EBay's upcoming "Guaranteed Delivery" feature

I read this and it has me scratching my head a bit. It’s hard to guarantee delivery when the USPS does not do that themselves. I think this is a disaster in the making for both eBay and the sellers. At least this explains where the 10% final value fees are going to be spent, in shipping reimbursements. If we don’t participate, we won’t show up higher in search. So I guess I’ll be reluctantly participating. And while eBay for Business states it won’t effect search, it most certainly will as there will be a filter function for sellers offering it. I guess we’ll have to see what happens. I wish eBay would stick to being eBay and not try so hard to be Amazon.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by AtomicStar.

it just reminds me of the Fast n’ Free thing. you can do it or you don’t. we don’t offer free shipping and it has never hurt our sales.

Here is their clarification response to questions posed:

Hello Community,

Thanks for all your questions. They are appreciated. Here are the answers as best as I can give them. Where something is not clear I will be sure to try help out further.

I want more info and updates. Where do I get this?
If you want to be kept up to date on this feature as we roll-out more information please register at this info page – http://www.ebay.com/guaranteeddelivery – this feature becomes available later in summer so we’ll be keeping sellers updated on what they might need to do to enroll.

How does a seller make a guaranteed delivery promise?
There are 2 ways

1/ some sellers want to make the full door-to-door delivery promise (no eBay estimates used here) because they have a strong understanding of how long their carrier takes to delivery to certain regions and know that its fast – meaning more sales. And sellers don’t have to cover the whole US, just those areas they know the carrier is solid.

2/ other sellers not wanting to put trust in carriers can decide to just control their handling time. They would just guarantee (ie over 90% of orders handled on time) a 0 or 1 day handling, and use a tracked delivery service. Ebay would then make a delivery prediction now more accurate, ie faster because we know these sellers are handling on time, meaning more sales. In both cases what the BUYER sees is the same ie. faster and accurate delivery promises.

Exactly how will buyer recompense work?
What is the buyer recompense? – As has been mentioned there are 2 ways that buyers get “made whole” if a delivery is late. 1/ free return of the item 2/reimbursement of ship cost.

Now to who pays buyer – as long as the seller does what they promise (ie meet their handling time for example) then eBay covers the cost to the buyer. If the seller doesn’t do what they promise and the delivery is late then the seller pays the buyer. On top of this, in all cases eBay will manage the buyer so that seller doesn’t have to do more work to deal with this process.

Does shipping same day or within your one day handling time mean nothing?
If you are a seller who just wishes to guarantee your handling time then 0 / 1 day handling is everything! Handling time is the main thing that many sellers fail on which leads to failed delivery. So if you make that promise and you actual hit your promise, ebay can then make shorter and more accurate predictions, it means shorter delivery promises to buyers and therefore more sales.

Will a seller be able to opt in for some items and not others?
Absolutely. Some items are easier to handle and ship. So you can choose to only opt-in those items – meaning either guaranteeing door-to-door delivery promise or just the handling time on items you are comfortable with.

Will the guarantee work for all sales within a listing? A buyer may be in a few hundred miles away or a few thousand. How will this work?
The guarantee is dependent on buyer location. So for sellers making their own door to door delivery promises they will use a tool (rate table) in which they can specify their delivery promise by region. Buyers outside the specified regions (seller can choose to guarantee only certain regions if they wish) won’t see the guarantee – so the listing wont sell as “guaranteed” to those buyers. For sellers just guaranteeing handling time, eBay’s delivery estimate (now more accurate as long as sellers consistently hit their HT promise) will also account for buyer location.

How can eBay make such a guarantee when the folks doing the actual delivery can’t even do so??
Parcel delivery isn’t 100% fool-proof and issues do happen, we are aware of that. So we’d give control to “door to door guarantee” sellers they make their best delivery promise (by region / item) where they feel most confident in the carrier based on all the info they have / past performance etc to a high degree of accuracy. Of course, they still don’t “control” the carrier but they have enough knowledge on which to make reliable promises. For handling time guarantee sellers, as long as they handle on time eBay will manage the carriers, and on top of this, we do have significant data from carriers that help us very accurately predict delivery. And where errors happen eBay will make buyers whole where the seller did what they promised.

Why would anyone shorten their handling times at the risk of missing some unrealistc, uncontrollable, “guaranteed” delivery date?
You shouldn’t. Sellers should promise what they can realistically do. Addressing specifically guaranteed handling time for this answer – as long as sellers who are opted in meet their guaranteed 0-1 day handling time do what they promise, and use a trackable service eBay will do the rest – meaning making the prediction and cover the buyer if something goes wrong.

Program is optional, right? By choosing not to opt in, those sellers, including most likely myself, would be put at a disadvantage in terms of search and visibility??
Yes, using Guaranteed Delivery. A key part of this feature allows buyers to search for items by delivery speed using a very easy filter. While this isn’t a big deal for some items (eg rare collectibles) / sellers / buyers there are many occasions where being able to do so is critical (holidays, birthdays, need a part for the broken down car, etc) and not doing so sends buyers to others sellers or off to buy somewhere else. We’ve spoken to buyers, and the ability to search by speed is very well received.

Will the buyer see the guarantee based on the shipping option they choose if the seller offers multiple shipping options?
Yes – again sellers wanting to make door to door promises can offer multiple ship options to certain regions (economy in 4 days, standard in 3 days, expedited in 2 days) then all will show to the buyer as guaranteed delivery options (as long as the seller has opted-in that listing, and wants all options to be guaranteed). For guaranteed handling time sellers – if you offered 3 ship options all with 0/1 day handling then all 3 would show as guaranteed, as long as ebay’s delivery estimate was 4 days or shorter to buyer based on their location.

How will weekends be treated in counting the delivery days? For example, an item shipped on Friday… When do you start the clock? Will there be any change now that you have a tool that allows sellers to say that they ship on Saturday?
For sellers who work on Saturdays (meaning they take orders, handle and ship orders on Saturday) the delivery guarantee shown to buyers would be one day shorter, meaning more appealing to buyers needing faster delivery.

How could this be cost effective for me as a seller? Because right now it doesn’t sound like it’s a viable program at all.
Shorter delivery estimates, the buyer guarantee, being able to search by shorter estimates will mean more buyers interest in listings that offer these, which ultimately will mean more sales. If sellers are able to do what they promise then there is only upside. To be more realistic though, handling / deliveries sometimes go wrong when seller wasn’t able to meet their promise which could result in sellers having to pay-out to the buyer. Then sellers will need to weigh-up for themselves the benefits versus their confidence in being able to do what they promise.

So, if I charge .01 for shipping and the item is late, do I only refund .01 if they request to have there shipping refunded?
Technically yes, but there’s more to come on this that sellers will find beneficial. As further info is provided through the http://www.ebay.com/guaranteeddelivery site this question will be answered. Please register here for more info.

What if it is late and the buyer wants a shipping refund? Then I refund original shipping. Then the buyer decides to open a case as not as described sometime within the 30 days and wants to return for refund, then do I pay a third time for return shipping?
No. These cases will be mutually exclusive. Buyers will only be able to claim for one.

Please confirm that eBay will refund the shipping NOT the Seller and that eBay will supply any coupons that apply OUT of THEIR pocket and NOT the Sellers toward their next purchase.
If a seller does what they promise (whether its full door to door promise or just handling time) then yes eBay pays. As alluded to above there is more to come on coupons that sellers will find appealing, and unfortunately, I cant say more. As further info is provided through the http://www.ebay.com/guaranteeddelivery site this question will be answered. Please register here for more info.

How will weather delays be treated?
eBay already monitors weather and adjusts delivery predictions to affected areas. With Guaranteed Delivery, eBay will protect sellers when delays result from major weather events and take over to “make it right” to buyers who experience delays and who then request compensation.

If I opt in would eBay be asking me to guarantee delivery (or pay a penalty) for 1st class, priority, parcel select, or media mail when the USPS won’t make such a guarantee?
This question answered above in various places. But I will add 1/ that if you opt-in eBay will only ask that you guarantee what you can (door to door if that’s your comfort, or just handling time) 2/ that sellers will need to use a trackable delivery service.

Where can we see the expected delivery date of a package when we are the seller? Is this information on your new seller hub?
Yes, this will be in a dashboard in SellerHub.

What is the benefit of this program to sellers who already meet or exceed the requirements but who choose not to opt in? If I do NOT opt in to the program, does this mean my listings will be less visible (or invisible?) to buyers who demand super-fast delivery?
Firstly buyers have told us that more accurate delivery predictions (Ie “you said 4 days and it arrived in 4 days) are better than “exceeding expectations” (ie “you said 6 days but it arrived in 4”). So for example, your 6-day promise may have exceeded expectations for those who bought – but what about buyers who went elsewhere because they needed delivery in 4 days? So if you are able to promise shorter delivery (either through door to door or just through handling time) then you can turn your great delivery service into an advantage by reflecting your actual performance before the sale (to win the sale), not after the sale. Also Yes, if you have not opted in the buyers won’t be able to search your inventory by delivery date.

Will the eBay shipping calculator “algorythm” be adjusted such that sellers offering such a GUARANTEE can thus CHARGE an additional fee beyond what carriers like the USPS charge for only EXPECTED delivery date??
No, but you will be able to configure your own additional charges (based on buyer location) using the new rate table tool coming out in May.

Thanks again for all of your questions, we’ll check back tomorrow and answer any additional questions that come up in the meantime.

Have a good evening.

And another good point brought up…

What if they buyer gets the shipping refund if the package is late and then goes through Paypal for a claim? People on the eBay forum are saying that this is a way they will double dip and earn money from returns. Something to think about.

So the way this is written up, why would anyone in their right mind “guarantee” door to door? All that would do is absolve ebay of liability and insure you would foot the refund bill if for some reason it doesn’t make it. Ebay should not be asking sellers to offer door to door guarantee – that is on them.

As a niche seller, I will pass on this program. I don’t see many benefits to making a guarantee on shipping time.

I will probably opt in. The benefit, while perhaps somewhat limited for my type of merchandise, still outweighs the basically non-existent cost.

Ok, so please correct me if I’m wrong: this

sellers will need to use a trackable delivery service.

means we cannot use First Class if we go with this option?

Amatino, As Thrifted Sister said, first class packages are trackable, first class letter rate isn’t. However, you can offer first class letter rate AND priority flat rate envelope. If a buyer wants guaranteed three day delivery, and you can get it to him in three days with Priority mail, then your listing will show up in the filter. If you ONLY offer first class envelope rate, then it won’t show up in the filter, because it isn’t trackable.

So, if I understand correctly…

I have hundreds of lightweight pieces of clothing that go 1st class to cut down cost to buyers (as opposed to putting everything in a padded Priority). We do better the cheaper the shipping. So now these hundreds of listings will be pushed down in the search if we don’t offer priority on almost everything… yes?

No. But first , let me get this straight—you are sending them first class letter rate, or first class package rate? Which one?

But—if you are sending them first class letter, and do NOT ALSO include priority flat rate envelope as another option for your buyer, they will NOT be pushed down in search. They will show up as usual. However, they will NOT show up at all if a buyer uses the FILTER for guaranteed delivery.

If you include BOTH options, you can choose first class as your first choice, and that’s the dollar amount ebay will assign for low/high price search order, so offering both options won’t effect your search position even in those search orders.

Hope I’m explaining this all right…

You can offer Priority as a second option. The default will still be !st class and if the customer wants priority.. they pay for it.

As to how that will affect your search results… who knows.

1st class package… and all my listings are 1 day handling.

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by LAwoman.

LAWoman, OK, first class package has tracking. So you could probably opt in to the Delivery program with that. And, as I explained, you could add Flat Rate Priority as an option.

The program does NOT effect regular search results.

It is a filter only. There is NO regular search placement benefit from being in the program, and NO regular search placement downside from not being in it.

The advantage is not in regular search results, it’s in the filter. Let’s say you have an item for sale, and there are 100 more similar to it in regular ebay search results. But the buyer wants it fast, so he uses the filter for, say, 2 day delivery. A certain percentage of sellers won’t opt in, so they’ll be excluded right off the bat from the filtered search results. So will sellers who can only offer three day shipping , because the buyer has chosen 2 day. You are one of the 2 day listings. And instead of being one of 100, you are one of, say, 10.

That increases the odds of making the sale to that buyer. Your price might be higher then the 90 that aren’t shown, but if the buyer sticks to the filter, he won’t ever see those. So you might make the sale.

I look at it this way….many small sellers devote a lot off effort to trying to “game” Cassini/Best Match, so they can be at the top of search results. Well, here’s a way to get better position by eliminating competing listings. Why not take advantage of it?

Thanks MyCottage… you explained it very well.

I didn’t realize we could give buyers a choice in shipping. Yikes.

As I understand it, if you’re already doing 1-day handling and First Class shipping, there’s nothing extra to do. First class packages are already included. You don’t have to add a Priority Mail option.

I think first class package rate, which has tracking, will meet the requirement. BUT keep in mind that ebay’s estimate for that could be 4 days (doesn’t qualify) or 3 days (qualifies, but won’t show up if buyer uses 2 day filter, whereas Priority might show up there.) Since Priority Flat Rate mailers are free from USPS, and since some buyers might prefer Priority despite the extra expense (especially near Christmas), I don’t see any harm in adding it as an option. But you are right, it isn’t necessary IF you are using first class package.( As noted above, first class letter doesn’t have tracking, and so doesn’t qualify.)

I think I am in the minority, because I see this a potentially good thing. From what I read, as long as I ship within my handling time, if USPS flubs the delivery window, it’s not my problem. Ebay will handle it. And I’m going to bet that ebay has already thought of the potential double-dipping problem, and will work with Paypal to write code to prevent that from happening.