eBay Days at the USPS Shine the Spotlight on Shipping
by Zigmund
eBay Staff Member

One-on-one assistance from USPS employees helped members learn about eBay, Inc.

Shipping can be a point of friction in any transaction on eBay. This is why Bill Cobb, President, eBay North America, wants to make the whole area of shipping easier for everyone. “I want to do for shipping what PayPal did for payments,” he is fond of saying. To back that statement up, he's made shipping one of the eBay's main areas of focus in 2005.

eBay and the United States Postal Service (USPS) have had a fruitful partnership for quite some time. This collaboration has resulted in several shipping innovations for the eBay Community, such as the ability to print and purchase USPS labels online and co-branded eBay-USPS boxes delivered free to sellers' homes.

As Sally Barclay, eBay's Senior Shipping Program Manager, and the Shipping team worked closely with the Post Office™, to develop even more ways of making shipping easier, an exciting new idea began to take shape. The team realized the tremendous potential to educate people visiting Post Offices about buying and selling on eBay and conveniently shipping items using services from eBay and the USPS. “The lobby of your local Post Office is perfect for this type of interaction, as millions of eBay members and potential new members walk into a Post Office every day,” explained Barclay.

With enthusiastic participation from the USPS, this idea quickly blossomed into the “eBay Days at the Post Office” program.

eBay Days at the Post Office is a simple yet powerful concept. Here's how it works. During an eBay Day, special booths, manned by USPS employees, will be set up in the lobby of a participating Post Office. People coming in can get their basic questions about eBay answered, and also learn everything they need to know about shipping their eBay items using the USPS. “We hope that visitors to a Post Office on an eBay Day walk away from the event armed with all the information and resources they need to start buying and selling on eBay, and shipping their items using the USPS. Or, if they're already eBay members, to do those activities more effectively than they do now,” said Barclay.

The first big step to making eBay Days at the Post Office a success was to familiarize USPS employees with all things eBay. To do this, Barclay's team flew roughly 150 postal employees from around the country into eBay's Corporate Headquarters in San Jose, California, for a special education session. Attendees ranged across several levels within the USPS, and included Post Masters as well as Regional Managers.

After Griff, eBay's Dean of Education, gave attendees an overview of eBay in the morning, the postal employees spent the afternoon going over all the various options for organizing eBay Days. Barclay explained how each eBay Day could be designed a little different.

“Some eBay Days will have a basic event promoted through banners and posters and geared towards handing out educational materials, while others will have full-blown publicity, with direct mail and newspaper ads, and classroom training at the Post Offices. We will even offer hands-on help with listing on eBay – right there.” Barclay went on to explain how eBay employees were also excited about attending a few of the events. "It's a great venue for employees to interact with current and future eBay Community members.”

After a successful pilot run in a San Jose Post Office last August, eBay Days at the Post Office debuted in mid-March at several Post Offices in the Sacramento, California area.

The eBay Days at the West Sacramento Post Office were a huge success. Enthusiastic participation from postal employees contributed tremendously to their success. USPS employees, ranging from forklift operators to postmasters to rural carriers, pitched in wholeheartedly to show visitors how to register on the site, helped them take pictures of their items, and then guided them to a seminar to learn about the selling process. Many of the USPS employees were themselves experienced eBay users (one of the forklift operators was also an eBay PowerSeller) and already had sound knowledge about all aspects of eBay.

Once the class was over, the new sellers sat down at the computers to actually list their items, receiving individual attention from the eBay-USPS team members. Tana G., who signed up as tanaleigh2005, had brought in an Apple iPod that she wanted to sell. “I definitely want to start selling as a hobby, but eventually it could be more.” After going through the training sessions, she said she felt excited and was ready to start her eBay adventure. “So much information was provided, and the handouts are great. I feel very well-equipped to go on eBay and start using it.”

Besides distributing educational material, the team also handed out goodies like free co-branded shipping boxes.

Darcy Phillips, Manager of Business Planning for the US Postal Service, described a typical day's schedule. “We held five or six classes each day, with ten completely trained employees helping out. We made available 25 computers for the new sellers to use, with the goal that they would walk out of here not only with handouts and literature about how to sell and ship, but also with their first item listed on eBay!”

Many of the people who attended were brand-new to eBay. Some of them praised the relationship between the USPS and eBay. One member said, “I'm particularly impressed with the smart business partnership between the two. With eBay's technology and services from the USPS, they've made shipping really easy.”

Even experienced eBay users walked away from the event learning something new. cakanat had been buying items on eBay for several years, but had never listed anything on the site, despite wanting to try his hand at selling. “I have a friend in Arizona who has sold a lot on eBay, He keeps telling me I have to start doing it too! I'm inspired by his success and have always wanted to try it myself.”

cakanat had brought in an NCAA basketball medal from 1953 to list. The eBay-USPS team walked him through the steps of the listing process and helped him list the item on the site. He was pleased with the experience. "It was really helpful to have someone sit down with me and help me sell. And the individual attention was great.”

The early success of the eBay Days in Sacramento has proved the appeal of the program – people are eager to visit the Post Office and learn to list and sell on eBay. And when they see how easy it is to ship, they walk away excited about buying and selling on eBay.

As more eBay Days get scheduled across the country, make sure to keep an eye out for one at your local Post Office!

For more information about shipping and the services offered on eBay, check out the Shipping Center.