individual shipping fees for Royail Mail, Etsy displays a message saying it is too high for current buyers. Even on discussion with my mum, and friend, they say I am losing out on postage costs for orders.

This last week, I have taken advantage of the global shipping tool for bundled orders, I thought this would be good for the holiday season or general gift sets. I always refund excess postage costs as I think the postage cost is slightly too high but that is what it costs.

Is there anyway to get Royal Mail to manipulate the packages for flat packing, and more variety in weights for orders to make it fairer for buyers?

MDWoodworkCo

·4 years ago

I'm curious about tracking global shipments. I've only had to send 2 so far, but all tracking info stops when they get to the Jamaica NY USPS facility. What is a good strategy to try to get additional tracking details past that point so I can address any potential issues and keep my customers more informed?

eclectiQuas

·4 years ago

Thank you for bringing up this topic.

Last year, holiday shipping internationally was extremely frustrating. We used Etsy shipping, as we believed the shipping estimates would get to our customers in 14 days as stated, only to have our packages take over a month to arrive, many far beyond the Christmas holidays. I had to provide refunds for shipping on quite a few packages that ate into my profit. I started using USPS instead of Etsy shipping because my packages were at least not getting held up at Asendia. However when using USPS First Class International which is similar pricing as Etsy's international pricing, it's not possible to track packages once they leave the US which is a little nerve wrecking.

Please advise what Etsy plans to do to protect its SELLERS with regards to shipping.

Collectique

·5 years ago

Could you please check your estimated delivery shiipping time for Canada Post expedited, on the place to update your shipping estimates last month the suggested time was something like 4 to 13 days for expedited. That is a ridiculous time frame even for Canada Post.

NiciLaskin

·5 years ago

is Etsy changing the estimated arrival times now that the USPS said they will slow the post down ?

customers are getting angry as " Etsy promises " delivery by a certain date and it almost never happens any more

thanks

nici

EmagesEmbroidery

·5 years ago

@NiciLaskin

This so much...

Forced to put an arrival date that we can't control.

Maddening.

LindeDesigns

·5 years ago

How can I best make clear that I use flat rate shipping? Shipping is expensive now, but it’s the same price up to 2 kilograms so buying more is actually cheaper.

I can’t incorporate shipping into my item price anymore as the cheapest is $4 and most expensive $34. You keep prompting turning on free shipping above $35, but I can’t do that , it’s way too low! Will you make another tier for buyers to select, for example free above $60 or $75 or $100?

everything you say about shipping seems very US centered. Do you know how much tracking costs outside of the US? (As you promote it for star seller, please check European pricing)

modestly

·5 years ago

I am a UK maker who offers customers a choice - I am transparent about my shipping costs, and offer International Standard with an upgrade to tracked if required. The majority of my USA customers choose International Standard because it is cheaper. I have very few issues with it. But because I am transparent and show my shipping costs, and offer that choice to the customer, I will be unable to fulfil Star Seller. So I am a genuine handmade Etsy seller , with proven track record, 5 star review history, but cannot achieve Star Seller status because of the approach Etsy takes toward shipping. Tracked services are only offering added value to the shipping company , and by its increase in its cost, an additional added value to Etsy. When I purchase shipping from Royal Mail, I enter into a contract with them to deliver. They do .

TheGinghamLife

·5 years ago

Owner

I try to keep my shipping costs as low as possible. Why does Etsy take a cut of my shipping charges? I buy my labels elsewhere, I charge actual shipping plus a few cents to cover part of my materials. I would like to hear the rationale behind this policy. It is so unfair to those of us NOT ripping our customers off.

McKeanCreations

·4 years ago

Quite a few sellers in the past were marking their product low and charging high shipping to avoid the fees. Since it would be difficult to know which sellers were doing fee avoidance, as is normal practice with everything, all of us get punished so the few can get caught. Etsy started charging their share on the item and shipping to catch the cheaters.

Beauticculent

·5 years ago

Hi there, I was just wondering why I can't start a discussion in this group? Please let me know. Thanks!

careforusvintage

·5 years ago

One more thing....

How come you include VAT in some shops and not others?

I've got 2 shops and in one everything is included to avoid extra costs for buyers. In my other shop I just sold and item but no VAT was included now this will be something I have to refund after package has been delivered.

Would be good if same rules applied to all shops to avoid misunderstandings and extra costs.

Is there a way for me to include VAT when you won't do it?

Best regards

Emma

PurePranaLabel

·5 years ago

Is Etsy running a campaign this year to make people aware of early Holiday shipping? Each year Etsy sends out e-mails, even still in the last week before the Holidays, giving people the impression they can still purchase and receive on time. It would really make Etsy stand out if they would work more on awareness, uniqueness and build on that emotion of purchasing something special instead of Buy now and receive it tomorrow-consumerism. Which isn't a combination with design and handmade at all. Due to the pandemic there are a lot of delays with incoming supplies, orders are being cancelled and delivery companies have delays in delivery. This sometimes creates longer processing times, we can change those in the dashboard, but It would be great if customers are still aware of the issues small business is running into. The pandemic isn't over yet and #standwithsmall is actually knowing we still need their support and that patience. Creative and handmade businesses aren't re-sell shops, but customers sometimes lack that awareness, due to the buy now receive it tomorrow message. It would be awesome if Etsy could stand out on that.

And if so, how is Etsy going to include worldwide purchasing in the campaign, making them aware that the treasure they are searching comes with longer delivery times? It would be very valued if Etsy would include worldwide business more and not only focus on the US and US shipping issues around the Holidays. We are a worldwide platform, with worldwide shipping issues and worldwide customers.

careforus

·5 years ago

Hi,

I would love that the option to make a review is canceled if money has been refunded.

I've been given 3/4 stars on items that have been refunded when lost in mail. Doesn't feel honest to comment on something they haven't even seen.

You should not be able to make a review on an item lost in mail that has been refunded!

Best regards

Emma

Beauticculent

·5 years ago

Or a bad review if something arrive late and it's out of our hands.

Babyweartreasures

·5 years ago

I live in Australia and to send a parcel to the U.S. begins at $22.00 Aud for 750g. The cost goes up from there. I send tracking details to the customer. Etsy pop ups continuously tell me I’m charging too much for shipping and I’m not. It’s very disheartening when I can’t do anything about these pop ups.

EmagesEmbroidery

·5 years ago

1) Why does Etsy send us messages that we are charging too much for shipping when I OFTEN pay more than I charge? At times over 5 dollars more.

2) Why does etsy ask us to mark our items up and then to mark up our item prices and tell us to tell customers shipping is FREE? I resent the suggestion to lie to my customers.

3) I am closing early in November to avoid shipping delays and not have upset customers, any tips?

4) Why does etsy take a percentage of my shipping fee? I get cost of item, but why my shipping??? I never use etsy labels. And etsy does not help me.box item, ship items or drive me to post office.

5) Why is etsy making us input when a customer will receive their items Now? I use priority and the 2 to 3 days is often a month nowadays.

6) Why is the star seller on tracking inaccurate? I have been dinged points stating falsely I did not input tracking on an item. Tracking clearly input and delivered. And I have always input tracking since I started on etsy so this needs to be addressed.

EmagesEmbroidery

·5 years ago

What I meant to type why does etsy ask us to mask our shipping fee in the price of the item. So dishonest to try to pull a fast one on etsy shoppers.

ExpressYourWonders

·5 years ago

Can you suggest the best timeline to tell our customers when to order by? For example if I have a 4 day turnaround what is the latest time to order by to get it to the customer before Christmas.

lulubugjewelry

·5 years ago

What is Etsy going to do to support sellers if shipping delays are as bad this year as they were last year?

MoonlightMartini

·5 years ago

I would also like to add if the seller ships on time and the package is delayed for any reason after it leaves the seller's hands, IT IS THE FAULT OF THE POST OFFICE. But yet feedback stars get dinged by buyers for USPS delays which is unfair. This should not be allowed.

How is this at all fair to sellers?

lulubugjewelry

·5 years ago

I totally agree.

MoonlightMartini

·5 years ago

Etsy needs to call a meeting with the USPS and tell them how much their shipping delays and inflated pricing is hurting online business. Not to mention that prescriptions are dangerously delayed, bill payments are arriving late and it is utterly insane that it was announced that they are deliberately slowing down First Class mail now and increasing their prices for the holiday season. Not sure why nothing is being done about this.

Etsy also has to get realistic with the pop up prompts during the listing phase, which constantly tells me that I am charging too much to ship. It as if no employees from Etsy have never shipped a USPS package before.

A USPS flat rate bubble mailer or small box is $8.45. I charge $9.00 to offset my overhead . (which of course does not cover all of my overhead, not even close)

WHY does Etsy persist on having "auto bots" telling me that the shipping is too much when it is not? Same thing goes for First Class. How can $6.00 be too much to send a set of napkin rings from the East Coast to the West Coast? It makes no sense at all.

And pushing free shipping is ludicrous, unless the shop owners have an insanely low product cost or their shop is just a hobby for them.

When the post office offers free shipping, I will gladly follow suit!

SecretSafeBooks

·5 years ago

Could we have a new option in Shipping Profiles to add an asterisk message to indicate that shipping overages will be refunded after purchase?

I would like to add an asterisk message like this:

$55.00*

*Any shipping overage refunded after purchase

I'd like to be able to have it appear in 2 spots:

Listing page under Cost to ship
Checkout page under Shipping cost

skylinefever

·5 years ago

Would offering free shipping during the holidays increase sales? Or is just running sales a better way to go. It's hard to decide because I don't want to increase prices to offset shipping. But id really like to increase sales at this time. I heard so much about just doing free shipping all the time but it's so hard to just do it. Thank you and yall are doing an amazing job with the podcast lately. JAMES

VelveteenRoseDecor

·5 years ago

Will Etsy adjust algos/metric impact to factor in what will most likely be, a massive bottle neck in delivery and delayed orders, due to the national pressure on the delivery framework as per the seasonal context. Of course, knowing this in advanced allows one for time to implement strategies to mitigate the expected logistical pressure.

However, would it be fair to say that a seller's % change will correlate with the difficulty adjustment?

BelgianPaperworks

·5 years ago

Thanks so much for asking! My question is about combining shipping to save the customer money (great customer service), but not being penalized in the Star Seller program for doing so.

I'm seeing buyers place an order and qualify for free shipping, then immediately place several additional small orders and paying for shipping on those. I would like to combine their orders into a single package to save them money, and refund any shipping overage. But I would not have a tracking number for each separate order, and my Star Seller rating would be impacted.

How can I combine shipping to offer top customer service, without risking my shop's Star Seller badge?

Thanks very much,

Anne

That70sChickVintage

·5 years ago

@BelgianPaperworks You can copy and paste or just put the same tracking number you use for the first order when you mark the other items as shipped. ( that are going in the same box to ship)

McKeanCreations

·5 years ago

@BelgianPaperworks As that 70s Chick said, when you combine orders, when you mark the secondary orders as complete, put in the same tracking number as the original purchase if they are being packaged together. That way, each order has a tracking number and the customer gets the same tracking number on each completed order.

MaddyVintageHostess

·5 years ago

Your estimated times for UK deliveries to overseas are not correct. You state the time it takes to leave the UK which is fine but once in the destination country it can takes ages and is out of a sellers control.I do not use your estimates for that reason and l put more realistic times in my policy. Anything you can do to rectify this for UK sellers so our buyers to not feel mislead. It is the seller that bears the brunt of this problem.

ConfettiCandleCo

·5 years ago

Postal delays were crazyyy last year and many of my packages were held up were held up at postal centers. I usually ship via USPS Priority Mail and throughout the year it's usually 1-3 days but during the holidays I had packages shipped out in November that didn't arrive until January or February. What can we do to plan ahead for this? How can we encourage shoppers to shop early? I also want to know about packaging. For the holidays, I'd love to offer gift packaging that everyone loves. What are the preferred options? How much do people want to spend on gift wrap? Sustainability is really important to me. So far, I've been looking at reusable fabric wrap and 100% recycled tissue paper. Thank you!! Love this podcast!!

TheEternalLight

·5 years ago

Are you going to be able to adjust the estimated arrival date in our listings due to the slow down of the packages? Or put some warning? I can already see customers being upset thinking their packages will arrive in 2-6 days when in many cases that will not happen after the Usps announcement

ReplacementHardware

·5 years ago

I agree. Maybe put the arrival time as APPROXIMATE, Not guaranteed.

PatsBabyHandknits

·5 years ago

To reinforce the last few questions I'm in the UK and am currently waiting for craft supplies to arrive from within the UK by Royal Mail. They are already over a week late from when they should have been delivered. This not only affects orders that we send out but it also affects our production times for restocking the shop or producing custom orders. The tight reign ETSY is keeping on when and how we are dispatching orders needs to be more flexible when problems occur that are not the seller's fault. Being able to extend the date for dispatch more than once would help, and having seller support to remove reviews which are not our fault, even if they don't specifically mention ETSY or a Third Party or a Postal Service by name. If it is obvious to all concerned that the review is not the seller's fault can it be removed please....

SiPapi

·5 years ago

How can we confidently ship with USPS when they have announced slow downs with First Class parcels, additional mid-season rate hikes, un-reliable Priority mail delivery times, unprecedented lost mail, and denied insurance claims for items damaged while transit? Is it not possible for Etsy to negotiate seller rates with alternate shippers (UPS, FedEx, DHL) the same way Shippo does? Can Etsy assist sellers in communicating to buyers the ongoing delivery issues with USPS and the often unreasonable expectations is places on sellers? How do we inspire buyer confidence in these unprecedented times?

PeaCandleCo

·5 years ago

Use ShipStation as a backup

artbyinky

·5 years ago

My biggest worry since starting my shop has been shipping. Ever since 2020 happened USPS has been quite inconsistent with delivery and speeds.

While I luckily haven’t run into any issues yet, I have had issues receiving items from other sellers on here which I know isn’t their fault at all.

How can Etsy sellers prepare for the influx of holiday orders given the recent changes to USPS (slower speeds, more cuts to staff, etc.)? Should there be a specific date that we cut off orders so buyers can be guaranteed delivery before the holidays? But even then, can we or Etsy even promise a guaranteed delivery date anymore?

I feel like we need more than just “free shipping” because for myself and other sellers it doesn’t seem to do much. People will go to Amazon or other online marketplaces to purchase items for the holidays because they can’t wait weeks or even months for a gift to arrive. I’d personally pay for shipping if it meant that I would get my packages on time.

I know many do their best to keep their customers up to date if a package is lost or stuck in a distribution center, but there needs to be a way to hold USPS accountable and Etsy needs to make customers more aware of the current situation. Blaming Covid doesn’t cut it anymore and people are fed up with delays and shortages.

KnottinghamDesigns

·5 years ago

Owner

As a seller, I again plan to extend my shipping times to make up for some of USPS delays. I will continue to communicate the USPS shipping delays, ongoing and expected, to my customers individually. I will go to the Post Office and make sure every package is scanned in. But I can only do so much.

I would like to know what Etsy can do to help with the holiday shipping delays which are very likely again this year. How can the customers be made aware that the seller has NO power over the USPS delays and failures? Can the expected delivery times be adjusted accordingly so that, when the seller ships within their allotted time frame, the customer is not given unrealistic expectations for delivery? Can Etsy encourage the customer to reach out to USPS about their delayed packages...not the seller?

SurnamePro

·5 years ago

It is not the fault of the seller if the post office takes too long to deliver a package yet ETSY will let a buyer leave a review before a package gets delivered. Always the buyer takes it out on the seller when the post office takes longer than expected. What else would a buyer have to comment on since they have not yet opened the package. ETSY you need to have our backs and end this practice as it is always unfair to the shipper (seller) yet it is an issue with the carrier (post office).

CostumeCoutureNaomi

·5 years ago

A big shipping issue that seems to come up frequently during the holidays, is how does Etsy help support and accomodate sellers whose items are shipped with plenty of time, but end up stuck in a sorting center for weeks, or that are not getting scanned by UPS to activate tracking.

How can Etsy help streamline the tracking process, support sellers so they can provide the right customer service for their customers, and help sellers who may receive negative reviews, cases and chargebacks due to USPS and other shipping issues?

I suspect that with labor shortages, freight back up and in some countries, fuel shortages, holiday shipping delays are going to be as bad if not worse than last year's holiday season.

PiecesofMeCardsnMore

·5 years ago

I agree with this. Last holiday season I had issues with my post office not scanning my packages as accepted for close to a week. Sellers shouldn't be punished for this.

careforus

·5 years ago

Hi,

I've made so many refunds for delayed shipping to avoid more bad reviews. In my opinion a bad review as a result of PO messup should not be accepted.

Packages being stuck in US customs are not my fault. Packages being delivered but not recieved is not my fault but I'm paying for it.

Shipping has been very bad at times during covid.

Is there a time limit i should go by before I refund? For how long can I stretch it?

Best regards

Emma

LiliacLilli

·4 years ago

I have had this issue as well abs had to issue refunds on items that were in fact deliveredjust late due to the holidays.

MyDomos

·5 years ago

Giving free shipping is becoming very tricky for small budget orders, especially with the new tracking requirements of the star seller program.

Is free shipping really appealing to buyers during the holiday season? Can you share some numbers showing that it really makes a big difference?

RedDirtDogsVintage

·5 years ago

@MyDomos Most sellers in the forums have said that free shipping has not helped their sales and have dropped it.

howtobooksandmore

·4 years ago

etsy: "Would you like free shipping on your order?"

buyer: "Sure"

etsy: "Would you be willing to pay more for every item in an order just to have it shipped free?"

buyer" "No."

See the difference. If etsy actually asks, they can get any answer they want by the way they word the question.

LiliacLilli

·4 years ago

What are the tracking requirements?

RusticBucketsSouth

·5 years ago

When looking at the postal rates prior to purchasing buyers are not able to see Fed Ex as an option. It is frequently more cost effective to ship FedEx for large items. Sellers cannot TELL a potential buyer what the FedEx shipping cost would be prior to their purchase. This is a big deterrent in selling online when you cannot compare prices for shipping. Are there plans to amend the shipping to show comparisons prior to purchase?

LookBackVintage

·5 years ago

I second this. When shipping heavier items to postal zones farther away from seller, Fedex can save the customer quite a bit with their Smart Post program. It would be great if a customer could see that cost along with USPS costs when they are buying. Any chance of that happening?