Some sellers were up-in-arms over aspects of eBay's new Get It Fast feature, fearing they would cause tension between them and buyers. Get It Fast allows eBay shoppers to isolate search results to items they can have delivered to them quickly, and eBay said it introduced it in order to extend the holiday shopping season on the site.

In conjunction with the new feature, eBay rolled out a new field in the shipping section of all listing description pages to denote service transit time. The new field shows up in all listings where sellers have indicated on the selling form what methods of shipment they accept. Sellers say those delivery times are unrealistic, and fear disappointed buyers will give them negatives as a result of shipping carriers missing those time lines.

eBay said it introduced the new shipping features because there is a perception among a group of online shoppers that it takes weeks to get something on eBay. Spokesperson Hani Durzy said eBay wanted to make shoppers more comfortable making purchases, which is ultimately good for sellers. The Get It Fast feature highlights items that can be turned around quickly by sellers and sent via overnight delivery methods.

Durzy said eBay has been listening to seller feedback about the new feature, including comments left on discussion boards. As a result of seller concerns, eBay introduced a note in the Service Transit Time field stating, "Sellers are not responsible for service transit time. This information is provided by the carrier and excludes weekends and holidays. Note that transit times may vary, particularly during peak periods."

Durzy also said eBay consulted a group of sellers even before introducing the feature. Due to their feedback, eBay changed the feature from "Shipping Delivery Date" (which was based on shipping and handling times) to "Service Transit Time," and they added the words "as soon as" to the Get It Fast date.

Another issue of concern to sellers is the timing of the feature rollout. Sellers have long opined that eBay should not roll out new features during the busy holiday shopping season due to concerns over glitches. A glitch did appear after the rollout of Get It Fast that eBay fixed within about 3 days.

Durzy said eBay's use of service transit time is nothing new - eBay's shipping calculator gives delivery estimates. However, a look at the calculator shows it provides information based on the zip codes of buyers and sellers, and distance can have effect on delivery times.

Shipping is one of the hot-button issues on eBay that can cause tensions between buyers and sellers, and many sellers discuss the importance of managing buyers' expectations. They spend much time and thought on describing shipping terms in their listing descriptions to avoid confusion. Some say they resent eBay's tinkering with their terms, something that eBay, which is "just a venue," should not be doing, they say. To understand, here's what some AuctionBytes readers said in an email:

I ship once a week - and I ship media mail. I put that in my listings and I tell my customers again when I send them an e-mail. And, believe it or not, I get great comments about my shipping! But now eBay is telling my customers when to expect their package. They are changing my TOS, my relationship with my customer. They are setting me up for a negative. Now, no matter what I say - there it is in my listings - expect your package in as little as 2 days!

The problems are that the time says "days" instead of "business days", most services do not meet these delivery times during holiday seasons, etc. One example is that media mail is shown to have a delivery time of 2 to 9 days. Media mail often takes 2 weeks or more during normal shipping times. During the holidays, it is horribly slow. Ebay is raising the expectations of buyers in order to try to boost sales. When the inevitable problems arise because of the misleading shipping information, they will no doubt want "the buyer and seller to work it out."

Sellers posted on boards that eBay had rolled out the Get It Fast feature in the UK, but due to seller complaints, eBay got rid of it there. Hani Durzy said the Get It Fast feature is live in the UK, but the Service Transit Time does not show up on all listings. Would eBay consider taking out Service Transit Time on eBay.com? "We believe we've addressed the issues and we will continue to monitor it," Durzy said.

A review of discussion board posts reveals all aspects of sellers' concerns over the new issue. Someone noticed transit times are now showing up on listings that have already ended before the new feature was put into place, causing buyers to inquire of sellers why they had not yet received their items as according to the promised deliver date (http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=1000152452).

eBay North America President Bill Cobb promised sellers earlier this year he would do a better job of communicating with sellers, informing them of changes before rolling them out, and taking action on feedback. Get It Fast and Service Transit Time features are proving to be a litmus test for that commitment.