Customers are known to have high expectations of the shipping of their ordered purchases. For example, they want free and fast delivery that can be returned without any problems. They also want to be informed at all times about where the shipment is and when it will arrive. Convenient collection options, a variety of shipping service providers and secure packaging also play an important role in the decision to buy, alongside the price and item description.
This is no different for purchases via marketplaces such as eBay. In this article, we would like to give you some tips on how you can fulfill your customers’ wishes with the right settings in the background and at the same time ensure that your listings are more visible and attractive.
Optimize handling time
People who store online want to have the items they buy in their hands as quickly as possible. The shortest possible delivery time is therefore often crucial for completing a purchase. Most of the items sold on eBay have a delivery time of 1-3 days. To offer this to your customers, you can easily set the processing days in your account and optimize the handling time.
- The processing days can be adjusted via the shipping settings (remember that changes to the processing days affect the entire account):
Log in > My eBay > Account > Shipping settings > Set processing to the same working day > Edit - Handling times can be set in the general conditions:
Log in > My eBay > Account > General conditions > off we go > Set framework conditions > Shipping
Or
Log in > Account settings > My eBay > General conditions > off we go > Set framework conditions > Shipping
Free shipping increases visibility
In addition to fast delivery, the decisive factor for the purchase decision is often whether shipping incurs additional costs for the customer. Two thirds of all eBay transactions are already processed with free shipping.¹ As potential buyers have the option to filter for free shipping when searching for items, sellers significantly increase their visibility with this listing. You should adjust your prices accordingly to compensate for the additional costs incurred on your site. A comparison with competitors is worthwhile here. Although free shipping can have an impact on your margins, you will also benefit from the improved visibility and competitiveness.
Shipping discounts make the difference
If free delivery is not an option in principle or for individual items, you can also make your listings more attractive by offering discounts. There are various ways of granting buyers a discount on the item price and/or shipping costs. These include, for example, the multi-discount, with which you as a seller can offer staggered discounts when buying larger quantities.
With special price shipping, you can set a discount under certain conditions. For example, customers pay a maximum of 5.00 euros shipping costs even when buying several items.
- Go to the “Manage shipping settings” page.
- In the Offer combined payment and shipping section, select the Create or Edit option next to Rules for shipping at special price.
- Enter your conditions and choose Next.
- Check the rule again and then select Save.
Flat-rate shipping also has advantages for you and your customers. The shipping costs are the same for all purchases and it becomes proportionally cheaper the more items are ordered. When selling on eBay, you have three options:
- Free shipping from a certain minimum order value or from a certain quantity.
- A fixed amount is added for each additional item purchased. For example, 5.00 euros for the first item and 2.00 euros for each additional item.
- A fixed amount is deducted from the shipping costs for each additional item purchased. For example, 5.00 Euro is charged for the first item and 1.00 Euro is deducted for each additional item.
- Go to the “Manage shipping settings” page.
- In the Offer combined payment and shipping section, select the Create or Edit option next to Rules for flat-rate shipping .
- Enter the amount to be added / deducted and select Next.
- Check the rule again and then select Save.
Which option is best for your store or your items is ultimately an individual decision and depends on various factors. Experience often shows which option is best for you financially and in terms of customer satisfaction.
A way back
The majority of those who store online state that the option of free returns is one of the most important criteria for or against the purchase decision. Experience has also shown that customer-friendly returns policies create trust and help to attract more customers and drive business forward.For example, uncomplicated and free returns processing can lead to repeat purchases and a positive development of your new customer business.
To minimize the effort for you and the waiting time for your customers, you can activate the automatic acceptance of return requests in your eBay account.
- Go to your settings for the processing of returns
- Under “Send refund” you can specify that buyers can keep the item and automatically receive a refund if the refund amount is below a certain amount. Simply enter the desired amount here.
- Selects the return reasons for which this rule should be applied.
- Under “Confirm return” you can specify that returns should be automatically confirmed if the full refund amount is below a certain amount. Enter the desired amount here.
- Selects the return reasons for which this rule should be applied.
Changes to your return rules will be automatically applied to all future return requests. They do not apply to return requests that have already been received.
In addition, the issue of visibility should not be underestimated here either. As with free delivery, eBay users can filter for specific return conditions when searching for items. This means that items that do not meet the desired conditions are not even displayed. This means that the more attractive the return conditions of your items are, the more often your goods will be found by potential buyers.
Do you already offer your goods on other marketplaces and now want to “conquer” eBay as a sales platform? With JTL-eazyAuction, you can carry out the creation of listings, monitoring and processing of your items directly in JTL-Wawi and conveniently manage your sales on several marketplaces. Try it out!
What about international shipping?
If you sell your goods internationally, you can use the following options:
- Your own shipping agreement.
- The so-called “Packlink” with fees negotiated by eBay.
- Larger sellers who ship 30 or more parcels per week can use eBay fulfillment, which is provided by our partner Orange Connex for domestic and international shipping. More information can be found here.
International returns
International shipping goes hand in hand with international returns. There are a few things to keep in mind here as well. Sellers must follow all international trade regulations for the buyer’s local market. These requirements may apply to returns, for example, even if a buyer changes their mind or states that the item they received does not match the description in the listing (“item differs significantly from description”). It is the responsibility of sellers to agree with their buyers on a shipping method for returning the item to the original shipping location. You can find more details here.
Logistics solutions from the marketplace itself
eBay offers various logistics solutions to support you here. eBay fulfillment for example, is already part of the JTL-Fulfillment Network and can be used quickly and easily.
Don't underestimate it! Smooth shipping and returns processes as a "Gamebraker"
As you can see, shipping and logistics is a complex matter. Even if it may seem rather minor in the context of your overall online business, it has a significant influence on customer satisfaction. No matter how good your product or listing is in the end, customers who have a negative experience with shipping and/or returns are very likely to switch to the competition.
We hope that this short introduction has helped you. Please let us know what you think in this survey:
¹ Internal data from eBay: January to December 2020, average value for all transactions in the USA, UK and Germany.
