Etsy delivery timescales

[TillyOnlineUK]

Has Etsy been tinkering in the last day or so?

I have two orders for the US, to be posted from the UK.

Order on 2 Dec, 13:27: "Dispatches by 9 December"  "Buyer expects delivery by 9-24 December"

Order on 3 Dec, 15:05: "Dispatches by 10 December" "Buyer expects delivery by 9-19 December"

Any suggestions?

[cindylouwho2]

Suggestions for what?  (Your post isn't clear)

Etsy's delivery range covers the fastest processing time & delivery time to the slowest processing time and delivery time. If you shipped the Dec 2 order today, arriving in a week doesn't seem impossible with some shipping methods, although it is likely optimistic at this time of year.  

[FancyTogs]

Etsy have been displaying their own versions of delivery times for a while.

There was something in a recent announcement, which suggests that they could be overriding sellers' shipping settings more aggressively now

Here:

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/Etsy-Updates-6-things-to-know-for-November-2024/m-p/1471...

Lawrence (Clare's other half)

[TillyOnlineUK]

Thank you for that! A little disturbing that Etsy appears to know more about delivery times that the reality with Royal mail and their delivery "aims".

[CryzalisMasksUK]

So far all my US parcels using Royal Mail have been delivered within 8 days, which has left be overly impressed even when sending to the Chicago area (UPS is taking 3 days, also good)

There was 1 which took 11 days, which meant the "buyer expects delivery by" was off. it was stuck in customs a bit longer, but what I noticed was, when it was delivered. the "buyer expects delivery by" delivery date, automatically changed to the date it was delivered.

Royal mail have their delivery aims, but at the end of the day, they have 0 control when the parcel reaches America and it is handed over to USPS

[FancyTogs]

I am worried that Etsy's system is reactive, rather than predictive. I suspect that it uses recent postal performance, rather than forecast performance.

Reality: The USPS international entry points foul up every year when they get overloaded. The worst performing are Jamaica (in New York) and Chicago O'Hare. Their organisation is chaotic, and when overloaded they use a first in last out buffer system (mail is pushed to the back of a store room, the newest items are retrieved soonest, the oldest items are not retrieved until all the newer items have been processed). The result is 6-8 week delays on some parcels, extending to about 12 weeks if there is heavy snow in late December / early January.

This was the January 2021 inspection of the USPS Chicago International Service Center, read the report: https://www.uspsoig.gov/reports/audit-reports/issues-identified-international-package-operations-chi...

Hopefully they are improving, but . . .

The danger with Etsy's delvery date system is that they are not anticipating this, because it has not happened yet.

Lawrence

[VioletAtelierStore]

I have the same issue, and I'm not in the UK but still within Europe. I believe the issue might be related to the shipping profiles.

For some orders, the expected delivery dates match the estimated dispatch dates.

For others, the expected delivery dates align with my processing time range, meaning I need to deliver to USA within 4-7 days from dispatch.

[TillyOnlineUK]

I did try to extend my processing times up to 10 days. If I post to the US the latest dispatch date of 18 Dec "buyer expects by 23 Dec" even though the letter was posted after Royal Mail's latest recommended posting date. At the moment Etsy does not appear to take into account the Chistmas mail delays and Royal Mail's recommendations. I have now paused international sales until after Christmas to save disappointment for my customers and to save me grief.

[VioletAtelierStore]

Last night, I attempted to contact Etsy via Chat. After initially communicating with a bot, I also discovered that Etsy calculates delivery estimates using calendar days rather than 'business days' (Mon-Fri). My request was eventually forwarded to what appears to be real support.

Following this conversation, my latest order now reflects accurate expected delivery dates, which is a positive development. However, no solution has been provided for the previously placed orders. I was advised to 'communicate with the customers' and was told that the previous unrealistic shipping times were my fault (: 

[TillyOnlineUK]

It really is farcical.