Problem: Search Results for US with EIS and a Cheaper Shipping Option Enabled

[byto253]

Thanks to @an_709184 for posting this in another thread.

If you have a shipping option to the US that is cheaper than the EIS rate, that is what shows up in your listing, but not in searches. Below is my listing showing CP shipping of $9.00 instead of the EIS rate of $19.74. Good stuff but search results use and display the higher EIS rate.

As shown below, eBay search results only shows the more expensive EIS rate of $19.74.  And if searching by price your placement is based on the results of price + EIS rate and ignores your cheaper shipping method - my listing should have been 8 places higher.  Buyers seeing that high shipping rate will have no reason to click on your listing and discover that shipping is actually cheaper. 

 

devon@ebay appreciate if you can raise/address this as it is very important.   

In another ebay Canada discussion forum a seller posted up EIS questions that he said were answered by eBay.  That includes this issue and it appears that search is supposed to use the lowest shipping option, not default to the EIS rate.  His summary of that Q&A is below:

"Can I pick and choose which countries I'd like to use eIS for? Can I use eIS just for Europe and Asia and turn it off for the US?

The only way to turn off a country on eIS is to add it to your exclusion list. So if you turn it off on eIS, you have to turn off your own shipping policy.

BUT they explained that if you have a shipping policy to another country already (aka the US), then the shipping option shown to your buyers in search results and on the listing is whichever one is cheapest. Buyers can choose eIS later as they check out, but it's not the first rate they'll see. So basically if you have like $5 Canada Post shipping set up to the US, virtually all your orders there will go through that Canada Post option."

For me if this persists I will need to opt out of EIS when I start listing again in the new year.  

 

[an_709184]

Yeah, it's doing it on a listing that doesn't even have eIS as an option. I'm selling some sports cards with Canada Post Lettermail. When I look up my listing with a VPN, it shows like $22 shipping to Romania in the search result and no eIS when I open the listing. Like you said, the listing itself has the correct prices.

[byto253]

Holy moly.  That is really nuts.  When I get a chance I will have to test this.  

[7366carl]

If you take off the country of Origin EIS will not be available for those listings and will appear with the proper shipping in the search list.

[byto253]

Thanks for the work around.  Tried it out and it worked.   

Just wonder how that will affect EIS Import calculations for locations outside of the US.   I tried it for the UK and Australia, which gives the EIS amount and indicates Import Fees will be calculated at checkout.  Not sure how that can be done without a COO.  

Feel like a mad scientist trying different formulations to see what works.   Hopefully eBay can get this straightened out.   Devon@eBay gave the post a helpful click so they did see it. 

[7366carl]

As far as I know COO is mostly relevant to USA. But ya the whole thing has been trial and error for me. Took a while to understand how to fix that issue of high shipping costs being shown in search. But no fix for blue banner that I know of. Hopefully someone figures out a way to fix that for items without tariffs to the USA.

[luke@ebay · Accepted solution]

Hi there @byto253 - thanks for helping bring this to our attention. I can confirm that this issue has been corrected and that the lowest-cost shipping option will default on both your View Item Page and in Search. 

Again, I appreciate you sharing this with the screenshots and examples. All of that helps us resolve these issues much more quickly. If you have further questions or issues you want to flag, you can also reach out to the team directly through eis@ebay.ca! 

[byto253]

Thank you luke@ebay , appreciate your following up.  I tested it out and it worked perfectly. Updated screen shot below.   The shipping is correct, as is the search order. 

Now the other big issue right now is the blue banner indicating that any non-EIS shipment to the US WILL have import charges, which is not true. This is not applicable to anyone shipping with Canada Post since all import fees are prepaid through the Zonos application that is approved by the US government. That pre-payment is required under U.S. Executive Order 14324 and regulatory changes under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). And Canada Post will only ship to the US with a Zonos barcode to prove all fees have been paid.

Sellers are successfully using Canada Post/Zonos to ship to the US with no import charges to the buyer. The blue banner is unnecessarily creating alarm to prospective US buyers and undercutting efforts of sellers who are working hard to adapt and find solutions.

I know the quick answer is "just use EIS", however, as seen in the screen shots in my first post EIS usually results in much higher, uncompetitive shipping costs to the US. While EIS is a welcome new tool to be used where it makes sense, it is not a one size fits all. Seller's would appreciate a change to how the banner is used - either have it dropped for shipments that have Canada Post tracked shipping as an option, or at least change WILL be charged import fees to MAY be charged import fees.