Etsy's inaccurate shipping estimates are probably driving customers away.

[TheWoodenFly]

A customer just purchased three items from my shop.

Etsy charged the buyer $30.10 in shipping fees.

Etsy charged me $9.56 for a package containing all 3 items.

I refunded the difference.

Etsy's total of $30.10 exceeded the total of Etsy's charges for the three items. How could this happen, even on Etsy? Etsy seeed to have combined the lengths of two of the items, incurring oversized package fees.

Etsy is shooting its seller, its buyers and itself in the feet with these inaccurate estimates. 

Crazily high shipping estimates (and charges) have to be driving customers away.

Does anyone have any suggestions.

I have added a note to all my item descriptions urging buyers to use the [CUSTON ORDER] option when buying multiple items, but Etsy buried the item description sections a long time ago.

Does anyone have a solution for, or a way to ease this problem?

Thank you for your attention.

[BagmakerSupply]

@TheWoodenFly: We have also noticed that calculated shipping has become more inconsistent in calculating the "box" that a multi item order will fit into but nothing quite as drastic as your example.

[ChantillyAvenue]

I just ignored a shipping label warning message that something not due to ship until May 10th may arrive late.  Something not due to ship for two weeks could arrive late if USPS screws up badly enough.  It almost feels like mobsters trying to extort you into spending more on insurance (shipping upgrades) to protect you from whatever unpleasantness they can throw your way.  Is that where we are now?  I think a lot of shipping related things are headed into the crapper.

[BeadBistroCrafts]

WOW, This is really interesting and ironic. Here Etsy is always telling me my Shipping charges are too high. From the sounds of it, Etsy's are often charging people's customers inflated shipping with their calculated shipping. I don't use calculated shipping on any shipments for my items. I have a flat rate for domestic, with free shipping at $35. I also do a flat rate with small increase per item on International shipments. This works for me because my items are all very small in size and don't weigh a lot. 

BUT... I landed on this forum because I noticed also how inaccurate Etsy's delivery Estimates have become.
I ship sometimes 15 orders out in one day. Seems like, even though I am shipping on time according to my profiles (which are usually set to 1-3 days), almost 70% - 80% of my orders are arriving late when I go to ship them. Sometimes it's off by just 1 day but other times it's off by almost 4-5 days.

I talked to Etsy via Chat about this problem a while ago. They didn't seem too concerned. I was assured me that I would only be held to the Estimates as they were reflected at the time of shipment and not the Estimates of delivery the "Buyer Expects". 

HOWEVER.. I still think this is a problem because Etsy is representing my business. Having multiple customer's receiving their orders late on a regular basis just seems like a bad business equation for the both of us. The only thing I can think to do about this is to put my processing times out to like 2-5 days, even though I actually ship within 1-3 days most often. 

Also, I got the impression after speaking to customer service, that Etsy uses the data collected about a seller's usual turn around time to help inform them on how to provide delivery Estimates for future customers.
So I think what that means is if you usually ship next business day, then you will possibly always need to provide this service. Even if you change your processing times temporarily (because you are swapped with orders or need a day off) OH NO SIR. Your delivery Estimates may still come through on the generous side for your customers at check out, because you always do such as stellar job shipping quickly. 

I think Etsy really needs to do an overhaul on their shipping Delivery Estimates calculator and apparently their calculated shipping options also. Not sure if I can name names here, but they are trying too hard to compete with the BIG seller who holds shipping warehouses all over the country.
I think the better the estimates sound to buyer the more Etsy thinks customers will buy. But they are going to end up shooting themselves in the foot if customer start getting agitated about all of this inaccuracy surrounding shipping. I could just be small minded here, but I think customer's value accuracy; quality over quantity is what brings customer to Etsy after all.

[TheToyBox]

We have noticed lately that on multiple items purchased on the same purchase order a shipping label was created for each item. You have to delete the labels (before printing!) that aren't used or it will combine them and charge for all. 

[TheWoodenFly]

I manage to get one shipping label for a single package that contains all items in a multiple item package at a much lower price (I always refund the difference) than my customer was charged. My worry is that Etsy's inflated shipping charges may be driving customers away.

[TheWoodenFly]

Once an order for multiple items has been placed, I have no problem getting an accurate shipping price for the combined items. The trouble is that my customer was charged an inflated shipping charge. If a customer orders despite the high shipping estimate, I refund the difference.

My worry is that I lose customers who decide not to buy when they see the inflated estimate.

[BagmakerSupply]

@TheWoodenFly: Presumably you are using calculated shipping. Not to say that Etsy does not make mistakes or that the calculation methodology could not be improved, but they can only do the calculations based on the information you provide - available box sizes, shipping dimensions, etc. The only real issue we have noticed is that sometimes Etsy puts a multiple piece order in a larger container than we calculate. And of course the shipping weight for one item needs to include the packaging weight, so if two are purchased the total weight will be artificially inflated and might push the shipping into the next dimensional weight band.

[DragoninKnots]

Have you checked your Package Preferences? If there isn't a box listed there that will fit all three items (using the measurements in the listings - Remember Etsy treats each item like a solid rectangle), then Etsy will decide the order needs to be split into multiple packages, resulting in an inflated shipping estimate.

[TheToyBox]

Thanks for that tip.

I have never even looked at Package Preferences. We sell all sorts of things in many different sizes so it may take awhile to add the appropriate box sizes. I don't understand why this is all of a sudden an issue though. Seems like Etsy used to be a lot smarter.

[DragoninKnots]

At least, list the largest you use overall and the largest you use that is below the oversized fee threshold.

[UniqueByGurkan]

Lately, shipping costs are more expensive than the price of the products. There must be a solution to this

[BeaconwoodDettman]

I remember this happening before I moved to Free Shipping in my shop. I think a lot of this depends on what you are selling. 

If I was selling only vintage Rubik's Cubes and I put in my standard box sizes, Etsy could probably calculate shipping pretty accurately whether someone ordered 1, 6, 13 or 100. 

For my shop, if someone ordered one of my large milk cans, a fruit crate, a mason jar, and a coffee can, I don't think Etsy (or any selling platform) would know what could fit inside what to reduce the number of boxes needed. In this example, I would need two boxes - the fruit crate can't go inside the milk can, but everything else could. Or maybe everything could go in one giant box - I don't know, I would have to experiment to see what is the safest and least expensive (it's like playing a game of Tetris). 

I totally realize what you are saying though, the total shipping cost for multiple items might turn people off. I think all you can do is what you describe, refund the overage, and on a positive note, your customer will be so appreciative of that you might have earned a repeat customer. 

[riverofbeautydesigns]

Could buying your labels from another source help?

[TheWoodenFly]

The problem is not what Etsy is charging me. The problem is thatEtsy hits potential customers with an inflated shipping estimate.

[TreasureHouseBlues]

Etsy is charging customers too much for postage. I have used calculated shipping for years and never had a problem. For some reason this past month, on every sale Etsy has charged the customer too much for shipping. Wondering if this new listing page format has something to do with it?  As you said, if the customer is seeing overpriced postage, how many sales are we losing? 

[TheHomespunLoft]

@TreasureHouseBlues 

Etsy is only inputting the numbers that the seller gives it.. they are not making up numbers on their own.. The seller is the one who sets the weights and the way to ship. I have been using the new listing page since it started and I am not having any shipping issues.. I use both calculated and set pricing. Maybe check to see if you have retail rates or Etsy label ship rates set.. quite a difference in the costs.

[TheWoodenFly]

That is the problem. I enter accurate weights and dimensions. Etsy charges the buyer one price and me another.

On every sale this year, Etsy has charged the buyer at least 20% more than I was charged. Same measurements. Single items. (multiple items are another issue.

I always refund the difference.

But it makes the Etsy sight appear sleazy by overcharging our buyers for the shipping. 

[TBQSC]

Go to your shipping settings and click on RATES & UPGRADES and ensure you have enabled ETSY rates (commercial pricing) and not RETAIL RATES (postal counter rates).  Then ensure your PACKAGE PREFERENCES are set up correctly ... enable "USE COMMON ETSY PACKAGE SIZES" and if necessary, add in some other custom sizes.  These settings will ensure your buyers are getting charged correctly!

[CeramicConcepts]

I had the same problem—and in fact, the customer chose to pay something like $700 for shipping a large number of tiles—however, on a palette, that would be $350, so I refunded the difference to him. For this reason, Etsy then decided to put a hold on my account. The whole reason this happened is because the  shipping setup is totally inadequate for scaling up when you buy tiles. And now since prices are high we don't get visibility!! I wouldn't be in business if I treated my customers like this!!

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