eBay is adding a handful of new features that will come as a sigh of relief to shoppers hunting for local deals, but who often get blindsided by shipping options. The online marketplace says it has used artificial intelligence to streamline its vast seller network based on factors like business history, location, shopping options, and more.
The most notable change is going to be a delivery estimate on the product card. For each listing, customers will see the details of how many days it is going to take for the product to arrive at their doorsteps.
The product card will also explicitly mention whether the shipping is going to be free, or if it will cost extra atop the quoted price. To make the experience even easier, there’s a new filter that lets users shorten their search to products that ship quickly or allow local pickup.
There will be a total of three new filters underneath the “Shipping and pickup” dashboard. In the dropdown, users can choose to only see products that come with free delivery, or those that can arrive within the next 2-4 days.
The idea is not too dissimilar from rivals such as Amazon, which allow users to look for products that can be delivered on the same day. The final addition to eBay’s updated user interface is a local pickup option.
This one can tone down the search results to only product listings that can be picked up locally within a certain range. When buying used products, shoppers often prefer in-person pickup as that gives them an opportunity to examine the product before paying for it.
Going a step further, eBay will also show the exact distance of the seller, so that buyers can gauge whether local pick-up is feasible for them. Once again, these are not novel changes, but it’s a convenient addition, nonetheless.
The company is also rolling out a new eBay Top-Service badge for sellers that meet its trust and healthy business criteria. Currently available only in Germany, this badge also marks an end for older certification systems such as “eBay Plus.”
The objective here is to make sure that buyers can conveniently find a business or items that “meet high-quality retail standards, such as fast and free shipping, free returns, and trusted sellers,” says the company.
