survey regarding new "Guaranteed Arrival" time program

[lm-entertainment]

hi everyone. i'm not sure how many sellers received an offer to participate in a seller survey regarding shipping recently - but i thought i'd take a look at it.

was shocked initially to see that ebay are looking at trialling a "guaranteed arrival" program - where sellers state the timeframe that items will be delivered in to the buyer.

if these conditions are not met, the buyer is entitled to return the item for free with a full refund or the seller has to give them some financial compensation.

i soon realised i shouldn't have been surprised that ebay is again making the marketplace one that suits buyers and not sellers.

i thought "well, there won't be any harm in not participating in the program" - but it also says that sellers who do participate will get enhanced visual treatment in search, item detail and all other buying pages - meaning those who don't participate will be penalised. 

i've attached screenshots of the two pages of text in the survey regarding this program if anyone wants to have a look. have no doubt it'll be implemented soon.

[digital*ghost]

If this gets introduced here, and assuming we're provided the same options as they're planning to introduce in the US, I think it will actually be quite interesting to see what kind of ETAs are on listings where eBay will have to put their money where their mouth is, if something arrives after the guaranteed arrival. 

[designers*n*more]

And most sellers opt for B, where eBay wears the compensation, watch our fees go up again to compensate their compensation!

[*tippy*toes*]

I'm happy to guarantee delivery..........within 60 days 😄

I've noticed with the surveys that when they say it's still in the discussion phase, it's actually ready to go and gets implemented within a few weeks. I didn't get this survey.

[goodthingsforsalerobert]

If the idiodic program comes in I will quit Ebay

[everard6920]

Can anyone even name a company that uses a 3rd party carrier and guarantees delivery times?

Because I cannot think of one. Big W, Target, Kmart, Myer, David Jones, Toys R Us, Dymocks, JB Hi-Fi - none of them have guaranteed delivery times. None of them.

eBay claims that they want this site to reflect online shopping standards, yet they introduce policies that do not reflect that.

The only companies that do have guaranteed delivery times are those that don't use 3rd party carriers (OfficeWorks, Woolworths, Coles) but obviously, every eBay seller can't buy delivery vans and delivery Australia-wide themselves.

Good to know that eBay is busy figuring out more ways to make it more difficult for sellers, and easier for buyers to get items for free.

Personally, this is just additional motivation for me to stop flailing around and get my own website up and running asap.

[kane1417]

I sold one item on e bay this week.Another proposed  'Numpty' policy , if implemented would be the final straw, close the door and turn off the lights !

[digital*ghost]

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@goodthingsforsalerobert wrote:

If the idiodic program comes in I will quit Ebay

---

If it is implemented, and in the same way as they are proposing it on the US site, you have to opt in to guaranteed delivery, so it's not something that's mandatory for all sellers, and sellers who do opt in don't have to have it on all of their items, they could have it on just one or two if they wanted. 

The more interesting things to ponder are - which businesses (or sellers) will opt in, and which ones won't. What kind of visibility boost will it give sellers in best match rankings - are big businesses more likely to opt in and receive even greater exposure over their smaller competitors than they get already?

How will it affect buyer impressions and buying decisions - eg will a buyer be more likely to purchase a guaranteed delivery item over a non-guaranteed one, even if it is a little more expensive and not a time sensitive item that they'd normally be happy to wait for? Will it reinforce the "due date" impression of ETAs, or will some listings having guaranteed dates and some that don't actually undermine that impression? Will "late" be interpreted as 'free'? Will it make some buyers more focussed on delivery times, and more annoyed at perceived 'lateness', even with sellers who don't offer guarantees? 

What would it mean for Chinese sellers who misrepresent the item locations? ETAs are based on item location, so if they opt in, chances are someone's going to have to pay out rather frequently, perhaps if it's eBay, they might actually do something about this problem. 

On a practical level, considering how many sellers get late shipments when they did post within their handling time, is eBay's system well-equipped to even determine if a package was shipped on time? Seems not, so that's a bunch of issues right there. I'm curious about what will determine a late package, as well. Attempted deliveries, items awaiting collection for days etc etc etc, you'd hope that in these circumstances, it won't count as a 'late delivery'.

[brerrabbit585]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@goodthingsforsalerobert wrote:

If the idiodic program comes in I will quit Ebay

---

If it is implemented, and in the same way as they are proposing it on the US site, you have to opt in to guaranteed delivery, so it's not something that's mandatory for all sellers, and sellers who do opt in don't have to have it on all of their items, they could have it on just one or two if they wanted. 

The more interesting things to ponder are - which businesses (or sellers) will opt in, and which ones won't. What kind of visibility boost will it give sellers in best match rankings - are big businesses more likely to opt in and receive even greater exposure over their smaller competitors than they get already?

How will it affect buyer impressions and buying decisions - eg will a buyer be more likely to purchase a guaranteed delivery item over a non-guaranteed one, even if it is a little more expensive and not a time sensitive item that they'd normally be happy to wait for? Will it reinforce the "due date" impression of ETAs, or will some listings having guaranteed dates and some that don't actually undermine that impression? Will "late" be interpreted as 'free'? Will it make some buyers more focussed on delivery times, and more annoyed at perceived 'lateness', even with sellers who don't offer guarantees? 

What would it mean for Chinese sellers who misrepresent the item locations? ETAs are based on item location, so if they opt in, chances are someone's going to have to pay out rather frequently, perhaps if it's eBay, they might actually do something about this problem. 

On a practical level, considering how many sellers get late shipments when they did post within their handling time, is eBay's system well-equipped to even determine if a package was shipped on time? Seems not, so that's a bunch of issues right there. I'm curious about what will determine a late package, as well. Attempted deliveries, items awaiting collection for days etc etc etc, you'd hope that in these circumstances, it won't count as a 'late delivery'.

---

I just read the link to the US site that you provided.  It says this:

If buyers do not use the filter, search results will not change based on Guaranteed Delivery.

That means it won't affect a seller's visibility in search results unless buyers use the filter to see which items have guaranteed delivery on them.  It only gives a seller improved search ranking if buyers use the filter.  Why a seller would want to opt in to it is beyond me, unless all their items are already sent with tracking and they post within a day, in which case they've got absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain - assuming the system works as it should.

Having a filter where buyers can search for items with guaranteed delivery means the scammers would be more likely to buy items with guaranteed delivery (because they know they'll get the postage refunded on a lot of them) and leave the rest of us alone.  Well, that's what I'd be hoping.

Providing we don't have to opt in, it won't affect me so I'm happy to ignore it. 

[brerrabbit585]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

---

@goodthingsforsalerobert wrote:

If the idiodic program comes in I will quit Ebay

---

If it is implemented, and in the same way as they are proposing it on the US site, you have to opt in to guaranteed delivery, so it's not something that's mandatory for all sellers, and sellers who do opt in don't have to have it on all of their items, they could have it on just one or two if they wanted. 

The more interesting things to ponder are - which businesses (or sellers) will opt in, and which ones won't. What kind of visibility boost will it give sellers in best match rankings - are big businesses more likely to opt in and receive even greater exposure over their smaller competitors than they get already?

How will it affect buyer impressions and buying decisions - eg will a buyer be more likely to purchase a guaranteed delivery item over a non-guaranteed one, even if it is a little more expensive and not a time sensitive item that they'd normally be happy to wait for? Will it reinforce the "due date" impression of ETAs, or will some listings having guaranteed dates and some that don't actually undermine that impression? Will "late" be interpreted as 'free'? Will it make some buyers more focussed on delivery times, and more annoyed at perceived 'lateness', even with sellers who don't offer guarantees? 

What would it mean for Chinese sellers who misrepresent the item locations? ETAs are based on item location, so if they opt in, chances are someone's going to have to pay out rather frequently, perhaps if it's eBay, they might actually do something about this problem. 

On a practical level, considering how many sellers get late shipments when they did post within their handling time, is eBay's system well-equipped to even determine if a package was shipped on time? Seems not, so that's a bunch of issues right there. I'm curious about what will determine a late package, as well. Attempted deliveries, items awaiting collection for days etc etc etc, you'd hope that in these circumstances, it won't count as a 'late delivery'.

---

I just read the link to the US site that you provided.  It says this:

If buyers do not use the filter, search results will not change based on Guaranteed Delivery.

That means it won't affect a seller's visibility in search results unless buyers use the filter to see which items have guaranteed delivery on them.  Sellers ONLY benefit from improved search ranking if buyers are using the filter, which most wouldn't.   Why a seller would want to opt in to it is beyond me, unless all their items are already sent with tracking and they post within a day, in which case they've got absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain - assuming the system works as it should.

Having a filter where buyers can search for items with guaranteed delivery means the scammers would be more likely to buy items with guaranteed delivery (because they know they'll get the postage refunded on a lot of them) and leave the rest of us alone.  Well, that's what I'd be hoping.

Providing we don't have to opt in, it won't affect me so I'm happy to ignore it. 

[brerrabbit585]

---

@digital*ghost wrote:

---

@goodthingsforsalerobert wrote:

If the idiodic program comes in I will quit Ebay

---

If it is implemented, and in the same way as they are proposing it on the US site, you have to opt in to guaranteed delivery, so it's not something that's mandatory for all sellers, and sellers who do opt in don't have to have it on all of their items, they could have it on just one or two if they wanted. 

The more interesting things to ponder are - which businesses (or sellers) will opt in, and which ones won't. What kind of visibility boost will it give sellers in best match rankings - are big businesses more likely to opt in and receive even greater exposure over their smaller competitors than they get already?

How will it affect buyer impressions and buying decisions - eg will a buyer be more likely to purchase a guaranteed delivery item over a non-guaranteed one, even if it is a little more expensive and not a time sensitive item that they'd normally be happy to wait for? Will it reinforce the "due date" impression of ETAs, or will some listings having guaranteed dates and some that don't actually undermine that impression? Will "late" be interpreted as 'free'? Will it make some buyers more focussed on delivery times, and more annoyed at perceived 'lateness', even with sellers who don't offer guarantees? 

What would it mean for Chinese sellers who misrepresent the item locations? ETAs are based on item location, so if they opt in, chances are someone's going to have to pay out rather frequently, perhaps if it's eBay, they might actually do something about this problem. 

On a practical level, considering how many sellers get late shipments when they did post within their handling time, is eBay's system well-equipped to even determine if a package was shipped on time? Seems not, so that's a bunch of issues right there. I'm curious about what will determine a late package, as well. Attempted deliveries, items awaiting collection for days etc etc etc, you'd hope that in these circumstances, it won't count as a 'late delivery'.

---

I just read the link to the US site that you provided.  It says this:

If buyers do not use the filter, search results will not change based on Guaranteed Delivery.

That means it won't affect a seller's visibility in search results unless buyers use the filter to see which items have guaranteed delivery on them.  Sellers ONLY benefit from improved search ranking if buyers are using the filter, which most wouldn't use.  Why a seller would want to opt in to it is beyond me, unless all their items are already sent with tracking and they post within a day, in which case they've got absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain - assuming the system works as it should.

Having a filter where buyers can search for items with guaranteed delivery means the scammers would be more likely to buy items with guaranteed delivery (because they know they'll get the postage refunded on a lot of them) and leave the rest of us alone.  Well, that's what I'd be hoping.

Providing we don't have to opt in, it won't affect me so I'm happy to ignore it. 

Why does my post keep disappearing?????????