eBay have announced that on their US sites they will start to hide unattractive shipping options to buyers on the view item page and at checkout.
“Until recently, shipping options outlined for the buyer did not always promote the best value. eBay will now only show the most cost effective shipping services for a given delivery speed, hiding higher priced options.”
– eBay
The aim is to enable buyers to quickly choose the shipping service that best meets their needs. eBay figure that they don’t need to hunt through multiple options and if two services aim to deliver the same day but one costs more or one is guaranteed delivery date whilst the other is an estimated ETA, then why show both? Shipping options with guaranteed by dates are prioritised if speed and cost is the same as a non-guaranteed delivery.
What this does mean is that if a buyer has a favourite delivery service, perhaps they know the time of day a particular carrier delivers to them, then that option might be hidden even if on the face of it it is a less attractive service for most buyers. However in most circumstances it should make picking a delivery option easier with less choice to pick through.
What aren’t unattractive shipping options
Importantly, the first shipping option you designate will always be shown on the listing and in search and never removed. This change also applies to ship-to-home services only, it won’t impact local pick up options or click and collect.
The image above shows how this change will impact sellers’ listings and how the remaining shipping options will be presented to buyers.
7 Responses
WE have both Global Shipping Programme and a direct option listed on some of our items. Presumably this means it will hide the GSP option !
Geez, Ebay is still diddling with the site. Every other day there’s a change. They hide stuff, they show too much stuff. They are in effect trying to control how sellers sell.
I choose the best carriers to suit the item that I’m sending, based on past experience. I don’t need eBay interfering in my business. They do enough of that already!