Incorrect Arrival Ranges

[ZealoApparel]

I've not been getting many sales this week which is most unusual, and I've just noticed that the estimated arrival times on orders (and listings) are showing January as the later date in the range. My domestic orders are still due to arrive in December, and a few days ago would have arrived before Christmas. But buyers have been seeing that it might not arrive until January which would explain the lack of sales. 

I use Royal Mail 2nd Class as my option in my delivery settings which shows (in the settings) the correct estimate of 2-3 business days. So maybe the issue is with what Etsy is counting as a business day. I know it's based on US business days because that causes problems when UK bank holidays aren't accounted for. But I'm not aware of any US holidays over Christmas (that the UK doesn't have) that would push the estimates to 5th January. 

[CappuccinoLace]

Not seeing Jan 5th, but 28th to Jan 3rd for domestic UK delivery. (input my postcode and it's now saying dec 27th to Jan 4th, which is even weirder).

Is your processing time 1 day? And are you set for processing on Sat and Sun?

[KittyKnitsDesigns · Accepted solution]

Realistically, if your processing time is 1 day and shipping time is  2 - 3 days, today being the 22nd and posting on the 23rd, taking into account the 2 bank holidays means delivery would be by the 29th if there is no disruption to RM services. But it's Christmas and RM services may well not be reliable so Etsy has, for several weeks, been adding a large contingency. So some added protection for sellers, but yes a turn off for some buyers. I have a 2 day processing time (excluding weekends) and our standard 2 - 3 days shows as "get by 29 Dec-05 Jan"

[CraftyCornishMaids]

In the UK the last day for posting for 2nd class was 18th to arrive by 23rd .... so there are delays in the system

So it looks like etsy is using Royals mails times, and allowing for Christmas postal delays

I have had no estimated deliveries for 26, ever, so they may also be taking the bank holidays into account, - Or Royal mail is, and feeding them into etsy.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

Etsy uses whatever the postage system has.  They ignore weekends.  Etsy is also trying out skipping holidays.

As to wherher or not this means slow sales.  Probably not.

The trend seems to be for people buying online heavily in November with December trailing off.  This year many buyers can now shop easily in physical stores which was not the case last year.   

[ZealoApparel]

Thanks everyone! 

It would have been nice if Etsy had emailed sellers to say they're adding on extra days, because I've never had sales tail off as early as they did this year, and I've been wasting time trying to work out why. Or even if they'd updated the shipping estimates in the settings too rather than just the listings, it would have helped. 

As @CappuccinoLace said, the range gets broader when you input a postcode which doesn't make sense. 

It's just frustrating trying to run a business when Etsy keeps making changes without even letting us know. 

Thanks again for your replies and have a good Christmas/Holiday!