Guaranteed Delivery may guarantee a drop in sales ...

[mr_lincoln]

Last Tuesday I was put in Guaranteed Delivery ... unfortunately, my sales have not tripled so there must be a glitch ... as a matter of fact, weekends are usually pretty busy with sales but not this one so I just Opted OUT of GD in Site Prefs earlier this evening.  If my sales had tripled or even doubled I would have stayed in.  I just don't think its suited for Collectibles, Vintage and Antique type stuff ... maybe diapers, t-shirts and other commodities in high volume categories ...

[mr_lincoln]

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@pburn wrote:

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

" . . . weekends are usually pretty busy with sales but not this one so I just Opted OUT of GD in Site Prefs earlier this evening."

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I'm not sure I would've chosen a three-day holiday weekend by which to judge my sales, but that's just me. I probably would've considered the fact that most people are celebrating Memorial Day weekend as the kick-off of the summer season's activities, which probably wouldn't include buying items on eBay.

But, hey! You gave it from Tuesday to Sunday--what, six days? If you didn't see an uptick in sales in six days--including two days of a holiday weekend, then that program definitely wasn't working for you.

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LOL!  I definately would NOT have chosen a 3 day holiday weekend, Home Office did that for me!  And of course sales dropped off when I had hoped (from all their hype about GD improving sales) they would have sky rocketed!  So yes, I expected instant results ... its why they developed the feature after all! (LOL with tongue in cheek)

[mr_lincoln]

@nawlinsron2

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@nawlinsron2 wrote:

I may have gotten jaded as I've gotten older, but somehow relying on a microwave mentality for business success is like assuming every purchase has a Christmas Day anticipation attached to it.
Quality and price still sell...how many buyers have to take Melatonin the nite they purchase because anticipation has them on edge?
We buy and life goes on...

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BOTH Parcel Select and Priority have been offered long before GD came about and care to guess what most Buyer choose?  Hmmm?  They go the cheap route plain and simple.

[mr_lincoln]

@scalemotorcars  I have Opted out ...

[mr_lincoln]

@ted_200

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@ted_200 wrote:

I don't think it's going to make one scintilla of difference for sellers of not new, not bar-coded, not urgent need collectibles, antiques, etc. 

On a broader level, it's probably going to guarantee less buyers on eBay, in the long run.  Most buyers don't need any "guaranteed" delivery date (if they did, they'd be willing to pay for Express Mail, and just how many of those do you ever see?).  But for those who do, the USPS won't guarantee delivery, it's going to not be met sometimes.  And once you guarantee something and then fail to deliver on it, it erodes trust and confidence. 

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Agree 100% ... as mentioned more than once on this subject on numerous threads I offer BOTH Parcel Select & Priority and Buyer pick the cheap route but as @castlemagicmemories  mentioned, I can often upgrade to Priority with my discount and beat the delivery date generated by Parcel thus making the Buyer happy.

[mr_lincoln]

@slippinjimmy

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

  If my sales had tripled or even doubled I would have stayed in. 

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Do you think perhaps your expectations were a bit on the high side?

If it brought just one or two more sales for doing nothing different than you normally do why would that not be a worthwhile thing?

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Yes and no on expectations ... yes considering Home Offices over-hyped build up to GD and the implication that sales will improve and its "what" Buyers want / expect.  No because of my own track record of what Buyers actually purchase for shipping when offered BOTH Parcel Select and Priority for well over 2 years on collectibles ... THAT history is really why I opposed GD int he first place, not to mention again what @ted_200 pointed out with USPS not even being able to guarantee their own delivery (yes, I've heard clerks even say that at the counter).

As to the doubling and tripling sales comment (hee-hee) ... I love my humor!  That was more of a jaded comment / slam about GD then anything else but yes, sales should have gone up based on all the hype.

[nawlinsron2]

@slippinjimmy
"The "perks" they [ebay] offer buyers have to keep pace or they will whither, at least in relative terms."
So...how many building permits for fulfillment centers do they have in hand?

[castlemagicmemories]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

@ted_200

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@ted_200 wrote:

I don't think it's going to make one scintilla of difference for sellers of not new, not bar-coded, not urgent need collectibles, antiques, etc. 

On a broader level, it's probably going to guarantee less buyers on eBay, in the long run.  Most buyers don't need any "guaranteed" delivery date (if they did, they'd be willing to pay for Express Mail, and just how many of those do you ever see?).  But for those who do, the USPS won't guarantee delivery, it's going to not be met sometimes.  And once you guarantee something and then fail to deliver on it, it erodes trust and confidence. 

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Agree 100% ... as mentioned more than once on this subject on numerous threads I offer BOTH Parcel Select & Priority and Buyer pick the cheap route but as @castlemagicmemories  mentioned, I can often upgrade to Priority with my discount and beat the delivery date generated by Parcel thus making the Buyer happy.

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That's the wise thing to do, @mr_lincoln.  @ted_200 has articulated the very important point, one that I think has most uneasy with GD.  It's that USPS does not gurantee delivery themselves.  Given that the carrier themselves won't guarantee this, it seems unwise for others to do so.  As ted points out, once you guarantee something and fail to deliver, it erodes trust and confidence, and IMO can then tarnish your reputation.  

I pick the least expensive method of shipping, but I realize that it may be slower.  I'm ok with that.  The estimate delivery timeframe is displayed side by side with each method of shipping; buyers can see this.  Many times there is not much difference, time wise.  There should be no disconnect with the method you choose and when you should expect to receive it, the info is there, and it stands to reason a less expensive shipping method is going to be slower.

But that is just me.

[annindallas]

Y'all got me to thinking. Love it when you do that.....

Ina at ecommerce reports that Guaranteed Delivery items are only shown in close vicinity to the seller.

Is it possible that rhe item is also shown far away, without GD?

[annindallas]

I'm in Texas.

If someone in Pennsylvania has a GD item, and I can't find it, that would mean GD items have reduced visibility.

But if someone in Pennsylvania has a GD item and I can find it, without the GD showing, that wouls be a positive thing.

Anyone want to list one GD item, temporarily, so we could look for it around the country? See what it shows?

[nawlinsron2]

"Ina at ecommerce reports that Guaranteed Delivery items are only shown in close vicinity to the seller."
Sounds about right. It's like a food store mailing their weekly flyer to just the addresses within a 5 block radius.

[castlemagicmemories]

I wonder if that info is not readily available if you are buying on your phone. (delivery prices and estimated delivery timeframes)

Of course, it could be it is there but not being read.

[nawlinsron2]

Here's the joke that is GD...
I sell golf clubs...all go Priority Mail. I "compete" against other club sellers who also ship Priority Mail. If you click the 3Day toggle, you get a list of whatever clubs qualify.
That does include sellers not so near.
The joke is, that list includes only sellers who offer optional Fedex 2Day or Express Mail, which cost 2-4 times more than their std Priority Mail rate.
That gets into GD delivery by the CARRIER, not ebay.

[timemachine777]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

Last Tuesday I was put in Guaranteed Delivery ... unfortunately, my sales have not tripled so there must be a glitch ... as a matter of fact, weekends are usually pretty busy with sales but not this one so I just Opted OUT of GD in Site Prefs earlier this evening.  If my sales had tripled or even doubled I would have stayed in.  I just don't think its suited for Collectibles, Vintage and Antique type stuff ... maybe diapers, t-shirts and other commodities in high volume categories ...

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Mr Lincoln...Here's my 2 cents. Oops...I need to adjust my tin foil hat for this one.

A number of sellers have recently noticed a huge geographic change in their customer locations. For example; sellers on the east coast would find that most of their sales went to the west coast, and vice versa. Many of us saw this as eBay driving traffic to cash in on the 10% FVF on shipping charges. The farther away, the higher the shipping costs, the higher the FVF profit for eBay.

Now sellers are seeing a shift in sales locality, as their customers are now more condensed around their own locality. eBay knows from beta testing GD over the past year that even priority shipments going to zones 6, 7, 8...take more than 3 days on a percentage of shipments to large for eBay to eat on it's current promo, where eBay is responsible for the buyer compensation.

My tin foil hat needs to be nice and snug for this part.

eBay is most likely going to limit which geographic areas get to see items that are in the GD option. Many of us know that they already do this with the general inventory on the site and state as much in the user agreement under "Listing Conditions". That little policy would cover what I stated above. BTW...Now they just added this little nugget to the "Fees" section of the User agreement...

Seller fees don't purchase exclusive rights to item exposure on eBay, whether on a web page, mobile app, or otherwise. We may, in our sole discretion and without consent from, or payment, fee reduction, or other credit to, sellers, display third-party advertisements (including links and references thereto) or other content in any part of our Services.

Happy selling everybody.

[ymeagainlord]

I did take note of that particular addition/revision to the UA.

Basically they're saying we can pay for a service but don't be surprised if eBay doesn't deliver said service.

[mr_lincoln]

@timemachine777  wrote: Now sellers are seeing a shift in sales locality, as their customers are now more condensed around their own locality. eBay knows from beta testing GD over the past year that even priority shipments going to zones 6, 7, 8...take more than 3 days on a percentage of shipments to large for eBay to eat on it's current promo, where eBay is responsible for the buyer compensation.

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I'm in the mid-atlantic states region and this month shipped to the west coast, several southern states with coast lines on the Gulf, the mid-west and New England states ... pretty much all over the country.  So are you saying this localized shipping for GD pulls that geography in so folks would not see the broad shipping base I've experienced prior to GD?

Also, just curious where your info comes from?  Posts on The Community? eCommerce Bytes?  Some other source?