eBay Suspends Shipments to Israel, Offers Seller Protections – Update 10/17/2023

Due to the current turmoil in Israel, U.S.-based sellers on eBay are facing a temporary suspension of sales to Israeli destinations, the company has announced.

This decision comes in response to major U.S. shipping carriers reporting significant service disruptions for packages destined for Israel, raising concerns about the successful delivery of these parcels.

Update 10/17: eBay has issued similar notices now to Canadian (notice) and UK sellers (notice).

The disruptions are due to the unstable situation in the region, which has complicated logistics and transportation services. eBay is concerned that packages can reach buyers, as many Western commercial airlines have temporarily stopped or reduced service to Tel Aviv.

eBay has emphasized its commitment to monitoring the situation closely. The company will rely on real-time developments to determine when services can feasibly resume. For now, the pause is a precautionary measure designed to protect the interests of all parties involved in eBay transactions.

eBay Is Protecting Sellers for Shipments Already in Transit

For sellers who might be anxious about the implications of these shipping delays on their performance metrics, eBay is instituting protective measures.

Specifically, the company is safeguarding seller performance ratings by adjusting metrics that could be negatively impacted by this situation. These automated protections include:

• Late shipment rate adjustments
• Resolutions for ‘item not received’ cases, provided sellers have complied with tracking upload policies and obtained a physical scan from the carrier
• Service metrics related to open item not received cases
• Protections against negative and neutral feedback stemming from these issues

Furthermore, for items sent through eBay’s International Shipping program, additional measures are in place. Sellers are granted automatic protection once the item arrives at eBay’s domestic shipping hub, providing an extra layer of assurance during these uncertain times.

This development underscores the broader impacts of the conflict on international commerce and logistics. eBay has assured its users that it is working diligently to navigate these complications and will provide updates about the resumption of normal service processes as soon as information is available.

Trust eBay – But Verify

Whenever eBay offers seller protections, we suggest sellers monitor all their performance metrics, even when the company says they will make automatic adjustments.

Adjustments can take a few days. Therefore, we advise sellers to check their account frequently and contact eBay if there is a shipment that they believe should have been covered by its seller protection.

eBay does not typically announce an end to seller protections, and we recommend monitoring shipments for about two to three weeks past the event. However, this is an ongoing situation without any end in sight and could take many months before normal transport operations may continue.

Richard Meldner

Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.

To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.