PLEASE FIX PACKAGE ARRIVAL DATES

[thependantemporium]

Dear Etsy -- Please do SOMETHING about the bogus "estimated" arrival dates given on an item's page.  I just shipped packed up 4 ordered with a ship-by date of Saturday the 27th.  They are going out tomorrow, so 3 days ahead of schedule on these but the Etsy labels say "may arrive late."

W have a 3 to 4 day window in ship settings for us to make these pieces and get them shipped.  They frequently ship in 2 or 3 days but we need the extra day in case something goes wrong and we don't count weekends as workdays (although we do indeed work).  So, todays orders have a ship-by date of September 29th.

But unfortunately, the customer is being shown an ARRIVAL date of 29th through Oct. 2nd, which is nearly impossible if I ship on the 29th.  USPS gives transit time for 1st Class as 3 to 6 days, not counting Sundays and the day it was mailed, so a package mailed on the 29th MIGHT just make it by Oct. 2nd (3 days), but probably not.

We're already getting messages from customers expecting their package almost immediately and we're really sick of it.  This only gets worse as Christmas approaches.   Maybe we have shove it forward by 2 or 3 weeks -- would that take care of the problem?  We'll lose sales, and therefor Etsy will also, but it beats deliberately misleading people.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Etsy calculates  the delivery date, from when you buy the label on etsy, or mark as complete

It doesn't matter if your processing time had 3 weeks,
if shipped it on day 2, etsy would re-calculate the delivery date from day 2, and that's the date on the e-mail that goes to the customer

the purchase e-mail does not have a delivery date, the shipping e-mail does

[AnchorRoadVintage]

You always chime in with this answer and regardless of whether this is how  Etsy  is calculating the estimated arrival date,   the point is  that THE ESTIMATES ARE WRONG. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@AnchorRoadVintage 

I read the OP's Question

Maybe we have shove it forward by 2 or 3 weeks -- would that take care of the problem? 

and I explained why it wouldn't work

[AnchorRoadVintage]

I'm saying that no matter when a seller ships- early in their processing time, in the middle of their chosen processing time, or at the end of the chosen processing time-- the estimated arrival date is almost always wrong, as in the incorrect possible date is showing.  One has nothing to do with the other. There shouldn't be an estimated arrival time. If there has to be one, it should always and only be based on the last possible date of the seller's processing time. Underpromising and overdelivering is a standard best business practice, ESPECIALLY if you are relying on another party's involvement. Amazon can make promises because they are the deliverer (that they often suck at it is another topic), but Etsy makes promises to our customers based on USPS, which is neither correct from a business standpoint nor proper ethically. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

I explained why extending the processing time wouldn't work,

are you saying it will work
or are you agreeing with me?

[AnchorRoadVintage]

I agree with you that changing the processing time doesn't work. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Thank you, as that is what I said, no point putting the processing time out, it won't make any difference

[BagmakerSupply]

@thependantemporium : Two separate issues here. Based on the many many posts about this in this forum, there is a user interface issue (bug) when purchasing Etsy labels that causes the 'may arrive late' alert and it does NOT affect anything else (as long as you mark complete and ship on or before the scheduled to ship by date). It is the expected delivery date shown on the actual order after marking as complete that might affect other things.

As @CraftyCornishMaids  points out the 'buyer expects delivery by' date is recalculated at the time the order is marked as complete. Our label provider includes the official USPS estimated time-in-transit and so far the Etsy calculated delivery by date has matched what USPS says. The error we have seen is that Etsy will not adjust forward a delivery date that falls on a Sunday or a postal holiday.

[cutebutton]

I have had sales where the order comes in and I ship on the same day and get the message may arrive later than customer expects.   I always joke that etsy expects us to be able to predict the future so we can ship something before it is even ordered HAHAHA. 

The way I look at it is that it's meaningless and I have never had anyone complain as far as it being related to that message so I completely ignore it since it happens on like 75 % of my orders regardless of when I ship it.

Also, if you look at the date range the only thing that is off is the last possible delivery date is usually a day later than they say the customer expects so even so usually it arrives before that last date anyway. 

[Hertfordweaver]

But, How do we get this point across to Etsy programmers? It is crazy.

[thependantemporium]

I'm not concerned whether or not Etsy takes away brownie points with that "may arrive late" message when printing labels.  It also doesn't matter whether or not they recalculate when marked shipped. 

What does matter to me is that the customer, at the time of purchase, sees an arrival date that is not accurate at all and not even possible for pieces that are made to order.  And of course, they frequently focus on that earliest arrival date, which is often only 1 or 2 days after shipping which is totally impossible except for Priority.  Basically, Etsy is blowing sunshine up the customers you-know-what in the hopes of increasing sales.  We had plenty of sales for many years before this policy was implemented and, except for USPS problems, bad addresses, etc., we had 0 disappointed customers re gifts not arriving on time.  That is no longer the case.

[PrimFun]

@thependantemporium   Where are you seeing the 'may arrive late'?  In the label?  Ignore that.  It has nothing to do with the items arrival.  I get that when I ship early sometimes and it has never caused a problem.

Did you remove the weekends as shipping days?

The arrival dates are actually based on USPS dates that USPS says.  So it is not Etsy's fault.  USPS says 2 to 5 days for GA but they don't guarantee the 2 to 5 days.  I have seen this as buyer and seller.  Frankly all but one item I have sold or have bought in the 14 years on Etsy has arrived much later.  Most arrive around the date set in the listing.   

But one thing I have done as have other sellers is to set processing time such as 3 to 5 days but ship within 1 to 2.  Gives a leeway.  And that is when the arrives late on the label may appear but the buyer never sees that.  They have no clue.  It's not in any message a buyer receives. 

[McKeanCreations]

I have experienced the same frustrations. Even after I have purchased the shipping label from Etsy, the estimated arrival date I see is not a reflection of reality. 80% of my packages are taking 7 days to reach their destination, the other 20% arrive in 5 or 6 days. Even in my own state which is only supposed to be 2 days, it's been taking 4 or 5 days. The customer sees a 3 - 5 days estimation and that just isn't what is happening in reality. I got a 3 star review from someone who loved the product, but it arrived after the estimated date by Etsy. It took, if I remember correctly, 10 days to arrive. My packages are mailed about 2-3 hours after I purchase the label and package up the item. 

[thependantemporium]

It's beyond ridiculous that we have no control over this whatsoever while they bang us over the head to provide good customer service.  For many years, Etsy did not publish delivery dates, that was the shop owner's domain.

Etsy is so big on shops having great customer service, THEIR end of customer service could certainly use a little fixing. 

I'm starting to dread Xmas more as time goes on, and each year we are cutting off our Christmas delivery dates a bit more and more because of these bogus delivery dates.  And of course, that causes both us and Etsy extra sales.

[PrimFun]

@thependantemporium   And just how is Etsy supposed to handle this with USPS?  THey don't have the power that Amazon does yet even Amazon USPS packages can arrive late.

Sorry but I don't think it is on Etsy's shoulders alone.  USPS is a huge part of this and there isn't anyway of knowing how USPS will fall.

[charmphilosophy]

Yes, Etsy is now showing potential buyers ridiculously unrealistic estimated arrival dates, despite my set delivery times being 8-14 business days. Then when they purchase, the estimate changes significantly. I even had one customer say that it went from showing an estimated arrival of 3-7 days (which I do not have set anywhere for any location) to 2 months! This has led to many complaints, and I'm concerned its going to lead to bad reviews soon. This has been happening since Etsy rolled out something to do with AI that estimates arrival times. Please, please, please stop and let us set the dates. I'd rather under promise and over deliver to my customers. 

[ReImagineBrewing]

Etsy shows the best and worst case scenario based on the manufacturing time you state and transit time you offer. So, this is functioning fine. If you have 1-3 days manufacturing and transit is priority mail 1-4 days the item could arrive in 2-7 days (plus weekends). If that is not what you want customers to think then you need to change your manufacturing time to just 3 days. Then if the transit is 1-4 days the item will arrive in 4-7 days (plus weekends).

I'd love it if Etsy would show exactly what the transit will be based on a customer's location from you. It would be wonderful. They don't. So, like always we need to work in their system.

[DragonflyDreams1]

OK, didn't Etsy announce relatively recently that arrival times would now be shown based on the seller's shipping record? If you ship within one day, their system will adjust to that even if you have your processing time set to 7 days. I thought they had changed it to actual shipping times, not what we have set.