eBay launches new membership program

Sep 23, 2015

eBay has launched a new membership program in Germany similar to that of its competitor’s Amazon Prime program, reports CNET. The program, called eBay Plus, is a subscription service that offers free, express shipping to customers for goods from thousands of retailers that sell in Germany through eBay.

Here’s what comes with an eBay Plus membership, which costs €19.90 ($22.50) per year, less than half the price of Amazon Prime:

• Free, guaranteed 2-day shipping
• Free returns within 30 days of purchasing
• Sellers pay no extra fees to participate in Plus, and receive a 15% discount on selling fees, as well as improved product-listing placement on the site

Until now, eBay did not handle shipping; it instead required its third-party merchants to figure out their own shipping logistics. However, the delivery market is heating up, with more retailers offering speedy shipping and customers reporting that shipping is extremely important to their purchase decisions. eBay needs to keep up by taking more control over delivery logistics. That's especially the case after the company's second-quarter earnings revealed that the company's e-commerce business is still struggling to find growth.

Read more atBusinessInsider