eBay Matches Amazon With Logistics Option
A new eBay service will enable merchants to store inventory in strategically located warehouses, resulting in faster delivery times.
By Matthew Heller	| July 25, 2019
Matthew HellerJuly 25, 2019
eBay has unveiled a logistics service aimed at enabling sellers to deliver products more quickly to customers, matching Amazon's in-house shipping option.
With eBay's Managed Delivery service, merchants who sell on its platform will no longer have to ship goods to customers on their own but instead will be able to store high-volume inventory closer to buyers in strategically located warehouses, resulting in faster delivery time and lower shipping costs.
eBay is partnering with several yet-to-be-announced warehousing and shipping companies for the new service, rather than doing it all in-house as Amazon does with its "Fulfillment By Amazon" (FBA) service.
"A common request we hear from our high-velocity sellers is to help make delivery of high-volume items easy and fast," eBay CEO Devin Wenig said in a news release. "Managed Delivery will be a competitively-priced logistics solution for businesses selling high-volume goods in popular categories like electronics, home and garden, and fashion."
While eBay is a distant second to e-commerce leader Amazon, it processed $21.5 billion in gross merchandise value through its online marketplace during the second quarter, with roughly 1.5 million products shipped by eBay sellers in the U.S. everyday.
According to Wenig, 40% to 50% of those sales could be processed through the Managed Delivery service. eBay is aiming for free two-day shipping under the program.
"What this is not about is us trying to win a fast shipping war," Wenig told Business Insider. "Our 182 million consumers shop on eBay because of the value and uniqueness of our inventory. We're not the one-hour delivery guys."
As Reuters reports, eBay long resisted growing its logistics footprint but Amazon raised the stakes in April, "announcing it would halve delivery times to one day via its loyalty club Prime, a service that costs U.S. members $119 per year."
Sellers in the Managed Delivery program, which will start next year, will be charged a fee once an item stored in one of the warehouses is sold. Customers of Amazon's FBA service rent space in warehouses.
Ki Price/Getty Images for eBay
Aggregation, Amazon, Devin Wenig, e-commerce, eBay, Logistics, Shipping, warehousing