eBay is now allowing a first round of sellers to opt into its forthcoming eBay Guaranteed Delivery program, which kicks off for shoppers next month. To encourage sellers to join the program, eBay is running an invitation-only promotion that will provide up to 20% off final value fees for qualified listings that sell prior to August 31st.
Press release follows:
Starting today, the first round of sellers can opt into eBay Guaranteed Delivery. If this feature is not yet available to you, don’t worry. We are taking a phased approach to the rollout to ensure our new feature is optimized and ready for Launch Day. As we move through our launch phases, more sellers will be eligible in the coming months.
In case you’ve missed out on the news of this new feature, here’s the scoop: Starting in September, buyers will be able to select items on eBay based on a guaranteed delivery date. This will give sellers who offer the feature several advantages, including the opportunity for increased listing visibility.
Opting into eBay Guaranteed Delivery is easy, and sellers who choose to participate should make sure they meet the requirements by the end of August. This will ensure you’re prepared to offer it to buyers as soon as it launches.
When you opt in, you will also choose between one of two guarantee options that work best for your business – handling time or door-to-door. The handling time option is best for sellers who can guarantee a 0-1 day handling time but do not wish to guarantee delivery dates. eBay will figure out your delivery date and back it with a guarantee – and reimburse the buyer’s shipping cost or provide a free return label if an item is late. If you wish to guarantee your own delivery dates, you may prefer the door-to-door option. This option gives sellers the freedom to base delivery dates on their operational capabilities and their carriers’ regional service.
Ready to opt in? Visit our website to learn more about the benefits of our exciting new selling feature.
Join the conversation on our dedicated discussion board.
As always, thank you for selling on eBay.
SOURCE: eBay Announcement
NO NO NO This is tailored for the large carrot jumpers. NO NO NO
From eBay:
“Sellers who participate in Guaranteed Delivery will need to maintain high standards of handling, tracking, and delivery performance, similar to eBay Top Rated Seller shipping standards. If their Guaranteed Delivery transaction standards fall below threshold, sellers may no longer be able to offer Guaranteed Delivery. All guaranteed transactions will also be counted in eBay Top Rated Seller calculations.”
So there IS a punishment when you, as a seller, do not have all your packages arrive on time. Which you have no control over, since of course, you are at the mercy of the post office, weather delays, etc…..
Another aspect of this program is that a seller must “pick and choose” which items are to be included. Who has time to go through hundreds or thousands of listings to enable them for guaranteed delivery???
If eBay really wants this to be a success, they should allow a seller to place ALL of their items into this program with one click, not spending many valuable hours sifting through each item.
And the idea of having a package returned just because it was a day or two late is absurd. This also increases the chance of having your merchandise damaged in transit.
MEMO TO eBay: Until you have your own warehouses and ship and sell your own merchandise, please stop pretending to be Amazon!
Conversely, if they did fulfill orders themselves, one would think that eBay would not assume this type of risk. It is much simpler to place it onto their 3P sellers, and let them pick up the pieces when a transaction goes wrong.