eBay strengthens trackable shipping requirements: Sellers in China and other regions must verify logistics information
eBay requires sellers to ship via the service selected by the buyer and keep handling times, shipping locations, and tracking information accurate and consistent.
What are the key facts?
- 1Sellers must use the shipping service selected by the buyer at checkout
- 2Sellers must ship within the promised handling time and upload accurate tracking information
- 3Orders totaling $750 or more generally require signature confirmation
What happened?
eBay’s current shipping policy continues to emphasize trackable shipping and accurate logistics information. Sellers must use the shipping service selected by the buyer at checkout, ship within the handling time stated in the listing, and upload tracking information matching the actual shipping location. Sellers may not substitute a slower shipping service for the service purchased by the buyer, falsify tracking numbers, delay marking an order as shipped, or charge additional fees unrelated to the actual shipping cost. For orders totaling $750 or more, sellers generally also need signature confirmation to receive the applicable protection when a buyer reports that an item was not received. The requirement is particularly important for sellers shipping from China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia to the United States and Europe, as cross-border parcels may experience delayed first scans, mismatched transit-warehouse addresses, or discrepancies in customs declarations. Sellers should use platform-approved trackable services, avoid uploading tracking numbers before an actual acceptance scan, and verify that the listing’s shipping location, actual warehouse, and logistics trail are consistent.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
eBay sellers must ensure that the shipping service selected at checkout, promised handling time, actual shipping location, and tracking information are consistent; otherwise, cross-border orders may face shipping disputes and limited protection. Sellers in China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia should pay particular attention to delayed first scans, mismatched transit-warehouse addresses, and tracking numbers uploaded before acceptance scans. Orders totaling $750 or more generally also require signature confirmation for the applicable protection.
What should sellers do now?
- 1This week, review eBay listings on the US and European sites one by one, verify that promised handling times and shipping locations match the actual warehouses, mark all anomalies based on the review, and create a corrected-listing checklist.Listing character checker
- 2Create a pre-shipment checklist for orders shipped from China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia to the United States and Europe. For each order, confirm that the buyer-selected service, actual service, and tracking number match, then retain the verification record.
- 3For orders totaling $750 or more, verify platform-approved trackable services and signature-confirmation requirements at outbound processing, prohibit uploading tracking numbers without an actual acceptance scan, and retain the verification record.