The amendments to the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) require dealers and manufacturers to advertise a ‘drive away’ price for all vehicles. This price must include all components that are able to be calculated, such as vehicle cost, along with stamp duty, taxes, registration costs or other amount that the buyer would have to pay.

For those sellers who may be affected, we strongly recommend referring to the ACCC’s Pricing Manual for the Motor Vehicle Industry, which sets out the changes in more detail.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Communication, postage, and other buying and selling activities may be temporarily interrupted by these storms and floods, so we ask that you be patient if you have any trading partners in the affected areas.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

All the functionality currently offered on the summary page will still be available and any customisations you’ve already made will be carried over.

Here’s an overview of the new features:

Customisable summary page
Every section on the new summary page (e.g. listing activity) has an edit option. This lets you move the sections around, change the colour and customise how your data is displayed.

Shortcuts menu
The Shortcuts menu from My eBay will be added to the Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro summary page. You can use this section to display the links you use most often.

Account Status
Account Status gives you an overview of your account activity on the summary page. (If you would like to see this section, please go to Page Options in order to select it.)

More data in At a Glance
In the new summary page, At a Glance will show data of your recent sales for the previous 120 days.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The consolidation of eBay’s North American customer service operations is expected to capture efficiencies and facilitate the delivery of new service programs designed to improve the customer experience with eBay.

For Australian buyers and sellers, the closure of the Vancouver customer service facility will mean the transition of support services, including telephone, email and live chat services, to existing facilities in the US and the Philippines by early August.

eBay’s Manila facility, which currently supplies a significant level of email and live chat services to Australian members, will expand its services, and eBay’s US facility in Salt Lake City will increase its services to the Australian market.

eBay is committed to supporting the individuals impacted by the Vancouver closure, and the Canadian facility will be closed for 24 hours to allow staff members time to consider details of the announcement. During this period, email and live chat services will continue to operate, while phone support will be available again from Friday morning, Australian time.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

You’ll have access to a huge range of music for download at great prices from Universal’s music platform getmusic.com.au – just $1.59 a track and $15.99 for an album and best of all each download is compatible with all MP3 players. Look out for great deals all year round and keep an eye on the announcement board for special offers and promotions.

Already selling in the music category on eBay.com.au?

With the launch of eBay‘s music portal the Music category page has changed. Traditional music category items will now appear alongside the portal linking visitors to getmusic.com.au’s digital downloads.

The inclusion of a link direct to the music category page on the eBay header increases the prominence of all music category items on the site, making it even easier for buyers to get to your items. We believe the ability to access digitally downloaded music via eBay will enhance the buyer experience and keep buyers coming back to eBay.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Buyers will still be encouraged to try and resolve any issue with their seller prior to lodging a case and will also still be required to wait at least 10 days before opening a case.

The ‘find contact information’ function remains available for 90 days following a transaction and allows trading partners to obtain certain contact information about one another to help them communicate and resolve any issues. This tool is available via advanced search.

If a buyer has paid with PayPal they must open a PayPal case within 45 days of paying for the item to be eligible for PayPal Buyer Protection.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

You can contact Live Help through the link at the top right of the eBay.com.au home page or through this link.

You can access the contact us page at this link.

We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The technology looks at a multitude of details in listings to deliver more of the results you want. It makes it easy to browse and narrow your selection, and lets you choose how you want to see the results and even "anticipates" what you're typing in the search box.

We’ve had a lot of constructive feedback and great ideas from the community and have already incorporated a lot of these suggestions. In the coming months we’ll be introducing more new features and enhancements to make it even faster and easier.

Retiring the older technology

Until now, buyers and sellers have been able to ‘opt out’ of the new search engine but with more than 90% of members on eBay.com.au using the new search, we’ll be retiring the older technology over the next few days.

If you are an eBay Store owner, the retirement of this technology also means you need to switch to the latest Stores platform. Find out more about the new stores experience.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

You can contact PayPal Customer Service on 1800 073 263 from Monday to Saturday, 6AM to 10PM AEST.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

• the number of days the buyer should allow for you to process, pack and post the item (‘handling time’)
• whether you accept returns or not

New look Item Description Page
Later this week, sellers on eBay.com.au will be given the opportunity to preview the new Item Description Page.

This preview is being offered so you have the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the format and features before the page changes permanently later this year.

During this preview stage, buyers will continue to see the current item description page and you’ll only be able to see the new version when viewing your own items. We’ve also ensured you have the ability to opt out of the preview if you wish.

Smart FAQs for sellers
Intended to save you time and effort dealing with repetitive questions from buyers, we’re introducing a new free feature that will draw on live information from your listings to answer the top 20 buyer questions.

Smart FAQs will be available from mid June and are easy to set up.

Minimising how often changes are made on eBay
In an effort to minimise the impact site changes can have on sellers, we made a commitment last year to try and minimise the number of times changes are made on eBay.com.au.

eBay.com have today announced a plan to bundle changes into two or three major releases per year, and provide sellers with at least 60 days notice. By 2010 eBay.com.au plan to announce major changes at the same time as eBay.com.

Learn more about these changes by visiting Inside Selling.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The fee changes will be effective from 00:00:01am (AEST) on 29 April 2009.

Details of the changes:

Cars (category #29690 and associated sub-categories)
For cars listings where the starting auction price or Buy-It-Now price is below or equal to $5,000 an $8 insertion fee will be charged for the listing. For cars listings where the starting auction price or Buy-It-Now price is above $5,000 the insertion fee will be $10.

If the item listed is successfully sold it will incur a final value fee. If the final sale price of the item is $5,000 or less a fixed $35 final value fee will be charged (this is a reduced rate from current pricing). If the final sale price is greater than $5,000 then a fixed $40 final value fee will be incurred.

Motorcycles (category #32073 and associated sub-categories)
Motorcycles and associated sub-categories (Scooter, Trail Bikes, Quad Bikes etc) will be charged a $5 insertion fee when listed in Auction or Buy-It-Now format. If the item listed is successfully sold, it will incur a fixed $40 final value fee.

Other Vehicles (Boats, category #103477 and associated sub-categories; Aircraft, category #32635; Caravans & Motorhomes, category #32633; and Trucks & Commercials, category #47364)
Other Vehicles will be charged an $8 insertion fee when listed in auction or Buy-It-Now format. If the item is successfully sold, it will incur a fixed $40 final value fee.

Reserve fees, listing upgrade fees, picture service fees for these categories and fees for Classifieds listings will not be changing. The first 12 photos of your listing and several Upgrade Features (Gallery, Picture Show, and Picture Pack) are all still free.

The new fee structure will apply to all listings that commence on or after 00:00:01am (AEST) on 29 April 2009.

Learn more about current eBay fees.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We are working on resolving the issue. If you receive an error message when trying to connect, please try again.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Think you’ve got nothing worth selling? According to eBay research, the average Australian has around $3,000 worth of unused and unwanted goods. Take a tour around our virtual home for some inspiration.

As always terms and conditions do apply.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Once the boards are back online you can access them directly here

Please take some time to read the updated policy page here

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The eBay.com.au systems will automatically revert to AEST on Sunday morning.

This will impact buyers and sellers using eBay.com.au in the following way:

Sellers - your listings will appear to end one hour early however they will run for the exact time period you choose (a three day listing will run for 72 hours). As an example a listing that starts on Friday 3 April at 6am AEDST will end on Monday 6 April at 5am AEST.

Buyers - please note that both the item "end date" and the watching “time left” take into account this change so this time change will not impact your bidding or watching activity.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you are an existing eBay Education Specialist, or you wish to start teaching, the program which will now be free will operate in the following way:

• Register your interest to become a teacher by sending an email with your name and whether you are currently an Education Specialist to ebay_educator@stokesmischewski.com.au (Stokes Mischewski is an eBay research partner and will facilitate the program).

• In order to become a CeE, you’ll need to meet certain eligibility criteria including the successful completion of an online exam. Once you have passed the exam and satisfied the eligibility requirements (e.g. have at least 50 feedback) you’ll be granted access to the new CeE logo, a certificate of registration and student certificates.
  A list of approved texts will also be provided and you’ll be granted access to an exclusive Approved Courses category within eBay Services where you can advertise your upcoming classes.

• To ensure all CeEs maintain a minimum acceptable knowledge of eBay, you’ll be required to complete the exam in January each year.
  If you do not pass the exam on your first attempt, you will have the opportunity to re-sit the exam once more within a twelve month period however a second fail will exclude you from the CeE program for twelve months.

We’d like to thank all our local teachers for your continued commitment to teaching others how to sell and buy on eBay.com.au.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We’ll be updating the look and feel, introducing some new features, consolidating boards, increasing some access requirements and revising the discussion board policy.

The discussion boards have been an important part of the eBay experience for many years. We believe the changes being introduced will not only ensure they continue to be a great spot for members to seek advice, share passions and tips for trading on eBay but also allow for more focused, constructive discussion among members and with eBay.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the new features being introduced:

• Greater personalisation and layout options. In addition to showing My World profile images, you’ll find tools that will allow you to quickly access those discussion topics that are most important to you.
• Time-saving features. Hover over a discussion thread title and catch a glimpse of the conversation that’s taking place before you decide to click into the thread.
• Enhanced control over your experience. You can sort discussions from newest to oldest or vice versa plus you’ll be able to automatically “quote” an earlier post.

Take a look at the recently upgraded discussion boards on the eBay.com site to get an idea of how things will look.

In order for the boards to get their makeover, they’ll need to be offline for a little while. We anticipate the boards will be unavailable for about 6-8 hours and we’ll provide exact times as we get closer.

Thanks to everyone who contributed feedback, suggestions and ideas, your input has helped finalise the new structure. Keep an eye on your favourite discussion board for more details.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Both buyers and sellers have told us the format is too confusing and this is backed up by our data which shows the Dutch auction format is not widely used, accounting for a very small percentage of all auction listings.

If you currently list with the Dutch auction format you’ll have until mid May to convert your listings to another format, such as single-item auction listings or the multi-quantity fixed price format.

Any Dutch auction listings that are live when the format is discontinued will be allowed to run to their conclusion, and Good ‘Til Cancelled Dutch auctions will relist but will automatically be set to a quantity of one.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Regards,
The eBay team

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Previous update: Coming soon - changes to My eBay***
	04 February 2009 | 02:34PM EST The retirement of the classic version of My eBay has been delayed, so for the moment the ability to opt in and out of the new version is still available. We'll provide further updates on the retirement of 'classic' soon. Regards, The eBay team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: Coming soon - changes to My eBay***
	15 January 2009 | 04:05PM EST Later this month, My eBay will transition from the ‘old’ or ‘classic’ version to the new version, currently know as My eBay beta or My eBay preview. Many of you have been using this new version of My eBay for a while now and we’d like to thank everyone who contributed feedback and suggestions about the look and feel, features and functionality; you helped shape the improvements that have been made to the new My eBay over the last few months. If you haven’t yet tried the new My eBay you can do so before this change comes into place by clicking the "try the beta" link in the upper right corner on the old My eBay pages. The new My eBay has a more consistent look and feel with the rest of the eBay site, is much more customisable and has some great new features. We know and understand that some of you simply don’t want the old version to go, but we hope with time you’ll come to like the new version even more than the old. Regards, The eBay team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

With a total of $25,000 worth of prizes up for grabs, it won’t matter whether you’re a dedicated fan or you’ve never watched a game. Simply join either the NRL or AFL tipping comp (you can join both if you like) and you are in with a chance of winning.

Each competition has a weekly prize of $250 for the top tipper plus a massive $5,000 for the end of season winner.

There’s also a few “early bird” prizes to kick off each comp, so register on or before 20 March 2009 for your chance to win $500.

Want to see who the tipping master is among your friends or family? You can set up private competitions and invite friends, family or work mates to join.

As always terms and conditions do apply:
NRL Tipping competition - Terms & Conditions
AFL Tipping competition - Terms & Conditions

To find out more and join, go to http://tipping.ebay.com.au/.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

As always terms and conditions do apply.

Why wait, list your items now and simply schedule them to start tomorrow!

Link to this announcement | Back to top

This error was picked up quickly and a correction email was sent to everyone affected within hours. We also had a ‘sign in’ notice appear on site for everyone affected within hours.

We realise this creates a period where people may have bid on or committed to buy an item under the assumption they would be entitled to a 10% discount. We will be honouring the 10% discount for any of the affected members who won an item, or placed a winning bid, in this period.

We will be reaching out to those members who have been affected to provide details of how payments will be made. If you believe you are entitled to this discount and have not received an email from eBay by 11th March 2009, please contact eBay customer support.

We sincerely apologise for any confusion and inconvenience this error may have caused.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

With the tragic loss of life, so many people left without homes, and the disruption to postage services, we realise there will be an impact on trading for some of our members. We ask that you show patience and consideration during this time.

Our team has been working behind the scenes to put in place plans to assist our members impacted by these devastating fires.

• We’ve established a dedicated support team who are working to identify members located in the affected areas and will be proactively reaching out to as many of these members as possible to offer support and assistance during this difficult time.

• Both PayPal and eBay have placed links to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal on the homepage of each site enabling members to easily make donations.

• eBay and PayPal are also contributing $100,000 to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal through the Red Cross while also matching all Australian employee donations to the appeal.

If you have not yet made a donation to the appeal you can do so through the link on either the eBay.com.au or PayPal.com.au homepage or go directly to the Red Cross.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

eBay does allow charitable listings provided they comply with our Charity Listings policy and while we commend those of you looking for ways to offer help through eBay, it’s important to understand that while the vast majority of people are acting with only the best intentions, the unfortunate truth is there could be someone wanting to take advantage of this type of situation. For this reason, listings that do not comply with the charity policy may be removed from the site.

There are of course a number of ways you can help those in need:

• Donate to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund - 1800 811 700.
• Give blood - Contact the Australian Red Cross to make an appointment by calling 13 14 95
• Contact the Australian Red Cross to find out how you can help after an emergency.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

At the same time, parts of Queensland were hit with flash floods also affecting many people.

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to everybody impacted by these devastating fires and floods.

We ask that you be patient and considerate if you have any trading partners in the affected areas.

Individuals and organisations wishing to make a donation to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund can go to www.redcross.org.au or call the toll free number 1800 811 700.

For further information on donations to the Queensland Disaster Relief Appeal please visit the Queensland Government Disaster Relief Appeal website.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We’ve received plenty of feedback from our community about the way bidders IDs are displayed and we know many of you prefer the transparency that the aliases used on other eBay sites offers.

This change means aliases on eBay.com.au will consist of two random characters from the member's User ID – for example, a***b. This method of identifying a bidder (whose feedback score is also visible) gives members a sense of who is bidding, while still protecting the bidders' identities.

This change will not affect bidding activity – you’ll simply notice the IDs change from Bidder 1, Bidder 2 to the randomised formula as explained above.

Sellers will also be unaffected - if you are logged in you will still be able to see all the actual User IDs for the bidders on your listings.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The three changes listed below are all effective from early March.

1. Changes to eBay pre–sale policy effective from 1 March 2009
   Pre-sale listings are for items that are not in the possession of the seller at the time of the listing, eg pre-release DVDs.

   Pre-sale items will be allowed on eBay.com.au only if the seller guarantees that the item will be posted to the buyer within 20 days from payment. Items covered by the ‘Event Tickets’ policy will not be affected.

   You can view the updated pre-sales policy here.

2. Changes to Postage and Handling policy effective from 1 March 2009
   The policy is to be updated following the recent introduction of limits to the amount that can be charged for the first flat-rate domestic postage in a small number of categories. The policy prohibits sellers from charging postage and handling fees which are excessive, inaccurate, misleading, unreasonable or unnecessary.

   You can view the updated Postage and Handling policy here and find more information about postage limits on the FAQ page.

3. Changes to required information within listings
   From mid March, all new listings will be required to include the following information:
   • the number of days the buyer should allow for you to process, pack and post the item (‘handling time’)

   • whether you accept returns or not

   If you are an Australian business seller, your buyers have a legal right to obtain a refund from you in certain circumstances and within a reasonable time. Find out more about return policies and requirements.

   Why is this change being introduced?
   Often when a buyer has a sub-standard shopping experience, the seller ends up getting a low Detailed Seller Rating (DSR). This can be caused by a gap between buyer expectations and their actual experience. Setting the correct expectations upfront and then delivering against them will significantly reduce the chances of this happening and also improve their perception of the seller. This change aims to bridge the gap between the expectation and experience, for the benefit of both sellers and buyers.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The changes seek to align the eBay.com.au category structure with other eBay markets including the US and UK, with the intention of improving Australian seller’s sales overseas.

How will these changes impact sellers?

Recurring listings
Any seller who automatically relists items in any of the above categories using a third party or eBay tool (such as Turbo Lister or Selling Manager Pro) will need to make a bulk edit of listings to ensure all items are listed within the correct category number.

New listings in these categories
For Turbo Lister and third party listing tools you will need to download updates to ensure the category structure reflects this change. Download the latest version of Turbo Lister and learn how to save time by bulk editing listings.

View the complete list of January category changes.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

As you are most likely aware, protests in Thailand have led to the temporary closure of both of Bangkok's International Airports, while Mumbai, India last week suffered terrorist attacks.

If you have recently purchased item(s) from sellers in Thailand or India, please be patient and understand that there may be delays in communication and items being shipped to Australia.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

How does this affect you?
From 26 January 2009, sellers using Turbo Lister version 6.4 or older will need to download the latest version of Turbo Lister in order to continue uploading listings to eBay.com.au.

The first time you use Turbo Lister version 6.5 and higher, you’ll be prompted to complete the "authentication and authorization" process.

To check your Turbo Lister version:

1. Start Turbo Lister
2. From the top menu, select "Help > About Turbo Lister"
3. The version number is shown in the pop-up

Link to this announcement | Back to top

This change will allow negative or neutral feedback comments which reference customs delays or customs fees, to be removed provided that the listing meets certain requirements.

The following text must be included in the listing for related feedback to be eligible for removal:

International Buyers – Please Note:
• Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility.

• Please check with your country’s customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.

Further information regarding Feedback Removal is available here

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Rest assured we will be monitoring this maintenance very closely to ensure all systems return to normal functionality immediately afterward. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

eBay Vice President Simon Smith, who’s headed up the Australian operations for eight years, today announced that he’s leaving the organisation. At the same time, eBay Director, Deborah Sharkey has been named as Managing Director of eBay Australia and New Zealand Pty Ltd.

Simon joined us in 2000, just a year after the company’s launch in Australia and helped build us into the country’s leading online marketplace: five-million Australian visitors a month (Nielsen//NetRatings Netview September 2008) and more than 17,500 Australians use eBay as their primary or only source of income (AC Nielsen).

In a public statement today, Simon said: “I’ve enjoyed eight exciting years at eBay and, given that recent changes to the organisation are now complete, it seems an appropriate time for me to move on.”

We’ll miss Simon and we wish him well.

Deborah Sharkey has been with us for five years, has a deep, all-round understanding of eBay having worked in several areas of the business. Deborah’s leadership and experience will help us continue to build a successful marketplace for sellers and buyers in Australia.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Just about everybody gets something for Christmas that you just don’t want, need or know what to do with. Rather than stash those unwanted gifts under the bed or hide them in your cupboard, take advantage of this promotion and turn them into some extra CA$H.

Never sold before?
We’ve made it easy with 7 simple steps to selling on eBay.

As always certain terms and conditions do apply.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: Live Help currently experiencing delays***
	25 December 2008 | 08:19AM EST Due to extreme weather conditions affecting staffing levels at our customer support centre, we are currently experiencing delays in our Live help service. We apologize for the inconvenience and wish everyone happy holidays. Regards, The eBay Team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

As of 31 December 2008, eBay.com.au's agreement with Power University ends. All Education Specialists will be allowed to continue using the approved logo and existing materials until 31 March 2009, however, Power University will no longer be hosting its website for Australian teachers. In the interim, eBay advises teaches to advertise their existing courses either via eBay listings, or on the New to eBay Help discussion board. After 31 March 2009, the use of the Education Specialist logo and materials will no longer be allowed.

In early 2009, eBay will make an announcement for a new program to recognise those who wish to teach others how to use eBay in Australia. This new program is taking shape after a series of discussions with existing Education Specialists.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

These postage limits are now in effect.

For more details on the limits and how this change might affect you visit our FAQs on postage limits.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Communication, postage, and other buying and selling activities may be temporarily interrupted by these storms, so, we ask that you be patient if you have any trading partners in the affected areas.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Over the past three months, via an online survey, sponsorship of the PeSA conference and community group forums held across Australia, better known as Voices, we met with almost 500 sellers and received direct feedback from over 10,000 members on various topics. A big thankyou to all of you that participated for your honesty and commitment, your feedback has been vital in helping shape a better marketplace for Australians.

Here’s a quick look at the top five themes raised during this recent outreach:

1. Profitability and fees on eBay
   You told us you want free gallery, discounts for high volume sales and/or good behaviour, and success based fees.
2. Feedback
   You told us to get rid of the buyer notification that appeared before a buyer leaves feedback, allow a means to remove or revise feedback and help minimise non paying buyers.
3. Communication & support from eBay
   You want greater consultation, more notice of changes, clearer communication and better understanding of how change may impact you.
4. PayPal
   Opinions on PayPal being a mandatory payment option are mixed. Communication related to PayPal eCheques and disputes was a recurring theme.
5. eBay policies & changes
   While largely linked to communication and support, you want to better understand the rationale of why policy changes are being made.

What is being done with all this feedback?
As we plan for next year, we are taking your feedback on board. While we cannot promise any specific changes, we remain committed to ensuring that eBay offers the best possible service for our buyers and sellers. As a result of your feedback we have already implemented some changes, an example of which is the removal of the buyer notification referred to in point 2 above.

A complete summary of what you told us and what we plan to do is available here.

We’re also excited to announce we’ll soon be launching an eBay Member Panel. The Panel, consisting of approximately 10,000 members from across our buying and selling community will enable increased, ongoing consultation with our members. Stay tuned for more information soon.

Will eBay continue to make changes?
We recognise the changes made this year have meant a bumpy road for some sellers and we are genuinely sorry for any confusion or negative impact you may have experienced.

eBay is going through a period of change and this will continue. Please be assured that change is not made for change sake. Like any business we need to adapt to a changing marketplace to ensure your and eBay’s ongoing success. We know change can be difficult and we are committed to improving the relationship between eBay and our community so together, we can better manage change in the future.

Your success is our success and we thank you for your ongoing support and commitment. Let’s work together for a very strong 2009!

Link to this announcement | Back to top

To help you celebrate Christmas in style we’ve got $170,000 up for grabs in our Xmas Jackpot Promotion.

Entry is simple, buy any item on eBay.com.au and pay with PayPal until 23 November for your chance to win a daily prize of $10,000. Every purchase gives you one chance of winning, so the more you buy the better your chances.

There is also a jackpot prize of $30,000! Just buy three items on eBay.com.au and pay with PayPal during the promotional period and you’ll automatically be entered into the $30,000 jackpot prize draw. To maximize your chances, every additional purchase gets you another entry!

For more details checkout www.ebay.com.au/jackpotpromo where you’ll also find the terms and conditions for this promotion.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Any payments impacted by these issues will be released into PayPal account balances within the next 72 hours. If you already received a manual credit for an unclaimed eCheque, we will be reversing the credits once the original transactions have cleared. You should ensure that you maintain a sufficient balance in your PayPal account to cater for this reversal so that it does not result in a negative PayPal balance.

As this has been an extraordinary set of circumstances outside Sellers’ control, eBay will remove negative and neutral feedback ratings (including low DSRs) on transactions affected by the issue. Given buyers have 60 days to leave Feedback from the end of a transaction, eBay will not be able to fully address any negative or neutral Feedbacks until this period is complete.

Please contact PayPal customer support if you have any questions or if your eCheque funds do not appear in your PayPal account balance within the next 72 hours. You can contact PayPal Customer Service on 1800 073 263, hours are 6am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday (AEDST).

PayPal apologise for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Looking ahead, eBay will continue to offer advertisers space on View Item pages. In selling this space we will aim to place advertisements that complement the category and sellers’ listings. For example links to home and contents insurance offers in the Home category.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We are also excited to inform you that Turbo Lister does support Best Offer right now. We had initially announced this wouldn’t be possible until next year but the team worked hard to make sure it was supported before the Christmas rush, all you need to do is update your current version of Turbo Lister.

Best Offer is a free feature so find out more about how to use it now.

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: Best Offer available soon on eBay.com.au***
	24 October 2008 | 11:25AM EST From early November, Best Offer will be available across all categories on eBay.com.au for items listed in fixed price or classified ad format. Currently only available within eBay Motors in Australia, Best Offer is a great way for buyers to get an item they want at a price they are willing to pay and an excellent opportunity for sellers to increase the likelihood of a sale. In fact, our data shows that sellers using Best Offer on eBay.com have seen an average 10% increase* in conversion rates. Best of all – Best Offer is a free feature so find out more about how to use it now so you can be ready to take advantage when it launches next month! We wanted to get Best Offer out to you before the Christmas rush but we should point out that it won’t be supported by Turbo Lister or most third party listing tools until next year. In the meantime, you can still take advantage using the Sell Your Item form, Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro. Regards The eBay team *eBay data May – September 2008
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

• Books Fiction, Literature
• Books Non-Fiction
• Comic books
• CDs
• DVDs

• Books Fiction Literature AU $8
• Books Non-Fiction AU $8
• DVDs (selected categories) AU $10

Limits do not apply to calculated postage in any categories.

For more details on the limits and how this change might affect you visit our FAQs on postage limits.

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: Postage limits affecting some categories***
	13 October 2008 | 10:43AM EST From early November limits will apply to the amount of postage and handling that can be charged for the first flat-rate domestic postage within a small number of categories. Second or third flat rate postage options are not limited if you’d like to offer premium postage options including registered or express services. This change is aimed at preventing sellers from unfairly inflating their postage costs so their items look cheaper. Research findings support this and suggest that buyers are deterred by excessive postage costs and are going elsewhere for their purchases. The categories that these limits will apply to are: Books Fiction, Literature Books Non-Fiction Comic books CDs DVDs If your actual postage cost happens to exceed the limit then we suggest that you use calculated postage which enables you to charge the actual postage cost. For more details on the limits and how this change might affect you visit our FAQs on postage limits. Regards, The eBay team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

Today, however, the winning bidder’s ID is currently visible to everyone after the listing ends, and this continues to lead to fake checkout offers and other spam. Consequently, it also leads to unpaid items, as winning bidders who fall victim to these fake emails often send payment to someone other than the seller.

Based on the positive results we’ve seen by safeguarding bidder User IDs, as well as our commitment to protecting all bidders from becoming targets for fraudsters, we’ve decided to extend safeguarding member IDs to winning bidders, as well. This change will be implemented next week.

As always, the following information will still be accessible:

• Sellers will be able to view all bidder IDs on their listings.
• All members can click on the bidder ID and view the bidder’s Bid History page, which will detail the categories in which they’ve bid over the past 30 days.
• Feedback pages will show the same information as now – buyer and seller IDs, with comments visible to all.

For information on how to trade safely on eBay and ensure you are protected against online fraud visit the Security Centre.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Regards,
The eBay team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you have any questions about an eCheque payment or any emails you received about an eCheque payment, please call PayPal Customer Service on 1800 073 263. Our customer service hours are 6am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday (AEDST).

What is an eCheque? An eCheque is a non-instant PayPal payment which usually happens when the PayPal payment is funded by a bank account and waits until the buyer’s bank has processed the payment before the Seller sees the eCheque status as cleared in their PayPal account. An eCheque is designed to minimise the risk of a payment to a Seller being reversed if the buyer does not have sufficient funds in their bank account to pay for their purchase. An eCheque usually takes 3 – 4 working days to clear, International eCheques may take longer.

PayPal apologise for any inconvenience.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you find yourself in this situation, please call PayPal Customer Support on 1800 073 263. PayPal customer support hours are 6am to 10pm Monday - Saturday(AEDST).

PayPal are working to resolve this issue and apologise for any inconvenience.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Buyers want to know the exact postage price of an item before they place an order. This is very important to keeping your buyers happy and ensuring they keep coming back to purchase from you.

When sellers specify the postage price and service in the Postage Details section of their listing (not just in the listing description) this information shows up for buyers in key places during the purchasing process - on the Search Results page, at the top of the Item page, and in the Postage Details section at the bottom of the listing. Listings with postage specified in this way are more likely to sell and attract positive feedback.

If you’re already selling on eBay and not yet specifying postage in this way, we encourage you to adopt this important best practice.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We thank you for your patience and apologize for any inconvenience.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Regards,
The eBay team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

PayPal apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your business. Once the maintenance has been completed the PayPal site will return to normal functionality.

We appreciate your understanding.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you’d like to switch from the new search back to the old search you can do so by using the following URL - http://shop.ebay.com.au/r2optout/___W0QQ_r2ooZ1?_trksid=p3286.l1278

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: New search to be default from Tuesday 21 October***
	16 October 2008 | 05:14PM EST After many months of development, testing and community consultation, the new search (formerly known as Playground) will become the default on eBay.com.au next week. Thanks to everyone who’s given us feedback in the process – we appreciate it. With the new search you can: Select multiple product options at once (such as more than one colour, plus different sizes, brands etc). Automatic inclusion of synonyms (e.g. ‘fridge’ = ‘refrigerator’), so there's no need for you to include alternate words or spellings in your search. Browse by pictures in Window Shopping view (saving you time). If you’d prefer to use the existing search, you can opt out of the new search by clicking the link at the foot of the search results page. Further improvements will be appearing over the coming weeks and months. Your suggestions are welcome and can be submitted by emailing aucategory@eBay.com. Regards The eBay team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during these maintenance periods please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Regards,
The eBay team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

To celebrate we're giving away the trip of a lifetime valued at $20,000! Each month from now until December, we'll post three questions per month relating to travel and hotels. All you have to do is find the answers by searching on the lotsofhotels site and enter the draw to win.

Every month you participate you gain one entry into the grand prize draw, so increase your chances by coming back every month to take the challenge!

As always terms and conditions do apply.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

If you need to contact customer support during this maintenance period please do so via email - http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html. Alternatively, you will be able to use Live Help once the scheduled maintenance is completed after 4pm AEDST.

Regards,
The eBay team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: Return policy required on international listings***
	05 September 2008 | 05:25PM EST From early October 2008, sellers listing items for sale directly on international eBay sites will need to specify a return policy. For many sellers, this can also include a ‘No Returns Accepted’ policy*. Items that are listed directly on eBay.com.au and offer either domestic or international postage will not be affected by these changes. When listing an item directly on an international eBay site, the following information will need to be included in your policy*: Whether you accept returns A specified time in which an item may be returned How a refund will be provided To avoid disappointment, make sure you update your listings with the relevant return policy details by early October. International listings that do not have a specified return policy will not be displayed on international eBay sites. Learn more about the changes to the international returns policy. As mentioned this policy does not apply to items listed directly on eBay.com.au *IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SELLERS Some sellers must accept returns or refunds in certain circumstances under the Australian Trade Practices Act 1974 or relevant state fair trading legislation. Your return policy does not override the requirements of consumer protection law, which may give buyers greater return and refund rights than you state in your policy. In certain circumstances, sellers also cannot lawfully impose a specified time limit for returns or refunds. For more information about warranties and refunds contact the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502 or visit the ACCC website. Regards, The eBay Team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

Unaffected by today’s announcement will be existing Customer Support and Account Managers who continue to be there to help you.

As part of the proposals, various teams are being streamlined across the globe. You can read more detail of the proposals by visiting the eBay Ink blog.

The local Australian team will be reduced by 18 positions. Our priority is to talk to our people to get through what is a difficult day.

eBay remains Australia’s leading online marketplace and the evolution of the internal organization will help create greater opportunities for the countless sellers who rely on eBay as a source of income along with the millions of buyers looking for deals.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We want to help you keep up with the competition so we're offering 50% off final value fees on all auction and fixed price listings that offer free domestic postage from 8 to 14 October 2008.

There are lots of ways free postage can help boost your sales and with our exciting new free postage hub your free postage listings will benefit from even greater exposure to the many buyers who come to eBay everyday.

We know this may not work for everyone, but if you’ve never tried offering free postage before, this is the perfect opportunity to test it out on a few items and see how you go. Who knows, you could just boost your sales and soon be listing all your items with free postage!

As always terms and conditions do apply.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

PayPal apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your business. Once the maintenance has been completed the PayPal site will return to normal functionality.

We appreciate your understanding.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

It is important to note that Western Australia will commence daylight saving on Sunday 26 October while Queensland and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight saving.

Sellers
The length of time you listed an item for will remain the same. One hour will effectively be added to the end time of your current listings. For example, a five day listing starting at 10am AEST on Thursday 2 October 2008 will end at 11am AEDST on Tuesday 7 October 2008.

Buyers
The 'End time' displayed within a listing will always show the time remaining on an item accurately (i.e. 4 days 23 hours).

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The Australian version of these advertisements went live at approximately 7pm on Monday 22 September and created some discussion among the Community until they were withdrawn the next morning. We apologise for introducing these new placements without letting you know first. We also appreciate the feedback provided and have taken onboard some of the concerns expressed by the Community.

This trial will continue, however the advertisements will be placed lower on the View Item Page and will be clearly marked as a sponsored link. During this trial advertisements will only appear in approximately 10-15% of View Item Pages in the following categories only:

• sport
• movies
• electronics

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Marketplace Research by Terapeak will still give you access to the same great data including:

• 90 days of completed listings
• 2 years of category trends
• Sellers by eBay seller ID
• Keyword Research
• Category Research
• Advanced Filters

If you were an eBay Marketplace Research subscriber on eBay.com.au as of Friday August 15th, you're eligible to transfer your current subscription to Terapeak at your current rate. You can do this now by signing in with your eBay user ID and password here: http://pages.terapeak.com/au/learn_more/.

You'll be guided through the process of signing up for the Terapeak tool and offered your subscription benefits.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

To celebrate, we're giving you a chance to WIN $25,000 cash in your PayPal account to spend on whatever you like. Your house, a new car or even that long awaited holiday you've been dreaming to take. It's up to you!

There are two ways to enter:

1. If you use your mobile to buy, or place a bid on the Australian eBay site and that item wins, you get one entry into the draw, and;
2. Pay for any eBay item with PayPal on your mobile and get two entries into the draw.

Enter as many times as you like!

As always Terms and Conditions do apply.

Happy shopping
The eBay and PayPal teams

*subject to receiving mobile reception and having a internet-enabled phone

A message from our lawyers
eBay is not providing personal financial advice to you and does not take your individual circumstances into account in providing information about PayPal. The PayPal service is provided by PayPal Australia Pty Limited (ABN 93 111 195 389) which holds an Australian Financial Services Licence, number 304962. eBay is an authorised representative of PayPal for the purpose of promoting PayPal and is not acting as your agent. You should consider the Product Disclosure Statement and Financial Services Guide before deciding to sign-up for or use the PayPal online payment service at https://www.PayPal.com.au

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Previous update: Changes to Member to Member emails***
	22 September 2008 | 05:26PM EST As announced in August, eBay has introduced some changes to the email system used by members which will come into effect today. Specifically, email addresses sent through the system (ie Ask Seller a Question, Reply to Question and Contact eBay Member links on the site) will be made anonymous in emails sent before a sale takes place. This applies to members who have not recently transacted with each other. Once the item is purchased, the member’s email address will be visible. Until then, eBay will replace the sender’s email address in the “From” field with a temporary anonymous address. If you forward member messages from your eBay registered email account to a secondary email account you should update your preferences in My eBay with this secondary email address. To set up this preference: Sign in to My eBay and go to Communication Preferences. In the section titled Delivery Options click the Show link next to Member-to-Member email address. Choose whether you want to use the same email address to send and receive emails from other members or different addresses for each. You may choose the second option if you need to have one email address to process and route inbound requests, and a second for outbound replies. Enter the email address(es) you want to use to send and receive emails and click on Save. A short grace period will apply before eBay begin to validate the email address a member is using to reply to member messages. This validation is a secondary security measure to prevent a fraudster from trying to gain access to your account. Learn more about these changes. Regards The eBay team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: Changes to Member to Member emails***
	06 August 2008 | 03:48PM EST You may have heard that buyers are sometimes enticed to trade outside the eBay site by fraudsters promising a great deal. Such buyers not only risk losing their money, but also their trust in the eBay experience, and in eBay sellers. To help prevent this, we're making email addresses in certain situations anonymous. Starting 1 September 2008, email addresses sent through the eBay system (ie Ask Seller a Question, Reply to Question and Contact eBay Member links on the site) will be made anonymous in emails sent before the sale takes place. This applies to members who have not recently transacted with each other. Once the item is purchased, the member’s email address will be visible. This involves the email being routed through eBay’s system before it’s received by the member. To do this, eBay will replace the sender’s email address in the “From” field with a temporary anonymous address. The eBay email system has a range of filters to reduce spam and emails from fraudsters. What this means for buyers Buyers do not need to prepare for this change, but will notice some differences: When sending an email to a member through eBay, you will not have the option to hide your email address, as this will be done automatically. The yellow Respond button that is embedded within emails sent through eBay is being removed. You will be able to respond in the same way you reply to normal emails. What this means for sellers These changes may help sellers manage their customer service operations more efficiently: Emailing your customers: You can still respond to customers’ questions using your own email provider (eg Outlook and Hotmail); you no longer have to use My Messages. The yellow Respond button: Larger sellers found this button slowed down their response speed. This button is being removed as it’s no longer needed. Email address preferences: To ensure emails are from legitimate members, email addresses used to respond to customers must be added to your eBay account. You may want to set up a separate email address anyway so that customer emails don’t get lost in your inbox. Email sorting: The subject header is changing. You can use the subject header to route emails based on pre and post transaction questions about a particular subject. Limitations on emails: There are some limits on email size and attachments. Also, email addresses included within the message will automatically be stripped out. Next year we'll look at removing email addresses from listings as this can also lead to fraudsters tempting interested buyers to transact outside the eBay site. We haven’t made this change yet as we know many of you are busy ramping up for Christmas. Learn more about these changes. Regards, The eBay team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

The removal plan
Starting the week of 22 September, the links to Bid Assistant will be removed from item pages and My eBay. Buyers will no longer be able to create new groups of items within the tool. If you’ve used the Bid Assistant tool recently (or do so before 22 September) here’s how you’ll be affected:

• If you have an active Bid Assistant group as of 22 September: You'll still see the link to Bid Assistant in My eBay, and will be able to view your groups of items within the tool. The Bid Assistant tool will also continue to bid on the items within each group as scheduled. However, you'll not be able to add or remove items from a group, or alter your maximum bids. Because these groups will essentially “lock” on 22 September, make sure you don’t want to change anything within your Bid Assistant groups before that day.

• If you have a closed Bid Assistant group as of 22 September: You’ll still be able to view your closed groups via the link in My eBay.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

PayPal apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your business. Once the maintenance has been completed the PayPal site will return to normal functionality.

We appreciate your understanding.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Come along and hear from industry professionals and various panels of eBay sellers, meet with the eBay, PayPal, Gumtree and Shopping.com teams.

eBay is also extending an invitation to attendees to meet with key eBay team members for a ‘one on one’ discussion or perhaps join us for dinner on Wednesday evening. You'll have the chance to secure a 'one on one' session or your place at the dinner table when you arrive on Wednesday morning but be quick as spaces are limited.

The two day conference is only $249!

To register or find out more visit the PeSA website.

Link to this announcement | Back to top
	***Original: 2008 PeSA Summit – Navigating Change to Success***
	20 August 2008 | 10:34AM EST As previously announced eBay, PayPal and Shopping.com are proud to be the primary sponsors of this year's PeSA (Professional eBay Sellers Alliance) Conference. Registrations are open now but time is running out to take advantage of the early bird special. Registrations received prior to or on 22 August 2008 are available at the discounted price of $199 for the jam packed two day conference so get in now and save! To register or find out more about the conference, visit the PeSA website. Regards The eBay team
	Link to this announcement | Back to top

The PayPal Customer Support phone number is: 1800 073 263

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We know that buyers love a bargain and free postage makes your item even more attractive!

Why Offer Free Postage?
Free postage drives the perception of good value and improves your chances of selling. It also helps buyers know the final cost of the item so there are no little surprises for them.

More Exposure
To make sure your listings stand out from the rest, we'll feature selected items with free domestic postage in our buyer newsletter, the Candy Jar.

This could link to your listing so make sure you take advantage.

Additional Information
There are lots of ways to improve the postage service to your buyers. Our Postage Centre offers lots of helpful tips on how to ensure your parcels are delivered efficiently, quickly and in one piece.

Link to this announcement | Back to top