It can be nerve-wracking as an online seller to get notice of an unexpected 18-pound package on its way to them, but for multiple eBay sellers posting about a surprise FedEx notice yesterday, it had a happy ending today.
“Why am I receiving a package from eBay shipping supplies,” a seller posted on the eBay Boards on Friday. “I just received an email from FedEx that I am receiving an 18 pound package from eBay shipping supplies in Las Vegas. I looked up the address and it just doesnt make sense. Has this happened to anyone else? Yes the tracking number is real. I have no activity that could correspond to this.”
“There have been Reports of FAKE Fed EX Emails about Deliveries just to get you to Click on a Link and give out some personal information. Happening a lot these days. So I am suspicious of that message,” a seller replied.
Others wondered if it was a return from an overseas customer – but multiple sellers reported receiving the identical notification from FedEx.
Happily, some sellers returned to the thread today to report the package was a box full of free eBay packing supplies.
“I received that package today,” a seller wrote. “It looks like a promotion to entice you to you to use the new International shipping program. It is actually a lot of good shipping supplies. I was really impressed.”
“I was as well,” another seller replied, “a lot of good stuff in there. Tho as was noted upthread – would have been nice to have gotten a “heads-up” notice from eBay.”
Posters on the forum seemed unable to determine how eBay chose which sellers to send the free supplies to, but it may have been based on their activity on the eBay boards and/or social media.
eBay is in the process of transitioning sellers from its Global Shipping Program to the new eBay International Shipping program.
A postcard inside the packages sellers received on Saturday instructed them on how to enroll in the eBay International Shipping program, and it enticed them by describing three benefits:
- Expand your buyer pool: Watch the profits roll in when your items are shown to millions of buyers in more than 200 countries.
- No learning curve: Simply ship your items to our domestic shipping hub, eBay handles all the international details – including customs paperwork.
- Don’t sweat returns: eBay manages returns, pays for refunds and protects you from common claims. All at no cost to you.
eBay sometimes sends “swag” to sellers who participate in certain events, such as the Spring Seller Check-in event where it sent shipping supplies to the first 500 attendees to fill out a post-event survey.
eBay also gives sellers who have a paid Store subscription coupons for shipping supplies each quarter.
It all sounds SO good! Free shipping supplies! Just send it to our large warehouse and we’ll lose your package, er, um, send it to the appropriate foreign destination where THEY will lose it!
I’m SO glad I left evilbay when I did, unfortunately now etsy has morphed into etsbay, emulating all the wrong things of the greedbay.
I wanna know if those rolls of tape are the same that the USPS had before. Boy do I miss them. I taped everything with em. Picks up cat hair like a dream!
I got the supplies. I looked for messages and emails and found none. Sticker on box said free Ebay supplies. So a big thank you for easily a hundred dollars in supplies.
I don’t ever remember the words “Ebay sellers delighted” together in any headline before.