Processing times and “dispatch” dates help buyers know when you’ll dispatch items in your shop.
- What are processing profiles?
- What is the processing time for an item?
- What is the "dispatch by" date?
- How do I create or edit processing profiles?
- How do I assign processing profiles in bulk?
- How do I assign a unique processing profile to a product variation?
- How do I set my order processing schedule?
- What if I dispatch faster than my processing times?
- How do I update the "dispatch by" date for an order?
What are processing profiles?
Processing profiles give you the flexibility you need when preparing an order, and help buyers get more accurate delivery dates.
Processing profiles consist of:
- Processing time: how much time you need to get an order ready before handing off to a delivery company. Processing times can be set at either the listing level or for each variation, based on the unique needs of your inventory.
- Readiness label: how ready your item is to be sent to a buyer – Made to order or Ready to dispatch. This will not be visible to buyers, but can be unique for each listing variation.
When creating a new listing for a physical item, you will assign it a processing profile. Digital listings don’t have processing profiles.
What is the processing time for an item?
The processing time is how much time you need to get an order ready to dispatch. The processing time helps set expectations with buyers, and helps you reliably dispatch your orders.
If an order is custom, this will include the amount of time it takes to create the custom item. If an order is already made, the processing time is the amount of time you need to package the item and bring it to the delivery service.
The processing time also affects when the buyer can open a case about an order and when they can leave a review.
Processing times begin the day after your item is purchased by a buyer. For example:
-
A listing of yours is purchased by a buyer on Wednesday. It has a 5-day processing time and a processing schedule set to Monday - Friday, so the "dispatch by" date would be the following Wednesday.
- If the same listing included Saturday and Sunday in your processing schedule, then it would have a "dispatch by" date of Monday instead.
What is the “dispatch by” date?
The “dispatch by” date is the date that you commit to dispatch an order to the buyer. This is the date at the end of the longest processing time for an order. The “dispatch by” date is visible on the Orders page for each order. Buyers can view the “dispatch by” date on the receipt after they purchase an item.
For sellers in the US and Canada, if you have set bank holiday preferences, this schedule will be reflected in the “dispatch by” dates that are shown to buyers, as the calculation will be adjusted. Removing a bank holiday from your schedule means you’re not able to package or prepare orders on that day, and it won’t be counted as a processing day.
If you don't set a processing time
Having a processing time set for your items helps set buyer expectations. If you don’t specify a processing time for an item, the buyer won’t see a "dispatch by" date during the checkout process. If the buyer places an order for multiple items and one doesn't have a processing time, then the whole order won't show a "dispatch by" date, even if other items in the order do have processing times.
Processing times and “dispatch by” dates are determined by your order processing schedule, which can be set to include weekends and public holidays.
If a "dispatch by" date falls on a day when post offices are usually closed - such as Sundays or postal holidays - we’ll move it to the next business day for you.
"Dispatch by" dates are calculated in your shop's time zone which can be set from your Shop options. You'll need to mark your item as dispatched by 11:59pm on the dispatch date.
How do I create or edit processing profiles?
- Go to Shop Manager.
- Go to Delivery settings.
- Under Delivery profiles & processing, scroll to Your processing profiles.
- Select Create new or select the processing profile you wish to edit.
- Select if the item is Made to order or Ready to dispatch.
- Choose the processing time from the How much processing time do you need? dropdown.
- Select Save changes.
- Go to More.
- Go to Delivery.
- Scroll to Your processing profiles.
- Select the plus sign to create a new profile, or tap the processing profile you wish to edit.
- Select if the item is Made to order or Ready to dispatch.
- Choose the processing time from the How much processing time do you need? dropdown.
- Select Save changes.
If you edit a processing profile, all of the listings and variations associated with it will update as well.
How do I assign processing profiles in bulk?
- In Shop Manager, select Listings.
- Check the boxes of the listings you wish to update.
- Choose Change processing profile from the Editing options dropdown.
- Select the listing variants you wish to update.
- Choose the processing profile you wish to assign to the listings.
- Select Next.
How do I assign a unique processing profile to a product variation?
- In Shop Manager, select Listings.
- Find the listing you want to change, or create a new listing..
- Find the gear icon and choose Edit.
- Scroll to the Variations section and select Manage variations.
- Toggle on Processing varies and select Done.
- Select the processing profile with the correct processing time for your variants.
- Choose Publish.
- Go to Listings.
- Select the listing you want to update.
- In the Listing section, scroll to Variations.
- Select All variations, then Manage variations.
- Select the pencil next to Pricing and inventory settings to edit.
- Under Processing profile, select the type of variation the processing varies by (ex. colour, size). Select Done.
- Select Save, then assign processing profiles to variants when prompted. Select Save again.
How do I set my order processing schedule?
You can make changes to your processing schedule at any time.
- Go to Delivery Settings.
- In Order Processing Schedule, select Edit.
- Select if you only process orders Monday until Friday, or if you want to include Saturday and/or Sunday in your processing times.
- Select which bank holidays you’ll process orders on (US and CA only). You can select All bank holidays or choose individual bank holidays you'll be available to package or prepare orders.
- Select Update.
What if I dispatch faster than my processing times?
Having fast processing times can lead to shorter estimated delivery dates, which can help encourage customers to buy items from your shop. If you have a history of completing your orders faster than your listed processing times, buyers may see estimated delivery date ranges with your actual processing times reflected.
Your actual processing time is based on your processing times over the past 120 days for orders that were dispatched, with a minimum of at least 5 orders dispatched.
To make sure that the processing times are accurate, the dispatch date you set when completing your order should match the date you plan to hand off the order to the delivery company.
How do I update the “dispatch by" date for an order?
You can edit the “dispatch by” date once, up to 21 days after the original "dispatch by" date if the buyer has agreed to the new date.
- Sign in to Etsy.com.
- Go to your Shop Manager.
- Select Orders.
- Find the transaction you want to change.
- Choose the … (ellipsis) icon.
- Choose Update dispatch by date.
- Select your new dispatch by date.
- Add a note to the buyer explaining the new dispatch by date. The buyer will automatically be sent an updated estimated delivery date for their order based on the new “dispatch by” date.
- Choose Update & notify buyer.