Warehouse Service Standard for forward-deployed inventory – SEA – Seller Center

Warehouse Service Standard for forward-deployed inventory

This Policy is effective for all users from 29 July 2020. The previous version of this Policy was effective for all users on 3 July 2019 to 29 July 2020.

Warehouse Service Standard Policy

This policy is created specifically for Cross-Border Trading (CBT) sellers in South East Asia who are shipping items out from an overseas warehouse to a buyer that is residing in the same country. This is also known as “forward-deployed”. Watch the video to learn more about eBay’s Warehouse Service Standard Policy.

What you need to know

In light of the developments associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and to maintain a great customer experience for our cross-border buyers, we are changing the requirements you must comply with for all live forward-deployed (i.e. where your item is shipped from an overseas warehouse to a buyer in the same country) listings and transactions.

Activity that doesn’t comply with this policy, or which breaches other applicable eBay policies (such as the Price Gouging Policy, Item Location Policy and Prohibited and Restricted Items Policy), may result in a range of actions, such as eBay ending or removing your listings, enforcing buying or selling restrictions, or suspending all relevant accounts.

What are the requirements?

All forward-deployed listings must have a Promised End-to-End (E2E) Delivery Time that falls within the timeframes set out in Table 1.

Promised E2E Delivery Time is a combination of a listing’s handling time and estimated delivery days.

Your Actual End-to-End (E2E) Shipping Performance, which is measured based on your performance against the On-Time Shipping Rate metric, the On-Time Delivery Rate, the Unsatisfactory Delivery Rate metric, must meet the requirements set out in Table 1.

On-Time Shipping Rate

On-Time Shipping Rate is defined as the percentage of forward-deployed transactions shipped with an A-scan uploaded within the listing’s promised handling time

On-Time Delivery Rate

On-Time Delivery Rate is defined as the percentage of forward-deployed transactions delivered with a D-scan uploaded within the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time or the applicable timeframes in Table 1, whichever is shorter

Unsatisfactory Delivery Rate

Unsatisfactory Delivery Rate is defined as the number of open “Item Not Received” (INR) cases as a percentage of all transactions where the item location (country) differs from the seller’s location.

Actual E2E Shipping Performance

Item Location

Promised End-To-End (E2E) Delivery Time

On-time Shipping Rate

On-time Delivery Rate

Unsatisfactory Delivery Rate

United States

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 8 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 7 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.0% of forward-deployed transactions

United Kingdom¹

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 8 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 6 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.0% of forward-deployed transactions

Germany

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 8 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 7 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.0% of forward-deployed transactions

Australia (Metropolitan Area)²

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 12 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 8 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.0% of forward-deployed transactions

Australia (Non-Metropolitan Area)²

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 12 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 10 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.0% of forward-deployed transactions

France

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 12 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 12 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.5% of forward-deployed transactions

Italy

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 8 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 7 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.5% of forward-deployed transactions

Spain

100% of live forward-deployed listings ≤ 810 business days

100%

At least 90% of forward-deployed transactions delivered within 9 business days or the upper limit of a listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time, whichever is shorter

≤ 2.5% of forward-deployed transactions

All other countries

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≤ 2.5% of forward-deployed transactions

¹Transactions shipped via the UK Royal Mail’s Large Letter format will be exempted from compliance against the On-Time Shipping Rate metric.

² Australian metropolitan areas are defined as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide. Please see below for a list of corresponding postal codes.

When will you be evaluated?

1.

We will evaluate all live forward-deployed listings against the Promised E2E Delivery Time metric from 29 July 2020.

2.

We will evaluate your Actual End-to-End (E2E) Shipping Performance in accordance with the following evaluation periods:

On-Time Shipping Rate – weekly commencing 19 August 2020, with an evaluation window starting on the evaluation date minus 21 days, and ending on the evaluation date minus 7 days; and
On-Time Delivery Rate and Unsatisfactory Delivery Rate – weekly commencing 26 August 2020, with an evaluation window starting on the evaluation date minus 28 days, and ending on the evaluation date minus 14 days.

What you need to do

You should:

Review your listings and ensure that the handling time and estimated delivery date of all forward-deployed listings are modified in line with the Promised End-to-End (E2E) Delivery Time timeframe in Table 1;
Ensure that your warehouse provider or last-mile shipping carrier is integrated with eBay and can meet the A-scan and D-scan timeframes in Table 1. You can find a list of the most popular shipping carriers integrated with eBay here. Using providers/carriers integrated with eBay will also help you to protect yourself against “Item Not Received” (INR) claims filed through the eBay Money Back Guarantee.

As always, thanks for selling on eBay.

FAQ

Will I be assessed more leniently if I work with warehouse providers such as Winit, Goodcang or 4PX?

Yes, if you have complied with the On-Time Shipping Rate metric and can demonstrate that you have used the same carrier, and that carrier’s service, as originally stated in your listing.

How will I be evaluated if I use a logistics provider without tracking services?

You cannot comply with the On-Time Shipping Rate and On-Time Delivery Rate metrics.

Regarding the On-Time Delivery Rate metric: how can I determine the applicable timeframe against which I will be measured?

You will be measured against the shorter of the two time periods. Take for example a listing with item location in the United Kingdom, where the listing’s Promised E2E Delivery Time is 3 to 4 business days (comprising handling time of 1 business day and 2 to 3 estimated delivery days), while the applicable On-Time Delivery Rate timeframe in Table 1 is 6 business days. To comply with the On-Time Delivery Rate metric, the item will need to be delivered with a D-scan uploaded within 4 business days.

If I sell the same item from warehouses in more than one country, how do I set the item location in the listing?

Create separate country-specific listings. For example, where the item is in warehouses in France and Germany, you can list the France-based item on www.ebay.fr while blocking shipping to non-France-based buyers, while doing the same thing for the Germany-based item.

Can I cancel my orders if an out-of-stock situation is not reflected by the ERP system?

Yes. Please ensure that the ERP system has up-to-date inventory levels. For goods that are out-of-stock, please end listing or set inventory to 0. Please communicate immediately with buyers to cancel orders.

If I ship from 4 locations in the same country, how do I set the item location in the listing?

You can choose any of the four locations.

Can I upload the tracking number provided by a warehouse which is not on the eBay integrated shipping carrier list?

No. You should upload tracking numbers only from shipping carriers integrated with eBay.

If I am using eBay integrated shipping services with end to end tracking, but the eBay platform cannot read/process the tracking details, what should I do?

Reach out to your account manager or eBay Customer Support, and provide the transaction number and item details when doing so.

If I am selling digitally delivered goods or overweight items and require alternative delivery methods, how are those transactions evaluated?

Digitally delivered goods and overweight items will only be evaluated against the Unsatisfactory Delivery Rate metric.

How can I identify metropolitan areas in Australia?

Please see below for a list of postal codes corresponding with Australian metropolitan areas (i.e. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide).

List of postal codes corresponding with Australian metropolitan areas

Postal codes

Postal codes

Postal codes

0200-0221

3750-3810

5000-5118

1001-1891

3910-3920

5121-5134

2000-2234

3926-3944

5138-5169

2484-2490

3975-3978

5810-5950

2600-2620

3980-3981

8000-8873

2900-2914

4000-4275

9005-9005

3000-3207

4280-4347

9020-9582

3211-3220

4500-4517

9702-9741

3335-3341

4521-4521

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Visit the CBT dashboard to keep track of your selling performance.

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