Work out your real Christmas cut-off, not Royal Mail's
Royal Mail publishes last posting dates every year and every year sellers copy them straight onto their listings. That is not your date.
Why yours is earlier
The published date is the last day an item can be POSTED and still arrive. Your buyer does not post it — you do, after they have ordered, after you have packed it, possibly after a weekend.
So your real cut-off is the published date minus your handling time, minus any weekend in between, minus a margin for the thing that always goes wrong.
For most sellers that is two to four days earlier than the date they have been quoting.
So your real cut-off is the published date minus your handling time, minus any weekend in between, minus a margin for the thing that always goes wrong.
For most sellers that is two to four days earlier than the date they have been quoting.
How to work it out
Take the published last posting date for the service you actually use.
Subtract your genuine handling time. Not your best day — your average one, in the busiest week of the year, when you are tired.
Subtract any weekend or non-collection day in between.
Subtract one more day, because something will go wrong and in December it always does.
That number is what you put on your listings and in your shop message.
Subtract your genuine handling time. Not your best day — your average one, in the busiest week of the year, when you are tired.
Subtract any weekend or non-collection day in between.
Subtract one more day, because something will go wrong and in December it always does.
That number is what you put on your listings and in your shop message.
The one people get wrong
The estimated delivery date the platform shows a buyer is calculated from your handling time setting, not from your good intentions. If your handling time says one day and you actually take three, the platform has already promised something you cannot deliver, and the defect lands on you rather than on the courier.
Go and check what your handling time is set to. A lot of people set it years ago and have never looked since.
Go and check what your handling time is set to. A lot of people set it years ago and have never looked since.
Being honest beats being optimistic
A buyer told "this will not arrive before Christmas, but it will be with you by the 29th" is mildly disappointed. A buyer promised Christmas delivery who does not get it is a case, a refund, a defect and a negative.
The second one costs you far more than the sale was worth. Say no earlier than you want to.
The second one costs you far more than the sale was worth. Say no earlier than you want to.
And after the cut-off
Do not stop selling — just stop promising. Plenty of people buy in that last week knowing full well it will not arrive in time. Put it plainly in the listing and let them decide.
What is your actual cut-off?
Post your date and your reasoning. Comparing them is genuinely useful, and somebody is always cutting it far too fine.
Check royalmail.com for this year's published dates — they are usually confirmed in October and change year to year.
Check royalmail.com for this year's published dates — they are usually confirmed in October and change year to year.
- Question
- Active discussion
- Answer emerging
- Community solution
- Knowledge article