eBay will shorten the claims window for items sold “as is” from 30 days to 3 days, and it will institute much stricter verification of auction bidders and buyers of high-value items. Those are just two of the new seller-protection policies it announced during last week’s eBay Open seller conference.
eBay explained the changes it’s making in October to items sold “as is” as follows:
“No Returns Accepted” enforcement
Beginning in October, buyers of “as-is” listings will see clear, prominent messaging of “For Parts or Not Working” and “No Returns Accepted” at every stage — from the item page through checkout to post-purchase — to help ensure buyers understand they are purchasing an as-is, for parts item.
For these items, returns based on remorse will be completely blocked and not-as-described claims will face stricter requirements.
The claim window will also be shortened from 30 to 3 days on these listings.
eBay explained the changes it’s making to buyer verification as follows:
Verifying Buyers
Verified bidding now requires a phone number for all bidders. And for high-value items, we’re requiring government ID and selfie verification.
For categories like trading cards, we’re testing holding funds during bidding or capturing partial payment immediately after close to ensure buyer intent.
For international buyers, we’re applying the same strict verification — no exceptions.
eBay is also making changes to Unpaid Items (when buyers don’t pay for their purchases). In the following description of the UPI policy changes, eBay mentions “autopay”; sellers have already reported having seen it in action and have had questions and concerns about it:
Unpaid Items
Buy It Now transactions now require immediate payment. Currently, 99.9% of these transactions are paid.
For Best Offers, buyers must have a payment method on file — and 99% are paid automatically when accepted.
We’ve launched autopay for Auction wins, including for sellers who offer combined shipping. (Buyers can either have their payment processed automatically one hour after winning an auction or choose “Shop more, ship together” to get up to seven days to shop other items, with automatic payment.)
Last week we wrote about two other seller-protection policies eBay announced at eBay Open: Item Not Received (INR) protections, and automatic positive feedback for eligible sellers — as well as other changes including AI Assistant for Messaging; Offers in Messaging; “Track Your Costs”; and Inventory Mapping API (for high-volume sellers).
Two additional changes that don’t fall under the “seller protection” category that eBay announced on Thursday include the following:
eBay Advertising AI Advancements
eBay launched a new Ads Destination within eBay Mobile, allowing sellers to promote on the go.
eBay Advertising is leveraging AI to deliver suggested campaigns that are custom-built, ready-to-launch, and fully optimized based on historical data and best practices.
We’ve also been focused on using AI to automatically optimize your listings, including images and titles, for improved performance on external channels.
Payments & Capital Access
Debuting at eBay Open, sellers who attend can sign up to test eBay’s new Finances CoPilot.
eBay is now offering Klarna and Venmo as buyer payment methods, attracting younger buyers and increasing per-order spend.
eBay announced the integration of Open Banking into its Seller Capital program, unlocking a faster, smarter, and more holistic way for sellers to access the capital they need to grow.
Comments about these changes are welcome below.