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February 2006
***Coming Soon: Item Specifics and Pre-Filled Item Information to Expand within Computers & Networking***

February 28, 2006 | 01:16PM PST/PT


In early March, we will be introducing Item Specifics and Pre-Filled Item Information in the Monitors & Projectors and Printer Supplies & Accessories categories within Computers & Networking. Pre-Filled Item Information is a feature for sellers to easily add product information such as brand, model, storage capacity, and color to their listing, along with an optional stock photo.

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

To learn more about Pre-Filled Item Information, please see our information page. You can also check out Seller Central for details on upcoming changes to Item Specifics. If you have any comments or feedback about the Item Specifics in these categories, please email them to computers@ebay.com for future consideration.


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***Join Us For Pinks Day Today, February 28th***

February 28, 2006 | 09:19AM PST/PT

Rachel Makool
Rachel Makool

Hi everyone, I’m Rachel Makool, Director of Community Development. Have you ever talked with an eBay "Pink"? I’d like to invite you to join us for Pinks Day on the discussion boards today, February 28th. A number of eBay staff members, also known as "Pinks" for the pink header that shows when an employee posts, will be participating in discussions on a variety of boards throughout the day. I'd like to highlight a few in particular for you:

Learn About the New Versions of the Sell Your Item Form and Turbo Lister
The teams working on the new Sell Your Item form and on the next version of Turbo Lister will be visiting our Seller Central and Auction Listings discussion boards from 9:00 to 11:00am PT. Stop by to learn more about these projects, ask questions, and provide your feedback.

Discuss eBay Live!
Have questions or comments about eBay Live! 2006, or just want to learn more? Our event planning team will be dropping in on the eBay Live! board from 10:00am to Noon PT.

Meet our Policy Management Team
Following up on today's Trust & Safety Town Hall, our Policy Management team will be jumping around answering questions on the Seller Central, Professional Buying, Policies/User Agreement, and Trust & Safety (Safeharbor) boards from 4:00 to 5:00pm PT.

As always, other Pinks from around the company will also be checking in on various boards throughout the day. And make sure you stop by one of my favorite threads: the Pinks Game on the New to eBay board. We'll be asking eBay-related questions and you can win prizes for your answers.

We hope you enjoy Pinks Day!

Sincerely,

Rachel Makool
Director, Community Development


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***eBay Radio: Call In Today at 11:00 PT***

February 28, 2006 | 09:06AM PST/PT

Jim Jim "Griff" Griffith

Call in to eBay Radio today, February 28, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, live from 11:00am to 1:00pm PT. Guests this week include:

        • Barbara Weltman, author of "The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting an eBay Business," with advice and tips for tax time.
        • Greg Cole, President of HammerTapnow.com, with "What’s Hot on eBay" and what you can learn from holiday buying trends.
        • Julian Green, Director of ProStores, an eBay Company, with news about ProStores and their eBusiness Boost contest.
        • Jason Miner from PayPal, who will answer your PayPal questions.

And as always we'll have "The News" with Lee Mirabal, as well as the most important feature on eBay Radio: your calls! Call in during the show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff and his guests or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community. Remember, one lucky caller per week, selected at random, will receive an autographed copy of Griff's book, "The Official eBay Bible".

If you can't catch the live show you can always select and listen to any past eBay Radio broadcast, listed by topic and date, in the eBay Radio archives. And don't forget to tune in to our "Ask Griff" edition of eBay Radio on Sunday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm PT.

Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.


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***10¢ Fixed Price Listing Day Tomorrow, February 28th***

February 27, 2006 | 05:00PM PST/PT


As a special offer to our sellers, we are pleased to announce a one-day promotion for www.ebay.com, www.ebay.ca and www.ebaymotors.com (for non-vehicles listings), where the insertion fees for Fixed Price listings will be 10¢!

The promotion starts on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) and ends that same day, Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Listings which were created prior to February 28, 2006 and scheduled to start during the promotional period will also be eligible for the special promotional rate.

The 10¢ Fixed Price Sale will not apply to eBay Motors vehicles, International, Live Auction, Professional Services, Real Estate/Ad Format, and Store Inventory listings. Also, the following Business & Industrial categories are excluded from this promotion: tractors & farm machinery (category #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). Please click here for more details.

For full promotion details, please click here.

We hope you enjoy the one-day 10¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fee Sale!


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***A Message from Bill Cobb: eBay Live! Registration Now Open***

February 27, 2006 | 04:00PM PST/PT

Bill Cobb
Bill Cobb

Hello everyone. As you probably know, our annual eBay Live! event has come to signify the fun and camaraderie of the eBay Community. Since our first eBay Live! in 2001, thousands of eBay members like you have gathered once a year for learning, networking and entertainment.

Registration is now open for eBay Live! 2006. And on top of the huge variety of learning and networking opportunities, this year's eBay Live could be the most fun-packed yet...because we’ll be gathering in Las Vegas! Thousands of us will come together at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on June 13-15.

This year's eBay Live! will feature:

  • More than 180 seminars, labs and discussions tailored for every kind of eBay seller and buyer.
  • The massive Solutions Center floor, offering a wealth of new ideas for accelerating your online sales.
  • A keynote address from me and our CEO, Meg Whitman.
  • Our traditional eBay Live! Gala, which this year will welcome Huey Lewis & The News as our musical guest.
  • Loads of opportunities to spend time with eBay friends, make new ones, and share ideas for success on eBay.

If you sign up before April 15, you’ll save $20 off the regular registration fee. Please go to www.ebay.com/ebaylive for all the details on eBay Live! 2006. I hope to see you at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas!

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America


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***eBay Motors CARad Express Free Trial Offer***

February 26, 2006 | 05:19PM PST/PT


eBay Motors is holding a free trial offer of the CARad Express listing tool for passenger vehicle and motorcycle listings from Monday, February 27, 2006 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) through Sunday, March 5, 2006 at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds).

CARad Express is an easy-to-use listing tool to help sellers create professional-looking and effective eBay Motors listings. Normally offered for $9.95 per listing, CARad Express will be free during this trial period.

During the CARad Express Free Trial Offer:

For auction-style and Fixed Price eBay Motors passenger vehicle and motorcycle listings on the US eBay Motors site (www.ebaymotors.com), use of the CARad Express listing tool will be free. This promotion will not apply to non-passenger vehicle/non-motorcycle listings, or for International, Live Auction, Professional Services, and Store Inventory listings. Listings on www.ebay.com are also not eligible for this promotion. For full promotion details, please click here.

We hope you enjoy the CARad Express Free Trial Offer!


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***Upcoming Workshop: Spot Hot Selling Items & Categories Using Research***

February 24, 2006 | 04:39PM PST/PT


We would like to invite you to attend the following workshop:

$pot Hot Selling Items & Categories Using Research
This workshop will be held on Friday, March 3rd from 10:00 PT to 11:00 PT. Sara Taheri and Dave Frey, Brand Managers from eBay Certified Provider Terapeak, will explain how to analyze and incorporate market research to find emerging opportunities so you know what to sell. They will walk you through a number of examples of research tools and show you how to use research in your sales strategies to discover niche markets.

Workshops are hosted in discussion threads on the Workshops Board. To get to the Workshops Board:

  • Click on Community at the top of almost any eBay page
  • Click on "Discussion Boards" in the "Connect" Section
  • Click on "Workshops" underneath the category-specific boards on the right-hand side of the page
  • This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board.

To view archived workshops or to learn more about future workshop events, please check our Workshop Calendar.

Want timely reminders about workshops?
To make sure you never miss an important workshop topics, sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about upcoming eBay Workshops. Each notification will include the time and date, a brief description of the event, and a link to the discussion thread where the actual workshop will be held. To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!


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***ProStores Launches an Affiliate Program***

February 24, 2006 | 04:09PM PST/PT


Julian Green
Julian Green

Hi, everyone. This is Julian Green, Director of ProStores, back here again to introduce our new ProStores Affiliate Program. As you know, ProStores is a full-featured ecommerce solution, independent of the eBay marketplace, that helps small to medium businesses sell online through a fully customized web store at their own web address. And now we’ve teamed up with Commission Junction to give all of you a chance to both add value to your website, and help you earn a little money at the same time. For those of you that have your own website, simply add a ProStores affiliate button to your site, and whenever one of your users signs up through you and creates their own ProStore, you’ll get paid!

To get started, follow the instructions we’ve provided here.

To learn more about ProStores, visit our information pages at www.prostores.com.

Sincerely,

Julian Green
Director, ProStores


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***Online Safety: Protect Yourself from Spoof (Phishing) Email and Websites***

February 24, 2006 | 01:24PM PST/PT

Dave Steer
Dave Steer

Hi, I'm Dave Steer, and I work on the Trust and Safety team at PayPal. My team's responsibility is to raise awareness within the eBay and PayPal Community about the ways you can stay safe when buying and selling online.

Identity theft continues to be a fast growing crime that affects consumers wherever they are. We're committed to helping you protect your privacy and, specifically, to help protect you from spoof (also called phishing) emails and websites.

I'd like to reiterate some basic tips to make sure that you are keeping your accounts and personal information secure:

  • Be suspicious of any email that requests personal information – Be cautious of emails that request you to click a link and submit your financial or personal information.
  • Look for cues to verify the authenticity of emails – Any email that PayPal sends you will include your first and last name in the greeting. For all eBay emails, check My Messages (located in My eBay). Any email eBay sends you about your account or requesting personal information will also be in My Messages. If you receive an email asking for information about your account or requesting personal information and it's not in My Messages, it's a fake email.
  • Report suspicious emails to us – In case you receive a suspicious email and you're not sure if it's really from eBay or PayPal, please forward it to spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com. We will respond (usually within minutes) to tell you whether or not the email is authentic.
  • Download the eBay Toolbar and the PayPal SafetyBar – The eBay Toolbar includes Account Guard which indicates when you are on a legitimate eBay or PayPal site, and alerts you when you are on a known fraudulent site. PayPal's SafetyBar detects fraudulent emails in your email program and puts them in the spam folder.
  • Monitor your account for suspicious activity – The best way to prevent damage from identity theft is to stay alert and catch any suspicious activity early. I strongly recommend that you log into your eBay and PayPal accounts frequently to ensure that all the transactions listed are legitimate.
  • Pay safely and securely – Only enter your financial information on secure websites. Check that a website is secure by looking for the closed lock symbol () near the bottom of your browser window. And, of course, use a safe payment method such as PayPal, which lets you pay without sharing your financial information with the person receiving your money. PayPal also covers you 100% against unauthorized money sent from your account.
  • Stay informed – You can find out the latest information on safety, security and identity theft protection by visiting the PayPal Identity Protection pages and the eBay Security & Resolution Center.

Sincerely,
Dave Steer
Sr. Manager, PayPal Trust & Safety


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***Item Specifics Updates in Tickets Category***

February 24, 2006 | 09:04AM PST/PT


In the next few days we will be updating a number of the Item Specifics for “Venue” within the Tickets category to reflect recent name changes and to add more venues for NCAA football games. We will also add several new values for the “City” Item Specific.

If you list items manually through an eBay seller tool (e.g. Sell Your Item form, Turbo Lister) or the eBay API, the updated Item Specifics will be available in the next few weeks. If you utilize a 3rd party listing service (e.g., Andale, Marketworks, etc.), please contact them to verify that they will update their Item Specifics in the Tickets category.

For general information about Item Specifics and how to use them, please visit the Item Specifics overview page.


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***Ad Format – Expanding to Several More Categories***

February 23, 2006 | 10:24AM PST/PT

Erik Rannala
Hi...I’m Erik Rannala with eBay's Product Marketing team, and I’m here to let you know about an upcoming expansion of Ad Format into a limited number of new categories.

As some background, Ad Format brings interested buyers and sellers together, without enabling the actual bidding or buying process through the site. This format has been used in our Real Estate category for several years, where buying or selling is usually a major transaction. Using Ad Format, eBay has brought interested buyers and sellers together on the eBay marketplace for houses and real estate properties, items that require more time and communication before a deal is closed than most other types of items sold today.

Based on the successful activity we’ve seen in Real Estate, we think Ad Format has the potential to bring buyers and sellers together in other category areas, too, and we’d like to learn more. In the next few days, we’ll be expanding Ad Format as a listing format option in a limited number of specially selected categories, such as Trade Show Booths, Travel, and Websites & Businesses. For a complete list of categories being added, click here.

How Ad Format Works
Ad Format will appear to sellers as an optional listing format in the Sell Your Item form. With Ad Format, sellers can advertise their item to the eBay marketplace, and interested buyers can contact the seller to get more information and express any interest in purchasing. An Ad Format listing costs a flat $9.95 for 30 days. (There are no Final Value Fees.) Prospective buyers who want more information can use the Contact Seller button on the listing to learn more.

Ad Format listings will appear with other auction or Fixed Price items when you search or browse. They will have a icon next to them on the Search & Listings pages to indicate that they are Ad Format listings.

We’ve started a thread on the Seller Central discussion board for members to leave their comments and suggestions about Ad Format. To access that thread, please click here.

Sincerely,

Erik Rannala
Senior Manager, eBay Product Marketing


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***eBay Radio: Listen In Today at 11:00 PT***

February 21, 2006 | 09:07AM PST/PT

Jim Jim "Griff" Griffith

Tune in to eBay Radio today, February 21, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, live from 11:00am to 1:00pm PT. Guests this week include:

        • John Quain, Technology Expert and Consultant for Skype, with news about the upcoming celebrity Skype auctions.
        • Greg Isaacs, Director of the eBay Developers Program, who will showcase a company called Filmloop. He will be joined by Filmloop's VP of Marketing, Alice Lankester.
        • Dan Serpico, Home & Garden Category Manager, to update everyone on the "Home and Garden Best House on the Block" contest.

And as always we'll have "The News" with Lee Mirabal, as well as the most important feature on eBay Radio: your calls! Call in during the show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff and his guests or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community. Remember, one lucky caller per week, selected at random, will receive an autographed copy of Griff's book, "The Official eBay Bible".

If you can't catch the live show you can always select and listen to any past eBay Radio broadcast, listed by topic and date, in the eBay Radio archives. And don't forget to tune in to our "Ask Griff" edition of eBay Radio on Sunday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm PT.

Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.


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***Reminder: Fee Changes In Effect on February 22nd***

February 17, 2006 | 03:47PM PST/PT


As a reminder, eBay's 2006 fee changes, outlined in Bill Cobb’s letter on January 18th and highlighted below, will go into effect at midnight on February 22, 2006.

  • For core insertion fees for auctions and Fixed Price listings on eBay.com, the lowest tranche fee (i.e. for items with a starting price of $0.01 to $0.99) will be lowered from a quarter to twenty cents.

  • For feature fees --

    • Picture Show and Sales Reports Plus will be free for everyone.

    • Reserve Fees will be capped at a $50 maximum.

    • The fees for the second and third tiers of Picture Manager will be reduced and the storage levels you get will be increased.

    • Two new bundles of optional listing features will be available which can save you up to 39% per listing.

  • The final value fee for the middle tranche will increase from 2.75% to 3% for auctions and Fixed Price listings on eBay.com.

  • There are no changes for eBay Stores fees.

To learn more about the upcoming fee adjustments, click here.


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***Upcoming Workshops: Setting Up Your Business & Managing Risk With PayPal***

February 17, 2006 | 01:59PM PST/PT


We would like to invite you to attend the following workshops:

How to Set up Your eBay Business III
This workshop will be held on Thursday, February 23rd from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. In this 3rd and final segment of our series on how to set up your eBay business, Lisa Suttora, Founder and CEO of eBay Certified Provider WhatDoISell.com, will discuss the key business tools that must be in place to enable you to work with legitimate wholesale suppliers. She'll also discuss tips and strategies to help you establish a professional business image.

Seller Risk, Chargebacks & Protection with PayPal
This workshop will be held on Friday, February 24th from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. From buyer chargebacks to fraud to security, sellers face unique risks when selling online. Successful sellers know how to manage these risks in order to generate more sales opportunities. Join the PayPal Seller Protection team for this workshop as they answer your questions about chargebacks, confirmed/unconfirmed addresses, the PayPal Seller Protection Policy, and the steps PayPal takes to protect sellers.

Workshops are hosted in discussion threads on the Workshops Board. To get to the Workshops Board:

  • Click on Community at the top of almost any eBay page
  • Click on "Discussion Boards" in the "Connect" Section
  • Click on "Workshops" underneath the category-specific boards on the right-hand side of the page
  • This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board.

To view archived workshops or to learn more about future workshop events, please check our Workshop Calendar.

Want timely reminders about workshops?
To make sure you never miss an important workshop topics, sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about upcoming eBay Workshops. Each notification will include the time and date, a brief description of the event, and a link to the discussion thread where the actual workshop will be held. To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!


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***eBay Stores 'Open the Doors to Opportunity' Sweepstakes***

February 14, 2006 | 03:03PM PST/PT


Now is a great time to open an eBay Store! As a special offer for our sellers, everyone who opens an eBay Store between now and February 28, 2006 will not only get a 30 day free trial, but will also be entered into our "Open the Doors to Opportunity" sweepstakes. 250 members will win a USB 125 MB Flash Drive, and the lucky Grand Prize Winner will receive a PC workstation and monitor for your home or office!

You can learn more about opening an eBay Store here. For full sweepstakes details, please see our information page.


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***Updated: Category Updates Now Available***

February 14, 2006 | 02:14PM PST/PT


The category updates outlined in the announcement below have now been introduced to the site.

We appreciate your input on how we can make categories better for everyone. You may submit categories suggestions here.

Thanks again to all our members who contribute to these trade-enhancing changes!


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***Original: Coming Soon: Category Updates***

January 31, 2006 | 02:38PM PST/PT


The category structure will be updated in mid-February based on feedback received from the eBay Community and from experts in the affected fields. You may provide category structure feedback at any time by clicking here.

A complete list of the new category structure can be found on Seller Central here.

Categories that will be updated:

COLLECTIBLES
Look for changes under Decorative Collectibles.

EBAY MOTORS
Check out changes under Passenger Vehicles and Parts & Accessories.

HOME & GARDEN
Look for a new "Robotic Vacuums" category under Vacuum Cleaners & Housekeepers.

SPORTS MEM, CARDS & FAN SHOP
Check out changes under Cards.

As always, you can move your item to another category by revising your listing here as long as it has not received a bid and there are more than 12 hours left in the listing.

We appreciate your input on how we can make categories better for everyone. You may submit categories suggestions here.

Thanks again to all our members who contributed to these changes!


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***eBay Radio: Listen In Today at 11:00 PT***

February 14, 2006 | 09:23AM PST/PT

Jim Jim "Griff" Griffith

Tune in to eBay Radio today, February 14, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, live from 11:00am to 1:00pm PT. Guests this week include:

        • Dan Nissanoff, author of "FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize the Way We Buy, Sell and Get the Things We REALLY Want."
        • Chris Malta, Product Sourcing Editor, who will talk about Fulfillment Warehousing and why it is an important part of product sourcing.
        • Bob Miller, "The Answer Man," who will be helping out Griff with your calls during the first hour.
        • Colin Rule, eBay Dispute Resolution Specialist, who will join Griff in the second hour to assist with your dispute and transaction problem questions.

And as always we'll have "The News" with Lee Mirabal, as well as the most important feature on eBay Radio: your calls! Call in during the show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff and his guests or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community. Remember, one lucky caller per week, selected at random, will receive an autographed copy of Griff's book, "The Official eBay Bible".

If you can't catch the live show you can always select and listen to any past eBay Radio broadcast, listed by topic and date, in the eBay Radio archives. And don't forget to tune in to our new "Ask Griff" edition of eBay Radio on Sunday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm PT.

Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.


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***From Chris Tsakalakis -- More Exposure for Store Inventory Listings***

February 13, 2006 | 03:03PM PST/PT


Chris Tsakalakis
Chris Tsakalakis

Hi everyone. Many of you will remember Bill Cobb’s letter a few weeks ago, in which he mentioned the upcoming increase in exposure for Store Inventory listings. Starting this week, all matching Store Inventory listings will display at the end of the main eBay search on eBay.com and on eBay Motors. Store sellers will see increased exposure for their Store Inventory items, and buyers will see more qualified listings every time they search. As Bill said, it’s a win/win.

For example, if you search on “bow tie”, you’ll see all the normal auction and Fixed Price listings as you did before. But now you’ll also see all Store Inventory listings matching “bow tie” listed at the end, regardless of how many auction or Fixed Price listings were found. Similar to today, listing upgrades such as Gallery and Bold will not be shown for Store Inventory listings, unless no auction or Fixed Price items are found – then the upgrades will be shown.

This is a large, technologically-complicated launch, and it might take some time for these extra results to appear consistently. Over the next few days, these Store Inventory listings may appear off and on, and we’ll provide updates on this board if needed.

To learn more about listings in the Store Inventory format and see a screenshot of this change, please click here. I also encourage you to check out our FAQ.

Sincerely,

Chris Tsakalakis
Senior Director, Stores


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***Updated: Business Registration Available***

February 13, 2006 | 09:19AM PST/PT


The ability to designate your eBay account as a Business account is now available once again.

For more information about Business Registration, please see our original announcement.


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***Previous update: Business Registration, Add Pictures to Revised Items, and Digitally Delivered Goods***

January 13, 2006 | 10:43AM PST/PT


Digitally Delivered Goods and Adding Pictures to Active Listings Even After a Bid are now once again available on the site. Business Registration will be reintroduced within the next few weeks.

For more information about each feature, simply click on the links above.


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***Original: Update: Business Registration, Add Pictures to Revised Items, and Digitally Delivered Goods***

December 21, 2005 | 11:05AM PST/PT


Last week we announced the addition of three new features: Business Registration, Adding Pictures to Active Listings Even After a Bid, and Digitally Delivered Goods. However, due to some issues while releasing the products, we decided to delay their launch. We hope to reintroduce these features within the next several weeks.


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***eBay Radio: Listen In Today at 3:00pm PT***

February 12, 2006 | 10:00AM PST/PT

Jim Jim "Griff" Griffith

Tune in to eBay Radio today, February 12, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm PT for the "Ask Griff" eBay Radio Sunday Show with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University. Starting today, we are expanding Ask Griff to two full hours.

This Sunday edition of eBay Radio is dedicated entirely to your calls! Call in during the show toll-free at 888-327-0061 or 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff, ask a question or just share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

If you can't catch the live show you can always select and listen to any past eBay Radio broadcast, listed by topic and date, in the eBay Radio archives. Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.


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***This Week's Workshop Highlights: Transitioning from SA to Blackthorne & Understanding Market Size***

February 10, 2006 | 03:31PM PST/PT


We would like to invite you to attend the following workshops:

Transitioning from Seller’s Assistant Basic to Blackthorne Basic
This workshop will be held on Monday, February 13th from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. If you're using eBay's Seller’s Assistant Basic, you’ll want to join us for this workshop geared towards helping you move your sales and management processes to the newest seller tool: Blackthorne Basic. Blackthorne Basic will replace Seller's Assistant Basic in May, so take advantage of this interactive workshop to ask questions and get answers directly from the Blackthorne team. John Slocum, Founder of Blackthorne Software, will discuss the steps for transferring your data over and walk you through the key features of this new seller tool.

Transitioning from Seller’s Assistant Pro to Blackthorne Pro
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, February 14th from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. This workshop is the same as Monday's, but for users of Seller's Assistant Pro instead of Seller's Assistant Basic. Blackthorne Pro will replace Seller’s Assistant Pro in May, so plan ahead so that you're familiar with the helpful new inventory management and multi-user features. Join John Slocum and his team to learn how to transfer your data over and key new features so that you’re up and running with Blackthorne Pro in no time.

Getting Started with Blackthorne Pro
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, February 15th from 14:00 PT to 15:00 PT. Please join workshop host going1nceamc as she explains the all-in-one software application that helps you save time creating listings and managing sales on eBay, as well as managing sales for multiple User IDs. Topics of discussion will also include setting & editing your preferences, organizing your data within Blackthorne Pro, and post-sales operations.

Marketplace Research: Understanding Market Size
This workshop will be held on Thursday, February 16th from 14:00 PT to 15:00 PT. Please join John Bodine, Product Marketing Manager of eBay Marketplace Research, and learn how to identify the market size for products you currently sell (or are thinking about selling). John will discuss total market size in terms of units sold, as well as financial opportunity, conversion rates, and new opportunities within a specific market. Come with questions and we’ll do our best to answer them with actual data from eBay Marketplace Research!

Workshops are hosted in discussion threads on the Workshops Board. To get to the Workshops Board:

  • Click on Community at the top of almost any eBay page
  • Click on "Discussion Boards" in the "Connect" Section
  • Click on "Workshops" underneath the category-specific boards on the right-hand side of the page
  • This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board.

To view archived workshops or to learn more about future workshop events, please check our Workshop Calendar.

Want timely reminders about workshops?
To make sure you never miss an important workshop topics, sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about upcoming eBay Workshops. Each notification will include the time and date, a brief description of the event, and a link to the discussion thread where the actual workshop will be held. To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!


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***eBay Motors - Free Pro Pack Listing Upgrade with Best Offer***

February 09, 2006 | 03:49PM PST/PT


As a special offer for eBay Motors sellers, you’ll get our Pro Pack listing upgrade for free when you try Best Offer on your Fixed Price vehicles listings between February 10-17! Pro Pack includes Bold, Border, Highlight, and Featured Plus! to help your listing stand out.

The promotion begins at 00:00:01 PT (12 AM plus one second) on February 10, 2006, and ends at 23:59:59 PT (11:59pm plus 59 seconds) on February 17, 2006.

All you need to do is list a Fixed Price vehicle, include Best Offer, and select the Pro Pack upgrade during the listing process, and you will receive Pro Pack (a $29.95 value) for free. Please note that the discounted fee will not be reflected immediately on the site. You will see a credit to your seller’s account by late April, 2006. This offer is valid for vehicle listings on eBay Motors, including Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Powersports and Other Vehicles as listed on www.ebaymotors.com.

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


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***eBay Seller's Assistant to Retire in 90 days***

February 08, 2006 | 03:58PM PST/PT

John Slocum
John Slocum

Hi...I'm John Slocum from the eBay Blackthorne team. Last October we announced the launch of eBay Blackthorne, the redesigned and renamed version of Seller's Assistant. Blackthorne is simpler to use and includes more features to help you meet the growing needs of your eBay business, while still offering the features of the original Seller's Assistant product line that you told us were important to you.

As of Friday, May 12, 2006, eBay will no longer support Seller's Assistant products. We will end support for Seller's Assistant products because they are based on eBay's legacy Application Program Interface (API) structure which eBay will no longer support. Blackthorne is based on eBay's new API structure.

On May 12, if you are subscribed to Seller's Assistant, your subscription will automatically roll over to the equivalent Blackthorne subscription. This means that if you are subscribed to Seller's Assistant Basic, you will be switched to a Blackthorne Basic subscription. If you are subscribed to Seller's Assistant Pro, you will be switched to a Blackthorne Pro subscription.

To assist our sellers with the migration, we've put together a variety of information to help make your transition smoother. We strongly encourage you to use these resources:

For more information, please visit the Blackthorne Basic or Blackthorne Pro pages.

Sincerely,

John Slocum,
Founder, eBay Blackthorne


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***eBay University - Coming to Newark, NJ on Saturday, February 25th***

February 08, 2006 | 10:43AM PST/PT


eBay University is coming to Newark, NJ on Saturday, February 25th. Don’t miss your opportunity to learn all about selling on eBay from the experts - right in your hometown. Choose from one of the 2 courses below to get started selling or increase your sales.

Attend the Selling Basics course if you’re just getting started and learn about:

  • Basic selling techniques
  • How to create listings
  • How to accept online payments with PayPal, and more.

Attend Beyond the Basics of Selling to take your sales to the next level and learn:

  • Advanced selling techniques
  • How to market your eBay listings
  • What selling tools will save you time and increase sales, and more.

Register online before 11:59pm PT on February 24th and bring a friend for free!

Event Details
February 25th, 2006
Robert Trent Hotel
50 Park Place
Newark, NJ 07102


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***Enhancements to Buyer Requirements Tool for Sellers***

February 07, 2006 | 10:36AM PST/PT

Buyer requirements allow sellers to block buyers from bidding on or purchasing your items based on criteria such as whether or not they have a PayPal account, their country of registration, and their buying history on eBay (read the Buyer Requirements help page for more information). Using this feature helps you minimize transactions with potentially risky buyers.

Starting this week, we're making Buyer Requirements even more effective. Now sellers will be able to review a new Buyer Requirements Activity Log. This log will show you who has been blocked in the previous 60 days by your Buyer Requirements preferences. This information helps sellers make more informed decisions about their Buyer Requirements selections. For example, sellers who discover they have blocked a large number of potential buyers from a specific country may decide to reconsider shipping to that country and unblocking those buyers.

You can also remove bidding restrictions you may have placed on individual buyers by adding those buyers to an exemption list. This will let them bid on your items in the future.

You can make these changes from your Buyer Requirements Activity Log, by signing in to My eBay and going to the Buyer Requirements section under Preferences.

For more information on Buyer Requirements, please visit the Buyer Requirements help page.


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***eBay Radio: Listen In Today at 11:00 PT***

February 07, 2006 | 09:23AM PST/PT

Jim Jim "Griff" Griffith

Tune in to eBay Radio today, February 7, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, from 11:00am to 1:00pm PT. Today's show is a "Best of eBay Radio" edition, and Griff will be back live this Sunday and next Tuesday.

Remember, you can always select and listen to any past eBay Radio broadcast, listed by topic and date, in the eBay Radio archives. And don't forget to tune in to our "Ask Griff" edition of eBay Radio on Sunday from 4:00pm to 5:00pm PT.

Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.


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***Two-Day 50% Off Big Upgrades Sale Starting Tomorrow, February 7th***

February 06, 2006 | 05:00PM PST/PT


As a special offer to our sellers, we will be holding a two-day 50% Off Sale for the following listing upgrades on the www.ebay.com site:

The 50% Off Big Upgrades Sale starts on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) and ends at 23:59:59 PT on Wednesday, February 8, 2006 (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Listings created prior to February 7, 2006 and scheduled to start during the promotional period (February 7-8, 2006) will be eligible for the promotional rate. It's a great time to add selling features to showcase your listings and attract even more buyers!

During the 50% Off Big Upgrades Sale:

For auction-style, Fixed Price, and Real Estate/Ad Format listings, the fee for Homepage Featured (for both single and multi-quantity listings), Featured Plus!, Bold, and Highlight will be 50% off. This promotion will not apply to the following types of listings: Motors vehicles and non-vehicles, International, Live Auction, Professional Services, Store Inventory listings and Business & Industrial Capital Equipment. Please click here for full promotion details.

We hope you enjoy the 50% Off Big Upgrades Sale!


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***eBay Motors Parts & Accessories 50¢ Insertion Fee Sale***

February 06, 2006 | 04:50PM PST/PT


eBay Motors Parts and Accessories is holding a one-day 50¢ Insertion Fee sale on February 7! This promotion starts Tuesday, February 7, 2006, at 00:00:01 PT (12 AM plus 1 second) and ends that same day, Tuesday, February 7, 2006, at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds).

During the eBay Motors Parts and Accessories 50¢ Insertion Fee sale:

For regular auction-style and Fixed Price Parts and Accessories listings with a starting price above $9.99 on the U.S. Motors site (www.ebaymotors.com), the insertion fee will be capped at $0.50. All insertion fees less than $0.50 will still be charged at the normal rate. For more information about insertion fees during this promotion, please click here.

Listings created prior to February 7, 2006 that are scheduled to start during the promotional period (February 7, 2006) will be eligible to receive the promotional rate. Excluded are Vehicle listings, listings on international eBay sites, Live Auction listings, Professional Services and Store Inventory listings, and listings on www.ebay.com. For full details about the sale, please see our information page.

We hope you enjoy the eBay Motors Parts & Accessories 50¢ Insertion Fee sale!


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***Now Available - The Chatter for February***

February 03, 2006 | 05:52PM PST/PT

The February issue of The Chatter is now available. Check out eBay's official Community newsletter for interesting stories by and about the eBay Community and staff.

In this month's lead story eBay member bepampered, who was an aspiring movie actress until health issues intervened, tells her story in her own words about how eBay helped give her a new direction. Our other stories show how RSS technology delivers the latest eBay information directly to people's desktops, and take you through using Reviews & Guides.

In our regular columns we have tips on automating your invoicing, spotting fake Second Chance Offers, and increasing visibility for your Store inventory listings.

We turn the Member Spotlight on stephintexas, who prides herself on providing "traditional southern hospitality, integrity, and old fashioned customer service" on eBay. And this month's eBay In Person is Arlene Brenner, the first content writer hired at eBay and better known as one of the co-hosts of eBay's annual Valentine's Day chat.

To get to The Chatter, follow these steps:

  1. Click "Community" in the navigation bar at the top of most eBay pages.
  2. Scroll down to the "News" box and click on the link for The Chatter.

Do you have a story suggestion for us? We encourage you to send us email at chatterstaff@ebay.com.

For other useful and interesting Community-related information, take a look at the Community Calendar.



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***Online Workshops For the Week of February 6th***

February 03, 2006 | 04:14PM PST/PT


We would like to invite you to attend the following workshop this week:

Why Should I Revise My Live eBay Auctions?
This workshop will be held on Monday, February 6th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. While most of today's eBay sellers only focus on their listings before they start (or after their items sell), there are many benefits to be gained by monitoring and revising live listings. Renn Ortenburger, Marketing Manager of Certified Provider Vendio Services, will review what elements of your listings can be revised, when to make the revisions, and how to do so in a timely manner.

Best Offer 2.0
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, February 7th from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. Best Offer is a feature that allows sellers to accept offers from buyers or negotiate a price, all online through eBay. Best Offer has proven itself especially effective for selling high-priced items on eBay and eBay Motors, often enabling transactions to close faster or at better prices than before. Join this workshop to learn about new improvements to Best Offer and tips on when and how to use it. Some of these enhancements are available only for items listed on eBay Motors or in Business & Industrial categories, so this workshop will be especially relevant to members who trade vehicles or business equipment.

Buying Safely
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, February 8th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. Whether you're just getting started or simply want a refresher on the Do's and Don'ts of buying on eBay, this workshop is for you! Please join the Trust & Safety team for a discussion on issues related to buying safely on eBay, such as reviewing listings and feedback carefully, safe payment methods, completing transactions on the eBay platform, and how to identify legitimate Second Chance Offers.

Getting Started With the New Version of Turbo Lister
This workshop will be held on Thursday, February 9th from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. If you are currently using Turbo Lister to upload your items to eBay, you’ll want to join us for this workshop to learn about the all-new version. The Turbo Lister team will on hand to explain the changes, get you set up to use the new and improved bulk listing tool, and answer your questions.

Selling Strategies - Selling More Items and Making More Money
This workshop will be held on Friday, February 10th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. In this workshop, Jen Cano of Certified Solution Provider HammerTap will discuss two key eBay selling strategies: optimizing your listings to increase your sales volume, and maximizing the profit for each one. We'll also analyze elements of listings (such as listing features used, day the listing closed, duration, etc.) from members who attend the workshop.

Workshops are hosted in discussion threads on the Workshops Board. To get to the Workshops Board:

  • Click on Community at the top of almost any eBay page
  • Click on "Discussion Boards" in the "Connect" Section
  • Click on "Workshops" underneath the category-specific boards on the right-hand side of the page
  • This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board.

To view archived workshops or to learn more about future workshop events, please check our Workshop Calendar.

Want timely reminders about workshops? Sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about upcoming eBay Workshops. Each notification will include the time and date, a brief description of the event, and a link to the discussion thread where the actual workshop will be held.

To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.

We look forward to seeing you there!



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***New Policy: Item Location Misrepresentation***

February 03, 2006 | 02:47PM PST/PT

Sarah Brubacher
Sarah Brubacher

Hi… This is Sarah Brubacher again, Senior Policy Manager for eBay.

Recently we've seen an increase in reports from the Community about false or inaccurate information included in the item location field of the item page. To address this concern, we're implementing a new Item Location Misrepresentation policy which will be effective as of February 3, 2006.

The item location field on the item page is designed to inform buyers about where the item for sale is located. As eBay's global marketplace continues to grow, it's increasingly important for buyers to know where an item is located, so they can estimate the likely shipping costs and delivery times.

What is not allowed
For example, a problem listing might display something contradictory like "Hong Kong, United Kingdom" or "Worldwide, United States" in the item location field. Another type of listing problem would be an item location field that displays "USA" but the item description text says the item is actually shipping from some other country.

What is allowed
An appropriate use of the item location field would be, "Beijing, China" or "Sydney, Australia." Sellers may also continue to use more creative item locations such as "These United States" or "My mother’s attic."

Inaccurate item location representation can lead to higher shipping costs and longer shipping times than buyers expect. These are negative experiences that can ultimately undermine trust in the marketplace.

To learn more about the policy and view examples of what is and isn't permitted, please visit the Item Location Misrepresentation policy page.

Sincerely,

Sarah Brubacher
Senior Policy Manager, eBay Trust and Safety


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***Updated: Archives from January’s Town Hall Now Available***

February 02, 2006 | 05:14PM PST/PT


The transcript and audio archives from January’s Town Hall event are now available. Check out Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, and his executive staff as they answer questions about a variety of topics, including eBay Express, excessive shipping, customer support, PayPal, and more.

Please visit www.ebay.com/townhall to read the transcript or to listen to the audio archive.

Also, remember to save the date on Tuesday, February 28th at 3:00pm PT for our next Town Hall event with Bill Cobb and Rob Chesnut, Senior Vice President of Rules, Trust & Safety.


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***Previous update: eBay Town Hall Event on Thursday, January 26th***

January 24, 2006 | 05:06PM PST/PT


Don’t forget to join Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, for our Town Hall event on Thursday, January 26th at 2:00pm PT. Bill will be opening up the floor to questions, and wants to hear what’s on your mind.

To submit your question and to join the event on January 26th, please see our Town Hall page.


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***Original: Save The Date: eBay Town Hall Event with Bill Cobb -- Thursday, January 26th***

January 13, 2006 | 03:45PM PST/PT

Bill Cobb
Bill Cobb

Hi everyone...Please join me for our first Town Hall event of 2006 -- Thursday, January 26th, at 2:00 pm PT.

My leadership team and I will be opening the floor to all topics. We want to hear what’s on your mind, and what you’d like to see eBay do for you in 2006. Visit our Town Hall page to submit a question or comment in advance.

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.

Thanks, and I hope you’ll join us on the 26th!

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America


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***Get Ready for eBay Express – Add Item Condition to Your Store Inventory Listings***

February 02, 2006 | 01:53PM PST/PT

Adam Nash
Hi everyone...This is Adam Nash again, part of the eBay Express team. As mentioned in Bill Cobb's message to the Community, eBay will be launching eBay Express later this spring. (If you haven't heard about eBay Express, please visit our pages to learn about this new specialty site that offers a tailored shopping experience.)

We know that many of the items on eBay Express will be Store Inventory listings, so we're making it easier for sellers to prepare their Store Inventory listings in advance. In the next few days, the current bulk editing functionality within My eBay and Selling Manager will be updated to allow sellers to add or edit their Item Condition for up to 25 Store Inventory listings at one time. To do so, go to your My eBay Selling page, select the Store Inventory listings you want to edit, and hit the Edit button at the top of the Items I'm Selling table. For Selling Manager users, go to the Selling Manager Active page, select the Store Inventory listings you want to edit, and hit the Edit button at the top of the Active Listings table.

As a reminder, item condition must be specified on a listing as one of the requirements for appearing on eBay Express. We hope this addition to My eBay and Selling Manager makes updating listings with item condition faster and easier for sellers who are looking forward to the increased exposure eBay Express will bring to their listings – at no additional cost.

For more information about eBay Express, including the other requirements needed to have your listings included, please see our information page.

Sincerely,

Adam Nash
eBay Express


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***PayPal Buyer Credit Spring Promotion***

February 01, 2006 | 02:59PM PST/PT


From now through Sunday, April 30, 2006 at 23:59:59 PT, when you use PayPal Buyer Credit for purchases of more than $99, you'll make no payments for 3 months and pay no interest if paid in 3 months. See our information page to learn more.

This limited-time offer is free of charge to sellers and will be automatically displayed on eBay items over $99 as long as sellers accept PayPal and have not opted out of displaying PayPal Buyer Credit messages on their listings.

PayPal Buyer Credit is a line of credit exclusively for PayPal members and allows you to make low monthly payments on all your PayPal purchases. Once you're approved, the line of credit is automatically added to your PayPal account and available for immediate use.

If you don't have PayPal Buyer Credit, you can apply now.


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***Now Available: Early Release of the new Turbo Lister***

February 01, 2006 | 01:36PM PST/PT

Gui Bastos
Hi… I'm Gui Bastos with eBay's Product Marketing team.

We know that thousands of eBay sellers use eBay Turbo Lister every day to bulk list items on eBay. It's an ideal listing tool for medium to high volume sellers that can save you time creating professional looking listings.

Over the past year we've been doing a lot of research into how we can improve Turbo Lister and make it even more effective. We're happy to announce that an early release of this new, improved Turbo Lister is now available. We'd like you to try it out and tell us what you think.

A few highlights of the new Turbo Lister include:

  • Easier listing process – Now you can create listings within a single page. You can also customize the options you want to see on the page, allowing you to look only at the fields that you use.
  • Enhanced editing capabilities – Now you can edit your items directly in the main inventory list. Change the prices, modify the title, and make other quick changes from the list view without having to open another window.
  • Faster performance – We've also made some technical changes to the new Turbo Lister to make it faster and more reliable.

To try out the early release of the new Turbo Lister, simply download it from the Turbo Lister information page.

You'll find more useful information on the Turbo Lister information page, including the Frequently Asked Questions we've put together. Our team is also holding an online workshop on Turbo Lister to help get you started on the new version. Please join us on the workshop board on Thursday February 9th, 2006, from 1:00 pm to 2.00 pm PT.

If you'd like to share your thoughts and comments about the new Turbo Lister, please email the Turbo Lister team at TL2betafeedbackUS@ebay.com.

Sincerely,

Gui Bastos
eBay Product Marketing


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***Enter eBay’s Reviews & Guides '28 Guides in 28 Days' Contest***

February 01, 2006 | 12:07PM PST/PT


If you’ve wanted to write a Guide to share with your fellow members but haven't gotten around to it yet, eBay's "28 Guides in 28 Days" contest is your chance! During the month of February we're holding a daily contest where each day one Guide writer will be awarded a $100 eBay Gift Certificate.

All you need to do is write a Guide between February 1st and February 28th, and it will automatically be entered into that day's contest. Each day's entries will then be judged against several criteria, such as their originality, thoroughness and visual appeal. There are no limits on how often you can enter, and all the daily winners will be listed on our contest page.

You can learn more about creating a Guide here. For full contest details, please see our contest page.


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