eBay announced Wednesday it had launched the enhanced Certified Providers program. But what does it mean for sellers who don’t use one of the seven charter members of the program? Will they find themselves at a disadvantage?
eBay launched the developers program in 2000 in order to manage the calls that developers made to its servers and launched the Certified Providers program in 2004 (it’s interesting to take a look at the 17 inaugural members of the program). Most of early developers offered tools to help sellers manage their inventory and listings on eBay.
In 2011, eBay pruned the CP program in advance of its merging the eBay Developers Program – along with the developers program of the newly acquired Magento – into PayPal’s program as part of its new X.Commerce initiative.
The seven members of the new enhanced CP program include Ally Commerce (formerly known as OFS Retail), eSellerPro, Kadro, Mercent, Monsoon Commerce, Shopping Feed, and Solid Commerce. “Each provider will deliver solutions and support that will help merchants scale and accelerate their success on eBay,” eBay said.
“Additionally, merchants will receive an unprecedented level of services, such as selling tips and information on how to jumpstart selling on eBay.”
In its announcement, eBay also said providers will invite “qualified” sellers to join, who will then receive “proven account management services and integration to efficiently and effectively set up their business on eBay.”
“In addition, the program ensures timely new feature adoption and expedited issue resolution.”
Mikhail Ledvich, Product Marketing Director for Monsoon Commerce, told EcommerceBytes, “We are very excited to leverage our long-time relationship with eBay and partner with them on their enhanced Certified Provider Program. We look forward to providing our customers with best practices and other benefits from this program.”
We asked eBay if the members of the new enhanced Certified Provider Program were required to pay extra fees for inclusion into the program and how eBay selected those charter members for inclusion.
eBay spokesperson Ryan Moore said each of the charter members would bring new merchants onto eBay and would “leverage their proven account management support to arm merchants with best-practices and the tools needed to grow their business.”
“This is a performance-based program,” Moore said, “and each of the providers have demonstrated success while working with sellers on eBay. As we continue to grow our ecosystem and trusted Marketplace, this program is an example of how eBay is investing in solutions that help merchants onboard and grow their business on eBay.”
When asked whether sellers who did not use one of those programs would be at a disadvantage, Moore said, “Sellers who do not use our Certified Provider Program are not at a disadvantage. The program is focused on providing options for businesses that are looking for certified solutions and growth strategies with a track record of success.”
You can find information about the new program on eBay.com/certified.
