Shipping Options

[BusterJustis]

Gosh!  I am having the most difficult time trying to contact anyone at Etsy support regarding this issue.  Where is the Etsy leadership or management?  The struggle is real!  Here is the struggle:  I continue to receive the "helpful" notices that my shipping costs are too high and that it would be good to lower them.  First, I don't do the "free shipping" thing for various reasons.  Second: I would love to lower my shipping.  But the real issue is that there is a huge disconnect on the Etsy platform between what a seller is allowed to select for customer USPS shipping options and what postage is available post-sale to purchase through Etsy.  I want to ship with the $100 USPS insurance so I usually set up my listings for USPS Priority Mail.  When I am on the post-sale side, I have the quote for the USPS Ground Advantage which has $100 insurance.  The USPS Ground Advantage is usually substantially lower postage that USPS Priority Mail (which has the same $100 insurance).  I would love to offer USPS Ground Advantage to my customers as a shipping option.

However, when setting up a listing, the USPS Ground Advantage is NOT an option when creating the customized shipping.  USPS Ground Advantage is available when setting up the flat rate shipping, but not the customized shipping.  Customized shipping is much better because it calculates the package weight and dimensions and customer zip code to determine the postage price.  So the customer gets a more accurate shipping price based on their zip code.  I believe customized shipping is also the Etsy recommendation, right? 

If USPS Ground Advantage is only available in the Fixed shipping area, then it does not allow for the flexibility of postage and does not support being able to effectively lower the shipping prices. 

How is everyone handling this?  Can someone at Etsy address this disconnect and tell me why the USPS Ground Advantage is not an option in the customized shipping areas?

Thanks,

Christa

[GreatStuff80]

Etsy never updated the shipping profiles when every other site did when USPS first started Ground Advantage. You have to choose parcel select in your shipping options to get Ground Advantage.  You can add in priority as an option for buyers. If they chose parcel select, what shows up when you go ship and to print a label is a Ground Advantage label. Yes, Etsy should fix this. It's been approx. 2 years at this point. Every other site had Ground Advantage showing on day one. No idea why Etsy can't or won't update. Many have gotten used to it, but obviously not everyone.

[GardenOfSerenity]

I don't see Parcel Select in my shipping options. Only Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, and Firs-Class Mail are available for domestic shipping. Can't use First Class as my items are all above 1lb. Can you be more specific where to look for Parcel Select. Thank you

[hopeandjoystudios]

@GardenOfSerenity it is hidden under Advanced shipping (services?) dropdown under the regular options in the shipping area of your listing

[dayspringcollectible]

Parcel Select and Ground Advantage are the same thing.  Name change and $100 insurance was added when the change took place.  Parcel Select no longer exists. Just ignore Etsy's outdated terminology.

[BusterJustis]

Thank you both for that response!  Is it a guarantee that the $100 insurance is included if I select the Parcel Select on the listing side since the listing side still clearly says "No insurance included?"  I'll go ahead and try it, but it should not be a hard thing for Etsy to update, right?  It's annoying!

[GreatStuff80]

Insurance is included but keep in mind that it's not as easy to collect it anymore. Due to rampant fraud, USPS now often requires an inspection of the item AND the packaging. If a buyer doesn't want to go to that trouble, you're still on the hook for it. If a buyer is willing to do that, make sure they ask for a receipt. 

[dayspringcollectible]

Since there is no such thing as Parcel Select, yes the insurance is included.

And yes, it is total foolishness that Etsy still doesn't have this updated.