When is it?
Starting Wednesday, August 29, 2007 between 00:00:01 ET (12:00 AM plus one second on Wednesday, August 29, 2007) and ending on Sunday September 30th 23:59:59 ET(11:59 PM plus 59 seconds).

Who is eligible?
Insertions fees for Auction-style and Fixed Price listings will be waived or discounted, depending on your start price, when you purchase Gallery. This includes listings created prior to the promotion and scheduled to start during the promotional period August 29 – September 30, 2007.Please note the exclusions below.

Please note: For sellers listing with any tool other than the latest version of the Sell Your Item for (SYI 3.0) the promotional price will not be shown during the listing process. Instead the discount will be reflected in the "View Account Status" section in My eBay, as well as in your next invoice. Multiple Item Dutch Auction and Fixed Price listings will be eligible for the various insertion fee discounts based on the starting price of the listings.

What is excluded?
This promotion will not apply to the following types of listings: All eBay Motors listings (including Parts & Accessories, Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Power Sports, Other Vehicles), Live Auction, Professional Services, Real Estate, Ad Format and Store Inventory listings. The following business and industrial categories are excluded from the Insertion Fee Sale: tractors & farm machinery (91952), heavy equipment (25249), concession trailers, carts (67145), imaging and aesthetics equipment (92035), forklifts and other lifts (97185), manufacturing equipment (92080), metalworking equipment (92082) and commercial printing presses (26247). Bundles that contain Gallery such as Value Pack, Pro Pack, Gallery Plus, Gallery Featured and Picture Pack will be eligible for this promotion. The promotional rate does not apply to listings with a start date prior to August 29, 2007 - including those listings revised during the promotional period. The promotional rate also does not apply to listings created during the promotion August 29 - September 30, 2007 and scheduled to start after the promotion ends.

PS: Unlike our last promotion, this time Bundles that contain Gallery such as Value Pack, Pro Pack, Gallery Plus, Gallery Featured and Picture Pack will be eligible for this promotion. Enjoy!

Click here to learn more.

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Isabel Tremblay

Hello everyone:

I would like to let you know about our next live forum event.

On Wednesday, September 5th, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT) four representatives from Canada Post will be available to answer all your shipping-related questions and hear what’s on your mind when it comes to shipping.

How do I join the call?
Call the following Toll-Free number 1-866-321-6651 and wait for the operator to connect you. The operator will ask you for your name, location and eBay User ID. Everyone will be muted when they first get on the call.

How do I submit a question to be answered?
Submit your written questions on the Canada Town Square thread by clicking here in advance of the session (before Tuesday, September 4th at noon ET). We also encourage you to ask your question live during the call when lilybean and I open up the “floor” for questions.

Can I listen to the recording at a later date?
For those unable to join us, a link will be posted to the audio transcript of the call shortly afterwards on the Townhall page .

We hope you can join us and Canada Post for this audio experience!

Sincerely,

Isabel Tremblay
Community, eBay Canada

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When is it?
Starting Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 00:00:01 ET (12:00 AM plus one second) and ending Friday, August 24, 2007 02:59:59 ET (2:59 AM plus 59 seconds).

Who is eligible?
All Canadian resident users who list their items in Auction Format or Fixed Price on eBay.ca will be eligible for the promotion. Items re-listed that match the above eligibility will qualify for the promotion. Items listed in two categories will receive the 10 cent promotional fee for each category. All Final Value Fees and optional listing upgrade fees still apply. Motors Parts & Accessories listings will be included in this promotion.

What is excluded?
Motors Vehicles, Business and Industrial Capital Equipment, Store Inventory Format, Real Estate Auction Format listings and Real Estate Ad Format listings will not be included in this promotion. The promotional rate does not apply to listings revised during the promotional period. The promotional rate also does not apply to listings created during the promotion August 23, 2007, but scheduled to start after the promotion ends.

Click here to learn more.

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When is it?
Starting Sunday, August 19, 2007 at 00:00:01 ET (one second after midnight on July 22, 2007) and ending Saturday, August 25, 2007 at 23:59:59 ET (one second before midnight on August 25, 2007).

Who is eligible?
Any Canadian resident who lists on eBay.ca who has never listed any item for sale as well as those who have tried selling on eBay.ca and never been successful. Only your first five listings will be eligible. This promotion is on eBay.ca only. Please ensure to check the promotion exclusions below.

What is excluded?
Fixed Price listings, Motors Vehicles, Store Inventory Listings, Business and Industrial Capital Equipment, Real Estate Auction Format listings 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 August 19 to August 25, 2007. The promotional rate also does not apply to listings created during the promotion August 19 to August 25, 2007, but scheduled to start after the promotion ends.

Click here to learn more.

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Today, August 14, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Mattel, issued a recall for various figures such as Batman, Barbie and Tanner, Doggie Day Care and Polly Pocket items due to the risk of magnets detaching from the toys and posing a choking or other hazards. The recall also involves the 'Sarge' die cast car as it poses a lead poisoning hazard.

eBay takes recalled items very seriously, and we work closely with the Consumer Product Safety Commission on these issues. We encourage buyers and sellers to visit the http://www.cpsc.gov/ for more details (see 'Recent Recalls') about the products and serial numbers included in this recall.

For Sellers: Please check your product serial numbers and refrain from listing any items that are part of this recall. Any currently listed items that are included in the recall should be ended.

For Buyers: If you believe an item you are interested in bidding on or purchasing may be part of this recall, we encourage you to use the Ask Seller a Question feature to verify the serial number.

For additional information, call Mattel toll-free at (888) 597-6597 anytime, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.service.mattel.com.

We appreciate your understanding and support.

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When is it?
One day only, starting Wednesday, August 15, 2007 between 00:00:01 ET (12:00 AM plus one second on Wednesday, August 15, 2007) and ending that same day at 23:59:59 ET(11:59 PM plus 59 seconds).

Who is eligible?
Insertions fees for Auction-style and Fixed Price listings will be waived when you chose Gallery and have a start price less than US$10.00 or C$12.00. This includes listings created prior to the promotion and scheduled to start during the promotional period August 15, 2007. For sellers listing with any tool other than SYI 3.0 (the newest version) the promotional price will not be shown during the listing process. Instead the discount will be reflected in view account status as well as in the invoice. All Final Value Fees and optional listing upgrade fees still apply.

What is excluded?
This promotion will not apply to the following types of listings: All eBay Motors listings (including Parts & Accessories, Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Power Sports, Other Vehicles), Business and Industrial Capital Equipment, Live Auction, Professional Services, Real Estate, Ad Format and Store Inventory listings. Bundles containing Gallery will not be eligible including Value Pack, Pro Pack, Gallery Plus, Gallery Featured and Picture Pack. The promotional rate does not apply to listings with a start date prior to August 15, 2007 - including those listings revised during the promotional period. The promotional rate also does not apply to listings created August 15, 2007 and scheduled to start after the promotion ends.

Click here to learn more.

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Philipp Justus

Hello everyone...We’ve been sharing our plans with you to reignite the core marketplace and improve the buying experience. Some may wonder what this means, but, really, the “buying experience” is a combination of many different aspects of the marketplace. Over the last few months, you’ve heard from a number of marketplace teams who are working on significant projects like Finding, for instance, to make finding items easier and more exciting for shoppers. We’re investing in auctions, as well as other core areas of the site. Across all these efforts, our goal is to thrill and delight both our buyers and our sellers, and to make eBay the best shopping destination, on and off the internet.

While improving functionality on the site is critical, a big part of the buyer experience is in our sellers’ hands. We recently launched Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) to give buyers more information about the kind of service they can expect from a seller. DSRs add transparency to the marketplace by giving buyers a sense of how accurately sellers describe their items, what their shipping times are like, whether previous buyers have felt their shipping & handling charges are fair, and how they handle communication during the transaction. The majority of our sellers deliver a great buyer experience, and now it’s even easier for them to differentiate themselves from those that do not perform as well.

The vast majority of eBay sellers deliver consistently positive experiences to buyers. However, a very small minority -- just 1% -- of sellers currently cause fully 35% of bad buying experiences. This small minority not only damage their own reputations, but also indirectly damage all of the good sellers who benefit from a strong and vital eBay marketplace. To address this problem, we have begun enforcing our Seller Non-Performance policy in stricter ways than in the past by considering a seller’s buyer dissatisfaction rate.

New enforcement of eBay’s Seller Non-Performance Policy
There are currently two types of input from buyers which we use to measure a seller’s buyer dissatisfaction rate: the percentage of negative and neutral feedback they’ve received and the percentage of Item Not Received complaints filed against them. Sellers who have demonstrated buyer dissatisfaction rates greater than 5% within a 90-day window are now subject to temporary 14-day restrictions in the form of selling sanctions or reduced listing volume. Sellers with dissatisfaction rates that are 10% or greater are now subject to indefinite restrictions until they improve their buyer dissatisfaction rates to less than 5%. In both cases, sellers are given instructions on how to resolve their open disputes and take other recommended actions to in order to regain their full selling privileges. (Please read Seller Non-Performance policy and our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.)

More about Feedback and DSRs
Some of you have asked why neutral feedback ratings have become a part of measuring buyer dissatisfaction. Through our quantitative research as well as many conversations with community members, we have found that neutral feedback is most often an expression of deep buyer dissatisfaction. Therefore, leaving it out of the calculation would mask a significant part of the issue. Ultimately, only positive feedback is an indication of satisfied customers.

Detailed Seller Ratings are not used in our buyer dissatisfaction calculations currently, however, we expect them to become an additional input in our calculations in the future. We will keep you updated on adding DSRs as part of our calculations, and how they will impact a dissatisfaction rate.

Helping sellers improve their satisfaction rates and become successful is goal #1
Please know that our goal in restricting or sanctioning sellers is always to drive them to resolve their business challenges, improve their satisfaction rates, and remain in the marketplace as successful sellers. Our communication to impacted sellers spells out specific actions they should take to improve their rates, such as settling any open buyer dispute issues, refunding buyers when appropriate, asking for mutual feedback withdrawal when disputes have been resolved, etc.

Please remember that this new enforcement impacts the bottom 1% of current sellers, who cause 35% of the negative buying experiences on the site. The vast majority our sellers provide great buyer experiences by following these and other best practices:

• They accurately represent the condition, size, and quality of the item directly in the listing.
• They accept payment for an item at the end of a successful sale.
• After payment is received, they promptly ship the item with proper packaging.
• They proactively and professionally communicate with the buyer throughout the transaction. (Please read our Seller Tips for more information.)

We’ve talked to a lot of sellers and other members about this effort, and it’s clear that many members understand the need for this enforcement and are supportive of these efforts. The whole marketplace, and especially the 99% of our good sellers, will benefit by cracking down on bad buyer experiences in this way.

It’s also clear we need to do a better job communicating with sellers on these issues, and helping them understand what to do to avoid problems, or resolve them after they’ve occurred. My hope is through better education and communication, those sellers who are impacted can change their practices quickly and as painlessly as possible for their continued success and the good of the whole marketplace.

Sincerely,

Philipp Justus
Senior Vice President, Auctions

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When is it?
When is it? Starting Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 00:00:01 ET (12:00 AM plus one second) and ending Saturday, August 18, 2007 23:59:59 ET (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds).

How Does it Work?
How does it Work? eBay Motors Free Listing Week for Canadian Residents only for Auction-Style and Fixed Price vehicles listings on the Canadian eBay Motors site. These reduced fees will be immediately reflected on the site for users of our new Sell Your Item form. Listings created prior to the promotion and scheduled to start during the promotional period of August 12-18, 2007 will be eligible for the promotional fee.

Who is Included?
All Canadian resident users who list their vehicles on eBay.ca Motors will be eligible for the promotion. Items that do not match these criteria will be subject to an account-level debit for the full insertion fee amount as described on the Motors fee page. Items re-listed that match the above eligibility will qualify for the promotion.

What is excluded?
Items listed in regular categories, Motors 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 or 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 August 12-18, 2007, but scheduled to start after the promotion ends.

Click here to learn more.

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Isabel Tremblay

Hello everyone,

On Wednesday, August 1, Jordan answered questions from the Community in a LIVE Q&A format.

During this hour call, Jordan answered questions and commented on:

eBay Entrepreneur of the Year Awards eBay 3.0 PayPal Updates Updates on Shipping Selling Tips And much more...

Click here to access the audio file.

Don’t forget to leave us some feedback by clicking here; we’d love to hear your thoughts around this new format.

Lastly, congratulations to our call-in winners! Thank you for your participation.

Sincerely,

Isabel Tremblay
Community, eBay Canada

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Edurne Jorda

Hi…This is Edurne Jorda with our Seller Development team. It was a fantastic experience to be able to meet so many of our PowerSellers face to face at eBay Live! in Boston. There was a lot of good news for the PowerSeller program (read my announcement) and for the thousands of sellers who are part of it. I'm pleased to be able to update you on one of these announcements – Unpaid Item Protection – which Bill Cobb also mentioned during his keynote speech.

The Unpaid Item Protection Program is intended to give our PowerSellers extra protection in the event they experience a buyer who does not pay. All sellers are refunded their Final Value Fees when they close an Unpaid Item dispute, and they also get an Insertion Fee credit if they re-list and sell the item the second time. Now, for listings starting August 1st through the remainder of 2007, eligible PowerSellers will also receive a refund for their listing Feature Fees when their listing meets these conditions:

1. The item is listed in an auction-style or auction-style + Buy It Now format. (Fixed price listings are eligible for Immediate Payment and do not necessarily pose the same risk from non-paying bidders that auction-style listings do.)
2. Reasonable shipping & handling charges are specified. (Please read our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.)
   
3. PayPal is accepted.

Specifying shipping and handling charges that are reasonable, and accepting PayPal are best practices that a seller can implement to help reduce the incidence of Unpaid Items. With this program, we aim to protect PowerSellers that are engaging in these best practices.

Feature Fee credits will apply to eligible US and Canadian PowerSellers selling on eBay.com, eBay.ca, eBay Express and eBay Motors Parts & Accessories. PowerSellers will receive their Feature Fee credits monthly -- by the 15th of each month they will receive the credits for the Unpaid Item disputes closed in the prior month.

PowerSellers rank among the most successful eBay sellers in terms of product sales volume and customer satisfaction on eBay. We're proud to recognize and reward their significant contributions to the success of the eBay Community. The PowerSeller program is open to all sellers who qualify.

This pilot program will run through December 31, 2007.
This program has been designed as a Pilot because it's important for us to monitor unintended consequences for the buyers, the sellers and the overall marketplace. Our intent is to analyze the results of this Feature Fee refund carefully through the end of the year. We encourage PowerSellers to continue to do their best to communicate with their buyers and try to resolve any Unpaid Item disputes that may arise. We will update you on the future of this program at a later date.

For more details, please check the PowerSeller portal and Frequently Asked Questions.

Sincerely,

Edurne Jorda
eBay Seller Development

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