eBay add tracking feature for selected carriers

eBay have enabled tracking numbers in Selling Manager Pro (SMP)which is great news for both buyers and sellers. Hopefully it’ll cut down on the “where’s my item” questions as buyers are able to track the item themselves.

There’s a new button in SMP which when clicked allows you to enter tracking numbers in bulk. Default carriers are Royal Mail, ParcelForce, DHL, myHermes and Home Delivery Network. Hopefully eBay will be expanding this to add more carriers in the future as there’s currently no option for “Other Carrier”.
 
Once you enter the tracking details for your

customers purchase, the information will appear on the Order Detail Page. Not only that but the tracking number will be converted to a clickable link so that they can track their purchase online on the relevant carriers website.
 
Overall I’m impressed with this new feature. I have a barcode scanner and I’d recommend if you’re shipping large numbers of trackable items you invest in one too. It enables you to simply scan the tracking barcode directly into SMP without having to waste time manually typing it in. Adding a tracking number also automatically marks the item as dispatched. The one feature I would like is to be able to specify a default carrier rather than having to select the drop down for each shipment as that’s what’s currently slowing the process down.
 
Thanks to Suz of who spotted the new feature. I’ll be using it as of today, but what do you think? Is it too much trouble to enter tracking information? Do you already send tracking details via another method? Or will you start adding tracking information even though you may not have in the past?