Problem with the Ship by/Buyer expects delivery by dates

[SmallWonderGifts]

It looks like Etsy has a bug with the Ship by/Buyer expects delivery by dates that they give to the buyers. 

My Processing time is set to 4-8 days, while my Shipping is set for 1-5 days. and here are some of the dates that the buyers are getting ( As if the shipping range is going backward)

1. Ship by Jun 28, 2024/ Buyer expects delivery by: Jun 21-28

2. Ship by Jun 28, 2024/ Buyer expects delivery by: Jun 22-29

3. Ship by Jun 24, 2024/ Buyer expects delivery by: Jun 18-26 

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I just refunded a buyer because Etsy said she should expect her package June 11-14, even though she ordered on Sat., June 8 in the evening. I couldn't mail it until Monday the 10th because the post office was closed! I have a 2-4 day processing time (Mon.-Fri.) on the item she purchased, yet Etsy told her she'd get it within 4 business days from the order date! WTF? The buyer hasn't received it yet as of today and the last scan on the useless Pitney Bowes tracking number was on June 10th so I refunded. She ordered thinking she would get it sooner and I don't want to deal with it, to be honest. She's been nice and said she'd write "return to sender" if it arrives.

Edit: Right after I finished typing this I got a message from yet another buyer who expected her order 4 days after placing an order in the evening. Thanks Etsy for the inaccurate delivery dates and the P.O. for taking over a week to deliver a flat from Mass. to NYC. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@SmallWonderGifts @PiecesOfMePaperCraft : There seem to be several issues at play here. One is that Josh Silverman has stated in some webinars or the like that it is Etsy's intention to cut a couple of days off of actual delivery dates. Is there perhaps some top down actual or implied directive to make it appear that this is happening? Then there are reports that Etsy is using a shop's historic actual time to ship rather than the selected processing time to calculate the estimated delivery date range. Further Etsy seems to have problems properly adjusting in transit times based on the carrier's estimated in transit time to the location for that size / weight package.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

When I go into my shipping profiles, the profile for a single card is set to 2-4 days processing time. Etsy has a prompt below it that says "Your History: 1-2 days" with an Apply button. They have the same thing below my bulk cards, which have a 4-6 day processing time. I don't usually ship those in 1-2 days so if they base their estimated  delivery on my so-called history, I'm going to have even more buyers complaining. Knowing why they're doing this still doesn't explain why they're telling buyers to expect their order 4 days from the order date, especially when the order is placed in the evening or on a weekend. I don't expect you to have an explanation for this. I'm just thinking outloud. 

This whole thing really pisses me off because I'm losing money. I haven't advised these buyers to file a case against my shop for purchase protection but maybe I should. Let Etsy pay for their mistakes. I just don't want Etsy to turn around and punish my shop for something that's not my fault.

[BagmakerSupply]

@PiecesOfMePaperCraft: "... doesn't explain why they're telling buyers ..."   Personal opinion only - a combination of inadequate direction from decision makers, coding that does not take into consideration reality, and no oversight about the implications of those decisions and how they are implemented.

The date range seems to be some secret sauce but however incorrectly we feel that the calculation is made, to us the bigger issue is that the same 'calculation' shows different results in different places. If instead of a single function to calculate this everyone is writing their own (and this is Etsy's policy) it is of little surprise that glitches are so hard to track down and fix.

[boygirlboygirldesign]

What you are reporting doesn't sound good at all. I have my turn around time set for 5-7 business days and shipping (ground advantage) for 3-5 days. So mine is looking okay ...so far.

@PiecesOfMePaperCraft    I'm not seeing the your History message prompt on my listings. It must be a test?

[TheHomespunLoft]

If you see the dates will be off.. contact your customer and explain AND CHANGE the ship by date- and still mail when you originally were going to mail (IMO)

[Adorabilities]

Do you often ship before your the 4-8 day processing time? If you usually ship in 2 days, for example, Etsy may use that timeframe instead of the 4-8 days that you think you're supposed to get.

[ChantillyAvenue]

I actually think Etsy is doing this on purpose.  In other words, not a glitch or bug.  They will be simultaneously trying to upsell you on Priority and Priority Express shipping, if you use Etsy labels.  They want us to ship faster.  As long as they keep up with these sneaky & manipulative shenanigans, I say move your shipping dates out.  You can also cancel the order, and ask the buyer to purchase from a custom listing with a custom shipping profile of 2-3 weeks processing time.  Or just make a custom shipping profile and apply to all listings.

[WaffleInk]

I absolutely agree that this is likely a deliberate and deceptive tactic Etsy is using to prompt faster turnaround times to attract more buyers.

If I set up a custom listing to ship out in 2-3 weeks, after the buyer makes a purchase, Etsy shows that I have to send it out in 2 weeks or less.

If it's a particularly complex order and/or is at a busy time of year, I may need up 6 weeks. The max processing time Etsy offers is 5-6 weeks and it always allowed me the 6 weeks. But as of this year, if I select 5-6 weeks, after the order is bought, it shows to ship out in 5 weeks.

I've also had several instances of setting the time to be several weeks, but instead it tells me I have to ship out the next days after the purchase is made and I KNOW I didn't accidentally put that in wrong.

So now if I make a sale, I always have to go in and adjust delivery time after the purchase is made to accurately reflect turnaround time.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I extended my processing times a couple of weeks ago when I heard about this happening. This is the first time I’ve had buyers tell me they expected delivery within 4 business days of the order date. I processed 2 orders this afternoon to be mailed tomorrow. One was ordered this afternoon and has a processing time of 2-4 days, yet the buyer expects delivery June 21-24. The second order was placed yesterday morning, has a processing time of 4-6 days and the buyer expects delivery June 21-25. Ridiculous. 

[SmallWonderGifts]

Totally ridiculous

[JMOldeVintage]

This from Etsy: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001922768-How-to-Set-Up-Estimated-Delivery-Dates?segment=...

The article includes this under Processing Times: 

• In some instances, Etsy may take your past shipping behavior into account to help ensure buyers receive accurate estimated delivery dates. This is based on historical tracking data and does not impact your processing times or “ship-by dates”.

Back in March Etsy did change some shops processing times - their business days - to include Saturday &/or Sunday - based on the shop's past history. I believe it's been mentioned that Etsy may review shops' history & might make changes to their business days.

So while your shop will not get dinged as long as you ship within your processing times, what the buyer might see when it comes to EDD's could be based on your shop's history, where your 2 - 4 day processing time often "ends early" & you ship in two days??

I'd suggest staying aware of the processing times you've set on your listings & review what days of the week show as business days for you. I definitely understand shop owners wanting a cushion for the "life stuff" that can happen. But it seems history is becoming more relevant?

[SmallWonderGifts]

Well, this is not the reply I got on support, on the chat, they said there is a known issue :" it appears that you are encountering a problem that our engineering team is currently investigating." 

As there is no sense with this logic, I send always on time with the processing times. I have no idea how Etsy got this data, as its not from my past orders. and here we go again today- 

Ship by Jul 9, 2024 Buyer expects delivery by: Jul 3-11

[JMOldeVintage]

@SmallWonderGifts  - See @After9Marbles post below this.

Yes, Etsy is taking into account your processing times by stating the last ship-by date would be July 9th.
That you ship on time is irrelevant.

What Etsy is looking at is your past history. How repetitious your past history is may also be irrelevant. 
It's quite possible that if you ever shipped an order earlier than the last ship-by date Etsy is hoping you will do it again.

So instead of showing a buyer say EDD's of July 11th - July 18th they display the 3rd-11th.

As for support saying it's a known issue, sadly the cynic in me thinks that they realize the EDD's shown are based on data they hope will somehow become consistent instead of applying the shop's stated processing times.
Which imo makes no sense but...

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I think the chat’s response that it’s a known issue that the engineers are investigating is total BS. I got the same exact response from chat when I contacted them about a completely different issue. 

[After9Marbles]

I added a note in my shop announcement that I have no control over the dates that Etsy displays for delivery. What I do know is they are now disregarding the ship and processing times and using your shipping patterns. So if you have 3 day processing and ship the same or next day the system assumes you do this all the time. So to fix this I havent been shipping items that could have been shipped the same or next day. This has mostly fixed my delivery window issue but isnt the service that I would like to provide. Its just part of the Etsy game. 

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I’ve been doing the exact same thing this week. I feel terrible that I’m purposely shipping later than normal but I’m hoping it “resets” the estimated delivery dates on new orders.

What’s even worse is that I’ve had 3 orders that I’m aware of that were expected within 4 days but actually took roughly 2 weeks for delivery. Two of the buyers purchased for events based on the information that Etsy gave them at checkout and the orders didn’t arrive in time. Not my fault yet I refunded one of the orders and she sent it back unopened. 

[digitaldoodlebug]

@PiecesOfMePaperCraft 

It's a major issue for items needed for events. Even a refund doesn't fix the problem or make a customer happy. They are left with no item for their event. 

Then throw in that USPS is getting more delays and etsy is using AI to give overly optimistic estimates. 

[DougsVintageStore]

Ive also had this happen to me twice in the last month. I posted here for advice as I had notified the buyer that the receive date was not believable.

I offered to cancel both times and was lucky enough that both buyers understood that Etsy cannot manipulate time. Yet.

Seriously this train is coming off the rails with bad decisions.

[LinevaCreations]

bonjour, il y a beaucoup de petits soucis ...en ce moment

[HuggableHound]

I have been back and forth with Etsy Support through an open ticket regarding this and they refuse to help and/or give me a definitive reason why this is happening.  I am experiencing the exact same scenario you posted.
In addition, on last weeks orders, all of them had an extended "ship date" 3 days past the date it was scheduled to ship.
My ship date was Friday, June 21, all of the "Scheduled to ship by" dates were Monday June 24.
Still waiting for a response for over a week now with Etsy.

[digitaldoodlebug]

Yes, etsy is getting crazy optimistic but it's going to cost them with refunds. I have a decent size one (thankfully seller protection) ordered the 22nd (I think 2 day handling at the time). Estimated arrival 24-30. And it's going to Hawaii. Yep, 1 day shipping to Hawaii with 1 day processing... or 2 day processing and 4 day shipping. Of course it's still not there and USPS says it will be another week. They must not realize ground advantage is not first class. It traveled 4 days just getting to the coast before waiting for an airplane. 

[whiteoaksocks]

SO glad I saw this thread and read through the whole thing.  I purchased an item on ETSY the other day, and the expected delivery time is tomorrow, but I see contradictory messages when I click on tracking.  I'm starting to think it's related to all this discussion above, not an issue with the seller.  As for digitaldoodlebug, yes 1 day to Hawaii is ridiculous, even if the start point had been the west coast.  Ai yai yai!

[OohlalaBeadtique]

I agree with those who say Etsy is doing this on purpose. Etsy is attempting to compete with Amazon. Etsy is making up bogus delivery dates.

I received an Etsy order last night. My processing time is set to 3-5 days Monday to Friday. The buyer paid for the economy (cheapest shipping).
Today, a few hours after the order was placed I went to process it. I purchased the shipping label on Etsy. I selected the shipping label based on what the buyer paid for. And already I get a message in red letters that the order might arrive late as the buyer expects it by an erlier date.

This is complete nonsense. Where do these supposed dates "buyer expects an order by" come from? They are obviously not based on the data entered into Etsy shipping. If a buyer chose and paid for the cheapest shipping and I am processing the order just a few hours later after it was placed, and attempting to purchase the shipping label for the cheapest method on Etsy how can I get a message that the order may arrive late?

Also Etsy shipping time estimates do not match Canada Post time estimates. Etsy makes up its own delivery dates. Etsy is based in US and other countries postal services don't operate same ways US Postal Services. I've received several messages from upset buyers. I had to direct them to Canada Post official website to show them the true delivery time estimates. And I had to tell them to disregard the information on Etsy as it is misleading and inaccurate. This is very upsetting for buyers and frustrating for sellers. Etsy needs to stop making up delivery dates.