eBay Improves Calculation of Estimated Delivery Dates

eBay has not been taking into account weekend days when calculating estimated delivery dates in sellers’ listings, it said in a post on Thursday.

It will be changing that shortcoming – sellers will now have the option of adding weekend handling times to their settings. eBay uses that information when calculating the delivery dates displayed to shoppers.

eBay acknowledged that until now, shipping estimates had not always reflected how quickly buyers would actually receive their items.

However, it said, “Now, you can specify in your shipping preferences if you work Saturday and Sunday, and set specific handling cut-off times for those days. Your weekend ship dates and faster delivery times will be reflected in your shipping estimates.”

Importantly, for sellers who use multiple carriers, eBay added, “You also won’t be held to weekend handle-by dates if the carrier specified in your listings doesn’t ship on weekends. “

Sellers can find the full post on the eBay Announcement Board, and can learn more about setting handling time on this eBay help page.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.