eBay sellers in Australia can no longer display a Plus badge on items unless they offer a free-shipping option with a tracked service. That was always the case with one exception: items that could be shipped via Untracked Letter Service.
eBay Plus is eBay’s Prime-like program in which buyers can choose to pay a membership fee to receive free shipping on qualifying items, a major difference being that sellers are responsible for shipping items to eBay Plus members.
eBay announced this week that it was removing Untracked Letter Service from Plus Eligibility.
To continue displaying a Plus badge, eligible sellers must choose a free-shipping option with a tracked service by early June. “A free, tracked shipping option not only provides customers with a real-time view of where their order is — greatly improving their shopping experience — but also has benefits for you as a seller,” eBay told sellers.
A benefit of the program for sellers is that listings that qualify for the Plus badge are placed higher in search results.
Not choosing a free-shipping option with a tracked service by early next month won’t impact sellers’ eligibility to participate in the Plus program for their other listings, eBay explained: “if you decide to continue using an untracked shipping service for some of your listings, this won’t impact your Plus metrics on your tracked shipping listings — as untracked shipping will not be considered a Plus service.”
You can find the full announcement on the eBay Australia announcement board, and you can find information about the Plus program on the eBay Australia Plus landing page.
HA HA HA HA HA Pay more for a little worthless badge. Sellers have lost their common sense.