Expedited vs Priority

[FrenchVintagePrints]

I have a vocabulary question as English is not my first language.

At the moment, my Standard shipping is set to Economy to keep the costs as low as possible but I offer at check-out an upgrade option, which is called Priority upgrade. Very few customers choose it. Since Economy shipping to the US can take up to 4 weeks, I specify again in my automated thank you message and in the message that I send to the buyers to let them know when their order will ship that the Priority upgrade is available.
Very few people actually read these 2 messages and when the US postal service is slow (which seems to happen a lot these days), they worry that their print hasn't reached them yet. They are usually understanding when I point out that the shipping timings were fully detailed in those messages but I would like to raise the visibility of the upgrade option.

If I change the wording from Priority upgrade to Expedited, will it be more explicit ? I would welcome the opinion of native English speakers.

[TooSplendidSupplies]

Expedited to me means that you will finish making the item faster. Priority mail upgrade means you are paying extra for the post office to rush the item to their door. What I did was make the names of the upgrades in my shipping profile say in parenthesis what the post office promises.

So, for priority my shipping labels say "Priority Mail (1-3 Days)" and "Priority Mail Express (2 Days)". I think it's pretty clear that way, but I've still only had one person pay for it despite several asking for fast shipping. I think most people don't want to pay a lot of money just to get something faster unless they're on a deadline.

[FrenchVintagePrints]

That is what I do too. My Priority upgrade states 3-5 bus. days vs 2-4 weeks for standard but it doesn't seem to register with buyers.

[FrenchVintagePrints]

Let me add that I think it is a pity that we cannot add a qualification to the default shipping option. I would like to be able to specify the time it will take right there !

[StuckOnSilver]

Anne, beautiful shop!! Is your priority mail option a listing? If so, you could provide a link to it on both item descriptions and your message to buyers. I agree with Melissa about expedited being faster processing and priority being faster shipping.

Maybe you could list your items with priority mail and give them the option of refund for slower shipping?

All the best,
Bev

[FrenchVintagePrints]

Yes, it is also available as a separate listing. I used to do what you suggest but buyers don't read the descriptions any more than they read the messages I send them...

[StuckOnSilver]

Did you see my edit above? Offering a refund for slower shipping?

[FrenchVintagePrints]

Oh, I hadn't seen it, thanks. I have not thought about that but I have thought about increasing all shipping to Priority. The problem is that I live in a country where shipping is very expensive. Economy for a standard print is already 4.90 USD. Priority would raise that to 6.20 USD and I am worried that it might discourage buyers.