Count eBay out of the same-day delivery game. The online marketplace announced yesterday it is "retiring" its eBay Now service in markets where it has been available in the U.S.
In its announcement, eBay said, "While we saw encouraging results with the eBay Now service, we always intended it as a pilot, and we are now exploring delivery and pick-up/drop-off programs that are relevant to many more of our 25 million sellers, and that cover a wider variety of inventory that consumers tell us they want. We will continue to pilot scheduled delivery in the UK."
In the end, eBay's same-day delivery service was not worth the cost involved in operating the system.
"We've found that the types of things that people buy on eBay aren't necessarily those that are in high demand for same-day delivery, and that same-day options for the most part exclude core eBay sellers who don't have offline locations," an eBay spokesperson told TechCrunch.
EBay's move comes as others, most notably Amazon.com, see opportunities to grow their businesses through more immediate delivery systems.
Source: ebay.com/now
In May, Amazon began offering free same-day shipping on select items to Prime members in 14 major metro markets around the U.S.: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa and Washington, D.C.