We HAVE To Be Able To Change Ship By Date More Than Once!

[AztexSilver]

I have two customers, 5 orders total who have asked me a second time to hold shipments as they will be out of town. They asked once and I changed but can't do so again because Etsy doesn't allow it for some unknown reason......

This WILL effect my Star Seller rating by having 5 late shipments...

OR I ignore my customers request and ship anyways. Sadly Etsy features Star Seller listings, allows buyers to filter for rating, so it does matter. Despite the fact I have a 99.9% early or on time all time shipping I can easily lose the star seller rating due to this and lose business....

There is NO logical reason we should not be able to change the ship by date more than once to help our customers! The fact we have to tell them too bad it ships today is VERY POOR customer service!

Please fix this so we can provide excellent customer service to our customers!

[CraftyCornishMaids]

The reason is not unknown, You have etsy's money, they want you to ship, they do not want to cashflow your business.

Allowing to change the ship date once, is very generous

The only way round it, would be if etsy were to hold money until items ship with tracking,

but looking at the pushback there is, if anyone ever goes on reserve, I doubt it would be very popular.

You don't have to ship in the window, you can choose what you want, your decision, 

1. ship late and lose the badge
2. ship on time, and keep the badge, and have an annoyed customer, and maybe a missed delivery
3. cancel the sale, and ask them to re-purchase, when they get their act together, to keep the badge

[BloemSewingPatterns]

<<The reason is not unknown, You have etsy's money, they want you to ship, they do not want to cashflow your business.>>

And there was I thinking it was the customers money, that customer who asks to delay shipment... 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

wrong, because if you do a runner, like the mask sellers, etsy is in the hole for the money - they are the guarantor

the longer both the item, and the money, is with the seller, the bigger the risk to etsy

[BloemSewingPatterns]

@CraftyCornishMaids

I understand what you mean, I took your words literally. 

[FeltOnTheFly]

Maybe it would have been a good idea to tell your customers you can only extend the ship-by date just once…. 
at this point, all you can do (if star seller is important to you) is tell them you can’t extend the date again and suggest you mail it. The customers could likely have their mail held safely at the post office until they return…. 
or cancel the order until they are ready to have it shipped. 

[CryzalisDesigns]

 There are too many horror stories and bad Etsy reviews regarding sellers who claim to have shipped but have not. This is the reason that there has to be a acceptable dispatch time limit unless changed with an agreement between yourself and the customer.

I would inform future customers who request a dispatch delay, that you have a limited time window to do this and if they can not accept those dates, then they will have to re-order at a time of their choosing.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

If these are genuine Buyers with genuine requests, then advise them you cannot extend your Shipping Date beyond what it now is. Then Cancel and Refund, If the Buyers are genuine they can purchase again once they are in a position to accept delivery of the parcel.

[LynnsGemCreations]

If you click on the three dots on the order, you can 'add a package' so you could put another tracking details in there.  I was told this by another seller as i have had a buyer change the date on the day of shipping after it had gone in the post box.  Luckily i was able to retireve it from the postman and now im waiting until two days before shipping to fill in the new tracking for the 'add a package'.  Im hoping fingers crossed that this works and i dont get dinged for no tracking.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@LynnsGemCreations As far as I understand the Shipping Process, the "Add Package" is only avalilable once an Order is sent. OP has not yet sent the Order/s.

And, it looks like the Original Order/s will be "late" because they have to be "completed" before a Seller can "Add a Package"

T

[NancyQstudio]

Unfortunately this can open up abuse to sellers due to the few unethical sellers on the site. I absolutely agree that this would be helpful for professional sellers.  I've only had this happen twice on Etsy. Each time I refunded and asked the seller to reorder at their convince which they did do. Is this optimum?  No, it's not.  But I also understand some situations need to be controlled to protect our buying community since it is a public site.  

[GrandmaLaurieThings]

I think this is not YOUR problem, but the buyer's problem.  Does any other company allow the customer to dictate when it will be shipped?  I buy things online and I've never been given the opportunity to select a delivery date or shipping date.  If the customer won't be available to receive the package, they can arrange for a neighbor to get it.  They can have the service hold it at destination for pickup later.  There are ways for them to work the issue.  Or perhaps they should have waited to order until they were going to be available. 

In any case, it is not your problem, nor Etsy's.

[audreytherese]

"There is NO logical reason we should not be able to change the ship by date more than once to help our customers!"

Sure there is. Unscrupulous sellers that would take advantage of this option. 

[bradgoodell]

^^^^THIS!

What a great way to scam a buyer, drag everything out as long as possible.

1. Buyers cannot leave feedback until after the delivery date has passed.
2. Buyers cannot file a dispute.  Per Etsy "When can I open a case? Before you can open a case, both of the following conditions must be met: The maximum estimated delivery date for your order has passed. 48 hours have passed since you sent the seller a Help with order request. https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/5745586898199-How-to-Open-a-Case

A scammer could make a bunch of (fake) sales they have no intention of shipping, and drag it out for weeks and even months before the buyer could leave feedback warning other buyers of the scam. The buyers also couldn't file disputes with Etsy to get their money back. 

I had this happen to me once on Amazon at Christmas time.  The seller never shipped anyone anything, they took the money and ran.  But no one could leave feedback or file a dispute for weeks.  Then the bad seller feedback poured in.  

[timelapse]

@AztexSilver - see if they are willing to put a hold on their mail at their post office until they return and can pick it up.

[GrandmaLaurieThings]

Exactly.  Because they must certainly have to make some arrangements for all the other mail they'll be getting during that two-week time they're out of town for work!

[bradgoodell]

@timelapse Exactly,  There are other choices, it's not the seller's responsibility to fix everything. 

[MaynardMillinery]

Totally not your problem. Do they think they could call up Macy’s and ask them to hold their mail order items until a time that suits them? No, Macy’s would just ship the order as soon as it is packed and ready to ship out.

[CollectorsFindsGifts]

It’s rare, but when we’re asked to delay shipping I add several days to the extended ship date to try to cover this happening. 

[PWOriginals]

When buyers ask for delayed shipping, they're putting the onus on you to remember when to ship. When I've come across this, I cancel the order if it's more than just a couple of days, and then have them contact me when they return. If I'm low on stock, I let them know I'll hold one back for them for a maximum of 5-7 days (or not at all if it's the end of the buying season for that particular item).

As already stated, there are other ways they can arrange for package delivery when they're not home.

[BloemSewingPatterns]

I have the same issue. The buyer had to go back to her home country because her father is dying. I extended shipping but will have to cancel the order before Saturday if I don't hear from her. 
Something like 'I am sorry about your father and btw, I am cancelling your order'.

Mmm, I think I will risk my SS... 

[GroundZeroCreations]

I would not do a delay in shipping. If you order from me it ships when I say it will ship. If that is a problem for them then I need to cancel the order and refund their money. Unless it is a custom item that does not allow for cancellations or refunds. In that case, it is on the buyer to figure out what to do when the order arrives. Save yourself a lot of headaches and remove yourself from a cycle that will ultimately prove to be disastrous for you. It already shows that this is causing an issue for you. Having 2 customers asking for repeated delays is a good indicator that this is not a good practice. Don't ignore the customer's request, just let them know politely and firmly that you are governed by Etsy policies and are unable to comply with their request. When I am out of town my neighbor keeps an eye out for any shipments I am expecting. 

As others have pointed out, changing the rules to allow for multiple delays encourages bad behavior from unscrupulous sellers. 

[AztexSilver]

@GroundZeroCreations These are customers who have at last count spent over $42,000 and over $8000 respectively at my shop....NO I'm NOT going to give them a hard time and will accommodate them. 

[AztexSilver]

I don't see how extending shipping times encourages unscrupulous behavior. We can already do so for what 3 weeks?

Shipping times is between buyer and seller. If a problem arises the buyer can contact Etsy.

ALL of these instances are initiated by the buyer so it's not a problem.

Further I believe there needs to be a lifetime star seller where like myself have been on Etsy for 10+ years and over 4000 orders with 99.99% 5 star reviews and on time shipping.  In other words use lifetime AND the 30-90 window for Star Seller.

To not account for small glitches and penalize a proved earner for Etsy is a mistake.

[audreytherese]

Because there are sellers that would keep extending it and keep extending it and keep extending it and keep extending it and keep extending it and keep extending it... Generally until it's too late to put in a chargeback. 

There's already a number of sellers that do this. They just send the customer a print of the packing slip with Etsy FC labels and get credit for shipping on time. Then they convince the buyer that they're working on it and it will be mailed shortly. Then something happens, but they'll make it again and send it out very shortly. They just drag it on until the buyer has no recourse. Join Reddit, you'll see posts exactly like this every week. The buyer is often following someone on TikTok and they see them making orders, and they keep telling them that their order is coming soon, but they paid for it 8 months ago and haven't seen anything, and eventually the seller just stops responding because they know the buyer can't do anything at that point. They just get to keep the money. 

That's how it would encourage unscrupulous behavior, by making what many are already doing even easier so more do it.

Etsy allowing us a one-time adjustment of our posted processing times is a courtesy. There is no reason that we should need more. 

If a customer won't be around, then the customer can re-purchase when the time is convenient. If the customer is worried about something selling out then we can create a custom listing only for them to purchase when they are ready. If we don't want to work within these parameters, I hear we're free to set whatever time frame we want on our websites.