eBay Bucks Program Helps Buyers and Sellers

eBay hates it when sellers lower the price of an item and then raise the shipping charges to an outrageous amount to compensate. When this is done eBay loses money in Final Value Fees and other conscientious sellers face unfair competition when they charge actual shipping and handling.

I can remember as far back as 2006 at the eBay Live conference in Las Vegas hearing Bill Cobb, the President of eBay North America, tell us that eBay will be taking steps to stop these unscrupulous sellers from overcharging for shipping. Since then eBay has put several procedures and other steps in place to get sellers to stop overcharging for shipping and handling. Some of these include encouraging sellers to offer free shipping, creating the Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) program, and adjusting search results to favor sellers charging free or reasonable shipping.

AuctionBytes, a trade publication for online merchants, suggests that the new eBay Bucks program is another great step in the war against high shipping. With the eBay Bucks program,
"...buyers are able to earn rewards based on the purchase price of items they buy on eBay using PayPal. The buyer earns 2 percent of the purchase price (up to $200 per item and a maximum of $500 per qualifying period) and receives an eBay Bucks Certificate at the end of the quarter to use against purchases in the following quarter. Shipping is not included in the "purchase price" used to determine the reward amount.

Now the buyer has a reason to buy the $20 item with free shipping over the $5 item with $15 shipping. In the first example, the buyer receives 40 cents, in the second example it is only 10 cents. It sounds like small numbers, but if you're looking at items in the hundreds of dollars, or a buyer who purchases a lot throughout the quarter, which sellers do you think buyers will choose?"

For the complete article, go to Will eBay Bucks Deter Excessive Shipping and Handling? By Lissa McGrath.