that they’re to expand the eBay for Charity program which asks some buyers to donate a pound to a random charity as they checkout.
This program’s been running since November 2008, and eBay have labelled it a “great success”, having raised three-quarters of a million pounds. They’re now expanding the program to all transactions, and to add a new option to enable users to make larger donations.
At the risk of sounding like Mrs Grumpy Pants, I am going to out myself here: I absolutely loathe this program. eBay fail to make it clear to buyers that it’s them asking for money, not the seller, hence it’s sellers who get the complaints from buyers about “chugging” in checkout: admittedly there aren’t many, but why should we have to deal with any when this feature isn’t under our control? Sellers should be given the opportunity to turn charity requests off, and to choose which charities their buyers get to see.
6 Responses
Well said Sue, this really gets on my wick.
Have to admit I have some charities I’m only too keen to support and others that I really don’t want to be associated with. I’d be more in favour of the program if I could include/exclude charities by choice
#2 I have charity listings running but it is clearly visible that it is a charity listing, I don’t want a third party begging for money on my behalf at the checkout, I want my buyer to click and pay, anything that delays or raises questions in the buyers mind at the checkout is ridiculous imo.
#3 You are right. Anything that adds choice AFTER the buyer has decided to leave your shop (checkout) is a huge problem and the effects are only ever negative.
If sellers could choose which charity, if any are displayed, then it would be far better for everyone involved.
Another thing eBay really ought to do is treat our listings as charity ones. So if they collect a pound and our item sells for 9 then we get a 10% refund on our fees. Isn’t that how it works if we elect to donate a portion of our sale price?
I’ve been hearing rumblings that the program is now showing up on ebay.com as well. No announcement (of course).
I agree, though, that some seller input on the charities shown OR very clear messaging that it is eBay chosen and provided content would be helpful.