How exactly does Handling Time affect item search results and sales
Hello All.
I was randomly looking back through my posts and I randomly came upon a post from 3 years ago where one comment was saying that Long Handling Times affect Search Results for tiems. I must have not read that at the time, because that is something I want to avoid.
I am curious how exactly handling time affects searches and results to buyers, and what a good, recommended handling time is?
I also had read this post https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Handling-time/td-p/33108216
and it seems that over 5 days isn't good, where 1-3 is preferred.
I initially had my Handling time set to 7 and then 10 business days, because there were a few times where I needed longer Handling Times to deal with Buyers, because I always ask if they want more items, and since many tend to want something else, we end up discussing and figuring stuff out, which ends up taking multiple days at times if they are busy. The post in question where I read the reply above about handling time was on a post where I accidentally went past the handling time because I was trying to deal with a Buyer, and I was trying to see if I was allowed to cancel or what I could do to save myself. So to avoid this hassle and getting late shipment records, I then set my handling time to 7 days, then 10, because a couple of times 7 wasn't enough.
However, now that think about it, there were only really a few times where I needed the extended Handling Time. So I decided that I will go back to 3 business days, and hopefully that helps. I've been doing okay with sales lately, but I'd like to see more.
I also was thinking recently if buyers care about how long it takes. I usually wait a number of days if I don't hear back from buyers before I ship out the package, because sometimes buyers had got back to me after a number of days, but many times buyers do not get back at all, and I never hear from them again. I don't know if they would have bought from me again, or if I somehow ruined future sales, but I'm not sure how many people want to wait over a week before the package is even shipped out.
So I'm curious about what others recommend and what others do? Has anyone else noticed increases in purchases/views/impressions when lowering handling time, or decreases in everything when increasing handling time?
Thank you all.
luckythewinner
·8 months agoHow exactly does Handling Time affect item search results and sales
Anyone who answers that question for you is guessing.
First of all, "search results" and "sales" are extremely vague terms in a very, very complicated system.
Second, the Best Match algorithm is a complicated scoring system that uses dozens (if not hundreds) of weighted factors, and the interaction of those factors makes it essentially impossible to isolate the effects of one factor over another. Listings are added and ended constantly, and sales activity for each seller changes, and so the same search can reveal different results from moment to moment.
When a potential buyer sees your listings, no one here knows whether that buyer prioritizes shipping time for your specific item, let alone how much they prioritize it. Some buyers may focus on it obsessively, while others may not care at all.
Also, if you are a Top Rated Seller, shortening your shipping time might cause you to miss shipping deadlines, which in turn could jeopardize your Top Rated Status which could negatively affect your search results and sales far more that any gains you might see from shortening your shipping time.
I think it is pretty safe to assume that in general, shortening your shipping time will tend to improve your search results and sales. But I would not advise choosing a shipping time that you have to struggle to meet.
quicksilverdiecast
·8 months agoSetting the S&H padded time settings really depends on what and how you sell.
I have 95% of my listings at 5 days...and does not really affect my sales...why 5 days 1st. I am a higher volume store and keeping up can be challenging...Usually ship the same day or next regardless, but it is nice to have that buffer for when cow pies happen....run out of materials, inventory, labor etc. and 4-5 day pad buys you a weekend on both ends... I do have a few that are 3 day and will be changing those to 5 days as well...as far as who what when or where USPS scans/possession etc anymore, I really don't care...I have my system down, been so for years and works fine, not about to rethink it, as it works.
bashort
·8 months agoSo how do you really know that?
inhawaii
·8 months agoWhile we're all speculating, perhaps a longer handling time betters your placement in the search results?
eburtonlab
·8 months agoIs it possible that handling time affects listing placement when searching "Best match"? eBay does not explain how "Best match" sorting works, so I suppose it is possible that handling time plays a small role in that sort.
Is it possible that handling time affects whether a listing appears in a "Price plus shipping: lowest first" sort? eBay does not explain why some items are shown in that sort and others are not unless the "see more results" link is used, so I suppose it is possible that handling time is one factor among many in that sort.
Is it possible that handling time affects whether an overseas listing appears in a "default" item location search? Items that take longer for delivery may not always appear in a "default" search as opposed to a much more inclusive "worldwide" search, so it is possible that handling time is taken into consideration in that situation, though shipping method, tariffs and customs likely play a much larger role there.
Other than that, I do not see how handing time affects other searches or sorts at all.
If I search and sort by "Distance: nearest first", results are sorted by distance. If I search and sort by "Time: ending soonest" results are sorted by ending time. If I search by "Time: newly listed" items are sorted by listing times. If I sort auctions by the number of bids, items are sorted by the number of bids. Aside from sponsored listings which occupy certain slots in the results and sort only by promotion percentages, all the organic search results are sorted by whichever criteria the buyer chooses, and handling time is not one of those criteria.
simply-the-best-for-you
·8 months agoIt absolutely affects placement. But so do a couple hundred or so other things & they're all weighted differently. Nobody here has any way of knowing exactly how it affects one particular seller b/c the algorithmn is proprietary & not shared with us 🙂
But best practices include a short handling time. Personally I'd define that as 3 days or less. I personally knew of a seller who used 10 day handling time & still made sales, but she'd get a lot of negs for slow shipping despite the fact that it was in her verbiage in every listing. Buyers want their stuff quickly. She also had thousands of listings which probably helped her sales. On the other end of things, TRS requires 1 day handling, so they certainly encourage 1 day. I think a lot of it boils down to how much competition you have & how much people want your items. If all your competition is doing 1 day & you're doing 10 day, that's not going to work out well for you. If you sell unique niche items that are highly desireable, maybe people won't mind waiting longer. Personally, I sell in a highly competitive category, so I never go over 3 day.
inhawaii
·8 months agoHow exactly does Handling Time affect item search results and sales?
Nobody here can answer that question with any certainty, so you'll have to settle for our varied opinions.
My opinion ... it doesn't affect your search results and sales at all.
Others will disagree.
squinkercat59
·8 months agoI use three day handling as a cushion due to family and work commitments, although 95% of my items are mailed the next day. I don't think it affects my sales, since most of what I sell has very little competition.
ratoliprova
OP8 months ago@caldreamer Maybe it's because I'm still a bit groggy from waking up, but I'm not sure if you're being serious here or what with this reply by saying "You know better than anyone else..." To me, every customer is different, hence why I'm trying to figure out what's best. I certainly don't know what's best.
As for my Fertilizers, I'm not sure if you're also trying to be serious with saying they are great, or trying to take a jab at me or something for putting myself out there with these products, but if you are trying to be kind, then than you. My fertilizers aren't a focus of my sales, most of my items are tech-related, which is where my questions come from.
and if you are being kind/serious then thank you for the well wishes too. If not then Idk what to say, except for why?
@tobaccocardyahoo Thank you. I would think that a good portion of items will have similar items to it listed as well, but who knows. My items have a large amount of competition.
How do you see which items have "Top 20 search placement?"
Interesting point about the handling time and competition, but wouldn't any sort of other competition still win out if they can ship faster? I still have to deal with many other sellers.
I pay to promote all my of tech items, and pretty much every single item, of the last 20 or so sales were promoted. I'm not a fan of Promotion, but it definitely helps. I usually have about 4-5k Organic Views, while I'll have 15k Promoted views per day, so there is definitely something about promotion that helps. Maybe I should think differently about it though?
I've also heard people say "I only promote the min 2%" but even that doesn't' do it all that great so I promote to the items' min every few days or so.
I appreciate all of your help thus far, thank you.
@bashort From what I've seen of the post I linked and that one user answering (who was the same user who told me years ago about the Algo and handling time), it seems that there might be a case for it, but I wish we were given some more info. Why do a handful of people know what's going on while the rest of us have no clue?
Sure, it could make a difference to a buyer, but if a buyer REALLY needed it ASAP they would contact me. I've had buyers who would put notes saying "2-day shipping plz" etc, or let me know in a message what they need. To me if a buyer really wants something ,they would contact the seller, but who knows how people think with buying.
@squinkercat59 Thank you.
It makes me wonder how much buyers care about packages getting there right away vs not. I've had some packages that I didn't mail out for a number of days, with no question about it, but I don't like not being on top of it and waiting for buyers to contact me, so I want to just lower the Handling Time.
It doesn't affect my business selling if I take longer, but repeat business is what I'm curious about. I've never really had much repeat business in general though, regardless if I shipped next day or not. Those who did repeat business did it regardless, including 1 buyer who I've sold to about a dozen times from another country, so he waits a month each time.
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoThe change in top 20 impression slots is on the Performance>Traffic page.
The total number of silicon wafers on the site is 1,900+ with many of them identified and pedigreed, which would I think appeal to different buyers than an anonymous wafer.
This is a lower level of competition than many or most categories have.
bashort
·8 months agothe truth is that there are a very limited number of people who know what goes into the best match algorithm and they are not telling.
I suspect that handling time very well could have some impact on search placement, I have used next day for many years because I believe it does make some difference to some buyers
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoI am less and less inclined to believe that search placement is important to sales of items which a buyer searches for with a relatively detailed search term, and does not have a huge number of competitive offers.
The number of my listings which have top 20 search placement based on Ebay supplied data do not sell better than other items which do not. Given what they are, I would not expect them to be flying off the shelf.
When my top 20 placements increase, it does not mean my sales are increasing.
If you are not selling items which are common as dirt, which you are not, you should be able to have any handling time you please because the number of competing offers will be within a buyer's attention span.
If your listings were my listings, I would not pay to promote them either.
kibble-net
·8 months agoThis seems awfully strange to me. Why not just ship the order right after they pay?
Most buyers don't respond to messages from my experience, so waiting for a response is pointless. The buyers want what they ordered, not a bunch of messages from the seller. If they want to buy more, they will buy more. You don't have to ask them.
Anything over 1-2 business days handling feels like asking for trouble, but that is just my 5 cents.
ratoliprova
OP8 months ago@caldreamer Thank you. Part of me wants to say I have never seen anything that indicates otherwise, but I do think I have gotten those little popups saying to reduce handling time for more sales, but not in the specifics of it affecting search results.
I don't have an issue shipping right away, especially if Buyers need it right away.
I think it's hit or miss if Buyers even care to contact you.
I was lucky enough an International Buyer contacted me asking if I ship to his Country which made me find out that I didn't have EIS on most of my listings for the last 2 years, when I thought I did, because I was "Enrolled" but nothing to tell me my listings were actually shippable or not, until I investigated and asked on here.
@stainlessenginecovers Interesting, thanks. I see my listings when sponsored/promoted, and I think I sometimes see them when not, but my niche for most of my items is pretty saturated. To me, anything that can help is great.
@kibble-net As I mentioned in my first post, I surprisingly have a ton of additional business when asking people if they want more.
For instance, I just sold 3 items for $215 to a buyer on Friday, where I would have only made $85-$90 on the single item they were offering on.
This happens a lot, so I ask. I am noticing that many never get back to me, so I figure I might as well just lower my handling time and just not worry about those who don't get back to me. I'm noticing that if people do get back to me, it's going to be within 1-3 days usually, if not right away. There has been maybe 3-5 times in 3 years that I had to use the Additional Handling time though.
You might not think messages matter to buyers, but I've found that talking to buyers and being personable with buyers gets me repeat business and people who have a good impression of me, because they see the dedication as a seller that I have.
Many might not care, but I try to form a connection with buyers. There's 1 buyer who I've been chatting with for 3 years, and he was one of my first buyers who has purchased from me multiple times throughout the years.
caldreamer
·8 months agoOf course, you know your customer's better than anyone else. You have great fertilizers that every organic gardener can use. Good luck to you!
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoIt doe not affect from what I've seen. I do 5 days handling when my competition does 1 day and I've had many of my items on the 1st page.
caldreamer
·8 months agoI would imagine that long handling time would affect EBAY search engines. EBAY prefers that Sellers offer "same day" or next day shipping. Personally, I will only purchase items from Sellers that have fast delivery.
atlasesattic
·8 months agoI agree, I always ship same day or next day....who wants to wait a week before you even ship it?