Listings no longer showing the yellow flag when handling time is extended?

[stainlessenginecovers]

Right below the 'Buy it Now' button.

I don't know if it's just me but I'm not seeing this on anyone listing anymore? quite a problem as buyers won't see unless they click the 'shipping' (more info) and then pay attention to that handling time? 

Anyone else NOT seeing it? 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

That's disappointing!  The yellow highlight is what drew the buyer's eyes to it!  That highlight has saved me many times when I've been on vacation.   

kyle@ebay  elizabeth@ebay devon@ebay   Can one of you please check to see if this is a bug or an intentional "feature"?  This is really NOT a good idea. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

That's disappointing!  The yellow highlight is what drew the buyer's eyes to it!  That highlight has saved me many times when I've been on vacation.   

kyle@ebay  elizabeth@ebay devon@ebay   Can one of you please check to see if this is a bug or an intentional "feature"?  This is really NOT a good idea. 

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@simply-the-best-for-you and it's not just the yellow flag- the mention of 'handling days' is nowhere to be found (except buried in another click)

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@stainlessenginecovers   I misunderstood your first photo.  Here's what I see after I changed 1 of my listings to 6 days.   Here's what's on the main listing - NOTHING to indicate it's a delayed handling time. 

Then, if I click on See Details, I get this: 

Then I have to scroll a bunch b/c I use EIS, so all the countried are listed out, so I have to scroll way way down & then I see this: 

With no highlighting & yes, the 6 days is referenced, but you'd have to REALLY DIG DEEP to find it.  This is very disappointing.  Used to be on the main Item page with a yellow highlight & arrows & IMO it should still be like that.  Buyers wil not have any idea they have to dig to find it & they won't even know there's anything to dig for.  Also, b/c the algorithm uses past shipping experience, the dates they are given for receipt are not accurate.  

@valueaddedresource  - have you noticed this?  Do you have any idea if this is intentional?

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

@stainlessenginecovers   I misunderstood your first photo.  Here's what I see after I changed 1 of my listings to 6 days.   Here's what's on the main listing - NOTHING to indicate it's a delayed handling time. 

the dates they are given for receipt are not accurate.  

@valueaddedresource  - have you noticed this?  Do you have any idea if this is intentional?

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@simply-the-best-for-you not only are the 'estimated delivery dates' wonky, but I was entertaining offering a 2nd, Faster way to ship, for a cost (since all my items are 'Free Shipping'), so I looked at another sellers item and it showed this

Shipping Cost $12.47 UPS Ground Deliver May 28 to June 4

USPS Priority EXPRESS $29.00 Delivery May 28 to June 4

The EXACT same 'shipping dates' for more money?? 

Very messed up...

[valueaddedresource]

Thanks for the tag @simply-the-best-for-you !

@stainlessenginecovers  - how old is your first screenshot that still shows it in the main view without having to click anything?

I ask because that looks like the old layout (before eBay graced us with the "new view item page design") and as far as I can recall, handling time was moved to the shipping pop up that requires clicking on "see details" with that new design in 2023 so yes, that was definitely intentional.

There have been some tweaks and tests to the new design between then and now, so maybe at some point they put it back on the main page and then moved it back again but I don't remember any specific examples of that off hand - @wastingtime101 might though.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@valueaddedresource  Oh wow, that old?  Yeah the first screen shot was confusing me & I didn't understand that it was an old one.  

[valueaddedresource]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

@valueaddedresource  Oh wow, that old?  Yeah the first screen shot was confusing me & I didn't understand that it was an old one.  

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@simply-the-best-for-you  funny how quickly we get used to new things and forget what they used to be like isn't it? 😂

But yeah, I'm 99.999% sure that screenshot is from before the change in 2023 and that handling time has been moved to that pop up ever since.

Definitely agree though that even in the pop up, it would be nice if there was still some kind of visual signal calling attention to extended handling times but I would imagine eBay probably did some A/B testing that might have revealed that was either confusing or deterred buyers unnecessarily.

As sellers, we might tend to prioritize the idea of potential buyers seeing that info highlighted, even if it prevents a sale, because that is usually preferable to the aftermath of dealing with a disappointed buyer who maybe didn't have proper expectations for how soon an order would ship.

From eBay's perspective - if the sale doesn't happen, they don't get to collect fees and more importantly, they don't get anything to count in Gross Merchandise Volume for quarterly reports.

If the sale does happen and the buyer is frustrated with how long it takes to ship because they didn't notice the handling time, well that will likely be reflected in seller feedback or a claim the seller has to deal with and if it's cancelled before shipping or shipped but then returned and refunded because delivery took too long, eBay may have to refund some or all of the fees but...they still get to count that sale in GMV.

That's not to say I think eBay doesn't care at all about those kind of negative buyer experience or would intentionally create them just to try to goose GMV - it's more just that they have a different risk tolerance threshold and different priorities than individual sellers do (not to mention access to a lot of data from A/B testing and other sources) so when weighing out things like whether to highlight extended handling times, they may come to different conclusions than sellers might.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@valueaddedresource  No that makes complete sense.  If it's been that way for the better part of 2 years & nobody is on here screaming about it, then obviously it wasn't missed.   I would have thought the long handling time sellers would have raised a ruckus, but it certainly flew past my radar.  As 1-3 day handling time seller, I wouldn't have ever thought to check this.  

For sure it could create negative buyer experiences, but again, I'm not seeing a lot of that on the Buyers Board either.  Of course, it's just a small percentage of people who come here.  My bottom line is if it's been this way for 2 years & most didn't notice, it's probably not that big of a deal 😃

[wastingtime101]

Your memory is slightly off @valueaddedresource .

Handling time was moved from the shipping tab to the shipping popup in 2023. That never affected what was shown in the pricing area.

Handling time still does not appear on auction format listings (fixed price only) which plenty of people have screamed about.

The yellow flag in the OP was always there for long handling times - last I intentionally noticed it was maybe a week or two ago.

eBay continues to remove elements from the item page, and I expect they will continue to do so a little at a time so there isn't one major shock with a whole new page. Although, when the description moves up high below item cost (above ads = good), people are gonna throw a major fit because it will be like mobile web where you see a tiny amount of text and have to click to see more. Liz, you've posted a screenshot numerous times and I'm sure you can dig it up if people want to see.

Of course I am still fuming angry about the removal of quantity from the shipping pop up.

[wastingtime101]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:
I was entertaining offering a 2nd, Faster way to ship, for a cost (since all my items are 'Free Shipping'), so I looked at another sellers item and it showed this

Shipping Cost $12.47 UPS Ground Deliver May 28 to June 4

USPS Priority EXPRESS $29.00 Delivery May 28 to June 4

The EXACT same 'shipping dates' for more money?? 

Very messed up...

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Yes @stainlessenginecovers . Freaking unbelievable!!

A lot of us have yelled about the absurdity of it, along with many other major issues with EDD.

For example, everything discussed here (which includes your above example) which has only gotten worse over time.  https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Frustrated-with-EDDs/td-p/34793498

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

Thanks for the tag @simply-the-best-for-you !

@stainlessenginecovers  - how old is your first screenshot that still shows it in the main view without having to click anything?

I ask because that looks like the old layout (before eBay graced us with the "new view item page design") and as far as I can recall, handling time was moved to the shipping pop up that requires clicking on "see details" with that new design in 2023 so yes, that was definitely intentional.

There have been some tweaks and tests to the new design between then and now, so maybe at some point they put it back on the main page and then moved it back again but I don't remember any specific examples of that off hand - @wastingtime101 might though.

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Yes; it's old, but was there as of a couple weeks ago as I used to send that out to customers (and view my item first before sending) when they were asking 'where's my item' 2 days after buying. Now I figure I'll have to screen shot the 'new one' showing the 'estimated delivery date', but it will still be old/off as we as sellers do not know what the buyer sees unless we look at a listing each day it's ordered (which would really be impossible). 

[wastingtime101]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

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Yes; it's old, but was there as of a couple weeks ago as I used to send that out to customers (and view my item first before sending) when they were asking 'where's my item' 2 days after buying. Now I figure I'll have to screen shot the 'new one' showing the 'estimated delivery date', but it will still be old/off as we as sellers do not know what the buyer sees unless we look at a listing each day it's ordered (which would really be impossible). 

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Better option @stainlessenginecovers - do what I do which is send a screenshot of the Order Details page when needed. It will show the original estimated delivery window at the top until there's a delivery scan, then it'll (unfortunately) vanish.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:
I was entertaining offering a 2nd, Faster way to ship, for a cost (since all my items are 'Free Shipping'), so I looked at another sellers item and it showed this

Shipping Cost $12.47 UPS Ground Deliver May 28 to June 4

USPS Priority EXPRESS $29.00 Delivery May 28 to June 4

The EXACT same 'shipping dates' for more money?? 

Very messed up...

---

Yes @stainlessenginecovers . Freaking unbelievable!!

A lot of us have yelled about the absurdity of it, along with many other major issues with EDD.

For example, everything discussed here (which includes your above example) which has only gotten worse over time.  https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/Frustrated-with-EDDs/td-p/34793498

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@wastingtime101 @valueaddedresource @simply-the-best-for-you  I knew it was there recently as my competition used to show 10 days, 15 days etc. and that always made me 'better' but now without it, I expect buyers will be screaming more if item isn't shipped 'tomorrow' because seldom do they read 'estimated time' or the 'Description'- so I had that handy. Guess I'll have to change it to just show what was state in the Description as well as 'guess' what the 'estimated delivery date' shows. Another HORRIBLE change that just daggers us sellers. 

[valueaddedresource]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

Your memory is slightly off @valueaddedresource .

Handling time was moved from the shipping tab to the shipping popup in 2023. That never affected what was shown in the pricing area.

Handling time still does not appear on auction format listings (fixed price only) which plenty of people have screamed about.

The yellow flag in the OP was always there for long handling times - last I intentionally noticed it was maybe a week or two ago.

eBay continues to remove elements from the item page, and I expect they will continue to do so a little at a time so there isn't one major shock with a whole new page. Although, when the description moves up high below item cost (above ads = good), people are gonna throw a major fit because it will be like mobile web where you see a tiny amount of text and have to click to see more. Liz, you've posted a screenshot numerous times and I'm sure you can dig it up if people want to see.

Of course I am still fuming angry about the removal of quantity from the shipping pop up.

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Thanks @wastingtime101  I was pretty sure there were a few points I wasn't remembering exactly right but figured it would be easier to tag you than to go searching for it. 😂

Here's the screenshot of what they said they have planned for the description and I agree, they have been slowing making these changes to avoid one big shock.