posted on January 17, 2002 07:14:53 PM newEBay Checkout Background
In early October, eBay introduced checkout functionality on all seller auctions. Sellers had no way of turning the functionality off, and experienced a high degree of buyer confusion. After significant user protests http://forums.ebay.com/[email protected]^[email protected], eBay agreed make some of the checkout messaging and process optional.
How does this impact me?
If you use a post sale process other than eBay checkout, including the AuctionWatch Post Sale Management system, you may experience a lower success rate of buyers completing your preferred checkout process. This may cause you to have to spend more time clearing up confusion, and increase the time it takes you to ship orders to your customers. This situation has also led some frustrated buyers to blame the communication issues on sellers rather than eBay.
What can I do to improve the situation?
There are a few things you can do to help reduce buyer confusion.
1) Opt out of eBay checkout at the eBay site. This does not completely fix the situation, because some instructions will still appear at the bottom of your auction. However, opting out will make it so a ‘checkout’ button does not appear after the auction closes. This will encourage the buyer to read and follow your post sale instructions. You can update this preference here: http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?UpdateCheckoutPreferences. Simply log in, choose ‘No, do not display eBay's Checkout button’, and click the ‘submit’ button at the bottom of the page.
2) Clarify your post sale instructions prominently on your listing. Go to the eBay specifics preferences at AuctionWatch and include instructions in the box titled ‘(Optional) eBay Checkout instructions & return policy’. This message will appear in the bottom right corner of your eBay listing. Your eBay specific preferences can be accessed here: https://secure.auctionwatch.com/my/acct/seller_site_specifics.html?site_id=1
3) If you use the AuctionWatch Post Sale Management system, add additional instructions and explanation of the WBN message. For example, “Please follow the instructions in this email to complete your purchase. Do not send purchase information through any other channel, as it could delay shipment of your item.” You can edit this message in PSM defaults: https://secure.auctionwatch.com/my/acct/psm.html
We hope that this will help alleviate some of the confusion surrounding the use of our system with eBay's checkout option.
