eBay Guaranteed Delivery

[retrogamestoreau]

What are everyones thoughts on eBay's new Guarenteed Delivery program? For those that don't know about it information is available here:

https://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/content/ebay-guaranteed-delivery

I have mixed feelings about it at the moment. I think this might be a way of combatting overseas sellers that lie about the items locations in their listings as it would be very unlikely that they could meet the postage time requirements.

However, if I'm understanding this correctly it seems like genuine Australian sellers with premium listings may need to offer Express postage as the default method of postage on all their listings in order to comply, (for example if someone from a remote/rural location purchased one of your items.) This would obviously mean you would need to increase all your prices which would result in higher eBay fees and less competitive pricing.

I'm interested to hear other opinions, so let me know what you think.

[countessalmirena]

Stir fries have often been a lifesaver - quick to prepare, quick to cook, easy to season.

I have a hard-working wok. It's a wok that's never out of work.

[kitschkoven]

Before too long Ebay will be expecting us to teleport our packages over - with teleporting fee, of course!

[hobbiesrfun4all]

I cannot see how we can opt in to such a program. When Aust Post cannot guarantee standard delivery within 6 days, how can we make any guarantees?

I think eBay are trying to force us to use the "Priority" sticker (an extra $0.50 for each item) or Express Post, (an extra $6+ per item) to ensure delivery within 2 or 3 days.  However, under normal circumstance when I have used these services, the item has not been delivered on time, despite guarantees. On each occasion, there was no compensation from Aust Post. 

This simply means more fees for eBay with little benefit to either the seller or buyer.

I explain the postal delivery times to my customers and they accept that. I already offer Priority and Express Post services. If they want quicker delivery they ask and use the appropriate service, but without guarantees.  Why should I be coerced or bribed into providing guarantees I cannot control?

From my perspective, it is getting close to the last straw.  The changes to eBay over the last few years have all been in eBay's favour and little benefit to the seller.  I have considered other options and I am in the process of establishing my own website where I will have control over what I do. 

Eventually eBay’s rules and conditions will become excessive and they will lose the smaller sellers. They will not be able to afford or comply with eBay's stringent rules and will look elsewhere as I have been doing.

I cannot see how, as a seller, I can opt in when I cannot control the process I am meant to be guaranteeing.

[digital*ghost]

I'm just going to play devil's advocate for a moment, though I'm sure it's pretty clear from my previous posts on the subject that I am not keen on particpating in this program at all (in fact, I can't, due to my postage methods).

I think there's been a lot of focus on the literal definition of the phrase 'delivery guarantee', without considering the context - which here is 'retail'. I know that's how it's being touted and I have no doubt that's how it's being interpreted by buyers as well (which is it's own problem), but this is going to work a bit more like a common retail guarantee IMHO. 

A retail guarantee tends to work more like "X is almost certain to happen, and if it doesn't, we'll do Y".

An example is the Coles guarantee on their own brand stuff ("On our Coles branded products our promise is to provide you with high quality products to enjoy every day. If you are not 100% satisfied, let us know and we'll happily give you a full refund or replacement - that's a guarantee you can count on.") 

There's no way they can guarantee that 100% of the people that buy their brands will like the product, but they obviously figure most people will like it enough not to bother complaining about it (true - I bought their english muffins once. Once. But never bothered to ask for a refund on those stale piles of blech ). So, they're not strictly guaranteeing something they can't control - they're guaranteeing that one of two things will occur in a given suituation. Clearly, they're better at communicating exactly what is being guaranteed than eBay is, though. 

Even Australia Post's express post guarantee works like that - there's a contingency for if / when next day delivery does not occur, so they acknowledge that they will not provide next day delivery within the network 100% of the time, and compensate by way of refunding postage or replacing satchels. 

The eBay delivery guarantee - from a seller's perspective - is exactly the same. Obviously no seller can 100% guarantee a third party will consistently perform to exacting standards, so that's not what it is about - the seller guarantees the buyer will receive their order in X days, or they get compensated.

According to eBay, to meet the performance requirements, 95% of guaranteed delivery listings need to be sent tracked, and arrive on time. (Hence why I couldn't guarantee delivery even if I wanted to, as I only have a few listings where tracked postage is the default). If ebay truly thought sellers could unequivocally and literally guarantee delivery, they'd require 100% and have no Y in place to compensate buyers when it doesn't happen. 

[springyzone]

I know one seller who mentioned he had opted into this system, but I think that he could strictly nominate what areas he would provide that guarantee for & he only chose 2 or 3, from memory.

Also-and this could be a pivotal difference-he does not use Australia Post, he lives in metropolitan Melbourne & uses a very reliable courier service. For him, I think the courier service even proves cheaper.

Those sorts of conditions won't apply to every seller though and probably not to the people who are just occasional sellers, amateurs. It will suit small businesses better, but ebay seems to be heading in that direction.

[davewil1964]

An example is the Coles guarantee on their own brand stuff

That is more relevant to SNAD or COM.

Coles also have much more control over their supply chain. And deeper pockets, for the moment.

A more apt analogy would be delivering goods to people who purchase online. Even then, Coles controls the delivery chain, they are not contracting it out to third party organisations.

[digital*ghost]

The point of the example was to show a retail situation where they can't guarantee the best case scenario (that the buyer will like what they get), and to highlight the fact that it's not the "you will like it" bit that's being exclusively guaranteed. 

Therefore it is an example of the premise that immediately preceded it, not an identical example of eBay's guaranteed delivery, which does mirror the premise in actuality.

[flare-tech]

Has anyone who has opted out noticed a decline in sales since last week due to the start of this program?