eBay Focuses On Shipping “Protection Economics” As Transaction Losses Rise
eBay is looking for someone to help figure out the long-term strategy and economics of Shipping Protections as the company takes on more responsibility for lost, damaged and delayed packages across a growing number of shipping programs.
A new Senior Manager, Trust Strategy & Operations role is specifically focused on "Shipping Protections Strategy & Execution," with eBay saying protections are becoming a more important part of the customer promise as they expand "across different shipping solutions, markets, and experiences."
The company wants the new hire to decide where those protections should go next, where eBay should invest and how to make them "operationally scalable, and financially sustainable," with responsibility for tracking claims outcomes, carrier performance, loss trends and what the job ad calls "protection economics."
eBay is increasingly looking to shipping as a source of revenue while taking more control over the buyer and seller experience, but the cost of covering problems when deliveries go wrong has been rising too.
Shipping revenue grew double digits year-over-year in Q2 2026, with the majority of UK consumer-to-consumer transactions now processed through Managed Shipping and eBay identifying shipping, advertising and payments as positive contributors to take rate.
But transaction losses also rose from $86 million in Q2 2025 to $133 million this year, an increase of almost 55%, with eBay attributing the increase in part to higher consumer protection losses from shipping programs and customer experience enhancements.
Transaction losses were already up 19% year-over-year in Q3 2025, with CFO Peggy Alford saying much of the increase was due to higher consumer protection losses from the ramp of UK Managed Shipping, along with unfavorable fluctuations in buyer and seller fraud.
Those comments also provided an important clue about who was actually bearing much of the financial risk behind Simple Delivery's loss and damage protections, which UK sellers had questioned since the program began expanding.
Liz Morton
Simple Delivery is now mandatory for most qualifying private seller listings in the UK, with buyers paying eBay for shipping and sellers receiving a prepaid label. Eligible sellers are generally protected for the sold item value when a shipment is lost or damaged after entering the carrier network, subject to program requirements.
The company raised Simple Delivery rates earlier this month, with pricing now varying significantly based on sale price as well as package weight and dimensions. Under the new structure, the final sale price can change how much the buyer pays for shipping even when the physical package itself does not change. The shipping payment goes directly to eBay, with Simple Delivery terms allowing label prices to be set using factors including weight, dimensions, item value, category and carrier preferences.
eBay has not said whether the cost of its loss and damage protections is factored into those rates.
The new role will work with Shipping and carrier teams to determine how carrier capabilities, performance and tracking signals should influence protection design, while coordinating with Risk, Policy and Customer Support on claims decisions and operational processes. eBay is also looking for someone who can develop a multi-year roadmap, make recommendations on tradeoffs involving customer experience, financial sustainability and growth, and "lead pilots and experiments to test new protection concepts, policies, and experiences before broader rollout."
eBay has been expanding protections for sellers who purchase labels through the platform, including handling refund requests for some delayed deliveries when sellers ship on time using an eBay label.
That builds on protections introduced last year for certain Item Not Received claims, where sellers who bought the label through eBay can be reimbursed if they were forced to refund a buyer before tracking later showed the package was delivered.
eBay is also pushing more sellers toward its discounted label rates, with selected US sellers being told calculated shipping listings will default to showing those discounted rates to buyers beginning October 1 unless they opt out. Sellers have to buy the corresponding label through eBay to receive the discounted postage being shown.
Liz Morton
A limited US Managed Shipping test has eBay setting the shipping rate paid by the buyer and providing the seller with a prepaid label. Under eBay's terms, sellers remain responsible for loss or damage until the package is accepted into the carrier network, with eBay then providing coverage for eligible loss or damage in transit up to the lesser of the purchase price or $200.
The job posting comes just weeks after eBay hired longtime Walmart and Amazon supply chain executive Andres Gonzalez as VP and General Manager of Global Shipping and Authentication.
Gonzalez previously led end-to-end supply chain strategy, ecommerce fulfillment and last mile operations at Walmart and worked on global cross-border parcel operations at Amazon. When announcing his move to eBay, he called Shipping and Authentication "must-win priorities" for the company.
