eBay is slowly rolling out its premium eBay Concierge Service to both buyers and sellers. Launched just about exactly one year ago, in October 2016, eBay’s Concierge services have only been available to a select few, are by invite only, and among other things allow Concierge members to chat in real-time with a customer service agent! Here’s what you need to know if you get one of these invitations.
eBay email invitation to join eBay Concierge
More and more people are finding themselves receiving these invitations, as the rollout of eBay Concierge seems to be accelerating. Whether you are designated as a valuable buyer, or valuable seller, the text of the invite is much the same: “As one of our most valued buyers you’ve been selected for our premium customer experience program. Welcome to eBay Concierge. We’re ready to help.”
So what can you expect from this premium (and so far free) service?
According to the eBay Concierge Service FAQ, here are the main perks:
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– Instantly at your service
Forget about waiting around. Your expert agent will be with you quickly to take care of your issue.– All in one
Unless absolutely necessary, your first agent will be your only agent. If we do need to loop in another expert, we’ll try to solve it in the background or call you back at a time that suits you.– Your returns refunded
Changed your mind? We’ll cover return shipping for the first five items you return per quarter. Just print the return label through My eBay and we’ll automatically credit the shipping cost.– We’ve got your back
We’ll do everything in our power to ensure your purchase arrives on time. If there’s a chance delivery might be held up, we’ll make it our mission to find a solution – for example, by contacting the seller directly. Our team will guide you to the resolution that’s best for you, whether it’s finding a replacement or refunding you through eBay Money Back Guarantee.– Easy access
Whatever your issue, we offer many ways to speak to our customer service team. You can:Contact us by phone
Request a callback at a time that suits you
Chat with our experts through the Resolution Center
Once you receive your invitation, there will be a link within the email for you to follow in order to confirm your membership in eBay Concierge. Clicking this link will bring you to this screen:
Once you confirm your contact details, that’s pretty much all there is to it!
In fact, that is so much all there is to it that when you sign into eBay you won’t even see anything designating you as a Concierge member.
So just how do you invoke these premium services? Like this…
How to Use eBay Concierge Services
Log into your eBay account, then in the upper left-hand corner find the link to ‘Help & Contact’ and click on it.
Instead of the ‘regular’ information, you will now see something like this:
Did you catch that last option? Chat! eBay has added the ability to chat in real-time with a customer service agent – and only for eBay Concierge members.
Here’s a sample chat that we did just for this article:
The system even emails you a transcript of the Concierge customer service chat when you are done.
Note that the actual transcript itself is included as an HTML attachment.
Much as with going to the Help & Contact section on eBay, you will find that other eBay Concierge perks are offered from within the eBay area in which they are offered. So, for example, if you initiate a return, you do it the normal way that you always have, but, as William explained in our chat above, “The reimbursed returns are done automatically. When you have a return, a shipping label is provided. You pay for the label up front via paypal, and once the return has been confirmed delivered, we automatically reimburse your paypal account.”
The bottom line is that the eBay Concierge services are integrated into the eBay services that you already use; there isn’t any specific eBay Concierge services area (other than the eBay Concierge FAQ), and nothing obvious to denote that you are a Concierge member. Instead eBay has opted for what seems to be a pretty seamless integration.
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eBay Concierge is awesome! Helps me both as a buyer and a seller. Immediate help. Keeps me coming back to eBay.
Do they protect sellers for selling fakes because so many sell fake items and get away with it. They have huge eBay accounts.
Normally, when I have to deal with a particularly dodgy seller (not often, but still too often), I’m left not wanting to go near eBay again, and I have taken long breaks.
I very recently had a problem – dodgy, misleading seller and used eBay concierge. It’s a different experience altogether knowing that someone in eBay has got your back.
It wasn’t perfect, since when the seller was seemingly avoiding receiving the package, I still had to nudge them to get my refund, but they acted quickly when nudged.
If eBay were tougher with sellers, much of this would be unnecessary, but they seem to tolerate strategically dishonest sellers because they make money regardless.
They’ll balance sellers who push the limits with customer tolerance limits to maximise their take, it’s always the customer who gets inconvenienced the most.
This is the best service offered by eBay in a very long time! Thank You Savannah, best concierge ever.
The Ebay concierge service is for real !
Resolved an issue I had with a difficult customer in minutes .Person to person on the phone .Keep it up Ebay and many thanks .