eBay Fast ‘n Free to roll out in the UK
Fast ‘n Free is a program that eBay has already launched in US and Australia, and it is due to launch in UK in the second half of October. You may have already seen the Fast ‘n Free messaging on the site as eBay announced testing of the program during September.
As the program is due to launch it’s time to look in depth at how to get the logo on your listings in the run up to Christmas.
Qualifying for the Fast ‘n Free logo
Listings that offer free postage AND an estimated delivery of 3 working days or less, will automatically have the eBay Fast ‘n Free message displayed on all the steps of the buying flow, from Search Result Page to Check-out, however there are some exceptions. If the item, or the buyer, is located in the Shetland, Hebrides, or Scilly Islands, or outside of UK, no Fast ‘n Free logo will be displayed. Also if the seller is below standard they won’t have the Fast ‘n Free logo on their listings.
The maximum estimated delivery of 3 working days can be achieved by either offering 1 day dispatch, and choosing a shipping service with estimated delivery of 1-2 days, or offering 2 days dispatch, and choosing a next day delivery service.
If you offer a 2 day dispatch time then express services such as Royal Mail Special Delivery, Royal Mail Tracked Next Day, Parcelforce 24 and Other 24 hour Courier will qualify your listings for the Fast ‘n Free logo. If you offer a 1 day dispatch time then any of the above services plus Royal Mail 1st class (with or without Signed For), Parcelforce 48 and Other 48 hour Courier will also qualify for the logo.
Should you worry about Fast ‘n Free?
Not everyone will want to offer free shipping and not all sellers will be able to offer a 3 working day delivery time. That’s OK as the Fast ‘n Free program isn’t mandatory. It’ll automatically appear on qualifying listings and simply won’t be displayed on listings with charged for postage or with longer delivery times. You can also qualify to have the logo on some of your listings which do meet the criteria and it won’t be displayed on your other listings that don’t.
eBay say that buyer like free delivery and that it increases conversion rates – I have to admit most of the time I appreciate free carriage myself. However sometimes I simply need the item fast or would prefer a tracked delivery and I’m certainly not averse to paying a reasonable postage cost for the service.
The best solution is to offer free postage where it’s appropriate, if you’re offering free postage try to deliver within 3 working days to qualify for the Fast ‘n Free logo, and offer a choice of postage options.
Richard says
9:38 pm on 09/10/2012
There’s no such thing as FREE shipping, delivery, whatever you want to call it. Someone somewhere has to pay for it, yes that means you Mr/Mrs customer. People STILL fall for this nonsense.
Chris Dawson says
9:41 pm on October 9th, 2012
You are of course totally correct, but “Fast ‘n included in the item price” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it
Seriously though sometimes included shipping makes sense and other times (especially when I want to buy multiples) if definitely doesn’t make sense.
superhans says
12:12 am on 10/10/2012
It will take a lot more than this to convince me to move to free postage, it is the only guaranteed discount I get every month by charging a reasonable postage on every item I save around £80 to £120 in ebay fees, until they make it mandatory I won’t move to free postage.
Gary says
5:48 am on 10/10/2012
Fine for outlet sellers who have negotiated massive fee discounts.
For the rest of us who pay 10% less a now minimal discount for our best efforts to maintain our TRS status it is a none starter.
Why should I pay eBay an additional 10% or more in fees simply to earn a badge in my listings?
Remember in the USA fees are less as fees are paid on shipping costs. In the UK they are not and ebay UK have stated that they have no plans to adopt the USA fee model.
OlPeculier says
9:24 am on 10/10/2012
The typographer in me is not happy that the apostrophe in the logo is incorrect…
Stuart says
10:44 am on 10/10/2012
I have to disagree, we offer free delivery on all items, yes we allocate some of the cost into items, but if people buy more than one item it helps as we don’t always include the exact price so it is a bit of swings and roundabouts with it.
I think free shipping is a bit like 99p at the end of prices, it highlights things better and stops customers having to think whats this plus this then if I buy that what is that plus this plus that etc etc.
Also is 10% high for bringing millions of customers to your door step? If you think that is a high fees try paying 25% commission at Amazon!
Stu
Steve Buckwell says
10:56 am on 10/10/2012
Chris, this free postage malarky is just another way Ebay are extracting fees from the poor seller. Not only that but if it isnt tracked then we are frequently open to the scam where the customer claims he hasnt received the item. We lose every which way!
mw says
12:51 pm on 10/10/2012
I can’t believe that peple fall for the “free” post. Nothing is the only thing that’s free. Everything else costs somebody, something.
Including post in the price only makes the total price the customer pays greater, because that’s how ebay structre the fees they charge. It’s nonsense and should be outlawed, because it’s a poorer finacial deal for the customer and they don’t know it. If customers thought about it, they would realise they pay the item price plus built in post plus built in ebay fees which are based on the total. Ebay fees do not get charged on the post element when it’s seperated out. We gave up offering free post ages ago because there was no benefit we could see for us or the customer.
Danny says
4:42 pm on 10/10/2012
I don’t know why everyone else is so negative about this… it’s just eBay’s answer to Amazons Super Saver Delivery.
I think buyers are well aware free delivery is delivery included in the price (rather than I own Royal Mail!)… I get some “dizzy” customers but they’re not that stupid!
Clarky says
1:36 pm on 11/10/2012
Interesting as this may impact those sellers who avoid free postage in lieu of offering postage discounts on multiple purchases. Assuming this works as well as ebay think it will they may also wish to look at volume discounts on item cost before shoving everyone in one direction… or possibly product bundles
nc says
6:52 pm on 12/10/2012
Some punters^H^H^H^H^H^H^H buyers I’ve encountered are so dumb they’ll probably construe it as meaning a total freebie, not just the P&P. Especially with eBay being the magnet for cheapskates going for below-cost stuff.
Peer says
12:29 pm on 02/11/2012
I’m not thrilled with the new delivery estimates ebay has put on listings. Buyers overseas are shown unrealistic delivery times. Example, if someone in Italy purchased something from us today (02/11/12), with dispatch within 1 day (I assume eBay counts Saturday as a working day), the buyer can expect delivery by Tuesday (06/11/12) or Thursday next week which is ridiculous.
After reading an article in the Telegraph about a couple that had their account frozen because of poor DSR, I am seriously considering not shipping to Italy, unless there is a way where I can make recorded service mandatory for specific countries. Anyone know if that is possible?
(Telegraph article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/9650610/eBay-blacklisting-has-forced-us-on-to-dole.html)
Wholesale-Help says
8:31 pm on 02/11/2012
eBay has for a long time made it clear that they like free postage and from my experience it helps towards your search visibility. Not suitable for every type of product but generally if I can I will include it in the item price and offer free post.