Based on safety concerns and input from the Community, we have established a Safe Payments Policy that clarifies eBay's position on payment methods. Under the new policy, sellers will not be allowed to ask buyers to send cash in the post or ask buyers to send payment through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram.

This policy will be enforced beginning 15 January 2006.

If you want to find out more about trading safely on eBay you can find lots of tips in the Security & Resolution Centre.

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On Saturday, we needed to roll back some code that was inadvertently causing sign-in issues for a very small number of members. To fix the problem for these members, we automatically required all users to sign in upon returning to eBay. This morning, the volume of sign-ins created traffic issues resulting in slowness and intermittent unavailability of the sign-in feature.

We recognise the inconvenience this caused, particularly at this busy time of the year. The eBay technical teams have worked around the clock to restore full site functionality and are confident this issue is now resolved. We thank you for your patience.

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You can learn more about EPS in the Picture Services help area.

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In the next few days, we’re making a few content changes to make the process more helpful. Please note: These changes will not change the actual UPI process itself. We’re just improving some of the wording and guidance that we provide within the process.

Some of the changes include:

• Resolution Tips - Designed to instruct buyers and sellers on how to achieve a successful outcome, these tips will be prominently displayed at the top of the View Dispute and View Dispute: Enter Response pages.

• Additional action links - "Relist Item" and "Second Chance Offer" links will be provided on the Dispute Closed and Dispute Closed Successfully pages to give sellers more options at the end of the process.

• New Dropdown Options and Clarifying Text – We’ve clarified several of the dropdown selections with clearer choices. For example, "The buyer’s payment has not been received" and "The buyer’s payment has not cleared" will be two separate options, replacing one which reads, "Payment has not been received or has not yet cleared".

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Beginning today, we will automatically remove feedback ratings left by buyers who do not respond to the Unpaid Item process on eBay. This means the rating (whether positive, neutral or negative) will no longer affect the recipient's feedback score, although the feedback comment itself will remain. An administrative note from eBay will be added to the comment, indicating that the feedback rating was removed because the member did not participate in the Unpaid Item process on eBay. This is a global change and will affect all eBay sites.

The new policy only applies to unpaid item claims filed on or after Monday, December 5th (except for those that were filed on or after December 5th and were closed before the change was fully implemented on December 8th). Eligibility is based on the Unpaid Item filing date, not when the feedback was left.

This change, as well as the other recent enhancements we've made, ensures that the feedback system continues to be a credible measure of trust. To comment on any of the recent changes, please visit the Round Table discussion board and always remember to read the Announcement Board for any future changes we may make to the feedback system.

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If you are unfamiliar with these areas, we invite you to visit them by clicking "Community" from the eBay navigation bar at the top of any eBay page.

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All qualifying (Fixed Price and Auction with Buy It Now) items listed on eBay.com.au between the hours of 12:00:01am AEST, Saturday 3rd December and 11:59:59pm AEDST, Monday 5th December, 2005 will be eligible for Gallery for FREE.

Adding your item’s photo to the gallery enables potential buyers to preview your item instantly in the search and browse view. Use a gallery photo to help attract more buyers and a higher price. On average, listings using Gallery attract 72% more bids than listings that use no listing upgrades.*

Price promotions on eBay.com.au only happen every once in a while, so make sure you take advantage of this opportunity. For more information, see eBay’s price promotion page.

Have fun trading on eBay!

*This represents an average based on data from June 2004 transactions on eBay.com.au. No representation is made that a seller's final price, number of bids or conversion rate of a specific item will increase by the average percentages noted above.

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	***Original: FREE Gallery Promotion***
	30 November 2005 | 01:15PM EST eBay.com.au is pleased to announce a FREE Gallery Promotion for Fixed Price listings! You can choose Gallery for FREE for three days when you list a Fixed Price listing or list an Auction with Buy It Now. PLUS adding a Buy It Now price to auction listings is also FREE (normally 10 cents). It's commencing Saturday 3rd December, 2005. All qualifying (Fixed Price and Auction with Buy It Now) items listed on eBay.com.au between the hours of 12:00:01am AEST, Saturday 3rd December and 11:59:59pm AEDST, Monday 5th December, 2005 will be eligible for Gallery for FREE. Adding your item’s photo to the gallery enables potential buyers to preview your item instantly in the search and browse view. Use a gallery photo to help attract more buyers and a higher price. On average, listings using Gallery attract 72% more bids than listings that use no listing upgrades.* Price promotions on eBay.com.au only happen every once in a while, so make sure you take advantage of this opportunity. For more information, see eBay’s price promotion page. Have fun trading on eBay! Regards, The eBay Team *This represents an average based on data from June 2004 transactions on eBay.com.au. No representation is made that a seller's final price, number of bids or conversion rate of a specific item will increase by the average percentages noted above.
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The people who send these emails -- referred to as "spoof" or "phishing" emails -- hope that unsuspecting recipients will reply or click on a link contained in the email and then provide sensitive personal information (e.g., eBay passwords, credit card numbers or email passwords, etc.).

Be sure to keep your operating system, web browser, and virus detection software up to date.

Microsoft recently issued a security update for Internet Explorer software to mitigate the possibility that a malicious person can create a link to a deceptive (spoofed) web site that displays the address, or URL, to a legitimate web site in the Status bar, Address bar and Title bar. We strongly encourage our members to go to www.microsoft.com, click on Windows Update, and follow the prompts. In addition, this might be a good time to update your anti-virus software and scan your computer for viruses. eBay strongly encourages our members to educate themselves on how to prevent falling for spoof emails and web sites. A few important safety practices include:

• Keep your operating system, web browser, and virus detection software up to date.
• When in doubt about whether you are really on eBay or PayPal – especially after clicking on a link in an email – open a new web browser and type in either www.ebay.com.au or www.paypal.com.au.
• Never click on a link in an email that requests updates to your account information.
• Forward suspicious email to either spoof@ebay.com.au or spoof@paypal.com.
• Frequently check your account status to see if there is any suspicious activity.
• Always use a secure server when submitting credit or debit card numbers online.
• Never enter your eBay password, PayPal password or financial information into an email or an email form – eBay and PayPal will never ask you to do this.

eBay is committed to enabling you to have a safe and enjoyable experience online. Your vigilance helps us ensure that eBay remains a safe and vibrant online marketplace.

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