Discounted shipping opt in/opt out survey request - Calculated shipping users

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

This may or may not apply to you but here is for the record...Effective May 13, 2024. To my knowledge there was nothing noted in announcements regarding this impending change on dot ca.

Note: This may only "possibly" apply to sellers using calculated shipping. Not flat rate or free shipping.

Not all sellers will get the survey.

Your listings with calculated shipping will default to eBay Labels discounted rates

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/shipping/calculated-shipping-rates

To confirm your preferences:

https://www.ebay.ca/ship/prf

When asked on dot com this was the response:

Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies , to my knowledge, an email was sent to the impacted Canadian sellers. If you did not receive this email, then you will not be impacted by this!

-Lotzofunquegoodies

Discusson on the subject on dot com:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Why-does-Ebay-want-to-change-decide-everyone-s-calculated/td-p...

As FYI posted this because not everyone sees all eBay mail.

[mrdutch1001]

Despite the fact I have NEVER, EVER used Calculated shipping, I DID Indeed receive the email with the heading "We’re updating the default calculated shipping rates on your listings"

 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@mrdutch1001 wrote:

Despite the fact I have NEVER, EVER used Calculated shipping, I DID Indeed receive the email with the heading "We’re updating the default calculated shipping rates on your listings"

 

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This type of opt in/opt out by eBay makes wayyyyy too many assumptions.

[intimewithmusic]

My understanding is this does NOT apply to sellers on dot ca. There is a test rollout on dot com. Dot com is experiencing havoc with shipping costs due to usps changes, sellers charging wild west shipping prices and the implementation of the EIS.

I dont blame them for trying to tame prices there but I dont see how this could work on dot ca.

For those wondering whats up here is a good explanation. Itstarts about half way through the podcast..

https://youtu.be/Uzb9cjinjAg?si=a4rTLXRb8RSqHS8a

[flipistics]

eBay has made it fairly clear that they eventually want to get to a point where everything is shipped using eBay Labels. It wouldn't surprise me if this isn't rolled out here fairly quickly as well.

[aviatorsparadise]

Well I don't blame them... Why wouldn't you offer/use eBay labels unless you ship mega volume and can get lower rates? Lower shipping costs on your items will increase sales and you shouldn't be profiteering off of the shipment rates anyway!

[intimewithmusic]

Hi.

Are you speaking of dot ca or dot com?  I haven't been aware of any pressure to purchase labels. Most of the time it makes sense to purchase labels from ebay. 

I think the general idea of this calculated shipping change is to promote to US buyers directly the lowest possible, more competitive tracked shipping rate from sellers who don't opt out. Anyone can opt out.  I wouldn't be surprised if ebay dot com adds a badge to the seller's price to emphasize it.

My comments are  all preliminary speculation. Ryan at Galaxy cds and books gives details 45 min into his podcast.

Thanks

[flipistics]

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

Hi.

Are you speaking of dot ca or dot com?  I haven't been aware of any pressure to purchase labels. Most of the time it makes sense to purchase labels from ebay. 

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Both. They seem to really want people to use their labels (which make sense since they also have direct proof that the item was sent to the address the buyer indicated and would probably eliminate a few scams).  They really REALLY want to eliminate lettermail shipping, but it seems Canada Post hasn't played ball with them on that one yet.

I suspect (without proof) that eventually all private sellers will be forced to use eBay Labels and business sellers will have the choice. We'll see. It's definitely not at the point where they can do that yet.

[recped]

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@aviatorsparadise wrote:

Well I don't blame them... Why wouldn't you offer/use eBay labels unless you ship mega volume and can get lower rates? Lower shipping costs on your items will increase sales and you shouldn't be profiteering off of the shipment rates anyway!

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I'll buy labels from eBay when they support all the carriers I use, currently they support.....NONE of them!

As far a "profiting"? Why not?, first thing to consider is the +/- 15% in fees on shipping paid by buyers, then there is packaging costs and then there is the fact that I can ship for competitive prices AND make a small profit.

I am not operating a charity, I don't do anything if there is no profit potential.

[intimewithmusic]

Thanks for clarifying. I dont use lettermail so Im not qualfied to speak on that. This usa calc shipping test seems to be part of a group of tests. Another is with feedback. There seems to be an eBay dot com test where buyers cant leave seller's feedback unless they leave a review of the widget purchased.
The influx of new platforms and old ones "morphing" could be at the root of so many ideas being initiated.

  EBay US is saying a mandatory buyer product rating before leaving seller feedback will increase exposure for buyer listings in various online searchs.

  This one isn't OK by me. Buyer trust on eBay is gained differently than on sites like Amazon and Temu. If you rely on an international customer base gaining trust has to do with service first and the product is secondary.

[intimewithmusic]

Sorry, typo.. meant "more exposure for Seller listings".

Given eBay's nature of marketting "one offs" my opinion is widget reviews, verified purchases, blocking buyers from leaving a seller feedback while allowing sellers to continue leaving normal buyer feedback indicates they are losing their identity.
Its hard enough to get feedback as it is. Why on earth would eBay block buyers from leaving positive seller feedback based on good servive because a buyer doesnt want to review a book they bought as a gift for someone??
Sounds to me an idea born out if a bad "trip".

[pjcdn2005]

I think that the idea of forcing a buyer to leave a review in order to leave feedback is very dumb.  But to clarify, I think that this 'test' will  happen with certain new products. They gave the example of a dyson vacuum or an iphone so this shouldn't affect all sellers of new items.

I can understand why they are trying to do this as I often look at reviews when I'm shopping for something.  So I will often go to a site that has those reviews but in my case I often go to another site when I buy the product.  They are probably hoping that the reviews will draw people and keep them here when they purchase. But there must be a better way to go about it without requiring it when feedback is left.

[intimewithmusic]

I agree with you and I think we both read the same article with respect to the Dyson vacuum.  It's safe to assume reviews they are looking for pertain to new merchandise.  For example I have my grandmothers 1960s Filter Queen vacuum to list. Are they expecting someone to provide a review on that prior to leaving me feedback? 

This is a subjective slippery rocky slope that would require a lot of IT tweaking. As you say it would have to be restricted to specific types of new merchandise and, of course the merchandise must comply with the VERO program. Lot's of fake Dysons out there. 

I don't know how much value this could possibly add to the rest of us. I think this is one of those tests that will work itself out. 

So others aren't left in the dark here's a quote from the article. 

"

Jessica Vayo, Product Manager for the eBay Feedback Team, confirmed the change during Tuesday’s episode of the eBay for Business podcast but made no mention that buyers would be forced to rate the seller’s product when leaving them feedback. “Currently we are testing the ability to leave a product review inside of the normal seller feedback intake form,” she said. “So that means that for items eligible for product review, buyers will be able to give the item a star rating for the first time and item feedback along with the existing seller feedback already.”

In explaining what made product reviews different than feedback, Vayo said, “On eBay, some items that are sold by multiple sellers have a product review page on eBay which collects reviews for that item across all sellers who sell it. These are items like an iPhone or a Dyson vacuum. They’re often things that are mass manufactured or have a barcode. And in product reviews buyers also have the ability to leave a star rating for the item as well. So that is why we are bringing it into our feedback form.”

Vayo said one of the reasons behind eBay’s focus on “product reviews” is because they help eBay listings get exposure on search engines:

“We’ve had past research show that item specific feedback is something potential buyers are really looking for to make a purchase decision. And we just haven’t really highlighted that as much on eBay.

“What’s more, item reviews and item star ratings are super important to search engines like Google. So if you Google an item, the sites that show the item star rating and item review are the results that are prioritized in search results these days. You’ll see like those pop up absolutely at the top.”

The hosts of the podcast advised listeners to check the eBay Seller Announcement Board on Wednesday (April 24) for an announcement about the new feature."