This morning, Todd Lutwak (eBay’s VP of Seller Experience) announced that over the coming months, eBay will be moving to a single, consolidated checkout process, and effective June 30, 2011, eBay Checkout will be the only checkout process on eBay.com.

What does that actually mean? Checkout is obviously a key part of shopping online – we all want an effective, secure, simple method for making our purchases. A consistent checkout experience helps buyers complete their purchases in confidence. And for sellers, one consistent checkout experience – with business functionality like payment processing and tax collection – can help streamline business operations.

While most eBay sellers already use eBay Checkout in its current form, historically we haven’t offered certain checkout functionality that other sellers need. So Certified third-party providers like ChannelAdvisor, Auctiva, Vendio, Infopia and Kyozou have offered checkout with their solutions packages to fill this gap.

Between now and next June, eBay Checkout will be updated with more credit card/debit card processing services, better shipping support and an advanced sales tax calculator, among other things, and we will continue to work closely with third-party providers to transition their members to eBay Checkout. Plus we’ll remain close with them on the other valuable services they offer eBay sellers.

A single, familiar checkout experience is key to reducing confusion and improving how people shop on eBay. We’ve been working with sellers and providers for some time and will continue to do so for a seamless transition next year.

We’d be happy to answer your questions. Feel free to leave comments here on Ink blog or via Twitter at @ebayinkblog and @ebay_andy.

Cheers!
Andy