hello I have a free shipping alidropship website but now that is is coming closer to christmas if people want to buy my products for christmas when it comes to December it will not be guaranteed they will receive the product in time. What would you recommend. is it best not to have a free shipping website because of this? would love your feed back please.
Use ePacket where you can for US orders. In my experience China Post (Free) or AliExpress standard shipping (free or cheaper than ePacket) was actually faster to Europe than ePacket, but ePacket is faster for the US & Canada. Even then it depends on other factors. I've had customers receive products in as little as 4 days. Average is 2-3 weeks. Only 1 complaint about shipping so far and this was from a guy who gave the wrong address; only realising this 3 weeks after the product was shipped. He started badmouthing my store on social media and by email because I refused a refund - all he had to do was call his local post office and give the address. Eventually he got his order after 1 month which was still technically in the maximum given time frame of 45 days. Cover yourself with disclaimers in relevant pages as well as on your thank you page.
Most customers understand that Christmas is a busy time and once the package is in the hands of the postal service there's very little you can do, and at the end of the day they're not paying for shipping. Sure you'll get the occasional grumpy customer but this is usually solved with an understanding, professional reply.
Ultimately it is the same with any online business around this time, no one can guarantee shipping time unless they personally deliver the item or use an expensive courier.
