Who Sets Arrival Date?

Question

Just wondering who sets the expected arrival dates for purchased items. Is it done by the seller, or by eBay?

I was given a window of arrival dates on an item I purchased at the time I made payment. As the date got closer, the arrival dates shown on 'My Orders' changed to add a week.

It's no big deal for me, but with all the nonsense going on with strikes, tariffs, etc., I don't know how anyone, including eBay, can provide an accurate date when something will arrive.

How many false INR's are reported because of buyers who can't wait a day or two over the given date to get their item ...

house*of*paws · Accepted Answer

Hi @grann-4629

It is eBay that puts the Estimated Delivery Dates in the listing based on the following:

The handling time the seller put in the listing.
The estimated transit time based on the shipping method the buyer chose.
The distance between the seller and buyer.

As far as I can tell, eBay hasn't adjusted its estimates following the issues you mentioned (strikes and tariffs). Nor does it take weather conditions or disasters into consideration. Consequently, they tend to be underestimated in the listings. It is only fairly recently that eBay started making adjustments to the dates when the item is in transit so that sellers aren't blamed for packages arriving later than estimated.

soh.maryl · Answer

In your My eBay> Purchase History, go back and find this item. Look at the last estimated delivery date there. That's the estimated delivery date.

simba6 · Answer

Before you purchase, it set by the handling time the seller set and the shipping carrier and distance. After you have purchased, it's updated when the shipper receives the package.

Keep in mind the time the shipper gives is a guess based on past shipping times so it can arrive later or sooner.