eBay Testing Prime Challenger

In a move to challenge Amazon's Prime efforts, eBay is testing out its own loyalty program for buyers, offering faster delivery and free returns on items for an annual fee.

The program (reportedly dubbed eBay+) is currently being tested with a few top-rated sellers in different parts of Germany - eBay indicated the program would roll out to all of the country in the second half of the year. The subscription fee for buyers has not been announced; but sellers will provide sellers with additional discounts on the sales commission and will bear part of the cost of redemptions.

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"Through this new program, sellers will have the opportunity to commit existing customers even more strongly to themselves and to gain new customers in addition," Maike Fuest, eBay Germany's director of communications, told The Street.