3 day handling time, stuck with guaranteed delivery, super frustrated....

[rebby-clothes]

I have a 3 business day handling time for my items. In the past, almost all items were shipped in 2 days but I had the extra time if needed. This worked fine for me. Last month, I had more free time for various reasons, and ended up shipping most items the next business day, without changing the handling time. I'm now back on my normal schedule, but in the meantime, so many packages arrived fast that eBay is ignoring my handling time and forcing guaranteed delivery on all my sales.

Now, this a problem because ebay is giving my buyers an expectation I 100% will not be able to fulfill. I can't ship fast enough for it. It seems like my only option is to ship when I can per my handling time, wait until my average ship time is once again longer so I'm eventually disqualified from guaranteed delivery, and try to nicely explain to any unhappy buyers that I didn't put guaranteed delivery on the listing and had no way to remove it. I did get one positive response from a buyer who thought the seller put it there and she said she now plans to ask sellers before purchase when they ship if she ever needs something fast again.

I don't know how ebay can possibly think ignoring handling time when forcing guaranteed delivery creates a good experience for buyers. It is absurd there is no other way to get this promise I can't keep off my listings faster. Anyone else have a similar problem? Is there truly nothing that can be done other than waiting for my average ship time to go back to what it normally does? This is the problem with ebay deciding eligibility based on historical delivery times over handling times. Sometimes a seller will no longer be able to ship as fast as they previously could....

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Go to your site preferences and see if they have auto checked GD. If they have, uncheck it.

[sweetpieces4you]

Agreed , go in and see if they changed your delivery time !! You had it set at ( 3 days ) and it should remain that way. Yes you have 3 days but that doesn't/shouldn't mean you can't ship at anytime during those 3 days ! Be it in 1 hour or the 71st hour of your shipping and handling time !! That's just Bogus !!! Good Luck

[myangelandmyprincess]

I'm guessing you qualify because you have fast n free based on delivery time in four days and free shipping.   If that's the case you can charge for shipping and it will be gone.  There are benefits to guaranteed delivery though

[labs118]

Since this isn't your selling ID we can't look but there are 2 different guaranteed deliveries.
The first you can opt out of in site preferences
The Fast N Free you can't because ebay will add it to any listing that they believe will be delivered in 4 days .

If it is the Fast N Free you are seeing are & are looking at it from & to your own zip code then it will say Fast N Free but if you change that zip code to a further away distance it wouldn't show that but would show estimated delivery instead.

And yes it has been said they will often ignore your handling time & go by when you normally ship so sending in 1 or 2 days may be why they add Fast N Free

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/eBay-Now-Guarantees-Fast-N-Free-Shipments/ba-p/29127299

[rebby-clothes]

I checked and I am NOT opted into guaranteed delivery. Ebay unfortunately is forcing this on me because being able to ship faster for a little while seems to have screwed up my shipping time history. Now I'm back to my usual schedule and I can't keep up with shipping items the next day. And yes it is actually giving a guaranteed delivery date for items bought by buyers far from me, I'm not just seeing it on my own listings. For example had an item sell today Apr 24th I have til Monday to ship it with 3 day handling, but it will probably ship Friday since I usually get things out in 2 days. It's going to California, I'm east coast, and it shows a guaranteed delivery date of the 27th, which is very unlikely if I ship it on the afternoon of the 26th. I'd really have to ship it today for it to have any chance of arriving in California by the 27th with first class postage. How is it fair to me as a seller that my buyers are being given that expectation when I purposely selected a longer handling time? I should be allowed to use my entire handling time if needed without buyers being told by ebay they are guaranteed to receive an item before my latest allowed shipping date.

[rebby-clothes]

Perhaps there are benefits to guaranteed delivery for sellers who actually are able to ship that fast all the time, but I'm not, which is why I selected a longer handling time. I see ZERO benefit to ebay telling buyers their item will arrive BEFORE the last date I'm allowed to ship the item without being late on my handling time.

I know that technically I could get rid of the "free shipping", but my sales went up a lot when I got rid of shipping cost and just built it into the item price, so I reallllly don't want to do that, and don't think I should have to when I am shipping within the handling time I selected.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@rebby-clothes wrote:

Perhaps there are benefits to guaranteed delivery for sellers who actually are able to ship that fast all the time, but I'm not, which is why I selected a longer handling time. I see ZERO benefit to ebay telling buyers their item will arrive BEFORE the last date I'm allowed to ship the item without being late on my handling time.

I know that technically I could get rid of the "free shipping", but my sales went up a lot when I got rid of shipping cost and just built it into the item price, so I reallllly don't want to do that, and don't think I should have to when I am shipping within the handling time I selected.

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There are seller protections in place so as long as you meet your handling time you have the protection benefits offered with guaranteed delivery. 

[rebby-clothes]

Yes, I understand that ebay does offer protection against feedback and such, but that doesn't change the fact that I am going to have unhappy buyers that are frustrated that their stuff didn't arrive "on time", and then I am going to be stressed from dealing with those buyers, until whatever time that ebay decides my shipping is slow enough to remove the guarantee from my listings. And I don't even blame the buyers for being disappointed, it's not fair to them either that ebay ignores the handling time if recent packages arrived fast, because sometimes sellers have to increase their handling time to due to a schedule change, or were only temporarily able to ship faster.

[disneyshopper]

If you don't want to change the free shipping, how about using 4 days as a handling time?

[myangelandmyprincess]

Have you actually had any buyers complain ?   I've bought a few guaranteed delivery items.  They don't arrive on time I report it and get my $5 voucher and keep going.  

[shmizz]

I just had a buyer email and say they were guaranteed delivery for today.  Item was purchased Thursday with a guaranteed delivery of today.  However , with my handling time listed, shipping was today.  I randomly checked some of my couple thousands of listings and about every other one is marked with guaranteed even though the handling time is 2 days.  So, I have an unhappy customer because of a promise I did not make and did not follow my shipping time.    I called Ebay and asked them to let the customer know this was not a seller issue.   I wanted ebay to let them know I didn't mi- represent the sale.  Ebay said it is now their policy to not reach out to buyers on the sellers behalf.  They won't even let the buyer know I didn't make an error.   They are letting a buyer believe I am a bad seller.   The buyer has a feedback of 2.    The first problem is - why are some listings showing guaranteed when clearly they cannot be because the ship date and guaranteed date fall on the same date.   Second :  ebay won't even take responsibility for a technical error.  

[sapphireseal]

I didn't know eBay could do that, but I find it very alarming because I too have a three day handling time but usually (but not always!) ship on the next day.   It seems crazy to me that eBay just tells buyers the item is guaranteed to arrive in a timeframe that's unrealistic if you ship on the third day.   It's just a recipe for angry or disappointed buyers.

It seems better in every way to have a buyer who is expecting their packaged on the 25th, and is pleasantly surprised when it arrives on the 23rd instead.

[points13]

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@sapphireseal wrote:

I didn't know eBay could do that, but I find it very alarming because I too have a three day handling time but usually (but not always!) ship on the next day.

You have no worries without opting in your listings would need free shipping and the fast and free attached before eBay will add the guarantee.