Be Wary of eBay Handling Time Rules - EcommerceBytes

Summary

Some sellers are reporting eBay is now allowing them to specify a 40-day handling time, up from 30 days, and are wondering the reason for the change in a post on the eBay discussion boards

It's a far cry from 10 years ago when eBay began displaying an orange warning flag on listings that had a handling time over 3 days. At the time, eBay told sellers , "You may still choose any handling time for your listings - sometimes longer handling times are appropriate, like if you're shipping custom items - and this new treatment of handling times helps set the right expectations for your buyers."

Some sellers are reporting eBay is now allowing them to specify a 40-day handling time, up from 30 days, and are wondering the reason for the change in a post on the eBay discussion boards

It's a far cry from 10 years ago when eBay began displaying an orange warning flag on listings that had a handling time over 3 days. At the time, eBay told sellers , "You may still choose any handling time for your listings - sometimes longer handling times are appropriate, like if you're shipping custom items - and this new treatment of handling times helps set the right expectations for your buyers."

One seller posting today reported a related bug: "This has happened on one of my eBay stores - estimated delivery dates are August, even though I specify 1 day handling."

Some sellers believe the new longer handling time they're seeing is to accommodate sellers who offer "presales" - those who offer items for sale that aren't yet available but that consumers are eager to get their hands on before anyone else, such as the latest tech gadget.

The eBay Presale policy states sellers must ship within 30 days of purchase items clearly stating (in the title and description) that they are presale offers. "In order to protect buyer and seller guarantees, presale listings must follow eBay policy, including listing the date the item will be available to ship," according to the policy.

For regular items, eBay tells sellers to "be realistic" when setting handling times. The Handling Time and Estimated Delivery Dates help page doesn't offer a specific recommendation except for noting the benefit eBay provides sellers for listings with same-day or 1-day handling. In those instances, as long as a seller offers a minimum 30-day money-back return policy, they can qualify for a Top Rated Plus discount and seal.

So what is the right amount of handling time? The seller who reported the bug in the discussion-board post said, "folks won't buy stuff for which it appears delivery time is 30 days +."

And given the fact eBay uses handling time as a factor in how it sorts search results in Best Match, it would appear the quicker the handling time, the better.