Just in time for this one to be relevant, today we are launching shipping arrival estimates for our holiday buyers.
The range of time we estimate depends on a handful factors
Time that the seller has stated that their items will be shipped within (see Sell -> Edit Booth Options -> Shipping & Returns)
Shipping method specified when setting up item (e.g., "UPS 3 day shipping")
Historical time taken to mark an item as shipped
Location of seller and buyer
In the case where we detect the item may not arrive by Christmas, we make the buyer aware of that as follows
If you ship faster than our estimates predict, please do update your handling time as mentioned above, or edit your item(s) to specify the expedited shipping options you offer. Last minute holiday shoppers are here for the taking, just gotta go get them!
Free shipping doesn’t show estimates because you don’t select a specific shipping method when you select free shipping. We’re looking into ways to address this.
I just noticed this and came to see if there was an update. In my listing that I just edited, it said: Get it by December 20th
Based on the seller’s stated handling time and unspecified transit time to North Carolina, US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 20th.
International inquiries are welcome, Products ship within 1-2 business days
Great New Feature once you get it set up correctly. As it is now, the arrival dates are wrong and misleading.
Changes should be immediate, but if you have specified a “Set max business days before item ships” number for an individual item in the batch editor, that will be used instead of the handling time set for your booth.
Thanks Jordo got that fixed ..how abt this.."Based on the seller’s stated handling time and unspecified transit time to Michigan, US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 21st.
Ships in 1 business day…what is this unspecified transit time?
“unspecified” transit time is listed when a specific service is not selected (even if the carrier is selected). Fedex appears to have changed their service codes (which we get from their API) recently, so it’s a good idea to make sure the correct Fedex services are selected if you are using calculated Fedex shipping.
I’ll have to check back tomorrow and catch up with what has already been said here. It’s late where I am at but I just noticed this new thing.
One thing I would like to point out before logging off is this….
Way back when Bonanza first started offering us to be able to set up 2 different shipping methods, the reason I did not ever set up 2 shipping options is because when the buyer (me for example) clicks on Get Price and I get my shipping price, I’ve always had to back space out of the listing and go back into the listing in order to be able to click on More Option prices for shipping to see the second option. I had always felt that this would be very confusing to a buyer, so this is why I have never offered 2 shipping methods. Granted, I figured this out on my own, but it is a glitch (or something that was just never fine tuned) that should be able to be fixed. I had mentioned this back then but was never heard.
I’d really like to see this part fixed.
I also wish that we could have gotten a heads up on a change like this before it actually happened. It is big, especially at this time of the year
I’ve never chosen options outside of the USPS or UPS option BECAUSE many of my orders get combined shipping, and if a USPS Priority Rate order combines, it will show a much higher price than a UPS quote which is how it will probably end up shipping (If it exceeds 4 pounds). I reserve the right to choose the most efficient method of shipping based on the products purchased and their destination point.
Found at one of my brooches: “Based on the seller’s stated handling time and USPS First Class Mail (2 to 3 business days) transit time to US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 20th.”
This is being presented as true reality, that the item WILL be there by a specific date. We all know that the Post Office makes plenty of mistakes. If they misdirect a package, it will as much as 3 weeks late. This information to a potential buyer is a mistake. Can we opt out? For instance, after December 15th, I consider Christmas shipping is over. I worked a long time in the pack and ship business to make promises after that, EXCEPT for Express Mail, or one of the overnight services. I’d like to opt OUT, please.
I like the general idea behind this except that the time period given is cutting things way too close and in one instance where you give the earliest date is not realistic and unable to happen, plus the other date is not being realistic either. Thus, this leaves the door open for problems.
I logged out and went to one of my listings, changed the zip code so I could get a calculated shipping price and then hovered my cursor over the estimated ship time link in the listing. Note that my overall average handling speed on shipping a package is about 18 or 19 hours, so this is just not realistic.
Bonanza shipping time said this (note that the message about above delivery time being approximate is something that I added in myself because the message given to buyers on dates is frightening for me as a seller)::::: "Based on the seller’s stated handling time and USPS First-Class Mail Flat transit time to US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 17th.
If everything goes well, it could be delivered as soon as December 14th.
Ships in 1 to 2 days (excluding Sunday). Shipping is calculated for the USA. International buyers, please view shipping details within each listing. Delivery time above is approximate."
Me talking again…Today is the 12th (Wednesday) and tomorrow which is when I would ship a package at the earliest is the 13th. It is not realistic to say this here… “If everything goes well, it could be delivered as soon as December 14th.”
Also, no matter what if someone is close or further away, first class mail is stated to take 2 to 5 business days, so the above dates are still unrealistic, especially considering I ship out tomorrow at the earliest and we’ve got a business day coming up ahead prior to the 2 to 5 business day shipping rule set by the USPS for first class mail shipping.
I know that when buyers are closer first class mail “usually” does not take as long “but” I have seen it take the full 2 to 5 days occasionally.
I’m thinking that if the dates are going to be cut this close I’d also like to opt out. I’ve already got the amount of days that it takes an item to ship in each of my listings according to the type of shipping service used.
If you can work better with the time periods making them more realistic, then I’m sure I’d be open for it.
We’re getting our time estimates directly from the shipping carrier’s API in most cases, so they should be pretty accurate. Note that we are also allowing for some deviation from the best-case quote we get to try and keep them from being unrealistic. If you can bmail me a link to an item that is cut-off too close as you describe, I’ll take a look and see what exactly we are getting from the carrier. It may be that we need to pad the quote a bit more in some cases, which we can certainly do.
Thanks Jordo Should I just put your name in the subject line when I go to send an email to support? It’s happening on quite a few that are first class (it may be all of first class). It is this part of the wording here that worries me the most, more so because tomorrow’s date is December 13th already.
“If everything goes well, it could be delivered as soon as December 14th.”
“jordo says in response:
12/12/12 at 11:52:08 We’ve tried to make it clear to the buyer that these are estimated dates – is there a particular wording that you think would help make this clearer?”
They have to go get more information that is NOT in front of their face!! NO ONE READS anymore, aren’t you guyz/galz aware of that!! They just want to look at pictures and call that good. When you arrive at a listing, you see what looks like a delivery date. Go click on anyone’s listing and “pretend” you are a customer. You will see what I mean. Yes you do have the “estimated time” at the listing, but it’s hidden.
The estimated times for delivery are hidden, as said. When I’m looking at a listing, I’m seeing the Get it by. So unless a shopper actually does hover their cursor over it, they are going to think that this is the date they will get the listing in the mail.
So somehow we need something so that shoppers are not thinking this is definitely the date they are going to get it by. It sounds very factual unless they hover their cursor to find out the details.
How about instead of Get it by put Estimated to deliver by such and such date.
There are too many variables in shipping to give estimates based on the outside shipping time. The estimates I am seeing here are way off… Way too long! I had an inquiry about an item last night [the 13th] and it said the item could not arrive by Christmas [to MY OWN zip code!!!]. WELL it could get 2 to 5 states away …by December 19th …if shipped Monday the 17th via Fed Ex Ground …and Saturday the 22nd via USPS Parcel Post sent the 17th [the listed service] if purchased today. I listed a flat shipping amount and USPS PP. I calculated from the USPS site and the FedEx site.
26 responses to New Feature: Shipping Time Estimates
I don’t see it in my listings.
We’re still populating the estimates for some shipping types, so they should show up soon. Let us know if they aren’t there by tomorrow.
It’s not showing up in my listings either.
Free shipping doesn’t show estimates because you don’t select a specific shipping method when you select free shipping. We’re looking into ways to address this.
I just noticed this and came to see if there was an update. In my listing that I just edited, it said:
Get it by December 20th
Based on the seller’s stated handling time and unspecified transit time to North Carolina, US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 20th.
International inquiries are welcome, Products ship within 1-2 business days
Great New Feature once you get it set up correctly. As it is now, the arrival dates are wrong and misleading.
Here’s what it looks like:
How long does it take if changes were made to handling times? I changed the # of days and it is still showing the wrong estimated times..thanks
Changes should be immediate, but if you have specified a “Set max business days before item ships” number for an individual item in the batch editor, that will be used instead of the handling time set for your booth.
Thanks Jordo got that fixed ..how abt this.."Based on the seller’s stated handling time and unspecified transit time to Michigan, US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 21st.
Ships in 1 business day…what is this unspecified transit time?
“unspecified” transit time is listed when a specific service is not selected (even if the carrier is selected). Fedex appears to have changed their service codes (which we get from their API) recently, so it’s a good idea to make sure the correct Fedex services are selected if you are using calculated Fedex shipping.
sorry
ok this listing was set as calc by USPS Priority Mail and est delivery time still shows 10 days (most it would take is 2-4 days) http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Dept-56-Christmas-Santa-Snowflakes-Pitcher-Teapot-4-Mugs/18611308
When I edit that item, I’m not seeing any of the specific services checked in the shipping services table – same thing in batch edit (no “via USPS Priority Mail” in the shipping tab). This item does show as having Priority Mail checked though: http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Vintage-Penn-Wax-Works-Christmas-Lamp-Post-Candle-Pair-14-Unburned-1950s/96472593
thanks Jordo
don’t know why specific services periodically disappears
I’ll have to check back tomorrow and catch up with what has already been said here. It’s late where I am at but I just noticed this new thing.
One thing I would like to point out before logging off is this….
Way back when Bonanza first started offering us to be able to set up 2 different shipping methods, the reason I did not ever set up 2 shipping options is because when the buyer (me for example) clicks on Get Price and I get my shipping price, I’ve always had to back space out of the listing and go back into the listing in order to be able to click on More Option prices for shipping to see the second option. I had always felt that this would be very confusing to a buyer, so this is why I have never offered 2 shipping methods. Granted, I figured this out on my own, but it is a glitch (or something that was just never fine tuned) that should be able to be fixed. I had mentioned this back then but was never heard.
I’d really like to see this part fixed.
I also wish that we could have gotten a heads up on a change like this before it actually happened. It is big, especially at this time of the year
Thanks!!
I’ve never chosen options outside of the USPS or UPS option BECAUSE many of my orders get combined shipping, and if a USPS Priority Rate order combines, it will show a much higher price than a UPS quote which is how it will probably end up shipping (If it exceeds 4 pounds). I reserve the right to choose the most efficient method of shipping based on the products purchased and their destination point.
Left Bill a special note here:
http://www.bonanza.com/forums/4/topics/269423?page=1#posts-3599207
Thank you!
Any idea how soon the Free Shipping issue is going to be addressed Jordo?
No ETA on this at the moment, sorry. Maybe we need site feature completion date estimates, too.
Found at one of my brooches: “Based on the seller’s stated handling time and USPS First Class Mail (2 to 3 business days) transit time to US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 20th.”
This is being presented as true reality, that the item WILL be there by a specific date. We all know that the Post Office makes plenty of mistakes. If they misdirect a package, it will as much as 3 weeks late. This information to a potential buyer is a mistake. Can we opt out? For instance, after December 15th, I consider Christmas shipping is over. I worked a long time in the pack and ship business to make promises after that, EXCEPT for Express Mail, or one of the overnight services. I’d like to opt OUT, please.
We’ve tried to make it clear to the buyer that these are estimated dates – is there a particular wording that you think would help make this clearer?
I like the general idea behind this except that the time period given is cutting things way too close and in one instance where you give the earliest date is not realistic and unable to happen, plus the other date is not being realistic either. Thus, this leaves the door open for problems.
I logged out and went to one of my listings, changed the zip code so I could get a calculated shipping price and then hovered my cursor over the estimated ship time link in the listing. Note that my overall average handling speed on shipping a package is about 18 or 19 hours, so this is just not realistic.
Bonanza shipping time said this (note that the message about above delivery time being approximate is something that I added in myself because the message given to buyers on dates is frightening for me as a seller)::::: "Based on the seller’s stated handling time and USPS First-Class Mail Flat transit time to US, this item is estimated to be delivered by December 17th.
If everything goes well, it could be delivered as soon as December 14th.
Ships in 1 to 2 days (excluding Sunday). Shipping is calculated for the USA. International buyers, please view shipping details within each listing. Delivery time above is approximate."
Me talking again…Today is the 12th (Wednesday) and tomorrow which is when I would ship a package at the earliest is the 13th. It is not realistic to say this here… “If everything goes well, it could be delivered as soon as December 14th.”
Also, no matter what if someone is close or further away, first class mail is stated to take 2 to 5 business days, so the above dates are still unrealistic, especially considering I ship out tomorrow at the earliest and we’ve got a business day coming up ahead prior to the 2 to 5 business day shipping rule set by the USPS for first class mail shipping.
I know that when buyers are closer first class mail “usually” does not take as long “but” I have seen it take the full 2 to 5 days occasionally.
I’m thinking that if the dates are going to be cut this close I’d also like to opt out. I’ve already got the amount of days that it takes an item to ship in each of my listings according to the type of shipping service used.
If you can work better with the time periods making them more realistic, then I’m sure I’d be open for it.
We’re getting our time estimates directly from the shipping carrier’s API in most cases, so they should be pretty accurate. Note that we are also allowing for some deviation from the best-case quote we get to try and keep them from being unrealistic. If you can bmail me a link to an item that is cut-off too close as you describe, I’ll take a look and see what exactly we are getting from the carrier. It may be that we need to pad the quote a bit more in some cases, which we can certainly do.
Thanks Jordo
Should I just put your name in the subject line when I go to send an email to support? It’s happening on quite a few that are first class (it may be all of first class). It is this part of the wording here that worries me the most, more so because tomorrow’s date is December 13th already.
“If everything goes well, it could be delivered as soon as December 14th.”
Sure – just let support know it’s for me in the subject or body and they’ll forward me the info. Thanks.
“jordo says in response:
12/12/12 at 11:52:08 We’ve tried to make it clear to the buyer that these are estimated dates – is there a particular wording that you think would help make this clearer?”
They have to go get more information that is NOT in front of their face!! NO ONE READS anymore, aren’t you guyz/galz aware of that!! They just want to look at pictures and call that good. When you arrive at a listing, you see what looks like a delivery date. Go click on anyone’s listing and “pretend” you are a customer. You will see what I mean. Yes you do have the “estimated time” at the listing, but it’s hidden.
The estimated times for delivery are hidden, as said. When I’m looking at a listing, I’m seeing the Get it by. So unless a shopper actually does hover their cursor over it, they are going to think that this is the date they will get the listing in the mail.
So somehow we need something so that shoppers are not thinking this is definitely the date they are going to get it by. It sounds very factual unless they hover their cursor to find out the details.
How about instead of Get it by put Estimated to deliver by such and such date.
There are too many variables in shipping to give estimates based on the outside shipping time. The estimates I am seeing here are way off… Way too long! I had an inquiry about an item last night [the 13th] and it said the item could not arrive by Christmas [to MY OWN zip code!!!]. WELL it could get 2 to 5 states away …by December 19th …if shipped Monday the 17th via Fed Ex Ground …and Saturday the 22nd via USPS Parcel Post sent the 17th [the listed service] if purchased today. I listed a flat shipping amount and USPS PP. I calculated from the USPS site and the FedEx site.
http://www.bonanza.com/forums/4/topics/269747
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