A recent YouGov survey has discovered that despite increased internet useage, many shoppers still lack basic confidence in shopping online:
- 45% are concerned goods ordered online will not arrive
- 51% worry that they won’t be protected if there is a problem
- 42% think goods may arrive damaged
- 41% believe items may be different to that ordered
At the same time traffic to eBay is growing, 47.1% of all UK Internet users visit eBay.co.uk each month with over 15 million users and 10 million listings live on the site at any one time.
It’s not surprising to allay shoppers fears that eBay are publicising PayPal buyer protection in the run up to the Christmas shopping season. In June this year buyer protection was extended to cover all transactions paid with payPal. A media release goes out today emphasising that buyers are protected up to £150 if they pay via PayPal, and up to £500 from qualified sellers (sellers with 98% positive feedback and a rating of at least 50).
eBay highlight whether an item qualifies for protection and the amount of protection that is available (£500 or £150) on every listing. Buyers can confidently bid knowing exactly how much cover is available.
Garreth Griffith, head of Trust & Safety for eBay.co.uk comments “Knowing you’re protected if things go wrong should be a basic requirement when shopping online. When using PayPal buyers will be able to rest safe in the knowledge that protection is available in the rare instance something goes wrong.”
With such a large proportion of Internet users visiting eBay it’s good to see they’re spreading the message that online purchases should be trouble free. All business sellers should see looking after buyer as good business and their buyers should very rarely need to resort to buyer protection. It’s not about customer service though, it’s about reassuring buyers that if something does go wrong that they *will* be looked after.
