SOLVED -- My Shipping Delivery Date Ranges Are Impossible
I listed an item for auction, too long of story to explain why, but it launched tonight 8pm CT ... already had a bid within 5 minutes. But when I was looking at the ad it shows my deliver date range to be estimated between Saturday the 7th and Wednesday the 11th.
How can that be when it's a 7 day action that ends next Thursday the 12th ???
So I looked at some other listing that are all Buy It Now for 30 days and they have a delivery date range of Monday March 9th and Wednesday the 11th. Those listings posted on March 2nd.
I have a 2 day handling time in settings. I cannot think of any thing I have done in settings to have a delivery range that is impossible to achieve.
Any ideas on what is going on?
15 comments
inhawaii
·6 months agoIt's showing you estimated delivery date if YOU were to buy it NOW.
That date will change depending on WHO is buying it, WHEN they buy it and WHERE they are at.
sportsfindsandmore
OP6 months ago@inhawaii
Most of the time my brain is good 99.9% of the time but as I get older and still computer literate that 0.1% when it's not working results in things like this. Brain fog and lack of logical thinking ... luckily I have good people like you and others on this forum to help with that .1% ... Thanks
wastingtime101
·6 months agohttps://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_ssn=floydsdealdepot
Part of what you're seeing is the way it should be, but part of it appears to be a bug (for which I just filed a tech report to eBay). More on the bug at the bottom of this post.
You're seeing estimates as if you purchased today and shipped to yourself. Your buyers will see estimates based on shipping to their address. Why? Your auction format listings have a buy it now option, so buyers can purchase today, therefore the estimate will reflect as if the buyer purchases today.
The short end of the estimate is always unrealistic and problematic. You need to look at middle-end of the window for more realistic expectations. Handling time is, unfortunately, irrelevant. eBay looks at historical handling time, not actual handling time. If you typically ship next day, estimates will be based on shipping next day even with 2 day handling.
Now for the bug: the camera listing has bids, and the buy it now option is gone, however the EDD displayed is acting as if the buy it now option is still there. That said, I think the EDD will correctly adjust when the listing ends, based on the date the item is paid. For that reason, plus the fact people can see when the listing is scheduled to end, I would not worry about it unless you have buyers asking questions.
sportsfindsandmore
OP6 months ago@wastingtime101 THANK YOU for the great answer. That explains everything. I forgot about the BIN price being gone once a bid had been received. I remember that now.
Also, stupid me ... looking at the listing on my computer from my zip code only makes sense why those estimated dates would be like that. LOL
Now if I can just get eBay to fix the link problem with this form to my listings. I was told earlier in this post that is broken previous to me changing my user name this week.
Thanks again for the great explanation.
wastingtime101
·6 months agoThat's a Khoros issue - eBay uses Khoros to host these forums. It's a known pain point and we've been told Khoros has no plans to fix it.
The best we can do is educate posters like @gurlcat that say they can't see your listings, this happens when someone changes their userid. Forum links to the old ID and you can see listings by replacing the old ID with the user's current ID in the URL.
Actually, what you can do @stevessportsfinds - any time you have a question, just end your post with:
"This forum won't link to my listings because my ID changed, so here's the direct link." and post the link. Or just post some item numbers impacted by your issue - that will work, too. A bit of a pain, but quick enough and will eliminate a lot of the questions. Probably your best option go forward until/unless things change.
That said, glad I could answer your auction EDD questions, and thank you for bringing that small bug to light so we could report it to eBay.
gurlcat
·6 months ago@wastingtime101 Just to be clear, does this happen only IF the auction included a BIN price (never mind the fact that it disappears after a bid)?
Even if so, I would definitely call that a bug, and not "nothing to worry about" when you consider the most easily-triggered eBay buyers, of which there are many.
Even the end of the estimated range is a joke. Say I'm leaving on vacation next-next Monday the 16th, and want to take this camera with me. I see that it "will" be delivered to me in Mobile no later than Saturday the 14th. So I put in a huge proxy bid, win the auction Thursday night, pay immediately, and still expect the item to reach me by "day after tomorrow". 😣
Even if the date range keeps sliding forward with each passing day the auction is running, the proxy bid system could make for some very ticked off buyers, filing INR's.
reallynicestamps
·6 months agoThe important date is the LAST estimated date.
The buyer cannot open a Claim until that date has passed.
If the buyer pays for the Fixed Price item on Monday the 9th, it would be expected to be delivered to your postal code/zipcode by the 11th. Change you location to somewhere farther away (I use 90210) to see what happens.
If the auction is paid on the 12th the last estimated delivery will change to the 14th for your zipcode, and later for California or Alaska.
Dont' watch shipping until the customer complains.
sportsfindsandmore
OP6 months ago@reallynicestamps So if I am understanding you correctly, once the item is sold the dates will adjust based on the zip code of the buyer?
christworks
·6 months agoI'll also add you are likely viewing the delivery estimate as it would be to Zone 1 - where you live. So the dates shown are going to be tight. That's what is going on with your BIN listings.
On the auctions, I don't do enough of them to know whether those dates adjust as the auction goes along. Do you have a BIN set up in the auction, too? I'm wondering if it takes a hybrid approach and assumes someone may buy the item rather than win the auction, then as time goes by or once a bid is placed, the dates may get further out.
sportsfindsandmore
OP6 months agoJust now before I saw my replies this morning I pulled this off ...
Delivery time is estimated using our proprietary method which is based on the buyer's proximity to the item location, the shipping service selected, the seller's shipping history, and other factors. Delivery times may vary, especially during peak periods.
sportsfindsandmore
OP6 months agoI wonder since I offer "local pickup" on ALL my listings ... this is cause
"based on the buyer's proximity to the item location"
sportsfindsandmore
OP6 months ago@christworks. I do have a BIN on my auctions. One auction I did because the camera was damaged but works and I did not know the value ... so I did a no reserve starting with what I wanted for it and a BIN. It has a bid 5 minutes after I listed it.
The other two auctions were a 7 day test with a reserve for two athletic jerseys. Everything else is BIN ... so far 57 listings in 3 days. 🙂
tobaccocardyahoo
·6 months agoThe range will be recalculated when the item is sold.
gurlcat
·6 months agoI can't see any listings of yours or I would check to confirm what you see. Sorry.
sportsfindsandmore
OP6 months agomy listings will never show up here I am told because of something broke and the community system is different than the listing system. It stems from me changing my user name last Monday when I wanted to start selling again on a new account I set up in 2021 but never used.
Here is the link to that item -- Delivery range too soon