eBay will raise the threshold for free shipping for members of the eBay Plus membership program in Australia, which has some similarities to Amazon Prime with a major difference: eBay sellers are responsible for shipping items to eBay Plus members.
The eBay Plus free-shipping threshold is increasing to items priced at $9.90 effective February 8, 2022. Previously, members of eBay Plus could get free Express shipping on items priced as low as $2.50.
eBay Australia said it had heard from many sellers that it was not viable to offer free Express shipping on low-value items. The threshold for qualifying for free shipping through eBay Plus had been $15, but eBay had lowered it to $2.50 in August of 2021.
eBay told sellers, “We provide an Express shipping subsidy of $4 for items over $15, and $2.50 for items between $9.90 and $15 to help cover the cost of upgrading to an Express option.”
It also appears that some sellers may not have been honoring the free-shipping promise eBay makes to Plus members. eBay added in its announcement, “From February 8, 2022, eBay will be reversing the Express shipping subsidy that was paid if an item has in fact been sent with Standard Post rather than Express.”
Buyers have two eBay Plus plans from which to choose: one plan for $4.99 per month, and an annual plan for $49 per year.
