'It Didn't Arrive in Time for Christmas' Refrain

A common refrain heard from holiday shoppers each December is, "It didn't arrive in time for Christmas" - and sellers are often the target of their ire. In a Reddit post on December 21, an Etsy seller posted a yearly reminder to have automated responses ready for what they saw as a problem of buyers' own making:

"Every year (I've been on Etsy 15+ years) all the people who ordered late, didn't read the arrival estimates, or didn't choose expedited shipping or processing on their order come back to message me or leave a negative review because of their poor planning and reading skills. Brace yourselves."

Others commiserated, with a seller replying that one customer who had recently complained that their package hadn't arrived (despite USPS delivery confirmation) finally found their package at the neighbor's house.

Another said their impatient buyer gave them a 1-star review because they didn't receive their item before Christmas. "They sent the review on 12/22, on 12/23 USPS tracking said the item was delivered."

One Etsy seller wrote, "There should be a "you didn't order in time" button" to respond to buyers' complaints of late deliveries.

Some sellers are so weary of the arrived-too-late-for-Christmas refrain that they put their shops on vacation mode in December. But eBay sellers can face a unique challenge - they can choose to accept orders even when away, with a banner warning of late fulfillment. As a seller wrote in response to a buyer complaining the day after Christmas, buyers may overlook such warnings:

"Double check and make sure your seller was not away at the time you ordered. It is Christmas. Some sellers go away but allow orders to be placed. There would have been a blue banner at the top of the listing. Buyers sometimes overlook it. You can look at their other listings to see if they are away."

Some buyers seek advice on how to soften the blow of missing gifts to their loved ones, such as a Reddit post from three years ago asking, "A Christmas gift I ordered isn't going to arrive in time, what's a fun way to give the receiver a way to still "open" the gift?" One person suggested that the gift-giver "put the tracking number or a card and wrap it like a gift. Then they can open their gift, and have the excitement of waiting for it to arrive and wondering what it is."

Sellers say buyers blame them for "ruining Christmas" because of late-arriving gifts. This story shared on the post may put buyers' minds at ease: "For my 8th birthday I really wanted a Gameboy. My dad hadn't been able to get it yet. So he got a big box, wrapped it, I opened it, there was a slightly smaller box, I opened that, another slightly smaller box and after repeating this Russian nesting doll several times until I got to the smallest box and inside there was a rubber ducky with a note "IOU a Gameboy, Love Dad" I will remember that forever."

For that recipient, it was the "thought that counts" that truly mattered.

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