eBay is expanding its partnership with logistics firm Shyp in the USA. The service is available in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco and has been operating quietly since last December.
Here’s how it works: using the Shyp app you can order a courier to come by within 20 minutes. The courier will then take away up to 20 items and then they take care of the packing and despatch. They say the service costs typically $5 per pick up but until the end of June, eBay will be waiving the fees to encourage take-up
Vincent Payen, head of consumer selling for eBay in the US, say of shipping: “Even if you know what you’re doing, it’s a pain. If you’re selling for the first time, it’s complicated.” It’s clearly part of a strategy from eBay to encourage consumer sellers to use eBay and sell their unwanted goods.
Shyp CEO Kevin Gibbon says the trial has been a success but has been vague on numbers although apparently nearly half of the people using Shyp have never sold on eBay before.
At time of writing, it’s not known whether a similar roll out is to be expected in the UK. But we’ll keep ’em peeled.
