How to Set Up Estimated Delivery Dates

You can set up your listings and shipping profiles to show your customers estimated delivery dates for their orders. Depending on where your shop is located, you can enable it in different ways:

On Etsy, a package which has arrived anywhere within the estimated date range, is considered to have arrived on time. As long as you have shipped the order by the stated ship by date and have valid proof, you will not be held responsible for delays that occur in transit, caused by the carrier. Learn how to resolve a dispute with a buyer.

Jump to a section:

How is an estimated delivery date calculated?

The range of dates provided for expected delivery is calculated by combining your processing times with carrier transit times.

Processing time

  • The processing time you set for an item helps determine its “ship-by” date. If an order is completed earlier than the expected ship date, the estimated delivery date will be adjusted accordingly. 

  • In some instances, Etsy may take your past shipping behavior into account to help ensure buyers receive accurate estimated delivery dates. This is based on historical tracking data and does not impact your processing times or “ship-by dates”.

Carrier transit time

  • Etsy adjusts the transit times for shipping services shown in shipping profiles through carrier tracking data. This means you don't need to adjust transit times for weather events, holidays, or other carrier delays.

How to set up estimated delivery dates

US and Canada sellers: Listings with calculated shipping and a processing time will already have an estimated delivery date.

If you don’t use calculated shipping or are located in a market where this feature is not available, you’re required to add the information necessary to calculate an estimated delivery date and input all of the required information when creating or editing shipping profiles and listings. 

For each listing, you will need to have the following information completely filled out:

  • Domestic shipping service
  • Cross-border shipping service
    • Cross-border services will be required of all sellers in all countries who ship internationally.
  • If you offer shipping upgrades, shipping service or delivery time.

  • Origin ZIP/postal code/postcode/PIN, which the item is shipping from

  • A processing time to indicate how long you need to get an order ready and handed off to your shipping carrier.

  1. Sign in to Etsy.com.
  2. Go to Shop Manager.
  3. Go to Settings.
  4. Go to Shipping settings.
  5. Select Shipping profiles.
  6. Select Add a shipping profile (or Edit an existing one). 
  7. If you are in the US or Canada: Next to Shipping prices, select I’ll enter fixed costs manually or Calculate them for me. (Skip this step if you're not in the US or Canada).
  8. Select the Country of Origin.
  9. Add in your Origin postal code.
  10. Select your Processing time
  11. In the Standard shipping section, select your preferred or most used Shipping service for domestic shipping.
  12. Under What you’ll charge, choose whether to offer Free shipping or set up a Fixed price yourself.
  13. If you offer international shipping, repeat the last two steps for the Everywhere Else section.
  14. If you offer Shipping upgrades, select your shipping service and/or delivery time. 
  15. Click Create profile.

Use this shipping profile for your listings to show your customers the estimated delivery date for their order.

📦      When you purchase and print shipping labels on Etsy, we’ll automatically complete the order and send your buyers their tracking number. That way they’ll know when to expect their orders.

Purchase shipping labels on Etsy.

Do I need to set an estimated delivery date? 

Setting a processing time and a transit time is required when creating, editing, or duplicating a listing or shipping profile. Additionally, setting an origin postal code specifying where your items ship from may be required depending on your location.

How will I know if estimated delivery date information is missing? 

If one of your shipping profiles is missing estimated delivery date information, an alert will be displayed in the following areas: 

  • For shipping profiles with at least one listing attached to them: in your Shipping settings.

  • For active listings not linked to a shipping profile: in the Custom shipping settings section on your Shipping settings.

Estimated delivery date troubleshooting

The estimated delivery dates being shown are too early

Etsy works to help ensure that buyers have accurate estimated delivery dates. Consider extending your processing time range if you still feel that the estimated delivery date is too early.

The estimated delivery dates being shown are too broad

Consider narrowing your processing time range if you rarely ship earlier than the date the order is due.

I ship from multiple locations. How should I set up my profiles?

If you ship from multiple locations, you can create a shipping profile and a listing for each location you ship from. Then, link each shipping profile to the relevant listing. This associates the correct delivery date with each listing.

I don't see the shipping service I want to use 

If you don’t see your preferred shipping service when setting up or editing a shipping profile, choose another option that has a similar transit time. Choosing a specific service results in more accurate delivery dates for your buyers, without any change to how you work.

Did this resolve the issue?
Why wasn’t this article helpful? (select all that apply)

Thanks for your feedback!

Still have questions?

Contact support