Amazon Key has arrived. Will eBay follow suit?

[daksgirl4]

Frankly, I refuse to let any carrier do this, but over all, do you folks think ebay should and will do the same?

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/25/16538834/amazon-key-in-home-delivery-unlock-door-prime-cloud-cam...

[sharingtheland]

Geez, I have to give those people at Amazon a zillion tons of kudos.  Even if this flops, Amazon doesn't care - it's just one step in the learning/testing process of the smart home market Amazon is trying to corner.

What new programming have we spent days talking about here?  Ebay putting "refurbished" on listings of disposable diapers.  

[chrysylys]

NOBODY gets in my house when I'm not here.  NOBODY.

Very few get in when I am here.

[daksgirl4]

Its definitely an interesting idea, I might try it if they cut the humans out and let drones deliver inside my house

[bubbleman2010]

I launch a new ebay/amazon feature almost every morning...

[nc-daydreamer]

I certainly hope eBay is smart enough not to try and pull this off as a copy-cat - it is not a good idea. 

A better one would be to furnish lock boxes to customers who could secure them to the porch or wherever - then the delivery folks could have access to that - but my house - not happening.

[mistwomandancing]

Wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole! 

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[jonathankirkland]

To me this program is absolutely asinine and I would never consider it.

Let alone letting a stranger come into my home to leave a package there when I'm not home and trusting them not to do anything sinister, but what about hackers?

I am very weary of hackers being able to either a) simply hack the camera feed of these cameras and gain the ability to view the camera when I am not aware it is recording and more importantly and more disturbingly b) hacking the electronic lock and gaining access to my home.

No way would I ever trust a service like this! If package theft were a problem in my neighborhood I think the much better solution would be some type of lock box that packages could be placed in by the delivery person and then locked by them. Much simpler, safer solution.

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

Since eBay does not handle any merchandise, no -- there's nothing to deliver.

Personally, I was horrified this morning to hear this story on the news. You think porch pirates are bad now; just think of the possibilities of Amazon drivers being accosted while the door is unlocked! Or of a driver just wandering through an unoccupied house -- which can happen even when the initial entry is viewed on-camera.

I doubt this Amazon Prime "benefit" will succeed, especially in cities. Secured apartment and condo complexes would never allow an entry to be unlocked by a random person carrying a package. Individual apartment tenants would not be able to change locks or set up a surveillance camera.

In my experience, Amazon drivers use their personal vehicles, do not wear uniforms and do not carry ID identifying them as Amazon employees. Furthermore, when they gain entry, they do not simply leave the package in the mailbox area -- they walk through the building to the actual apartment and dump the package in the hallway.

~~C~~

[sharingtheland]

I don't think Amazon thinks this will be a hit.   Believe me, even if this totally flops (which I'm sure it will), Amazon will gain an edge in the smart home/Alexa thing by learning more and patenting something(s).

But, hey, we're all talking about it, aren't we?  They ain't stupid over there on that River.

[thatsallfolks]

There was an article in today’s Washington Post (owned by Jeff Bezos) absolutely trashing Amazon Key. Pretty amusing.

[rolenboy01]

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@nc-daydreamer wrote:

I certainly hope eBay is smart enough not to try and pull this off as a copy-cat - it is not a good idea. 

A better one would be to furnish lock boxes to customers who could secure them to the porch or wherever - then the delivery folks could have access to that - but my house - not happening.

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I like the idea of Amazon furnished lockboxes for prime members or something, but they would have to be outside the view of the road otherwise they would be prime targets.

[fuzzyfurball]

That's not needed in our house.  We have a tall gate around our house without a bell(no bell because of my crazy sister when we had to put up with her), so the deliverer just tosses the package over the gate.  I've subscribed myself for text messages with Ama*on long ago, so once they text me it's delivered that day, I go ahead and check the front porch inside our gated area.  That's one great thing I love about Ama*on--they text you FAST once it's been delivered and you don't have to go thru all these deliverer websites or 1-800 numbers to track your package.

[18704d]

"NOBODY gets in my house when I'm not here.  NOBODY."

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I live on a high traffic street, and always fear my packages can go missing from after-delivery theft.

I would Totally do this.. but

This is Only because my house has a 'mudroom'.

I'd let them install that 'cloud' lock on the outer door,

however, there is a 2nd locked door Before you can enter my kitchen.

See?

Lynn

[daksgirl4]

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@duchess-at-speakeasy wrote:
Since eBay does not handle any merchandise, no -- there's nothing to deliver.

Personally, I was horrified this morning to hear this story on the news. You think porch pirates are bad now; just think of the possibilities of Amazon drivers being accosted while the door is unlocked! Or of a driver just wandering through an unoccupied house -- which can happen even when the initial entry is viewed on-camera.

I doubt this Amazon Prime "benefit" will succeed, especially in cities. Secured apartment and condo complexes would never allow an entry to be unlocked by a random person carrying a package. Individual apartment tenants would not be able to change locks or set up a surveillance camera.

In my experience, Amazon drivers use their personal vehicles, do not wear uniforms and do not carry ID identifying them as Amazon employees. Furthermore, when they gain entry, they do not simply leave the package in the mailbox area -- they walk through the building to the actual apartment and dump the package in the hallway.

~~C~~

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Ebay does have a seller who acts as the Ebay Valet store, so that could be a possibility.

Over all tho, even if ebay did find a way to do this I doubt many buyers would go for it