An estimated delivery date lets your customers know when their order is expected to arrive—a key piece of information they look for when shopping on Etsy, which can help them feel more confident when making a purchase. Our research has shown buyers are more likely to buy items that ship faster—even if it’s only by one day!* Details related to estimated delivery dates are required in order to create a listing/shipping profile and to renew listings. This article will help you find answers to frequently asked questions about estimated delivery dates.
1. What is an estimated delivery date?
An estimated delivery date is shown to buyers as a range of dates when their order is likely to arrive.
2. How is an estimated delivery date calculated?
To calculate an estimated delivery date, we look at a number of factors–like the ship-by date, your shipping services, your processing time and order processing schedule, and where the order is shipping to and from.
In some instances, in addition to information you already provide—like processing times and shipping services—we’ll use your shipping history, along with carrier information like latest transit times, to calculate estimated delivery dates. The stated processing times and ship-by dates for your items won’t change and we’ll take them into account when making this new calculation.
Here’s how we use the information in your shipping settings to help calculate estimated delivery dates:
Shipping carrier and mail class: We use this information to determine how long it will likely take for the package to arrive after you ship it based on the information we have from carriers. We want you and your buyers to be confident your orders will arrive on time. So we keep an eye on carrier activity and adjust buyers’ estimated delivery dates based on the latest transit times.
Processing time: The processing time is how much time you need to package or prepare an order to get it ready to ship. The processing time helps set expectations with buyers, and accurate processing times help you reliably ship your orders.
Since every seller’s schedule looks a little different, you have the option to set an order processing schedule based on whether you’re packaging and preparing orders on the weekend. Adding Saturday and/or Sunday to your order processing schedule doesn’t mean that you’re shipping orders on those days. Rather, it includes those days in your order processing times, which impacts your ship-by dates shown to buyers. For sellers in the US and Canada, you can also set your processing schedule to include holidays. This added flexibility for weekend and holiday order processing helps ensure buyers get a more accurate estimate of when their packages will arrive. Keep in mind, if a ship-by date falls on a day when post offices are closed—such as Sundays or postal holidays—we’ll move it to the next business day for you.
Zip/postal code: Adding your zip code makes our estimates even more accurate because we’ll know where you’re shipping from. For example, that a shipment will arrive faster for buyers within your state versus shipping across the country. Your zip code won’t be shown to shoppers.
3. How is estimated delivery date information shown to buyers?
Buyers see estimated delivery dates on individual listings. Plus, buyers in the US can filter search results of listings by their estimated delivery date. Only items with estimated delivery dates are shown in this search filter, so it’s a great way for your listings to have more visibility on Etsy with buyers in the US.
4. Do estimated delivery dates take holidays and weekends into account?
You can set your order processing schedule to include weekends to indicate that you prepare and package orders over the weekends. For sellers in the US and Canada, you can also set your order processing schedule to include holidays to indicate that you prepare and package orders on any holiday. Your set order processing times factor into our estimated delivery date calculations, which are reflected in the “ship by” dates that are shown to buyers after a purchase is made. By accurately updating your order processing schedule, buyers have the most accurate expectations of when to expect their orders.
5. Are estimated delivery dates ever updated after a purchase?
If you mark the order as shipped later than the expected ship date, the estimated delivery date will be recalculated accordingly to show the later arrival. Then, this new date is communicated to the buyer in the email that’s sent alerting them that their order has shipped—with no further effort from you.
You can also edit the “ship by” date once, as long as the original "ship by" date hasn't passed. This will also update the estimated delivery date shown to the buyer.
6. I don’t want to make a promise to my buyers I can’t keep. What happens to my estimated delivery date if carriers are experiencing delays?
This is where we can help. Etsy is able to adjust transit times for top carriers for sellers when we detect carrier delays. We can do this for a few reasons:
- We have close partnerships with carriers who you can purchase labels through our site and are in frequent conversation with them about how their networks are performing.
- We‘ve also developed technology that analyzes data on millions of packages to detect where carrier delays are forming and make adjustments to transit time estimates to help keep them more accurate.
That’s why it’s important for you to select one of the available carriers in your shipping profiles. Without knowing which carrier you’re using, we won’t know what transit time adjustments to make.
You can also let your buyers know about delays to better manage their expectations and deliver a great customer experience through Messages. Here’s an example of a message you can share with your buyer if you think an order may arrive later than expected:
I wanted to keep you updated on the status of your order. Due to shipping carrier delays, there’s a chance your package may not arrive on the originally estimated date. Rest assured I’ll keep you updated along the way as I get new information from the carrier. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.
7. I make custom items and my production time varies. How do I determine my processing time?
Your processing time is how much time you need to get an order ready to ship, including production time. If an order is custom, this should include the amount of time it takes to create the custom item.
8. Do I have to use the mail carrier/class options Etsy provides?
Yes, this is required for sellers in the US and UK, and strongly encouraged for sellers in other markets—that way, we can adjust transit times in case of carrier delays and you can focus on your creative business. We’re continuously expanding the mail carrier/class options available in shipping profiles based on carriers we see sellers most commonly using.
If you don’t see the shipping service you typically use, choose the option with a similar transit time—this will help us calculate a more accurate estimated delivery date for your orders (and the shipping service you select isn’t visible to shoppers). Then, let us know what’s missing by filling out this short survey.
Learn more about providing a great shipping experience for buyers in the Ultimate Guide to Shipping.
*Based on an August 2023 internal Etsy analysis.
Words by Etsy Staff
