eBay Guaranteed Delivery

[SA]

First, here is the link explaining the ins and outs of the program.  Be sure to read the FAQs.
cc.ebay.com/guaranteed-delivery/

Here are *edited* highlights I posted in another thread:

Are TRS
Sell 100 or more items a month
Offer same day or 1 day handling
Offer 30 day returns
You set you "work days" and payment cutoff times
ETA: There are actually 2 options to sign up for depending on how you want to work your business. "Handling Time" or "Door to Door". It explains it in the link, but short version: "Handling Time" you are leaving the guaranteed shipping times in eBays hands and letting them deal with it.  "Door to Door" you are setting your own rate tables and handling refunds yourself.  In my mind, "Door to Door" works best for the huge sellers.  For people like me, "Handling Time" is the best option.

As long as you ship within your handling time, eBay refunds the customer if the item is late. (in form of eBay credit, for a future purchase)
If you bust your handling time and the buyer files a "late delivery" claim, eBay will bill you for the shipping charge.

From my notes today:

-They are doing this to stay competitive in the e-commerce marketplace.  Online buyers have shifted to other eCommerce sites that offer this option and are willing to pay more (Amazon!)

-Give buyers another way to filter their purchases

-Buyers will be able to further filter by "2-day" "3-day" or "4-day"

-eBay determines (for the "Handling Time" GS shippers) their guaranteed days are based on seller location/buyer location.  Using your handling time and their metrics, they will determine if they will guarantee the 2/3/4 day handling. Let's say seller in CA does guaranteed delivery for FC shipping.  Your item may not populate to someone searching 2 day shipping to a buyer in RI.

-You can offer multiple shipping services, and the "guaranteed delivery date" option will not need to be your first option for you to show up in GS search.  For example, I have widget XYZ with $3 FC shipping as the first option.  $7 UPS Ground and $33 Overnight for your third.  Your item will populate because eBay will guarantee shipping based on the overnight option.  However, the buyer does not need to choose the overnight option.

-You can offer all shipping services excluding freight shipping (USPS, FedEx, Etc)

-You MUST print shipping labels through eBay, Shippo or ShipRush (last 2 are eBay affiliated shipping programs).  This will not work if you are using USPS.com, Paypal.com, Shipsaver.com, Stamps.com, etc.  

-You can have a million listings and only offer guaranteed delivery on one item if you want.  Or 20. Or 500K or all 1 million.  It's up to you which items you want to offer this service for.

-For items that show "attempted deliver" "return to sender" etc they consider a "stop the clock" scan.  Meaning that the second it shows attempted delivery, that will stop the clock on the guarantee time.  

-This will go "live" to buyers starting September-ish in time for Black Friday / Christmas shopping

-If this is something that interests you, click on the link above and sign up for updates.  Or CALL them.  I don't know when this option will be available for everyone, but I can start right now if I wanted.  They are giving a "1 month" grace period for sellers where it will not affect anything.  You will get a separate screen to track your guaranteed delivery performance to see how you're doing.  So we get a month to "practice".  Buyers will not know that guaranteed delivery is even an option or that your listing was in the program.  It's a great way to see if it's for you and if you can stick with the standards.  GREAT for people like me who like the idea, but are hesitant (for a couple of reasons).


OK - I think I covered it.  PLEASE - let me know if something wasn't clear on something or ask questions.  If I don't know the answer, I can ask tomorrow

[SA]

Please ask your questions! I have a free spot to slip in on this session tomorrow late afternoon to ask!

[chapeaunoir]

THANK YOU FOR THIS, LIZ!

Sell 100 or more items a month

Bummer for me - the days of my selling 100+ items a month are mostly gone.

But this leads me to this question - what if a seller doesn't always qualify for the quantity amount? Some months selling 110, some 90? Is it a rolling time-frame (say three months average) or does dropping one or two months drop one out of this program?

I didn't see this in the FAQs.

SA

[SA]

Great question! I'll ask and post an answer back tonight!

[SA]

Jul 26, 2017 19:31:42 GMT chapeaunoir said:

But this leads me to this question - what if a seller doesn't always qualify for the quantity amount? Some months selling 110, some 90? Is it a rolling time-frame (say three months average) or does dropping one or two months drop one out of this program?


SA

OK.  I figured out that I got the 100 sales a month from the email invitation I received.  What they did was identify a group of sellers coming to Open as a "test pilot" for this program.  That was just one of the filters they used for us.
You can sign up to receive updates about the program.
They will slowly allow a few more sellers at a time to join.
After they roll it out, it will be available for sellers with the criteria listed in the link.

SO - I was both right and wrong with the 100 items  

[chapeaunoir]

So may or may not, then - it's just the test group *right now* that have that criteria - OK, that makes sense as part of a testing tranche - enough to get a good across the board sampling, but not too much as to cut out some smaller sellers.

[Deleted]

I opted in for this to be notified and included when they first release it.

It is now active (as of 5 minutes ago).

It is not a change for me really, since I ship same day or next day on almost everything anyway. As long as they order it before 3pm EST it usually shipped out same day.

I will update if there is any boost in sales.

[Deleted]

So, once you opt-in you get the choice between the following:






I chose the handling time option in blue because I am not ready to be responsible for return shipping (I am already mostly free shipping to get there as it is) and I have a feeling there will be kinks.  There are always kinks, eBay is just a kinky place (and not in a good way).  The one I can foresee with my crystal ball would be a customer who does not pick up their package or does not get the notice from post office, etc. and it sits a week, LOL.  Now they don't like it and BINGO a built in free return shipping since it wasn't scanned as "delivered" during the guarantee.

It usually takes quite a few incidents and perhaps some public shaming on Auctionbytes or someplace before eBay looks into failsafes for these occurrences.  So, for the time being having eBay foot the return shipping if their guarantee is off is just fine with me 

[Deleted]

Here is a link explaining the current promo for 20% off FVF if opted in by 8/12:

pages.ebay.com/promo/2017/0831/egd.html

You do NOT have to offer same day shipping, but you do need to offer 1-day handling.

[kritter]

I was all for giving it a try until I saw the "Offer Returns".

Nope, not going there.

[jellybeanscloset412]

Aug 2, 2017 17:31:45 GMT kritter said:

I was all for giving it a try until I saw the "Offer Returns".

Nope, not going there.

Yea Kritter, me too.it seems like a sneaky way for Ebay to get sellers to offer returns.

[kritter]

They are going to have to go a lot bigger in their offers to get me to go to No Returns.

A whole lot bigger and better.

[SA]

It is a sneaky way for them to force sellers into taking returns. And they got me

I was already thinking of it. I wanted to implement returns after the holidays. But this helped me make my decision sooner.

Here's the thing - if you opt in, you don't have to have ALL of your items opted in. Just those you want. If you choose to opt in, it will only offer this to those items that are eligible. SO, for me, I will NOT be offering returns on my Halloween costumes, Christmas outfits and I'm still up in the air for the NWT things I will be offering that would work great for Christmas gifts (NWT Pendleton sweaters, NWT Fox fur lined hoodies, Burton ski coats, Kids ski boots, etc). Or maybe I'll get them listed and have 30 days returns allowed, but switch them all to "no returns" come 10 Nov (so their return cutoff date will be 10 December which is well before gift giving season and still lets me take returns and relist in season).

Door-To-Door is best for the bigger sellers with warehouses that are extremely well versed in their rate tables. Sellers that opt into this version will set their own rate tables and will be responsible for handling their own refunds.
Nearly everyone I met that plans to take advantage will be going with the Handling Time option, me included.

Here's a tip: List as you normally would. Make FC shipping your first option. ADD IN priority shipping as a second option!

Example of how this works in your favor:

You live in CA
You list an item with 30 days returns and 1 day handling
You set your first shipping as first class, and second option as Priority Mail.
Buyer in NY goes on eBay and searches for their item. They see they can get Guaranteed Delivery on the left side drill down. They're even given an option to drill down to 2 day or 3 day delivery.
They want it.
They see that first class shipping takes approximately 4 days.
PM shipping takes 3 days.
They figure they can wait an extra day to save $4 so they choose FC.
Since they chose FC, they are not covered under the guaranteed delivery option because it didn't meet the criteria.
However, they FOUND YOUR ITEM because you offered it.

From what I was told, there will be a banner in shipping options showing that if they want it guaranteed, to choose the options that will give them that guarantee.

For me in CO, pretty much everything gets where it needs to be in 3 days.

[SA]

All I need now is for them to go live with the "working day calendar"

You can offer same or 1 day handling, but eBay will be giving us a working calendar to set our working days and hours which will align with the handling time!

[SA]

PS, all of my newly listed items for the last couple of days I have done the 1 day handling and 30 day returns. I added a 15% restocking fee. 10% on the high priced items.
When I get access to my new "guaranteed delivery dashboard" and "working calendar" I'll share it here.

[SA]

Ebay for Business FB page is live right now answering questions and explaining this more in depth

[zoesam]

Aug 2, 2017 18:21:22 GMT SA said:

All I need now is for them to go live with the "working day calendar"

You can offer same or 1 day handling, but eBay will be giving us a working calendar to set our working days and hours which will align with the handling time!

That would be really nice, since the cutoff time now only works for same day shipping.  Do you know if that will be only for the Guaranteed Shipping pgm or for everyone? 

[SA]

I'm not sure.
I didn't get a chance to watch the live feed. I saved it to watch tonight.

[SA]

Has anyone opted in?
Has eBay accepted you and have you started listing your items to fit the Guaranteed Delivery guidelines?

I had some questions for eBay and here were the responses I got:

The working days calendar would only apply for same-day shipping. If you plan on using a one-day handling time, we'd expect the item to have an acceptance scan by 11:59 PM PST the following business day. Since items do not need to go out until the next day, the cut-off time wouldn't really apply.

Now that you are in the program, you'll be evaluated every 2 weeks to make sure that your shipping performance meets the standards. You'll be able to check your metrics in the Seller Dashboard as usual. Buyers will not have the option to filter searches with eBay Guaranteed Delivery until later in the Fall. This gives you time to make sure everything is working smoothly before it starts to really count.

We did find clarification on how the 20% off discount will work. It will appear as a credit on your invoice and will appear within 90 days after the Promotion ends. It will be capped at 1000 transactions. Let us know if you have other questions. Happy shipping!

**Note the 20% off FVF are for those that opted in, were selected to participate and applies to sales for the month of August only.**

[Deleted]

I am going to have think about this. Thanks for all the info.

[SA]

Just heard on eBay radio today that this should go live to buyers I believe the 19th of this month!

[somany]

Liz, do you know what happens when you put your store on vacation? Will those days just be dropped from the calculation?

[SA]

When a seller puts their store on vacation, they also need to change their handling time. Let's say I put my store on vacay for 5 days. I would then revise all my listings to 7 day handling. This will hide them from guaranteed delivery.

[SA]

Regardless of guaranteed delivery or not, a seller should always change their handling time when they put their store on vacation.

[Deleted]

You can't get in if you're no-returns, right?

[SA]

Right.

There is a sales requirement (off the top of my head I think 100 month) *EDIT: Just found that they may have changed the 100 requirement*

Accept returns

Offer same or 1 day handling

And I believe be TRS

[jesmelric]

I am dredging this up because I got an email from ebay saying that sometime in May my eligible listings will be automatically opted in. I guess it's moot for me because I'm going No Returns in May due to the new policy of not allowing a restocking fee. I wonder if they will just kick me out if they've already opted me in?

Well here is something I found while Googling, for anyone who is interested or perhaps got the same email I did:

What happens if an item does not arrive by the guaranteed date?

If a guaranteed item arrives late, the buyer can request to have their cost of shipping refunded. If the shipping was free, then the buyer can receive a coupon to be used towards their next eBay purchase. Alternatively, the buyer can choose to return the item at no cost.

What happens if the package fails to arrive within the guaranteed window? The seller and eBay will split the refund shipping costs.

[SA]

I think you've read outdated information. And it's not the whole policy.

pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-guaranteed-delivery.html#m22_tb_a1__3

What happens if an item does not arrive by the guaranteed date?

Through the end of 2018, if a guaranteed item arrives late, eBay will always make it right for your buyer with one of these options:
Shipping cost reimbursement
Voucher for a future eBay purchase
Free return label if the sellers accepts returns
This late delivery coverage does not protect your late shipment rate. Sellers are still required to meet the program requirements of 97% on-time handling and 95% on-time tracking to continue offering Guaranteed Delivery. These requirements are in-line with eBay Top Rated Seller requirements.
After the end of the year, eBay will continue to make it right when items arrive late and buyers make a claim, as long as the seller met their handling time commitment.

What happens if the package fails to arrive within the guaranteed window? The seller and eBay will split the refund shipping costs.
See above.

I think you may be mixing up/crossing over "Handling Time" vs "Door to Door" options.

[jesmelric]

Mar 26, 2018 18:21:59 GMT SA said:

I think you've read outdated information. And it's not the whole policy.

pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-guaranteed-delivery.html#m22_tb_a1__3

What happens if an item does not arrive by the guaranteed date?

Through the end of 2018, if a guaranteed item arrives late, eBay will always make it right for your buyer with one of these options:
Shipping cost reimbursement
Voucher for a future eBay purchase
Free return label if the sellers accepts returns
This late delivery coverage does not protect your late shipment rate. Sellers are still required to meet the program requirements of 97% on-time handling and 95% on-time tracking to continue offering Guaranteed Delivery. These requirements are in-line with eBay Top Rated Seller requirements.
After the end of the year, eBay will continue to make it right when items arrive late and buyers make a claim, as long as the seller met their handling time commitment.

What happens if the package fails to arrive within the guaranteed window? The seller and eBay will split the refund shipping costs.
See above.

I think you may be mixing up/crossing over "Handling Time" vs "Door to Door" options.

Well shoot they didn't even give me a link to the actual policy, just said there would be a webinar on Mar 28th, so I just Googled it to see what I could find. But I guess it's still moot for me lol.

[SA]

I will only trust eBay policy with stuff I search for inside of eBay (not google).......But even then sometimes................LOL!

Policies like this change. A lot. They have on their eBay for Business FB page something about GD too. They just posted about it earlier today.