New Wristwatch Brands:

• Adee Kaye
• Aqua Master
• Brighton
• Burberry
• Caravelle
• Cardini
• Chopard
• Colibri
• Eddie Bauer
• Geneva
• Jojo
• Krug Baumen
• Louis Bolle
• Lucien Piccard
• Luminox
• Marc Ecko
• Michael Kors
• Michele
• Nixon
• Paolo Gucci
• Paul Frank
• Pierre Cardin
• Reaction
• Relic
• Suunto
• Tommy Bahama

We will discontinue offering the following brands in Wristwatches Item Specifics:

Deleted Wristwatch Brands:

• BMW
• Elysee
• Mercedes Benz
• Sanrio/Hello Kitty

For sellers, Item Specifics help make it easier to present a clean, well-organized description that clearly articulates important details that buyers want to see. Using Item Specifics is free and optional. For general information about Item Specifics and how to use them, please visit the Item Specifics overview page. For buyers, Item Specifics improves the ability to find the right item for a given application, and buyers will also be able to search for items using Item Specifics a few weeks later.

If you list items through an eBay seller tool (e.g. Sell Your Item form, Turbo Lister, Selling Manager) or the eBay API, Item Specifics will be available in the next few weeks. If you utilize a 3rd party listing service (e.g., Andale, Auctionworks, etc.), please contact them to verify that they will offer the Item Specifics functionality in the above categories.

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When is it? It all starts Monday, July 24, 2006 at 00:00:01 EDT (12:00 AM plus one second on July 24, 2006) and ends Sunday, July 30, 2006 23:59:59 EDT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds on July 30, 2006).

Who is included? This promotion is only open to residents of Canada. Listings must be made on the Canadian Motors site in either Auction or Fixed Price format. Listings created prior to the promotion and scheduled to start during the promotional period of July 24-30, 2006 will be eligible for the promotional fee. Items that are re-listed that match the above eligibility will qualify for the promotion.

What is excluded? Items listed in non-Motors Vehicles categories, including Parts & Accessories, Pocketbikes, Powersport Vehicles under 50cc, Business and Industrial Capital Equipment, Store Inventory Format and Real Estate Ad Format listings will not be included in this promotion.

Items listed on the U.S. eBay Motors site (http://www.motors.ebay.com/) and items listed by a user who is not a resident of Canada will be excluded.

The promotional rate does not apply to listings that begin before the promotional period, but are revised during the promotional period to meet eligibility. The promotional rate also does not apply to listings created during the promotion on July 24-30, 2006, but scheduled to start after the promotion ends. 

Learn more about the Free Picture Week for vehicles.

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Hello, I'm Lisa Oda. I'm back again to kick off a new promotion called "Name That Show & Win It." Here’s how it works:

Use Buy It Now or win an auction-style listing between July 24th and July 30th and you'll be entered into a daily prize drawing. You could win the purchase price of your item up to $100 USD (excluding shipping, taxes, and insurance costs) or one of seven amazing Grand Prize movie experiences — ranging from trips to Los Angeles to attend movie premieres to private film screenings. We'll have a total of 51 winners every day!

Plus, if you’re a TV trivia buff, this is your time to shine. Put your knowledge to the test on our Name That Show page for up to five additional entries into each daily prize drawing. Each day of the contest, we'll post the day's five TV trivia clues on the Name That Show & Win It discussion board. Each clue corresponds to a TV show name hidden in one of five television genre drop-down menus. You'll get one entry into the day's prize drawing for each correct TV show name you submit. Come back every day for new clues and chances to win!

Name That Show page starts July 24th, so get ready to shop, buy, and win!

Sincerely,

Lisa Oda
eBay Marketing

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Just wanted to remind everyone that the 20˘ Core Insertion Fee Sale lasts for two days, so there is still one day to go! Details are outlined below. Please note that there is a similar promotion occurring on eBay.com.

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	***Original: 20 cent listing day - July 20-21, 2006***
	19 July, 2006 | 20:09 What is it? List in Auction Format & Fixed Price listings on eBay.ca on Thursday, July 20 and Friday, July 21, 2006 and your insertion fees will be reduced to only 20 cents. The reduced fees will be immediately reflected on the site. There is a similar promotion occurring on eBay.com in Pacific Time. When is it? Starting Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 00:00:01 ET (12:00 AM plus one second on July 20, 2006) and ending on Friday, July 21, 2006 23:59:59 ET (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Who is included? All users who list in Auction Format & Fixed Price on the Canadian site (www.ebay.ca) will be eligible for the promotion. Please note the exclusions below. Items re-listed that match the above eligibility will qualify for the promotion. Items listed in two categories will receive the promotional fee for each category. What is excluded? Motors vehicles, Real Estate, Business & Industrial Categories, Ad Format, and Store Inventory listings will not be included in this promotion. The promotional rate does not apply to listings revised during the promotional period. The promotional rate does not apply to listings with a start date prior to July 20, 2006 – including those listings revised during the promotional period. The promotional rate also does not apply to listings created during the promotion July 20-21, 2006, but scheduled to start after the promotion ends. Learn more about 20 cent listing day.
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Since its debut in 1995, the eBay marketplace has continually evolved to meet the needs of the eBay Community. For the most part, the behaviour of buyers and sellers has naturally adapted to changing conditions - over time, we've learned to allow the marketplace to direct itself as much as possible. On some occasions, though - in the interest of the eBay marketplace's long-term vitality - we've had to step in and implement new policies, introduce new formats, or make changes to our fee structure to create needed incentives for eBay members.

Put simply, we at eBay have two basic roles: to deliver the best overall value for buyers, and to maximize cash flow for sellers. As eBay has grown over the years, we've added various enhancements and tools to the site - but in essence, our "products" are two types of listings:

• Core listings (auction-style, auction-style with Buy It Now, and Fixed Price) deliver the signature eBay buying experience. For sellers, they're the fastest way to sell inventory on the Internet - the only place where items typically sell within about two weeks.
• Store Inventory listings were introduced in 2001 and intended as a low-risk way for sellers to display large amounts of product in their eBay Store. This format employs low insertion fees and higher final value fees to encourage an abundance of inventory on the site.

Amid all this change, one thing that's remained constant: auction-style listings are the foundation of eBay. Auction-style and other core listings made eBay what it is today - and they'll always be front and centre on eBay.ca and eBay.com. They account for about 91% of the gross merchandise value sold on eBay.ca and eBay.com. But recently, we've been wrestling with some troubling facts:

• Store Inventory listings now comprise about 83% of active eBay.ca and eBay.com listings on average.
• While eBay.ca and eBay.com core listings typically sell in about two weeks, Store Inventory listings on average take 14 times longer to sell. In some media categories, Store Inventory listings take more than 40 times longer to sell than core listings.
• And, when you compare our operations costs for an average Store Inventory listing and an average core listing - factoring in the duration of each - our cost to host a Store Inventory listing is more than 50% higher than for a core listing. In fact, current Store Inventory insertion fees don't cover eBay's cost of hosting them.

It's vitally important - to your business and ours -- that we maintain a healthy balance between listing formats on the eBay marketplace, and ensure inventory conversion across the site remains strong. So we're taking action.

Today, I want to inform you of changes we're making to eBay.ca and eBay.com - changes intended to rebalance the overall eBay marketplace by further distinguishing the roles of core listing formats and our Store Inventory format. In short, we're improving the advantages of selling in core listing formats -- and taking action to manage the proportion of Store Inventory listings - to ensure that the buying experience on eBay stays true to shoppers' expectations.

Core Listings

All US dollar core listing fees on eBay.com will remain unchanged and all but two of US dollar core listing fees on eBay.ca will remain unchanged. So, for the vast majority of eBay sellers who use only these formats, their fees are not increasing. The two US dollar core listing fees that are changing on eBay.ca are Motors feature fees: Picture Show (US$0.75 to US$1.00) and Pocket Bike Picture Pack (US$1.50 to US$2.00).

Also, in response to the requests of many large sellers, we're raising the 10-item multiple listings limit to 15, effective August 22.

Store Inventory Listings

For those of you who operate an eBay Store, we're making changes to Store Inventory listing fees, as well as to the on-site exposure we provide for this listing format.

We'll begin charging variable insertion fees for Store Inventory listings, as we do for core listings. Beginning August 22, eBay.ca and eBay.com Store Inventory format insertion fees will be tiered with an item's starting price.

These Store Inventory format insertion fees take effect August 22, 2006:

Some Store Inventory format final value fees also will increase, effective August 22, 2006:

Please note that for current listings, the new final value fees will apply only after these listings are renewed.

For more detailed information on these fee changes, please see our fee changes overview.

For some time, we've been working to identify the best way to display Store Inventory listings on the site. In the spring, we pledged to sellers that we would test a variety of ways to mingle their Store Inventory listings with core listings on eBay.ca and eBay.com. We've tested several alternatives and these tests showed the ideal approach is how we're doing it today - that is, when a buyer's search returns 30 or less core listings, we display up to 30 Store Inventory listings. This is what we'll stick with going forward.

However, starting in about one month, we'll include an unlimited number of Store Inventory listings after all matching core listings when the buyer clicks the Buy It Now listings tab at the top of every search results page. When the buyer hasn't selected this option, eBay.ca and eBay.com will display Store Inventory listings along with core listings as described above.

How These Changes Affect You

I'm confident the actions we're taking are the right thing to do for the overall eBay Community. We'll more effectively deliver on our buyers' needs and expectations. And for sellers, these changes will ensure that eBay remains a differentiated and distinct e-commerce channel with fast inventory turnover.

I know there's a lot to digest here, and that you're probably most interested in quickly determining if and how these changes will impact your business.

A typical eBay Stores seller who uses Store Inventory Format - making no adjustments to his or her selling strategy following these changes - will experience an overall fee increase of less than six percent, based on our analysis of June selling activity. Of course, you need to clearly understand the impact on your business - which could be greater or less than six percent. To get started, please visit the seller resources page or consult the Frequently Asked Questions we've prepared. Also, use your seller support resources in Customer Support. Our CS teams are fully prepared to help you understand the effect on your business, and discuss your options for adjusting your eBay selling strategy to minimize impact to your bottom line.

In addition - to help eBay Stores sellers make informed decisions about any changes to their selling strategies - we're making eBay Marketplace Research Basic available to them at no cost for eight weeks, starting today. Through September 19, eBay Stores sellers can use this data to compare selling formats or determine how best to price inventory on eBay. You can access eBay Marketplace Research here.

Additional Adjustments to Listing Fees on eBay.ca

Lastly, although US dollar core listing fees on eBay.com will remain unchanged, there are additional adjustments to listing fees on eBay.ca.

1. We will be lowering many of the Canadian dollar fees to reflect recent changes in currency exchange rates.
2. Our US dollar fees on eBay.ca are aligned with the pricing on eBay.com. Over time, six of the US dollar fees on eBay.ca have become out of synch with eBay.com and these optional feature fees will now be realigned. These fees are:
   
   a) Core Listings:
   Motors Picture Show (US$0.75 to US$1.00)
   Pocket Bike Picture Pack (US$1.50 to US$2.00)
   
   b) Store Inventory format fees for 30-day listings:
   Listing Designer (US$0.05 to US$0.10)
   Bold (US$0.35 to US$1.00)
   Highlight (US$0.70 to US$5.00)
   Featured Plus! (US$1.75 to US$19.95)

For more information, please click here.

I'll be hosting a Community Town Hall discussion Thursday, July 20 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, where I'll answer your questions. Please click here for more details on the Town Hall, or to submit a question in advance.

Thank you for your business.

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America

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Hi everyone...this is Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America. I'm here to invite you to our next Town Hall event on Thursday, July 20th from 7:00-8:00 pm ET.

It's hard to believe that it's already July. Last month we held our Town Hall live from eBay Live! in Las Vegas (listen to the archive here), but for July we're back at our headquarters in San Jose, CA. I'd like to invite you to starting sending questions in now.

To submit your question, visit our Town Hall page at www.ebay.com/townhall. We will also answer questions you submit to us live during the event.

You can listen to the audio of this Town Hall through Windows Media Player or through Real Player. Details on how to download and install the latest versions of both of these are available on our Town Hall page.

These events are a great way for my leadership team and me to hear what's on your minds. I hope you'll join us next Thursday, July 20th .

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America

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Hi...it's Ira Grossman from eBay Canada's Shipping team. I would like to invite you to attend the following information session with Canada Post tomorrow:

Learn more about Light Packet, Letter-post, eBay’s Online Shipping tool, & more

Please join Kim from Canada Post who will be accompanied by Canada Post’s Gail Ryan - General Manager, International Product Management - and John Swettenham - General Manager, Marketing, Strategy and Planning, as they talk about their new Light Packet service, eBay’s online shipping tool, and more.

Date: Tuesday, June 18th, 2006
Time: 1:00 pm ET to 2:00 pm ET
Location: Canada Town Square Discussion Board

The Canada Post team will be available to explain the appropriate shipping services to use when shipping paper and non-paper goods, the benefits and features of printing your shipping labels with eBay’s online shipping tool, and more.

To submit your question in advance of the session, visit our Canada Town Square Discussion Board. We will also answer questions you submit to us live during the session.

These sessions are a great way for the leadership teams at Canada Post and eBay Canada to hear what's on your shipping minds. I hope you'll join us tomorrow, Tuesday, July 18th.

Regards,

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Hi everyone, this is Henry Gomez again, General Manager of Skype North America. I'm here to announce our free country calling weekends. This weekend (July 15-16), use Skype in the US or Canada to call anyone in the United Kingdom, for as long as you like – for free!

eBay and Skype want you to have an easy way to try Skype for international calls. And because we know there are other countries you'd like to call, we have more free weekends coming up:

• July 22-23 – Call Mexico for free.
• July 29-30 – Call Japan for free.

Just download Skype (if you haven't already), and start making free calls this weekend!

For more details about this promotion, please see our information page.

Sincerely,

Henry Gomez
General Manager, Skype North America 




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This issue has now been resolved.

Thank you for your patience.

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We're aware of this issue, and are working to fix it as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your patience.

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When is it? The promotion starts Sunday, July 09, 2006 at 00:00:01 ET (one second after midnight on July 09, 2006) and ending Sunday, July 16, 2006 23:59:59 ET (one second before midnight on July 16).

What is included? This promotion is open to any Canadian resident eBay member who has never listed any item for sale as well as those who have tried selling on eBay and never been successful. Only your first five listings will be eligible.

What is excluded? Motors vehicles, Stores Inventory Listings, Business and Industrial Capital Equipment and Real Estate Ad Format listings will not be included in this promotion. The feature fee for the Value Pack feature bundle (which includes Gallery) will remain unchanged. The promotional rate does not apply to listings that start before the promotional period, but are then revised between July 09-16, 2006. The promotional rate also does not apply to listings created during the promotion July 09-16, 2006, but scheduled to start after the promotion ends.

Learn more about this promotion

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