If you’re not offering a choice of delivery methods it’s time to consider revising your listings. eBay are starting to promote listings with a priority shipping method in search results. Even if you’re offering a lower cost slower delivery method as standard eBay are highlighting listings that offer an express shipping option to let buyers know that they could receive their item faster if they need it urgently.
This makes sense in the run up to Christmas, buyers want the reassurance that the gifts they buy will turn up on time and that they won’t be left without a present to give to their loved one on Christmas morning.
As well as highlighting listings with an express shipping option in search eBay are also highlighting shipping times on the view item page itself. The standard (or economy) shipping option selected as default by the seller is shown with the message “Get it in time for the holidays” and an additional “Use express delivery to get it by…” message again highlights that buyers can receive their item faster if required.
To take full advantage of the shipping highlight in search results you should make sure that you offer at least one express shipping option which can include: Royal Mail Special Delivery, ParcelForce 24 and Other 24 Hour Courier.
13 Responses
I like this! It’s just logical instead of making us sellers put 90 billions messages on our listings ourselves. 🙂
I wonder how many people are going to click in, choose the cheaper standard delivery option and then leave a neg because the item didn’t arrive quickly enough!
Happened to me last year. I offered Special Delivery as an alternative method in the lead up to Christmas. People picked the standard First Class option (which was cheaper) then left me negative feedback as they felt it should have been there quicker as my listing stated “Express delivery available”
Im gonna give this a miss i think and close shipping on the 17th dec, with DSRs to think about it too risky going all the way to the buzzer. Low stars could affect you for a long time
That is the real issue.
If eBay did not have a feedback system that penalises sellers financially in the long term then all these neat little short term marketing tricks that eBay introduce would be fine.
The truth is eBay sellers know their customers better than eBay!
“Get it in time for the holidays”?
Since we’re not in America, can we start refering to this as Christmas again please?
I hate to moan but we have already had a massive row with a customer as they selected next day £4.99 by ‘mistake’, we sent it and paid £4.80 then it was our fault!!
Oh well……
Seems like you can only offer two postage services now, we generally offer 2nd class, first class and courier on all our listings but on a new listing we appear to only allowed two postage option now
This incremental change is a step on the way to express shipping as the only paid for option. Clearly we know eBay lusts after Amazon’s place in the market and eBay copy Amazon’s tactics and Amazon does standard shipping free. The difference is Amazon has efficiencies of scale that small sellers do not and that Amazon bears the cost but eBay inc does not they pass the costs on to sellers and get a commission on the included delivery price. Looks like a win-win for eBay, if you wear those distorted corporate glasses.
So yet another step on the way to the corporatization of eBay, smaller sellers who built the company sacrificed for eyeballs and advertising to the corporatocracy god.
Place bets on when free shipping is required on all items and express shipping as the first choice shipping option becomes mandatory, I say 15 to 18 months, best bet January 2012 after ‘stealth’ intro pre xmas next year.
With Ebay taking commission on all carriage charges of course they want express shipping.My customers just want a reliable cheap service