eBay Survey Hints At Simple Delivery Managed Shipping Possibly Coming To US
As eBay UK private sellers pushback on Simple Delivery managed shipping mandate, a new seller survey could indicate a similar offering may be under consideration for the US market too.
A Value Added Resource reader and 25 year eBay seller reached out with some information about a survey they recently received, asking their opinions about a potential new shipping solution.
I received a few weeks ago a survey from eBay asking me my thoughts about a new service eBay was said to be considering, and I thought you might be interested, in case you might have heard something similar.
The proposed service would offer eBay pick up of my packages at my home; I'd have the option of even letting eBay do the wrapping for me. eBay would handle shipping (presumably drop off at the post office).
There was also the idea of a drop off locker; if the post office was too far away, I could drop off my items in a nearby locker and eBay would handle the rest. Reference was also made to a proprietary eBay delivery service.
The survey recipient went on to say that after completing the basic questions, eBay asked if they would like to receive more information about the proposed shipping solution - with the caveat that they would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement before any additional details would be divulged, a sadly not uncommon practice.
The possibility of having eBay handle wrapping and packaging of the item is particularly interesting, indicating they may be looking to leverage a third party partnership of some kind for this service.
For example, both UPS and FedEx offer solutions for "no box/no label returns" where companies can have customers drop off items to be returned without the hassle of packaging or printing a label themselves - the carrier handles that part of the process and then bills the company.
It's not too much of a stretch to see how eBay could potentially work with their shipping partners to offer a similar service, except for outbound shipping from a seller to a buyer instead of for returns.
eBay already has a deal with FedEx to provide labels for the mandatory $14.95 shipping option for sneakers in the Authenticity Guarantee Program and they also partner with EasyShip for the eBay International Shipping program, which could make launching a solution like this relatively easy from a technology and integration perspective.
While a few generic survey questions don't offer much insight, it's a safe bet eBay wouldn't even be considering this type of service if there wasn't a revenue generating angle in it somewhere for them.
In fact, eBay has explicitly said that revenue from Simple Delivery in the UK is an integral part of how they will "remonetize" certain transactions after going fee-free for private sellers in October and planning to bring in buyer fees in February.
Liz Morton
With Simple Delivery (only currently available in the UK), eBay decides which shipping options to show on the listing, the buyer pays whatever rate is shown (with that money going to eBay), eBay provides a pre-paid label to the seller and then pockets any difference there may be between what the buyer pays and the rates they have negotiated with the shipping carriers.
eBay says sellers will be protected in cases of items being lost or damaged in transit, as long as they have an acceptance scan from the carrier, but watch out for those return terms - sellers could be on the hook for refunding in the original postage even though that money is never actually paid to them!
While all of that may sound simple enough, as usual, the devil is in the details.
Many UK sellers are not happy about the lack of control they will have over what shipping options are offered as well as the fact that the program in its current form does not offer any options for courier pick up - raising accessibility concerns for sellers who may be disabled, live in remote areas or don't have easy access to transportation to reach eBay's designated drop off point.
Private sellers have been voicing their opinions in the eBay UK community forum with multiple threads about upcoming changes with hundreds of responses, including many not so positive sentiments about mandated Simple Delivery usage.
bittyboy101
When eBay first introduced Simple Delivery to the UK last year, I predicted they would likely look to expand it to the US and other markets if it proved to be a successful revenue generator for the company - though of course the details may be slightly different and tailored for market fit.
When CEO Jamie Iannone was directly asked on the Q3 2024 earnings call what eBay thinks about the possibility of bringing fee-free selling to the US, the answer was a very direct and resounding "no" - but he did leave the door open for the possibility of other "value added services" and product experiences.
Liz Morton
To your questions on the US, we have no plans to launch free selling in the US. The US is a different market from the UK. UK buyers and sellers are more open to buyer fees, it's more standard in the market.
There may be certain aspects of the product experience to streamline selling that we bring to other markets and as you know we look at each market and categories and think about the specifics of what's the optimal set of initiatives to unlock more supply and demand for that specific market.
eBay does not differentiate between private and business sellers in the US the same way they do in the UK, so it might be more difficult to institute mandatory usage of Simple Delivery here - but I believe it is very likely they will bring some kind of managed shipping offering to the US in 2025 at least on a voluntary basis, like they have with eBay International Shipping.
Would you be interested in an eBay-managed shipping service that offered packaging and pick up options? Let us know in the comments below!
And if you've received any similar surveys, I'd love to hear about it. Requests for confidentiality will absolutely be respected - contact VAR!
