Achieving eBay Top-Rated Seller status with Amazon Shipping

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Amazon Shipping are keen for you to use their service that they’re even touting the service as a stepping stone to achieving eBay Top-Rated Seller status and gaining the eBay Premium Service badge on your listings.

“Reliable shipping plays a role in achieving eBay Top-Rated Seller status. Top-Rated Sellers receive a prominent eBay Premium Service badge on qualified listings as a mark of consistently outstanding customer service. This is measured, in part, by a high rate of on-time deliveries, so Amazon Shipping’s fully tracked next-day service can help to get you there.

As a recognised fully tracked, next-day shipping provider for eBay parcels, it couldn’t be easier to start using Amazon Shipping if you’re an eBay seller, but it doesn’t stop there. When you also consider hassle-free compatibility with so many other channels, you have the perfect delivery partner for all online retailers, across a variety of selling platforms you may use.”
– Amazon

It might seem strange for Amazon to be promoting eBay and suggesting that they can help you in achieving eBay Top-Rated Seller status… and in some ways it is. Just as strange as eBay offering Amazon Shipping as a shipping option. However marketplaces touting each other’s services is nothing new – for instance Otto Marketplace in Germany have their own equivalent of Amazon Shipping and it’s called Hermes, and no one objects to Hermes being promoted as a shipping option on eBay. The only difference between Amazon Shipping and Hermes is that Hermes isn’t called Otto Shipping so it’s a slightly less contentious issue than Amazon.

The facts are that Amazon are are pretty good at shipping, run a highly efficient tracking operation and are competitively priced. The downside of trusting them to power your eBay business is having your eggs all in one basket. Indeed, at the start of Q4 Amazon actually dumped some merchants from Amazon shipping. Other issues cited are strict volume limits and a claims process which became more onerous. Pick up can also be cumbersome as every parcel has to be scanned on collection, so make sure you have some warehouse floorspace clear as sodden parcels from the inevitable British weather isn’t going to be an attractive proposition.

The one thing we’ve been unable to establish is the volumes that Amazon Shipping are able to handle from any one merchant. If you’ve 10 or 20 parcels a day it’s definitely not going to be an issue, but if your shipments number in the 100s or 1000s we have no idea thus far if Amazon can handle that type of traffic – definitely scanning each parcel on collection would take hours!

As well as helping you in achieving eBay Top-Rated Seller, Amazon Shipping also want to power your Etsy, Magento and Shopify deliveries as well, of course, as your Amazon shipments.

Our advice would be that if Amazon Shipping is available in your area then it’s probably too good a deal to turn down… but make sure you retain the services of a back up courier and can switch additional volumes (or your entire volume) should the need arise. That is of course the advice we would give regardless of which courier service you use.

Tamebay.com