Etsy added weekend days to processing times, but unlike many changes marketplaces roll out where sellers must opt out if they don’t like them, with this change, it’s up to sellers to opt-in if they choose to.
Cindy Baldassi, an Etsy expert and consultant, wrote about the change in a blog post on Tumblr. She pointed to a thread started on July 5th, where a seller shared what they saw on their dashboard on Wednesday morning:
“Our research shows that a quick settings update may boost your annual sales by about $12.00
“In the last year you processed 100% of your orders on the weekend. Now you have the option to update your processing schedule to include weekend days, showing shoppers faster delivery in some cases with little or no change to how you work. Etsy shoppers have shown they’re more likely to buy items that ship faster—even if it’s only by one day!”
The seller commented, “Thanks Etsy! I won’t get anything done today thinking about all the things I’d do with that $12.00.”
Sellers reacted in the replies that followed, with other sellers sharing the absurdly low amount of Etsy’s estimate of additional annual earnings they might see by making the change.
Processing times are extremely important. On the one hand, they can theoretically boost sales by showing shoppers items might arrive more quickly. On the other hand, it pressures sellers to meet tighter deadlines, and late shipping can negatively impact sellers by not meeting Etsy Service Level Standards.
Etsy explains on a help page, “The processing time is how much time you need to get an order ready to ship. The processing time helps set expectations with buyers before purchasing an item, and accurate processing times help you reliably ship your orders.”
Baldassi said making the new processing change might mean some orders would be due to ship on Saturdays. “Why they say they are adding both weekend days to processing times but are still not expecting anyone to ship on Sunday is beyond me – that makes no sense,” she wrote. “Yes, it means that 6 out of 7 times, an order will show as processing and shipping 1-2 days earlier than it did before this option existed, which could increase sales. It still means that there will be confusion over the items that should have shipped on Sunday but will show a longer processing time on that order in reality.”
While she said the announcement was confusing, she also noted that the change would give Etsy sellers more options.
It’s not clear why Etsy did not announce the change on its announcement board or Seller Handbook, and we don’t see any response to the questions sellers raised on the discussion board thread.
Etsy did add the following notice to the top of its “How to Set Processing Times and “Ship By” Dates” help page: “Sellers now have the option to include Saturday and Sunday in their order processing times. This means that if you prepare or ship packages on the weekend, buyers will get a more accurate estimate of when their package will arrive.”
$12 more sales in a year? I’m impressed! Etsy says I’ll only sell $6 more. LOL!