Amazon vs eBay Customer Service: Consumer Survey Addresses Response Times and Resolutions

If any two brands are synonymous with e-commerce, they’re Amazon and eBay. But being big players in the online shopping space also means the potential for big customer service problems. How do they compare?

We asked over 2200 survey participants about their Amazon and eBay support experiences.

• Who’s faster to respond to customer service requests?
• Is one company easier to reach than the other?
• Does Amazon or eBay support have a better track record of resolving customer complaints?

Let’s take a look at Amazon vs eBay customer service survey in terms of these questions and more.

• Companies overview
• Survey results
• How to contact support

Amazon vs eBay: By the Numbers

Before diving into the survey results, it’s important to understand the scale of business Amazon and eBay represent.

For the 2021 fiscal year, for example, Amazon posted revenue of $470 billion. eBay’s revenue, in comparison, was $10.3 billion.

What about each company’s history of consumer feedback, even before our survey? Here’s how Amazon and eBay’s records compare at PissedConsumer.

Amazon rating* — 2.7⭐⭐⭐	eBay rating* — 1.8⭐⭐
Number of Amazon reviews — 50.2K	Number of eBay reviews — 27.8K
Number of Amazon calls — 940K	Number of eBay calls — 250K
Issues resolved during calls: 15%	Issues resolved during calls: 7%

While these comparisons provide insight into how both companies handle customer service issues, remember that ratings alone don’t tell the full story.

Amazon vs eBay Customer Service: The Survey

PissedConsumer surveyed 2210 visitors about Amazon vs eBay customer service issues.

Of those survey respondents, 94% were existing customers as opposed to those contacting the companies as potential customers.

We asked these online shoppers to share their experiences with eBay and Amazon customer service, including:

• reasons for their inquiries;
• whether or not they successfully reached customer service;
• how long customers waited to reach a rep;
• whether or not support resolved their issue;
• how long it took to reach a resolution;
• how satisfied the customers were with the support they received.

How did Amazon and eBay’s customer service compare? Let’s dive into the results of the Amazon vs eBay survey.

Why Customers Contact Amazon and eBay Support

As two major e-commerce companies selling a wide range of products on a large scale, perhaps it’s not surprising that shoppers tend to contact Amazon and eBay customer service for similar reasons. For example:

• Shipping and delivery problems
• Refund issues
• Damaged projects
• Payment issues

So with both companies dealing with similar inquiries, let’s see how they differ in their responses.

Comparing Amazon and eBay Customer Service Responsiveness

The first, and sometimes biggest, challenge in seeking help from customer service is reaching a support representative at all.

Amazon performed well here, with 87% of customers successfully reaching customer service. Even better, 65% of those reached someone who could help with less than three minutes of wait time.

eBay’s customer service responsiveness wasn’t quite as strong.

Only 50% of eBay customers surveyed said they successfully reached support, with 54% of those individuals reaching customer service in under three minutes. 

Comparing Amazon vs eBay, this draws the conclusion that Amazon is somewhat faster to respond to customers but not by much.

The Potential Role of Business Model Differences

When it comes to customer service issues and response times, understanding Amazon vs eBay selling can also play a role as the companies operate differently.

For example, third-party sellers account for 58% of Amazon’s sales.

This means Amazon has more direct control over the other 42% of their sales, giving them more flexibility in how they address customer service issues related to them.

This could enable Amazon to respond faster as there are no third parties involved in those transactions.

eBay, on the other hand, doesn’t sell items directly to customers, meaning 100% of their customer service issues relate to transactions from third-party sellers. Getting responses from those sellers can add to response times.

Amazon vs eBay Support: Who Delivers (Results)?

While customer service responsiveness is important, what matters even more is results. How did eBay and Amazon deliver?

Of Amazon customers reaching customer service and responding, 63% had their issues resolved by support.

The majority (53%) of eBay customers who responded after reaching support also had their issues resolved.

Satisfied Customers or Pissed Consumers?

Resolving customer service issues is vital if companies want to keep buyers coming back for more. But end results don’t tell the whole story.

What matters even more? How happy are customers about how their problems were addressed and resolved?

To establish this, we asked those survey respondents who saw successful results how satisfied they were with eBay vs Amazon customer service during the process.

Of those who rated Amazon, 66% gave them a 10/10 rating for how their issue was handled, while only 2% were so dissatisfied they gave Amazon’s support a 1/10 rating.

eBay received similar ratings based on their customer service team’s effectiveness with 61% of customers offering a 10/10 rating and only 4% unhappy enough to rate support 1/10.

Those high ratings correspond to the time it took customers to reach a resolution, with both Amazon and eBay resolving most issues on the same day.

How to Contact Amazon or eBay Support

At PissedConsumer.com, our aim is to go beyond educating consumers about potential issues. We want to help you get resolutions.

Learn how to call Amazon customer service, call eBay support, or pursue other support options below.

Contact Amazon Customer Service

If you’re seeking help with an Amazon order, in addition to calling the Amazon phone number below, consider using the company’s live chat option.

Live chat support often features short wait times, gives you the opportunity to explain your concerns in detail, and can lead to resolutions without ever having to wait on-hold.

To use live chat Amazon support, first sign into your account. Then visit the company’s help page. Click “something else.” Then click “I need more help.”

Amazon Customer Service Number: (888) 280-4331

Contact eBay Customer Service

You can use the eBay phone number below if you have a problem with a seller or an order.

Other customer service options include having an eBay support rep call you, chatting with the company’s automated assistant, or using their live chat service.

To access these eBay customer service options, first sign into your account. Then visit the main eBay support page. 

Scroll to the bottom of the help page and click “contact us.” From here, choose the topic most related to your issue. Then you should see additional support options on the left side of the page.

eBay Customer Service Number: (866) 961-9253

How do these survey results compare to your own customer service experiences as an Amazon or eBay customer? You can visit the Amazon or eBay PissedConsumer pages to leave your own reviews.

*Disclaimer: Ranking and statistics are based on our users’ review texts and PissedConsumer posters’ reviews. Also, a company’s rating is calculated using a mathematical algorithm that evaluates the information in the profile, including users’ rating, the number of resolved issues, the number of company’s responses, etc. The algorithm is subject to change in the future.