eBay streamlines international shipping for U.S. sellers

eBay is trying to remove complexities and costs from the process of shipping U.S. exports on its platform.

The e-commerce giant now offers a service called eBay International Shipping (eIS), which is intended to open up global access to eBay’s U.S. inventory. eIS is designed to reduce fees, handle customs and compliance, and manage tracking and returns, at no extra cost to U.S. sellers. 

In 2022, eBay says cross-border trade drove roughly one-fifth of its gross merchandise value (GMV), despite less than half of its inventory in its three largest markets (including the U.S.) being eligible for export.

Since officially launching eIS in fall 2022, the company says more than 1.5 million U.S. sellers have migrated to the service with an overall customer satisfaction rating of 80%. 

All eligible sellers will be automatically enrolled in eIS by summer 2023, with a voluntary opt-out option. For participating U.S. sellers., eligible listings will default to eBay International Shipping. If a seller’s current listings use other international shipping options, they may need to manually update them.

How it works

• U.S sellers send items to eBay’s domestic shipping hub, paying attention to proper labels and packaging, and eBay handles the rest. When a shipment arrives at the hub, eBay will prepare customs and tax forms, and the package will be labeled for its final destination.
• If a buyer opens a return, eBay issues a refund at no cost to the seller and handles all return communications.
• If an item is claimed as lost or damaged during international transit, the seller won’t be at fault. Performance standards and service metrics won’t be affected by late deliveries or eBay money back guarantee claims attributed to international shipping, and any negative or neutral international buyer feedback will be removed from a seller’s account.
• According to eBay, U.S. sellers reduce their selling costs on international transactions by an average of 13% with eBay International Shipping.

“eBay is passionate about giving people the resources they need to connect with the things they love — no matter what country or category,” said Adam Ireland, VP and GM, eBay U.S. “With eBay International Shipping, we’re making global connections even more accessible, affordable, and profitable, significantly increasing the volume of items available to shoppers in 200-plus countries, and making it even easier for our sellers to tap a universe of new business opportunities.”

eIS is slated to succeed eBay’s two legacy international shipping platforms — Global Shipping Program (GSP) and eBay International Standard Delivery (eISD) — by July 1, 2023. 

[Read more: eBay acquires AI-based counterfeit detection solution provider]

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. enabled over $87 billion of gross merchandise volume in 2021.