Shipping Speed Ratings Question

SuperAgora

Member
Here is another question I have regarding shipping speed ratings on AliExpress.

If AliExpress store owners are located in China and they use China Post to ship the merchandise, why do some of them have very low shipping speed ratings like 4.3 but others have a much higher like 4.7+ ?

Example:

Lower Rating:

shipping-speed1.jpg

Better Shipping Speed Rating

shipping-speed2.jpg

Thank you
 

Sunster

Moderator
Staff member
I always look at the shipping speed star rating but then check the comments too to really find out what is going on. Shipping speed is one that will always getting the lowest ratings because theres just too many factors that affect it and most of the time even if the total shipping time was not the fault of the seller, they are the ones who will get the low rating. How long did the seller take before shipping out the item, were there any postal delays, did customs hold onto the package, weather etc etc. These all affect shipping speed rating because the buyers put it on the seller.
 

SuperAgora

Member
Hey @Sunster how are you?
I see that you're also working Sundays - LOL

What you've described in your reply is absolutely logical and I agree with you.
Apparently I did not phrase my question properly.

What I'm really asking is - Between these two sellers for example, if all else is equal (meaning they are both located in China, they both pick and pack the merchandise within 48 hours - excluding holidays and weekends, they both receive the order and ship the item within the same day etc etc), you still see sellers getting a "bad rap", without really being their fault.

So this thought has led me to believe that whoever devised this shipping speed rating system was not thinking!
(Which was copied straight out of eBay).
The method is mostly unfair because shipping speed is completely out of the merchant's control and ends up skewing the average rating.

Best,
 

Direct Webstore

Well-Known Member
shipping speed is completely out of the merchant's control

But not the processing of orders, which also affects the overall "speed of delivery" .I've bought many things from Aliexpress and most of the sellers ship the same day or the next ...but a few take up to a week or more. I wish they could replace "Shipping Speed" with "Order Processing Speed"
 

SuperAgora

Member
Good morning @Direct Webstore ,

That is truly an excellent idea. Maybe we can all sign a petition and forward it to Jack Ma or whoever is responsible for taking this type of action.
It would be relatively easy for a seller to prove when he/she shipped out the merchandise.
I am being 100% serious.

Thanks for the great idea.

Here is the petition copy, please check and make any appropriate changes if you wish.
I'll be using the iPetitions.com website to create an online petition and I'll post the link here.

===========================================================
We would like to ask everyone involved in e-commerce retailing to sign this petition so we may change the way of "Shipping Speed Rating Systems" on e-shops and e-commerce platforms affect the average rating of virtual store owners (sellers).

Buyers are not always aware that extended delays in transit time may be due το service disruptions, natural disasters, holidays and customs holdup when merchandise is transported across international borders. Thereby posting negative remarks on comment sections and lowering the overall rating of online businesses drastically.

We want the present rating system changed to reflect actual "Order Processing Speed" offered by the merchants and not be skewed by transit time.
The "Order Processing Speed" should be the time between receiving payment and package pick up.

Currently the "Shipping Speed Rating System" calculates the time it takes for a package to be received by the buyer.

This petition will be forwarded to all the companies that are involved in developing e-commerce platforms including but not limited to eBay, AliExpress etc.
===============================================================
 

iGinke

Member
Hey @Sunster how are you?
I see that you're also working Sundays - LOL

What you've described in your reply is absolutely logical and I agree with you.
Apparently I did not phrase my question properly.

What I'm really asking is - Between these two sellers for example, if all else is equal (meaning they are both located in China, they both pick and pack the merchandise within 48 hours - excluding holidays and weekends, they both receive the order and ship the item within the same day etc etc), you still see sellers getting a "bad rap", without really being their fault.

So this thought has led me to believe that whoever devised this shipping speed rating system was not thinking!
(Which was copied straight out of eBay).
The method is mostly unfair because shipping speed is completely out of the merchant's control and ends up skewing the average rating.

Best,
Hi, your guys really ask great questions.
It forces me to write a better answer.
First, the reasons you guys had brainstormed truly exist:
Order process time
Custom issues, etc.
What I am going to tell is something even some sellers don't know.
1. They are all called China post, but different post office in different city has different speed and pricing:
Let's say the 2 sellers in same city. One ships from local post office and pay higher shipping fee. The other one ships it to other city, like Guangzhou, and got cheaper shipping pricing. The post office compete with each other. And the cheaper post office always has package jam, right. You saw the shipping info shown picked up, but it takes longer time for the post office to process.
2. The stores have different customer groups. If your store have better conversation rate with Russian customers. Aliexpress will send more Russian traffic to you, so your orders are mostly from Russia. Some of them don't understand English and lower tolerance for the shipping speed. That leads to the lower rating.
3. Although the examples are all from jewelry niche, but I still want to mention it: Different niches, customers have different expectations. For some skin care items, such as black head remover, you really want it the other day after you placed the order. You want a change instantly, and they will be disappointed for long waiting. Different niches lead to different ratings.
4. Different strategy applied. Just a guess here. The lower rating store wants to increase the listing quantity. So the seller list as many as he can even when he doesn't have stocks. That will make him get lower rating. The higher rating seller aims to make the existing list more hot sell, never out of stock, ships the item in 1-2 days.
5. The overall rating is a 90 days average.
They are using China post the day you take screenshots. But you don't know 1 week ago or a month ago. Did the lower one delayed a lot orders during China Spring Festival. It's hard to know.
For some sellers, we keep the rating in a acceptable level, it will not lower than the requirement for a listing to be shown on flash deal or today's deal promotion. If the rating will hit the bottom line, the seller will upgrade the shipping speed.
These are some reasons. Really a great question.
 
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