Do Online Shoppers Have Realistic Delivery Expectations?

by: sasikat9

As long as they can receive their order the day before you ship they are happy.

by: Ming the Merciless

As long as ebay browbeats sellers into "free" shipping, I andI alone will determine which carrier to use.

If these entitled consumers want an alternative, then they will pay for the shipping.

Ebay is responsible for most of these industry wide unrealistic delivery time expectations because ebay WANTS buyers to have unrealistic expectations in order to elminate discounts.

When you peel away all the stinky, rotting layers of ebay's onion, IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THEM STEALING AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE FROM SELLERS BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

ALWAYS.

by: DingDong

People today don't have the patience to wait for things. They think because they want it now they should have it and we should go to all extremes to make them happy. Of course, ebay thinks the same way.

I ship out the same day and I get perturbed that it is not delivered that day. I can deliver the same day via ''transporter'' but my buyers don't have one to receive the items.
PS, I am selling transporters with a 45 day shipping time. ;-) :-D

by: Volvo351

Just had  one dirtbag open an INR complaint for a BOAT part while New England is buried in seven feet of snow.  What does that tell you about how "realistic" buyer expectations are?

by: gizmo

This is why I really like one new format, I have come to greatly appreciate. Ebay trys to get me to sell with their messages. I had 3 accounts with them 10 years ago. I closed 2. 1 open for the reality check.

I like , I can make my own decisions , no limits , building a new client base , as well as, took some of my customers with me. Im linking in everywhere I can think of , & its worth it , every day that passes.

I have no concerns what deadbay , Or amagoon do. I know what im doing , & it does not include them. I no longer need them. They are good for a laugh, now & again.
And the occasional snipe.LOL

by: comet

@VOLVO351---

Well the  Lower HUDSON has one channel open to shipping---and we saw a truck load OF boats in shrink wrap forced to pull over into the side of the New York State Thruway today in extreme high winds---

But mostly around the North East unless it is an ICE BOAT part or they have a boat shed (heated and insulated!)---not much is being done repair or build wise.

But yeah---I too have been the "victim"  of items that I ship bang on time and that the buyer feels should not only be free shipping--HA!   Not in MY lifetime---or that should have gotten there before they decided to do a Search FOR the item.

And I have sat around and waited---and waited---for some things to arrive that seemingly should have taken a much shorter period of time.  

And sometimes things surprise even me---I have had things from Europe arrive faster than some things from the US;  but now I am waiting for some lightweight items from Turkey that are taking forever.  And of course--you cannot "track"  them!

Another reason that I just sent some one my home email contact on an overseas shipping cost question.  Would YOU pay more than the COST of the item---around $35---to pay SHIPPING for a 6 OUNCE item--the way ebay DEMANDS we sent it with "Tracking" that does NOT track ---or just pay me via PP and pay perhaps $10 to ship?

Yep I thought so!  

by: Tiffee Jasso

If you have never sold anything by mail order is your life, you have no ideal of the logistics of shipping or the time it takes to move packages across country or out of country. Unfortunately, many big corporations love ignorance, because it is easy to  control those who don't know better and stick the blame on them if things go wrong.  

by: Rexford

Is there anything more dreaded than the "when will my item arrive" email received seconds after a buyer places his order?  Then you know that you are really under the gun.

No, buyers don't have realistic expectations. Both eBay, Amazon and USPS are all responsible for this.

by: Basset

It would be interesting to see the age demographics of those who have these instant expectations.  Or is it big business telling us we ''need it now''.  

I mentioned this on the letters thread - Anyone else still seeing USPS out and about on Sundays?  I thought that was only for the holidays but maybe the ''gotta have it now'' theme is more permanent.


Many of us here send personal ''expectations'' emails and fliers that give buyers a bit of reality on shipping expectations.  When USPS holidays like this week occur, I have an additional reminder blurb in my email for those who are completely unaware.

 

by: thehosst

Do ANY Online Shoppers Have Realistic Delivery Expectations?

As long as you can deliver by Text or email within 1 minute, plus 2 free tickets to Hawaii, they are able to use the brain and wait 2 minutes.

by: FREDDY

When you give the buyer a unrealistic date, then of course they will be upset when it does not arrive by that date.
Then there are those and always will be the ones who want instant delivery and instant perfect gratification.
If ebay and Amazon etc was smart, they would add on an extra day or two and then the buyers (not all but..)would be very happy to get the item(s) one day early.
Go to any USPS clerk and they will tell you 2-3 days for priority or 2-5 days for 1st class but NO guarantees.
It is just a ploy to steal potential customers from other sites. Greed and corruption seems to be what is taught in schools these days.  

by: Cjaz

I had my best one yesterday.  Received an email from Ebay stating that they had received an inquiry from a buyer that was concerned that they had not received their item yet, they wanted me to contact the buyer and try to work out the problem.  When I looked up the transaction I saw that it had been purchased on Friday.  They purchased on Friday and were complaining because they hadn't received it by Sunday.  

by: Moonwishes

I would say many but not all have unrealistic expectations, and some must have money to burn, as noted by the the Priority orders that I got right before this long weekend! My stuff is usually going FCM so about as fast as Priority most of the time anyhow. I can almost understand if it is a rare item that has just been posted, but some of my items have been up for sale for several years and suddenly it is an emergency to get them that fraction faster? But that is just some, but I do hate those emails what want to know when their stuff will come especially since I send a shipping notification via email that outlines the usps website and the what their tracking number is so that they can follow this themselves. But they would rather I check.

by: Tula

Buyers do get to choose the shipping service on many venues. The problem is that they have to pay for it. A lot of site will have free "economy" shipping and various faster upgrades on offer... for additional fees. If the customer pays for it, I have no problem using the shipper they want (provided it's available where I am). However, they don't get to choose if I'm the one footing the bill.

by: Ecommerce

There is final a solution to all this: Doorman. http://www.doorman.co/

You can pick your delivery time and get your packages on your schedule. No more wondering when your package will get there.  

by: val2525

On other sites, yes. On eBay, no. But then, retailer sites give realistic delivery dates to buyers. eBay flat out lies to buyers.

by: sundance

IMO, sellers have the responsibility to make sure all of their shipping timelines are listed in their ads.  And buyers need to be pro active in finding out shipping timelines before placing an item in the shopping cart.

by: AC_in_Mich

@gizmo  - tried to figure out your post - one new format?

LOL @ ecommerce - yeah, doorman sounds good for those of use in rural areas - NOT!

by: Shop and Ship

This one takes the cake: Item shipped and was delivered to Buyer's post office box within 72 hours of purchase. TEN DAYS LATER Buyer opens an Item Not Received even though I sent her 2 emails with the USPS tracking number showing that she needed to go to her own PO Box and claim her package. Next day, she did, and now I have a "defect" on my record for USPS not delivering on time, even though the package was in the customer's own USPS retail branch waiting for her. Of course she blamed it on the post office - and she has Feedback of over 2,000. Sheesh!  

by: Steevo

Why in the world would anyone order something mail order if they needed it especially fast?   If you are in a rush go out and buy that item locally!  

If you order something that has to be shipped it makes no sense to be time critical!

That buyers are being coddled by desperate online sellers is the problem here, buyer expectations are that there will be no delay ordering online, but that is just not *always* reasonable. Even with a finely oiled mechanism like Amazon Prime, things happen.  Weather, late trailers, post office errors, you name it.  

If I have a customer tell me they absolutely have to have something at a particular time I tell them that would be FedEx Express.  $65.00 or more.  I charge $25 to expedite my end, order a FedEx pickup and stay around to make sure the item is picked up.  The carrier is expensive. But that's what you get if you are time critical. You should be willing to pay.