To further improve the delivery experience of buyers, eBay has been updating the classification of shipping methods and LSPs used by eBay sellers. This means that you may need to change the shipping methods offered in your listings based on the LSPs that you ultimately use to ship your products.
The Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) of a product is one of the important factors that buyers consider when shopping online. Setting the right EDD for your products can increase your chances of selling and improve your buyer experience.
The EDD that buyers see in your listings can vary based on:
- handling time
- shipping method selected by seller
- logistics service providers/carriers (LSPs) used to ship the product
- item location and buyer’s shipping address
- buyer’s order payment date.
Updated shipping time intervals
Please refer to Table 1 below to ensure that your current LSP is eligible for the shipping method offered by you in your listings. Offering the incorrect shipping method may likely impact buyer experience, and in turn, your seller performance and your Item Not Received rate.
Table 1
| Shipping option | Eligible carriers |
|---|---|
| Expedited | Fedex, DHL, UPS |
| Standard | Any other 100% trackable shipping service on eBay |
| Economy | Any semi-trackable or non-trackable service provider |
Please note that this update is only for the shipping methods and does not affect the handling time that you may have set in your account.
The shipping time for different service levels may vary from country to country. Please check Table 2 for more specific information.
Table 2
Shipping options for ebay.com
For listings on ebay.com, please refer to Table 2 below to set the shipping options for buyers based out of the United States.
Table 3
Seller shipping methods for the US site (ebay.com)
Shipping options for International eBay sites
For your listings on other eBay sites, please refer to Table 4 below to set the shipping methods.
Table 4
Please note that EDD visible to buyers will be based on the shipping method you have offered. Offering faster shipping methods in your listings (e.g. express shipping) but selecting a slower shipping method (e.g. economy shipping) to ultimately ship your products may result in your actual delivery date being delayed beyond the EDD.
Inaccurate selection of shipping methods may lead to buyers having bad buyer experience or filing Item Not Received (INR) claims. As mentioned in our Shipping Performance Policy – Item Not Received Rate dated 16 June 2023, increased INR claims may result in eBay taking action on your seller account.
Conversely, offering slower shipping methods in your listings (e.g. economy shipping) than the shipping method you actually ship your products by (e.g. express shipping) could lead to buyers placing fewer orders owing to a longer EDD.
eBay strongly recommends that you offer accurate shipping methods in your listings which ensures that your products reach buyers as per the EDD and not after the EDD. If your products reach buyers significantly before the EDD, you potentially lose out on sales and GMV.
How to correct your shipping method
In case your current LSP does not provide the service suitable to the shipping method you have offered in your listings, please change to the correct shipping method using the steps mentioned below:
- Go to the Seller Hub (click Selling in My eBay dropdown menu).
- Open the Listings tab, then select Business policies on the left side menu.
Click Edit next to the Shipping policy and choose your shipping method.
Please refer to Table 3 and Table 4 and select the correct shipping method as per the location shown in the relevant table.
As soon as the EDD is fixed, adherence to handling time is critical. Late handling will not lead to auto-adjustment of the delivery date that was displayed to the buyer at the time of placing the order.
It is strongly recommended that you select your shipping methods as accurately as possible. It will not only help you improve your performance on eBay but also increase your sales. As stated above, failure to deliver items as per the EDD could lead to increased INR claims, resulting in eBay taking action on your seller account. On the other hand, offering slower shipping methods in your listings than your actual shipping method may affect your potential buyer’s consideration to buy your items, thereby, reducing your sales.