eBay Provides Fast 'N Free Shipping Report in Seller Dashboard

eBay is providing sellers with a Fast 'n Free shipping report in their dashboards, the company announced on Wednesday. eBay's shipping program displays a "Fast 'N Free" logo on listings that include free shipping and that eBay estimates would likely arrive to the shopper's location within 4 business days. Both the buyer and the item must be within the 48 contiguous states.

eBay first launched Fast 'n Free for Top Rated Sellers in October 2011 and later rolled it out to all qualifying U.S. sellers - the "fast" part of the Fast N Free eligibility was based on each seller's historical delivery performance in relation to the buyer's location - meaning the same listing might display the badge to some buyers but not others, depending on the buyer's zip code.

A weary-sounding eBay seller who received the eBay announcement told EcommerceBytes, "No mention of it being used against sellers YET... Unfortunately, I am betting that this will be used by eBay to eliminate sellers from the 20% discounts with one of the next seller updates."

He included a screenshot of the graph he found in his Seller Dashboard. "That page gives a chart which eBay uses to claim sales would be greater if the seller offered Fast & Free," he wrote. "The problem with their statistics is this: To qualify for Fast and Free, shipping must be included in the selling price and the shipping service must be expedited shipping such as Priority mail. naturally, Priority mail costs more than First Class Mail, hence the claimed increase in sales eBay claims sellers would see."

"The problem with their statistics is that the seller is not actually realizing a higher price for the item given that the item price includes a more expensive shipping method," he said.

In Wednesday's announcement, eBay explained that the Fast 'N Free report in a seller's dashboard displays the number of current listings that include the eBay Fast 'N Free logo for all US buyers, the positive impact the logo can have on their sales, and how sellers can adjust their shipping and handling to get "this sales-driving logo" on even more of their listings.

In a FAQ section on Fast 'N Free, eBay offered advice to sellers, including the following: Do I need to make any changes to my listings to get the eBay Fast 'N Free logo to appear? Answer: You can increase your chances of having the logo appear on your listings by following all the usual best practices: Offer a free shipping service, ship within 24 hours, and always upload tracking information to My eBay.