Attn Admin: USPS Media Mail: Buyer’s Delivery Estimate Doesn’t Match Seller’s Estimate on all orders

[BookBang]

Hi Etsy Admin,

When we choose USPS Media Mail to ship one of our books (within our processing timeframe), we get a warning in red that says (for example):

Estimated delivery

Aug 13-19

*** May arrive late

(Buyer expects Aug 12-16)

and then a little lower on the page it says:

Estimated delivery Aug 13–19
(Buyer expects Aug 12–16)

This shows a clear mismatch between what Etsy displays to the buyer and what Etsy shows to the seller. Since we are using Etsy’s own estimated delivery window, I’m not sure why the two are different.  This is happening on every order and we ship all of our books using USPS Media Mail.

My concerns:

1. Why is there a discrepancy between the buyer’s expected delivery date and the seller’s estimate? Shouldn't they be the same? 

2. Are sellers penalized in search if the package arrives within Etsy’s seller estimate, but after the buyer’s shown date? (e.g., buyer sees Aug 16, seller sees Aug 19)

3. The message appears in red, which typically signals a warning — should we be concerned? 

Since sellers can’t set or adjust delivery dates (Etsy controls the estimate), it is concerning if this difference could impact our search ranking or on-time shipping metrics. Could an Etsy Admin please clarify?  This is only happening in with USPS Media Mail.  

Thank you for your attention and help! - T

[NanaLetha]

USPS does that not Etsy 

[BagmakerSupply]

@BookBang: Based on the many many other posts about this in this forum, this is a user interface issue (bug) when purchasing Etsy labels and it does NOT affect Star Seller or Customer Service statistics (as long as you mark complete and ship on or before the scheduled to ship by date) or anything else. It is the expected delivery date shown on the actual order after marking as complete that might affect other things.

"Hi Etsy Admin ..." Just so you know, even if Etsy Support or the Help Pages sent you here this is a seller peer to peer forum, and should not be considered a way to contact Etsy, if that is your hope (although Etsy moderators do sometimes read and reply to posts).

[moonbeamgifts]

There are significant issues with the Etsy "expectation" of delivery vs. reality when it comes to USPS transit times for all methods of shipment.   

I don't know whether the bug of Etsy re-allocating the seller processing time is back or if they just are not accounting for literal transit time but even in Priority service, a package is not going from MD to CA in 1 or 2 days let alone Ground Advantage.    This is frustrating for sellers and buyers alike.   Buyers are exasperated because the information they were given was inaccurate and speaking from a seller standpoint, I feel like I look incompetent because there are only so many times I can say "USPS".