Ship-by date bug

[SmallBranches]

I've noticed for months that there's a discrepancy in ship-by dates in my orders. On one order, it will say on the header "ship by April 23, 2025" and in the information box for the same order "ship by April 24, 2025."

I recently delayed two orders to ship out Monday (today) and then I open my app this morning and both are marked "1 day overdue." I distinctly remember choosing Monday for both, seeing as I never work on Sundays. This isn't the first time packages have ended up overdue when I should be able to ship the next day no problem. 

I gave it some time to see if the issue would be resolved, but it's starting to effect my shop's performance. I believe the app shows the correct date, so I think "okay this needs to be shipped by Thursday" and then Thursday comes around and it's overdue in the system. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@SmallBranches: We have also noticed this and the differing ship by dates on the same page is a long standing issue and seems to be caused by the back end not using the same time zone conversion routine in both places.

There have also been reports that the dates do not display the same in the app as they do in a browser and that there are other calculation inconsistencies. Take a look at the order using a browser and see if it still says overdue.

[TBQSC]

@SmallBranches -- I looked at one of your items and noticed your description states "3-5 day processing" and yet the shipping states I will receive it starting April 26.  That is not even possible, unless you ship via Priority Mail Express, and even then I would question it.  I wonder if perhaps your processing &/or shipping timelines are not playing well together?  I know Etsy has glitches all the time and perhaps this is one of those glitches.  Do you usually wait til the final day (5th biz day) before shipping, or do you usually ship sooner?  If the former, perhaps that is what's causing the overdue notices ... if the latter, then I would presume it is an Etsy glitch causing the issue.  One thing I do know is that the Etsy Seller app is not very reliant and always has glitches, and because of that, it is always best to use the browser.  As for the recent delay, did those orders come in over the weekend or were they from last week?  Do you have your processing set to NO Weekends/No Holidays?  Lots of variables to play around with that may help with your current issue, especially if it keeps recurring.  Good luck, I hope you find a solution!

[SmallBranches]

Thanks so much for your reply! I'll check on some settings and see if there's anything that has changed. I've had the same processing time for years and have only encountered issues in the past few months. Maybe something has changed on the back end... I'll try to update my ship settings and see if that helps.

My ship time varies, since most of what I make is custom. I like to ship sooner than later to keep things moving, but occasionally will ship on that last available business day (the 5th day). As for these two particular orders, I changed their ship-by date manually and chose "Monday April 21." I don't do this often, but I'm waiting on some materials, so the customer and I agreed to delay the shipment. 

Weirdly enough, I noticed the discrepancy most clearly on Browser! I think the app is correct on this front. I wish I could attach a screenshot, because the differing dates are almost right next to each other!

[ArtDollsbyJD]

Have you removed the weekend as ship date?

Do you have a processing time frame of 3 to 5 days?  I am not seeing that on the listings.  I am seeing something like 1 to 3 days processing to allow for 1 to 3 days Priority shipping.  GA is 2 to 5 days.

I suggest reviewing your listings about the processing time frame.

When you say delayed, this take you outside your processing time frame?  If so then Etsy will mark the orders as late.  You have to change the shipping date which sends an email to the buyer before the end of your processing time frame.

Also when dispatch is close together it can depend on when the item was ordered and what zone the buyer is in.  That can account for a few hours difference if the buyer orders close to midnight EST time.

[SmallBranches]

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

My processing time is definitely 3-5 business days, and has been for years. I'm unsure why it's calculating delivery that way! I'll go in and try to reset it and see if that helps.

As for those two particular orders, I did manually change the ship-by date, yes but I specifically chose Monday April 21st, and yet they're marked overdue. I knew there was some weirdness going on with the ship dates, but I did not expect that!

I'm not sure it's a time zone thing either, because it's every single order. You know how on browser, orders are categorized by ship date? So it'll say "ship by tomorrow" on a small banner, then list the orders underneath? Then each order will say "Ship by April (blank) 2025"? Well the banner date is one day earlier, and the date on the orders themselves accords with my processing time. But once the banner date passes, the order is now overdue, despite the fact I should have one more day.

I really appreciate the suggestions and you taking the time to reply!

[SmallBranches]

As suggested, I did double check my processing time and nothing was out of place. 3-5 days processing time, M-F and some select holidays. 

I hoped that fiddling with the settings would correct things, but no luck. 

If anyone from staff sees this, I do have a screenshot that shows the issue a lot clearer than it can be explained through words. This affects every order, I just mentioned those two in particular because it was so odd to manually choose the ship date and still have issues.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@SmallBranches I think your actual Shipping history is overriding your set Processing Timeframes, " I like to ship sooner than later to keep things moving". 

When you look at Settings > Shipping Settings you can see your Shipping Profiles. On each profile you have used you should see your own Processing Timeframe. Underneath this there may be a pale blue box with your actual Processing Timeframe 

For example, on one of my Shipping Profiles I have Processing Time set to 3 to 6 days. Underneath, Etsy's message tells me I am shipping 1 to 6 days and prompts me to "update" my Profile by clicking "Apply". I have not changed my set times, but Etsy has noted that I typically ship early and that is the data they use for the "Buyer Epects Delivery By" calculation.

Etsy loves "quick processing /  shipping and is now using a Shop's "historical Processing Timeframe" to over-ride a Shop's "set Processing Timeframe". That is why you may see a "Ship By" date which is earlier than the one which you set on your actual Shipping Profile / Processing Time.

[TBQSC]

@CarpetCollectionAU -- that makes total sense, thank you for posting that! 

Unfortunately this "Etsy Override" will now make many orders appear as if they are late, and Etsy will be treating them as if they are late, thus earning & keeping Star Seller will be that much harder!  

Sometimes I wonder what it's like to live in Etsy's Twilight Zone!  Guess we're finding out with each new glitch / test / update happening.  CALGON!

[BagmakerSupply]

It is always a little hard to be sure what Etsy is doing (and what is intentional and what is a glitch), but from our experience with our orders, it seems like the 'Buyer Expects' date range is based on shipping tomorrow at the earliest and on the processing time frame at the latest (adjusted with carrier's in transit estimate). So far, even though 100% of our orders ship early, the scheduled to ship by date has always been based on our processing time.

[DeslattesDepot]

There is a known issue with Etsy on the shipping dates per Etsy.   They have asked me to send them order#s that have been affected.

I am having 2 issues:

orders being given a ship by date on a Saturday, rather than pushing to the next business day

Differing ship by dates between what is shown on the Order screen and what is shown on the Order printout

I have had several orders over the past months where I have written down the date they need to go out and then when I go in to ship, it shows that they are overdue by 1 day.