Why Some eBay Sellers Sell 100x More Products Than You

When it comes to selling on eBay, success can be achieved by anyone who puts in the effort. However, some sellers do better than others. The good news is that the reasons for their success are not a secret, and with the right strategies and mindset, anyone can excel. In fact, there are countless examples of eBay sellers who started small but have grown their businesses into substantial operations. So, if you're wondering why some eBay sellers do better than others, you're in the right place. Let's explore the key factors that contribute to success on eBay and discover how you too can reach new heights.

First up, we will dive into the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program and why you should be taking it seriously. We believe in this program so much for sellers that this article will focus on this and only briefly touch on addition methods. This alone could be the reason your biggest competitor on eBay sells more than you. We will follow up with future posts on the other avenues.

How does the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program work?

The eBay Guaranteed Delivery program is a service that enables sellers to offer guaranteed delivery dates to buyers. Here's how the program works:

Eligibility: To participate in the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program, sellers must meet certain eligibility requirements, such as maintaining a good selling history and meeting eBay's shipping and handling time requirements.
Setting up Guaranteed Delivery: Once a seller is eligible, they can opt-in to the program and choose which listings to include. The seller must then specify the handling time for the item and select one of the available guaranteed delivery options that meet the buyer's delivery date expectations.
Guaranteed Delivery Options: There are three Guaranteed Delivery options available to sellers - Guaranteed Delivery (1-3 Days), Guaranteed Delivery (1-2 Days), and Guaranteed Delivery (2 Days). The seller must choose one of these options based on the handling time they specified for the item and the shipping service they use.
Displaying Guaranteed Delivery Information: Once a seller has opted in to the program and selected the Guaranteed Delivery option, the delivery date range will be displayed prominently in the listing so that buyers can see it before making a purchase.
Meeting Guaranteed Delivery Commitments: If a seller fails to deliver the item by the guaranteed delivery date, the buyer may be eligible for a refund of the shipping cost or an eBay voucher for the purchase price and original shipping. The seller will also receive a defect on their account if they fail to meet the Guaranteed Delivery commitment.

Overall, the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program can help sellers build buyer confidence and increase sales by offering a reliable delivery date.

How can the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program increase my sales?

eBay Guaranteed Delivery is a fantastic service that benefits both buyers and sellers. By ensuring prompt delivery of orders by a specific date, customers can shop with confidence, knowing that their items will arrive on time. Sellers who deliver items within three days or less qualify for the full benefits of eGD, but even those with four-day shipping can still participate.

Being part of eBay Guaranteed Delivery program gives you a competitive edge in the crowded marketplace. With millions of listings, it can be challenging to stand out, but eGD allows your listings to appear when buyers filter for fast shipping, giving you an advantage over your competitors. And the extra effort to deliver items quickly pays off by increasing customer satisfaction and sales.

By guaranteeing delivery, you eliminate the uncertainty for your customers, which can lead to more purchases and improved conversion rates. In fact, our partners have seen a 10% lift in sales once a listing is eBay Fast 'N Free enabled, and we expect this number to grow even higher. Recently, conversions for sellers have doubled since enabling eGD, which is a testament to its effectiveness.

So, if you want to get your products in front of more eBay buyers and increase your sales, consider joining eBay Guaranteed Delivery. With online shopping becoming more popular every day, fast and reliable shipping has become a necessity, and eGD allows you to meet that need while boosting your business.

What are some common criticisms of the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program?

While the eBay Guaranteed Delivery program can be a helpful service for sellers and buyers, there are also some common criticisms of the program. Here are a few examples:

Limited Coverage: The Guaranteed Delivery program is not available for all items or all locations, which can limit its usefulness for some sellers and buyers.

Complex Requirements: The eligibility requirements and delivery options for the Guaranteed Delivery program can be complex and difficult for some sellers to understand and implement, which can make it challenging to participate in the program.

Shipping Cost: Some sellers may have to incur additional shipping costs to meet the Guaranteed Delivery commitment, which can affect their profit margins.

Shipping Carriers: The Guaranteed Delivery program is limited to certain shipping carriers. You should check this, as things change, but most of the major carriers are compatible. DPD and Royal Mail are great examples. As you may be aware, eBay sells Royal Mail labels directly, so buyers can print Royal Mail labels without ever leaving eBay. And DPD and eBay have been working together for many years. You can use Shiptheory to integrate eBay with DPD, or similiar platforms, more on that below.

A brief history of the business relationship between Ebay and DPD in the UK

eBay and DPD have had a business relationship in the UK for several years. DPD is a courier and delivery service that operates in the UK and internationally, while eBay is an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers around the world.

In 2010, eBay launched its eBay Delivery service in the UK, which allowed sellers on eBay to use DPD as their delivery provider. This partnership was aimed at improving the delivery experience for eBay customers and helping sellers to streamline their delivery processes.

Over the years, eBay and DPD have continued to work closely together, with DPD becoming one of eBay's preferred delivery partners in the UK. DPD has also developed a range of services specifically tailored to eBay sellers, including a delivery service that offers same-day delivery for certain items.

In addition to providing delivery services, DPD has also worked with eBay to offer sellers access to its parcel collection and drop-off services. This has allowed eBay sellers to easily manage their deliveries and returns, helping to improve the overall customer experience on the platform.

Overall, the relationship between eBay and DPD in the UK has been a successful one, with both companies benefiting from their collaboration. By working together, they have been able to improve the delivery experience for eBay customers and help sellers to grow their businesses on the platform.

On eBay's website, sellers can find information about the eBay Delivery service, which allows them to use DPD as their delivery provider. The website provides details on the range of delivery services available, including DPD's same-day delivery service.

On the DPD website, sellers can find information about the company's services for eBay sellers, including its eBay-spe
cific parcel collection and drop-off services. The website also provides details on how sellers can integrate DPD's services with their eBay accounts and manage their deliveries and returns.

What other tools are available to help you sale more on eBay?

There are several tools available to help sellers increase their sales on eBay. And your competitors use of one or more of these could also be the exact reason they sell more than you. We will cover each of these in more detail in a future post, for now you can use the below to help you decide what to focus your own research on.

Terapeak: This is a market research tool that can help sellers identify popular products, analyze competition, and determine pricing strategies.
eBay Promotions Manager: This tool allows sellers to create special offers and promotions, such as discounted pricing or free shipping, to entice buyers to purchase their products.
eBay Listing Analytics: This feature provides sellers with insights into how their listings are performing, including data on page views, conversion rates, and sales trends.

These are just a few examples of the tools available to help sellers increase their sales on eBay. Ultimately, the most effective strategies will depend on the individual seller's goals, product offerings, and target audience.

How Shiptheory helps you as you sell more on eBay

Shiptheory is a shipping automation platform that helps eBay sellers streamline their shipping processes, save time, and improve their customer experience. With Shiptheory, eBay sellers can connect their eBay account with over 70 carriers, print labels, and track shipments all from one place.

Shiptheory automates the entire shipping process, from selecting the carrier to printing the shipping labels and generating tracking numbers. This means that eBay sellers can process orders faster, reduce errors, and provide accurate tracking information to their customers, all of which can lead to higher customer satisfaction and repeat business.

Additionally, Shiptheory offers advanced features such as rule-based automation, which allows sellers to set up custom shipping rules based on the destination, weight, or value of the item. This feature helps sellers to choose the best carrier for each shipment, resulting in cost savings and better delivery times.

In summary, Shiptheory helps eBay sellers sell more effectively by automating the shipping process, reducing errors, and providing accurate tracking information to customers. By streamlining the shipping process, eBay sellers can focus on growing their business and providing a better experience for their customers, ultimately leading to increased sales and profitability.

Alternatives to Shiptheory for eBay sellers

Of course there are alternative options to using Shiptheory to help you integrate with carriers, and we will cover that in a future post so that we can give adequate attention to the question. Meanwhile, we will let you do your own research into those alternatives - But once you have found an alternative, compare the reviews to Shiptheory on TrustPilot, it's hard to beat Shiptheory on customer service and technical capabilities.

How to remove eBay’s Virtual Tracking Number from your shipping label using Shiptheory

eBay recently introduced the eBay Virtual Tracking Number (eVTN). This unique tracking code makes it easier for eBay buyers to get tracking information for their parcels even if the sender has not provided any. Currently, the eVTN is applied to orders shipped via Royal Mail in the UK and Australia Post in Australia, and it is the first time a marketplace includes an identifier into a carrier’s 2D tracking barcode.

Royal Mail and Australia Post use the eVTN provided and associate it with the parcel’s ID. That allows them to upload the tracking data on the sellers’ behalf, and update buyers on the status of the shipments posted.

The eVTN is in the format ‘eBayXXXXXXX’ (7 characters following the word ‘eBay’), and it is automatically added at the end of the second line of the address. When you generate your Royal Mail shipping labels, the eVTN will be automatically transferred from the second address line into the Royal Mail 2D tracking barcode.

Unfortunately, if Royal Mail is not your carrier of choice, the eVTN will remain at the end of the second line of the address when you generate your shipping label. That is something that can be annoying and sometimes confusing.

But fear not, for Shiptheory’s shipping management platform can help you solve that problem!

Suppose you integrate your eBay account directly into Shiptheory, or you send your eBay shipments to Shiptheory through a third-party warehouse management system. In both cases, our shipping management platform will automatically detect and remove the eVTN from the second address line and send it to the carrier of your choice in the field it is required to be.

If you have any queries regarding the eVTN, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account, connect your eBay store, and start shipping smarter and faster today!

June 2020 Update

May was another hectic month here at Shiptheory.

We have added four new carriers: Sendle US&AUS, Aramex, The Pallet Network, and LF&E.

You are now able to send orders from your e-commerce channels of choice in Shiptheory to all four new carriers and automate your shipping process entirely. Create shipping rules based on the weight, value, destination, and contents of your orders, and Shiptheory will generate labels for your deliveries instantly.

Please read here for more information regarding our new carriers integrations.

eBay

We are thrilled to announce that eBay has now approved Shiptheory as an official compatible application.

DX Express

We have now added support for additional DX Express services, these being 'Bag' and 'Box' Secure services. These types of services are now available to select in your rules or to book in with manually.

We are also delighted to announce that Shiptheory now offers integration with two DX Freight Services: DX 1-Man and DX 2-Man.

Read about the whole range of DX integrations on this post.

Bolt-ons

We have made a change to the UI when viewing your active Bolt-ons on your Billing History page. To avoid confusion as to your usage, you are now able to see the number of shipments remaining in a bolt-on along with its expiration date:

Other additions of note that have been implemented in the last month:

DPD: There is now an option to change timezone from UTC on order cutoff time.
Aramex Ref1 is now in 'Shipper Ref' on the label.
WooCommerce: Fixed a bug where Shipping Methods were not visible in shipping rules.
Unleashed: We have added support for product batch numbers.
Amazon Product barcodes are now able to be displayed on Integrated Labels.
Squarespace tracking information updates changed to match the latest Squarespace API spec.
Tuffnells: Option to add account number to tracking numbers in channels.
Bring: Added latest service codes for additional Bring shipping services.
GLS.nl: Updated shipment tracking link URL.

If you have any queries regarding the above integrations and updates, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get these up and running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

Thanks to Joe @ Shiptheory for pulling most of this together.

Four New Carriers Integrations

We are pleased to announce that over the last month, we have added four new carriers to Shiptheory, further increasing your shipping capabilities.

Sendle (US and AUS)

‘Helping good business deliver.’

Sendle is an Australian company with headquarters in Sydney, and its Australia’s first 100% carbon neutral delivery service and certified B corporation. The company received significant media attention in Australia when they started offering services considerably cheaper than the government-owned Australia Post and in November 2019, Sendle announced its launch in the United States.

Founded in 2014 by James Chin Moody, Sean Geoghegan, and Craig Davis, Sendle helps small e-commerce business flourish by simplifying logistics and making parcel delivery reliable and affordable. According to its owners:

‘Our customers are our bee’s knees and the heart of our business, they are the inventive, entrepreneurial, hard-working heart of the Australian economy. We spend a lot of time listening to our customers; we’re not just a software company that happens to love logistics, we’re game-changers who through great technology, design, and people, build things that matter and make a difference for our customers’.

In 2017, Sendle announced their partnership with DHL eCommerce to facilitate delivery to 220 countries and territories from Australia. They also integrated with major e-commerce companies, including eBay, Shopify, and Xero, among others.

LF&E

Established in 2008, LF&E is a temperature-controlled logistics company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, and it is supported by six regional locations including Newcastle, Runcorn, and Featherstone in England, Glasgow and Forres in Scotland and Belfast in Northern Ireland. The company works with some of the largest pharmaceutical, medical, healthcare, and clinical trial organisations in both the private and public sectors.

With remote temperature monitoring, route planning, wireless telematics, and mobile data terminals, the company’s fleet, counting over 40 refrigerated vans, is undeniably one of the best in the business. Although specialist couriers in the pharmaceutical, medical and healthcare goods, LF&E also owns a separate fleet of vehicles serving the food and food processing industries providing same-day delivery for all services if required.

Aramex

Aramex is an international express, mail delivery, and logistics services company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Founded by Fadi Ghandour and Bill Kingson in 1982, Aramex has approximately 13,800 employees in 54 countries, a network consisting of 40 independent express companies, and it was the first Arab-based company to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1997.

The company’s width of services includes express courier delivery, freight forwarding, logistics, supply chain management, e-commerce, and record management services.

In 2007, the company launched a corporate university and adopted Sustainability Reporting. Aramex’ ‘Delivering Good’ sustainability platform is active in over 180 educational, social and environmental projects worldwide.

Additionally, Aramex offers an app that allows their customers to track deliveries and monitor the shipping process from their mobile phone. The Aramex app is available to download from Apple’s AppStore and GooglePlay.

Learn more about the company’s first steps on this Harvard Business Review article by Aramex’ co-founder Fadi Ghandour.

The Pallet Network

The Pallet Network, founded in 2000, is one of the UK’s leading palletised freight distribution networks, offering Next Day, Premium, Economy, and Tail-Lift services throughout the UK and Ireland, as well as Europe and Scandinavia, based in Minworth, England. In 2018, TPN was acquired by Eddie Stobart Logistics Ltd.

TPN offers a range of distribution and delivery services for palletised freight whatever the size of consignment, budget, or required delivery time-frame and operates a zero-tolerance policy to loss or damage.

TPN is composed of more than 100 independent transport member companies, with almost 130 depot locations across the UK, as well as a sister network in Ireland containing 24 regional carriers.

If you have any queries about setting up any of the above carriers, please don't hesitate to reach out to support, or create a free Shiptheory account and connect your online store to get shipping today.

Covid-19 Shipping News

This document is updated as we receive news from our partners.

UPDATED ARTICLE HERE

As Covid-19 (coronavirus) quarantines and restrictions are put in place across the world, including Europe, UK, and the US, there will inevitably be an impact on the e-commerce, shipping and fulfillment industries.

At this difficult and daunting time, we want to keep you and your businesses as enlightened as possible.

Here are the latest news updates from delivery carriers and e-commerce platforms regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

Please note that these updates are subject to change if in doubt visit the website of the delivery carrier or contact your account manager.

Etsy

Etsy CEO, Josh Silverman, has announced new benefits for Etsy sellers to help during the pandemic.

"If you’re having dispatch challenges, delivery issues, or trouble meeting a deadline, just let us know. Our dedicated team is here 24/7 and can provide you with resources to assist you in managing through these times and help your shop stay in good standing when challenges arise."

New Benefits

Etsy has pledged to spend $5million in offsite advertising on Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Instagram and Bing until the end of April to bring in customer traffic at no extra cost for Etsy sellers.

The marketplace has also brought in a 1 month grace period for online sellers who have any outstanding bills, no questions asked.

COVID-19 Safety

A COVID-19 safety guide has been published on Etsy for buyers.

In this guide, Etsy has outlined how they are protecting the community from coronavirus profiteering including products with false medical claims. The e-commerce platform has also asked for customers to be more patient for their orders to arrive and stay in communication with their seller.

"We ask that you have extra patience at this time, since many sellers in our community are facing disruptions in their usual routines that may cause some unpredictability when it comes to fulfilling orders."

Amazon

Amazon announced that they are temporarily suspending non-essential shipments to warehouses in the UK and US by third-party e-commerce sellers.

Amazon sellers have been informed that this is due to increased demand for household products and medical supplies, resulting in lower stock than usual.

This follows widespread panic buying by UK consumers, with some retailers unexpectedly facing supply chain issues to compete with demand.

“We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritise these products for customers”

The online retailer will prioritise the following categories: groceries, baby products, health and household, beauty and personal care, pet supplies, and industrial and scientific.

In response to huge increases in e-commerce demand, Amazon is also planning to hire over 10,000 employees to work in their fulfilment centres.

Royal Mail

The Royal Mail has updated their international delivery destination list due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although 'major export routes remain open' and services to the US are still operational.

These countries have been suspended until further notice:

• Albania

• Armenia

• Bermuda

• Bosnia-Herzegovina

• Caribbean Islands – British Virgin Island, Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands & Haiti

• Cuba

• Equador

• Djibouti

• French Polynesia

• Kuwait

• Lebanon

• Macedonia

• Mauritania

• Moldova

• Montenegro

• New Zealand

• Peru

• Philippines

• Samoa

• South Africa

• South Korea

• Sri Lanka

• Taiwan

• Tunisia

• Turks and Caicos Islands

• Venezuela (long term)

• Zimbabwe

Changes to signatures

In an effort to protect Royal Mail staff and customers, signatures will no longer be captured using a hand-held device. Instead, postal workers will take down the name of the recipient for signed for deliveries.

Non-contact delivery

Packages that don't fit through the letterbox will be placed at the door of the recipient by Royal Mail. Postmen and women will knock on the door/ring the doorbell and stand nearby to ensure that it has been received safely.

Following Royal Mail's usual measures, a 'Something for You' card to pick up the package will be left if no one picks up the parcel.

eBay

eBay has released a statement after eBay sellers have been found to sell essential items at a premium due to the coronavirus.

Like other online marketplaces, eBay has been combating e-commerce sellers from profiting from the crisis by selling items such as toilet roll and sanitiser at extortionate prices.

"We continue to work closely with authorities including Trading Standards, and our international security teams have been working around the clock to remove any unreasonably priced listings. Where sellers are attempting to circumvent our filters, we are taking necessary enforcement action."

DHL

The Deutsch Post DHL Group has established a Covid-19 task force to monitor the outcomes of the coronavirus outbreak and work with international organisations.

For DHL delivery workers they have put in place 'Safety First' etiquette rules which involve social distancing and thorough hygiene practices.

DPD and DPD Local

DPD has been very thorough with coronavirus updates, and they are updating their page every day to keep their customers in the know with the latest news.

To minimise the risk of disease, DPD has created measures to rotate staff, brought in more drivers to cover absences, and arranged extra cleaning services for depots.

All parcel collection, sortation and delivery operations from DPD and DPD local are running as normal. The delivery carrier has confirmed that they are 'seeing extremely good service levels right across our network'.

Postcode Delivery Restrictions

On Friday 27th March DPD announced restrictions on a selection of postcodes in Italy, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Croatia.

The full list of restricted postcodes can be found here.

Air Transport Increases

Due to widespread lockdown restrictions and border closures, DPD has stated that costs of air linehaul services have risen in line with restricted capacity.

"As the pandemic is beyond our reasonable control, the costs faced by DPD to provide International delivery services to certain destinations have increased so dramatically that we are unable to sustain services at the same rate as your current quote."

Extra shipment charges will affect services to Cyp
rus, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and the USA.

Proof of Delivery

DPD has announced an update to their contact free delivery. Although customers won't be asked to sign handheld units, DPD delivery drivers will take a photo of the parcel as proof of delivery.

FedEx

FedEx have announced that they will be temporarily suspending signatures on delivery, not including 'Adult Signature Required' shipments. FedEx has also put in place restrictions on inbound and outbound shipments to and from China.

Due to the Coronavirus travel restrictions, FedEx has suspended their money-back guarantee for FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Office services until further notice.

FedEx have released an online tool that allows you to search by postcode/city to see how COVID-19 is affecting specific areas.

To find out more about the measures that have been put in place visit the FedEx website or search the FedEx COVID-19 Impact database.

P2P

The FedEx-owned delivery company, P2P, has sent a coronavirus update to their customers outlining the changes taking place.

To ensure that shipments continue to be sent in coronavirus hit countries, packages will be sent via linehaul, which may come at an extra cost.

"We will ensure you are informed of these charges as soon as possible, but to make sure your shipments are allocated the space we have procured, we will automatically move your shipments by our approved linehaul."

In logistics, linehaul is a method of moving freight and cargo between cities and countries by lorry. P2P manage their own linehaul with a licence to complete customs checks and directly load international deliveries.

P2P has stated that you should contact your account manager if you would not like your parcels to be shipped using this method.

Tuffnells

Palletised freight delivery service, Tuffnells, has given a service notification on the Covid-19 pandemic. International deliveries with Tuffnells will face some disruption as freight services to Italy have been stopped, as have all import services.

They have also stated that there are longer waiting times than usual for shipments departing from the UK and at the European borders. Tuffnells deliveries in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mongolia, and Indonesia are also affected.

Commercial vehicles are being accepted into European countries, but a written confirmation that the consignee can accept the delivery will be needed.

In France, only business shipments that have confirmed that the recipient business will be open are being accepted. Despite this, packages that are 50kg in weight, 270cm length and 330cm in girth and below are not affected.

Hermes

Hermes has notified that their delivery couriers will be implementing contact-free delivery. Customers will be asked to choose a safe place for their delivery, and those with a package on the way can divert it to their safe place via tracking.

Hermes couriers will leave the parcel in a secure place, take a photo and send it in a notification email to the customer if a place isn't specified. However if there isn't a safe spot to leave parcels, delivery will be reattempted up to 3 times.

Our eBay Integration Has Arrived!

Shiptheory can now be integrated with your eBay sellers account, now you can manage your entire booking and labelling process for your eBay account directly within Shiptheory!

Many of you probably already know what eBay is but for those that don't, eBay is a website that allows anyone to buy and sell pretty much anything they want on there.

eBay has been around since 1995 and has gained quite the following so it made sense for us to integrate with eBay and give the opportunity to their users to automate their labelling process as well as giving our existing users the opportunity to use eBay if it meets their needs.

eBay Integration...how does this all work?

The eBay integration with Shiptheory allows you to integrate your eBay account with FedEx, UPS, DHL, Royal Mail, DPD, Parcelforce, UK Mail and more of the worlds most popular shippers and have all your shipment details centralised into one place rather than being spread out over multiple carrier portals.

If you've seen how Shiptheory works with Magento, Brightpearl or any of the channels we have available then you already have a good head start to working with eBay.

Within Shiptheory you can create shipping rules to automatically process your eBay shipments to speed up your labelling process. You can give your rules certain requirements that need to be met in order for a shipment to filter into that rule like weight, value, SKU and a lot more.

All you have to do is mark your orders as shipped within eBay, Shiptheory will then pickup those orders and run them through your rules, electronically transfer the consignment data to the carrier, print a shipping label and pre-populate your daily manifest.

Shipment Tracking in eBay

When Shiptheory has successfully processed a shipment, the tracking number that your carrier provides us will be returned to eBay and an email containing this tracking number will be sent to your customer so they can keep an eye on how their shipment is doing.

The easier we make it for your customers to track their orders, they happy they will be with your service as a whole. You will also likely see a considerable reduction in customer inquiries regarding the status of orders you have dispatched already that are currently working their way though your shippers network.

If you have any queries about setting up eBay, please don't hesitate to contact our support team.