Promise dates and slow parcels

The promise is yours, the parcel is not

When a buyer pays, the date on your listing becomes your promise. The parcel, however, travels through a supplier and a carrier that you do not control. The gap between the two is where complaints begin.

Add up the real chain

Count the time before the source order is placed, then the delivery time the source shows for that buyer's address. Together they are the shortest honest promise you can make.

The delivery check on this site does the sum and tells you how much room is left.

• Use the latest date the source shows, not the earliest.
• Keep at least one spare day for the carrier.

Shorten what you can control

The easiest saving is the wait before ordering. A manual process often loses a day or two overnight or at weekends, while automatic ordering sends the purchase through in a few minutes.

When the promise is already broken

Tell the buyer early, give the new expected date, and share the tracking number as soon as you have it. Silence turns a delay into a dispute.