Showing Buyers the Best Shipping Options

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Found this by accident checking out the dot com announcement board. Curious to know when it could kick in on dot ca?  Canadian sellers' may want to consider choosing the service they prefer and prioritize it in their listings when or before that happens. From my personal observations, this has already been randomly tested on dot ca with no fanfare or announcements.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/PowerSeller-Business/eBay-Showing-Buyers-the-Best-Shipping-Options/m-p...

See post 7

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/EBay-now-HIDES-shipping-options/m-p/29890336#M1431434

See post 4/8

Showing Buyers the Best Shipping Options

06-03-2019 01:41:01 PM

We are improving the buying experience on eBay as of May 28 on listing pages and in 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.  

Why is eBay doing this?

To enable buyers to quickly choose the shipping service that best meets their needs. You do not need to take any action to apply these changes.

What else do I need to know?

The first shipping option you designate will always be shown on the listing and in search and never removed.

This change applies to ship-to-home services only. It will not apply to Buy Online Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) or Local Pickup.

Shipping options with guaranteed by dates are prioritized if speed and cost is the same as a non-guaranteed delivery.

Here is an example of how this change will improve the buying experience:

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/I-think-my-Shipping-section-is-messed-up/td-p/29717083

Post 32 sums it up perfectly!!

-Lotz

[cumos55]

The shipping option and cost is the seller's choice

Not eBay... and ... not the buyer....

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@cumos55 

The shipping option that displays could potentially affect how things show up in Search. The reason I offer multiple shipping options to my customers is to give them the choice that works best for them. eBay should not be doing things to over-ride my listings. Other sellers' concerns flow through those included discussions repeatedly. 

-Lotz

PS. For several months when I have been trying to send revised invoices to buyers(In Chrome) it will only let me include 1 option. I was able in the past to update with multiple options in Edge. Not sure if this will still be possible going forward. Concerned as to what exactly a buyer sees when they receive an invoice currently!!!

[kawartha-ephemera]

I imagine pretty well all sellers think this is a horrible idea. Fits the pattern of ebay thinking on most improvements they've come up with lately.

Kind of like the bizarre snippets of listing descriptions they choose to display on ebay.com mobile, nobody knows how they decide what to show, changes listing by listing. Of course they provide an elaborate html tutorial on how to override their AI but I'm not investing the time to edit listings just to have them change things up next week, next month. Need a giggle? Browse a few listings with ebay.com loaded up on your phone... some of the description snippets are unintentionally funny.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

In my personal opinion, this is just a variation of the old Ford adage. You can have it any colour(color) as long as it's black.

-Lotz

[kawartha-ephemera]

Have you seen any examples where ebay.ca listings viewed on ebay.com are having shipping options removed?

A lot of these "adjustments" only effect listings created on ebay.com when viewed on ebay.com.
Is that the case here?

Personally haven't used the mobile app for several years now so I've no clue how that's operating these days... probably should download it again.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

According to my notes, it was being beta tested on eBay dot ca beginning of May this year. I don't believe I checked my listings to see how they displayed on dot com. You would hope they displayed the same way but not always the case. Suddenly I started seeing my listings displaying only 1 shipping option or the alternative the options I chose displaying randomly. That's when I found out it was being tested. When I create a listing I always have included several options starting with slowest first. In checking recently they appear to be still showing correctly. ( Just tested a switch and all was good.) I create all my listings on a pc. Just glad having to check for the horizontal scrolling error has been resolved. 🙂

-Lotz

[reallynicestamps]

I don't believe in giving the customer many choices.

Not in shipping and not in price.

Oh, I'll accept an Offer here and there, but I set my prices so they are, I believe, competitive and make me some profit, at least at the end of the year if not on every item.

But shipping is a fixed cost for the seller. She has to pay the sub-contracting shipper for speedy and secure carriage of the shipment.

If a buyer wants it faster, we are allowed to upgrade the shipping at the buyer's expense.

It's been my observation that when the buyer asks for cheaper shipping, he is usually setting the seller up for  a scam.

Plus eBay's programmers do not seem to be aware that there are any countries outside the Lower 48. They still have Puerto Rico as a foreign destination.

I am old and cynical.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@reallynicestamps 

For me, I'm old and cynical too but  still believe in being customer service oriented. I offer several services because I sell to both the general public and businesses. Both may have different requirements. Example: ( Do you require a PO # on your package. Wow...Yes thanks for asking. I forgot to mention that when I paid.    ) I know. The nerve of me!! Or checking prior to mailing an item if there are any questions/concerns regarding an address. Once a habit, always a habit!! I really can't afford RTS when it's not my fault.

-Lotz

[hlmacdon]

From working with large players in the ecommerce space it has been my experience that consumers prefer a range of delivery options and rarely like being limited to a single carrier unless the shipping is free, even then your customer service department will have their hands full with consumers complaining about a given carrier for a given order.  Ebay has always had a narrow focus on shipping cost but there is a great deal of regional variation in carrier reliability and other factors like distances to depots, route delivery times, etc that effect the choices consumers make. Never mind the fact certain carriers are well known for their propensity to destroy packages...ahem, UPS.  Price isn't the sole determining factor and catering to that lowest common denominator is a step backwards.  Another make work project from the retail standards committee at ebay US, shipping options don't increase bounce rate. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@hlmacdon 

Still, the option of offering the options we'd like to offer to our customers should remain as an option. Well, at least how I look at it!! Thank heavens for my rose colored glasses!!

-Lotz