Seller News September 2010

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New standardised description of delivery services

From September 2010, information on all delivery services offered by the seller will be presented within a standard classification at the top of the item page, during check-out, on the order details page and when a buyer leaves Feedback. Delivery estimates on the item page will continue to exist as they do today. An estimate of delivery and the service selected will be provided at check-out and on the order details page. Tracking information will also be shown where this has been provided.

This prominent display of delivery information at all points of the purchasing process will help to clarify buyer expectations and reduce delivery-related questions.

1. NEW Industry-standard classifications*:
   • Economy: 3-5 working days
   • Standard: 1-2 working days
   • Express: 1 working day
     
     * These are based on the courier’s official transit time for the service.
     
     
2. NEW No change to how estimated delivery is calculated

   Estimated delivery displayed is the delivery time plus your dispatch time following cleared payment. For example, if you offer a service with 1-2 day courier timeframe and specify a 1-day dispatch time, buyers will see this option as “Standard” with expected delivery within 2-3 days.

3. NEW More prominent display of Express Shipping Services

   For express shipping services, we will display estimated delivery to the buyer as a date, assuming immediate payment. Estimated delivery will be calculated as usual.

Some examples:

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Existing delivery services automatically mapped into new classifications

Sellers won’t need to take any action or adjust their Good ‘Til Cancelled listings. They can continue to choose from the usual list of services, such as Royal Mail and ParcelForce and the mapping to the relevant delivery standard (i.e. Economy, Standard etc) will be done by eBay.

Nevertheless, it is recommended that sellers check their delivery services after the mapping process. Sellers should also upload tracking information in Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro, wherever possible.

Seller’s Standard Rate

For those who use unspecified shipping services, such as ‘Seller’s Standard Rate’, this will be mapped to ‘Economy delivery’ with a delivery transit time of 3-5 working days. Sellers who use a faster delivery service should consider adjusting their listings accordingly.

Making Changes before September 2010

• If your service has a transit time of 1 working day, you can adjust your listings to what is currently labelled “Other 24 hour courier”. From September this will be labelled Express delivery.
• If your service has a transit time of 1- 2 working days, you can adjust your listings to what is currently labelled “Other 48 hour courier”. From September 2010 this will be labelled Standard delivery.

Making Changes after September 2010

• If your service has a transit time of 1 working day, you can adjust your listings to Express Delivery.
• If your service has a transit time of 1- 2 working days, you can adjust your listings to Standard Delivery.

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New delivery rate table for special domestic regions

From September 2010, a new delivery rate table for special domestic regions will make listing more efficient and reduce questions:

• Customise a new delivery rate table in My eBay > Account > Site Preferences to reflect cost of delivery to special domestic regions such as the Channel Islands, Scottish Highlands and Scottish Islands.
• Buyers will be able to view any surcharge or additional transit time specified by sellers.
• Remove such information from the item description from September 2010.
• Don't want to deliver to special regions? Then just exclude bids and purchases from buyers with addresses from there.

Setting delivery preferences

To set your preferences for delivery services, go to My eBay > Account > Site Preferences > Postage and packaging Preferences > Edit "Exclude postage locations" (see below)

To exclude buyers in special regions from buying, go to My eBay > Account > Site Preferences > Buyer requirements.

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Take action

 

Standardised delivery services and estimated delivery dates

1. Will the estimated delivery time take dispatch time into account?
2. Will I be able to offer a service that’s not listed?
3. Will these changes help with improving my postage detail seller ratings?
4. What is the table of classification for domestic postal services?
5. How is the estimated delivery time calculated?
6. How are services that deliver from abroad handled by the new delivery services standardisation?
7. Are overseas buyers, who log into eBay.co.uk, affected by the new delivery services standardisation?
8. Will buyers still be able to see the actual postage service?
9. I’m using a next day service but have a 3 day dispatch time. Will this be displayed as Economy delivery?
10. Does this change now mean that I have to offer Economy, Standard & Express services?
11. Why are you making this change?
12. Why did you choose these classification names? They are not necessarily “industry standard.”
13. I sell made-to- order items and it takes several days to customise an item before I can dispatch, how can I meet the delivery estimates?
14. Will you include estimated delivery time on freight and on local pick up?
15. How do I show next day delivery to buyers? Since dispatch time and transit time are added together, isn't the fastest estimated delivery time 2 days?
16. How can I update my shipping information bulk?

Delivery Rate Tables

1. How will my delivery rate table work?
2. What areas fall under special domestic regions?
3. Can I use the postal rate table in categories that have postage limits?
4. How do I set up a postal rate table?
5. How do I update my exclusion list?

If you dispatch from abroad, but list directly on eBay.co.uk

1. I list on eBay.co.uk, but dispatch from abroad. What's changing for me?
2. What do I need to change on my listings?
3. How do I show a delivery estimate other than 11-20 business days after the September deadline?
4. Why are you making these changes?

Standardised delivery services and estimated delivery dates

1. Will the estimated delivery time take dispatch time into account?

Yes, dispatch time will be automatically added to the estimated delivery time of the delivery service you offer. As is currently the case, buyers will see that delivery estimates are based on receiving cleared payment. To obtain the estimated delivery time, add your dispatch time and postal transit time once payment has been cleared.

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2. Will I be able to offer a service that’s not listed?

You will continue to be able to use any delivery courier of your choice. If the delivery courier you use is not known to eBay, or you wish to retain flexibility until you know the delivery address, simply select a service level – Economy, Standard, Express with a transit time which matches your provider.

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3. Will these changes help with improving my postage detail seller ratings?

When providing Feedback, buyers will be reminded of your timely service. When you upload tracking information, buyers will see the day you posted the item, the service you used, the estimated time of delivery and the actual delivery date. This is a valuable reminder that you met your buyers’ expectations on postage, and should help improve detailed seller ratings on postage.

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4. What is the table of classification for domestic postal services?

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5. How is the estimated delivery time calculated?

The estimated delivery time is the sum of the seller’s dispatch time and the transit time of the delivery service selected.

• Dispatch time: Sellers are required to specify how long they will take to package and post the item after receiving cleared payment. Dispatch time can be 1 to 30 working days.
• Cleared payment: A payment is considered “cleared” after the money from the buyer has been deposited into the seller’s account.
• Transit Time: Couriers have provided us with an official estimate of the transit time for the services they offer.
• What buyers will see: Buyers will see clearly that estimated delivery times are for cleared payment and working days only and do not include holidays or weekends.

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6. How are services that deliver from abroad handled by the new delivery services standardisation?

There are specific standardised delivery services for deliveries made to the UK from abroad. Each has a transit time range just like domestic equivalents. The transit time ranges are longer but based on actual transit times described by couriers, whilst making some allowance for potential customs delays.

This change will help buyers to set realistic delivery expectations at the time of purchase and reduce delivery-related questions to sellers. These services should be used by sellers who sell on eBay.co.uk but are based abroad.

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7. Are overseas buyers, who log into eBay.co.uk, affected by the new delivery services standardisation?

These buyers will not experience any changes.

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8. Will buyers still be able to see the actual postage service?

Yes, buyers will still be able to see the actual postage service, in the shipping specifics part of the item page, and at checkout

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9. I’m using a next day service but have a 3 day dispatch time. Will this be displayed as Economy delivery?

No. This will be displayed as Express delivery, with a delivery estimate of 4 working days. The classification is dependent only on the transit time of the delivery service, and not on the dispatch time.

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10. Does this change now mean that I have to offer Economy, Standard & Express services?

No. Sellers will continue to use the delivery services of their choice, but eBay will display these to the buyer as Economy, Standard or Express, dependent on the transit time of the service

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11. Why are you making this change?

Our research shows that buyers want to see delivery options and estimated delivery time more upfront. Seeing this information prominently displayed on the item page and during checkout helps set buyer expectations as to when their item will arrive and can influence a buying decision.

Examples:

• A buyer needs an item by a certain day: If a seller offers Standard and Express delivery, the buyer can easily choose between these options and the estimated delivery times On the checkout page.
• A buyer prefers to save on delivery cost: If a seller offers Economy and Standard delivery, the buyer can easily choose the cheapest one and still sees clearly when to expect the item to arrive.

Note: The estimated delivery time is the shipping time associated with the service plus the seller’s dispatch time.

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12. Why did you choose these classification names? They are not necessarily “industry standard.”

The classification names, Economy, Standard and Express were chosen after researching e-commerce sites to determine the most consistent classification names for delivery service levels. As well, in focus groups these three classification names were most familiar to sellers and buyers.

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13. I sell made-to-order items and it takes several days to customise an item before I can dispatch, how can I meet the delivery estimates?

Consider using additional dispatch time to account for item customisation. You can specify a dispatch time of 1-30 working days.

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14. Will you include estimated delivery time on freight and on local pick up?

No. Freight and Local Pick up will not include delivery estimates. For listings using freight, buyers will not be able to check out until you enter a shipping cost. Buyers will contact you to get information about the exact freight cost of the item, helping avoid a poor experience for both buyer and seller if the buyer enters a zero or incorrect shipping cost at time of checkout.

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15. How do I show next day delivery to buyers? Since dispatch time and transit time are added together, isn't the fastest estimated delivery time 2 days?

You can't specify same-day dispatch so the minimum estimated delivery time is always 2 days. But you can specify an express service and a 1-day dispatch time and tell buyers in your listing description that orders received by a certain time will be shipped the same day.

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16. How do I edit listings in bulk?

Changing your listings before September 2010

Using Bulk Listing Editor, you can edit up to 200 listings at one time.

1. Start in either Selling Manager/Pro or My eBay and select the listings you want to edit.
2. After selecting the listings, click "Edit" to be taken into Bulk Listing Editor.
3. Under Domestic Postage, Select "Flat Postage Service and Cost." At this point, you can choose to edit all listings at one time or apply changes to 200 listings individually.
   • If you choose to edit all listings at once, then any changes you make will be applied to every listing you have selected. This is the quickest way to change all listings to reflect one set of postage and dispatch details.
   • If you choose to edit all listings individually then any changes you make will need to be confirmed for each individual listing. This option is useful if you want to have some differentiation between items but will take longer.
4. Click "Continue" and you will be presented with the postage section for all the listings you selected. From here, you can change the shipping service for your listings. For example, you may wish to change from "Sellers Standard Rate" to “ Other 48 hour courier”
5. When you've made all your changes, click continue and the Bulk Listing Editor will verify your listings. There is a final confirmation page where you can review the changes. Click "Submit" when you want the changes to go into effect.

Changing your listings after September 2010

From September 2010, you will be able to edit postage information using the new bulk tools, which allow you to edit up to 500 listings at once. You will need to be opted into the new bulk tool to be able to do this.

• The new bulk edit functionality will have listings displayed in a table format like a spreadsheet with rows, columns and cells
• Each listing to be edited is a row, and the attributes of the listings (e.g. domestic and international postage) are columns
• Listings can be sorted by column headings, and changes can be made to fields as required

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If you dispatch from abroad, but list directly on eBay.co.uk

1. I list on eBay.co.uk, but dispatch from abroad. What's changing for me?

If you list items on eBay.co.uk and deliver from abroad you are required to specify postage & packaging using either a courier service offered on the site or using one of the new generic “from outside UK” service names. The latter will have longer estimated delivery times to help account for the extra time involved in sending items from outside the UK.

The new generic service names and estimated delivery times are as follows:

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2. What do I need to change on my listings?

You don't need to change your listings if:

• You currently list with any of branded courier services on the site (Royal Mail or Parcelforce, for example), your listings won't require any changes.

You do need to change your listings if:

• • You specify P&P using "Sellers Standard rate", "Other Courier 3 days", "Other Courier 5 Days" or "Other Courier" and your courier has a faster transit time then 10 – 22 working days. These services will be displayed automatically according to the table below with an estimated transit time of 10 – 22 working days (which will be added to your specified handling time).
• To specify a faster (or even longer) delivery time, select the "from outside the UK" P&P classification which most closely matches your courier’s transit time and adjust your handling time or listing description, to provide the most accurate overall delivery estimate to your buyers.
• You currently use ‘Other 24 hour Courier’ (estimated delivery 1 working day) or ‘Other 48 hour Courier’ (estimated delivery 1-2 working days). Consider whether these continue to set realistic expectations for buyers and adjust accordingly.

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3. How do I show a delivery estimate other than 11-20 working days after the September deadline?

If you specify a courier service, we will provide buyers with the courier’s published transit estimate plus your specified handling time.

Example: If you specify Royal Mail 1st Class Standard, the delivery estimate shown will be 1-2 working days + your specified handling time.

Alternatively you can specify the “from outside UK” service that most closely matches the transit time of your courier (see the table above for the transit times associated with the new generic “from outside UK” services.

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4. Why are you making these changes?

Not all buyers understand the complexity and additional delivery time involved with purchasing items that are sent from outside the UK. These changes will help set their expectations, reduce questions about P&P and encourage buyers to leave better detailed seller ratings for postage & packaging.

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Delivery Rate Tables

1. How will my delivery rate table work?

The delivery rate table allows buyers in special domestic regions to find out about the cost of delivery. Sellers can set-up their delivery rate table by:

1. Adding a surcharge to the existing delivery cost to cover delivery to each of the special domestic regions.
2. Replacing the delivery charge with a “per package” rate or a “weight-based” rate.
3. Specifying additional transit time for each special domestic region

A table for international delivery destinations is currently in development.

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2. What areas fall under special domestic regions?

Channel Islands, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Scilly Isles, Scottish Highlands, Scottish Islands and Northern Ireland.

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3. Can I use the delivery rate table in categories that have postage limits?

Sellers must specify at least one domestic delivery option that is at or below the cost limit specified. The delivery rate table may then be used to offer services that may be above the cost limit to buyers in the special regions.

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4. How do I set up a postal rate table?

1. Click My eBay. Go to Account tab and click Site Preferences.
2. Locate “Use Postal Rate Tables” and click Edit.

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5. How do I update my exclusion list?

1. Click My eBay. Go to Account tab and click Site Preferences.
2. Locate “Shipping Preferences” and click Show.
3. Locate “Exclude postal locations from your listings” and click Edit.
4. Tick the areas or countries that you do not post to.
5. Click Apply.

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