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	***Previous update: Item Numbers Expanding***
	May 19, 2006 | 09:59AM PST/PT This is a reminder that eBay is expanding our 10-digit item numbers. Soon all new item numbers will be 11 and 12 digits. Over time, item numbers will expand as needed to up to 19 digits to accommodate listings growth. We encourage sellers to check their business tools – such as spreadsheets, letter and label templates, etc. – to make sure they can handle item numbers that are up to 19 digits. If you use specialized software applications for listing and managing item data, please check with your developer to make sure they can support item numbers up to 19 digits. For eBay Developers -- Please read our eBay Developers Blog to learn more about how to prepare your eBay applications.
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	***Original: Item Numbers Expanding***
	May 12, 2006 | 11:42AM PST/PT To ensure the site can accommodate a growing number of listings, we've started increasing the number of digits included in our item numbers. Current item numbers will not be impacted, but all new listings will now have item numbers in the 12-digit range. These digits will increase over time to up to 19 to support future growth.
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If you're coming to eBay Live! in a couple weeks, you have a lot to look forward to. There will be many classes, countless networking opportunities, the Keynote address where Meg Whitman and Bill will share the latest eBay news, the Pinks Lounge, personal selling sessions...the list goes on and on. And of course we'll finish the celebration off with our Gala party, featuring Huey Lewis & the News.

This is an exciting milestone for us, and, and on behalf of all of eBay and PayPal, I want to thank our eBay Community for your support of eBay Live! We're all working hard to make this the most memorable event ever.

See you in Vegas!

Sincerely,

Mike Rudolph
Director, eBay Education & Events

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As before, when you click one of these links, your new listing will have the same category as the original item pre-populated for you, as well as any Item Specifics. Any Pre-Filled Item Information that the seller used, such as title, description, and stock photo, will also be included. However, only this standard information will be included – nothing that the original seller wrote or created themselves will be pre-filled.

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How Customer Relationship Management Can Separate You From Your Competition
This workshop will be held on Thursday, June 1st from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. In this workshop, Steve Yeich, CEO of Certified Solution Provider HostedSupport, will discuss how to make your customer relationships your most effective selling tool and help you outperform your competition.

Using Market Research to $pot Products that $ell
This workshop will be held on Friday, June 2nd from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. Do you know what products to sell, when to sell them, and how to gain a competitive edge when selling on eBay? Please join Sara Taheri, Dave Frey, and Morgan Brooks, Brand Managers from eBay Certified Provider Terapeak, as they demonstrate how market research can help eBay sellers $pot Products that $ell. During the workshop, they will present a variety of examples and tips to show you how market research can be used to determine what products will sell in the marketplace.

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

• Go to www.ebay.com
• Click on Community at the top of the page
• Click on "Workshops" in the "Events" section
• This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board.

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

Want timely reminders about workshops? We recommend two ways to make sure you never miss an important workshop:

• Sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about upcoming eBay Workshops. (To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.)
• Subscribe to the RSS feed for the Workshop board. When a new workshop becomes active, your RSS reader will be updated. (You can also subscribe to just the specific topic thread that interests you.) To subscribe, click on the RSS button ( ) at the bottom of the Workshop board or thread. Copy and paste the feed URL into your reader to subscribe. For more information on RSS, please read our RSS Help page.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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As Bill Cobb mentioned earlier, we really don’t want to leave anyone out. So we’re holding registration open until Tuesday morning at 6am PT to give everyone one last chance to sign up. To reserve one of the last spots, please visit our information page.

I hope to see you in a few weeks – we can't wait!

Sincerely,

Mike Rudolph
Director, eBay Education & Events

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As an added bonus, cardholders can take advantage of a special introductory offer – 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers until 2007. This limited-time offer is good through August 31, 2006, and will automatically appear on eBay items over $50 as long as sellers accept PayPal and have not opted out of displaying PayPal Buyer Credit messages on their listings. This promotion is completely free of charge to sellers (regular PayPal fees apply).

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Here are the main areas of agreement:

Increased inclusion of eBay sponsored and web search results on Yahoo!
We know that for eBay sellers, it’s all about buyer demand. As a part of this agreement, eBay and Yahoo! have agreed to collaborate in the area of sponsored search (that is, purchased keywords) and web search (content on the Internet that is indexed by Yahoo!). The net result is that eBay sellers will benefit from a more comprehensive inclusion of eBay pages on Yahoo! Search, and an increase in sponsored search results across Yahoo!’s U.S. pages.

For example, on the web search side, eBay and Yahoo! are collaborating on technology to improve the way eBay.com pages are delivered for indexing by Yahoo!, in order to expand the number of eBay.com web search results on Yahoo!. In sponsored search, the two companies will collaborate to allow Yahoo! to accept many more keyword purchases from eBay.com, improving eBay’s inclusion in sponsored search results.

These efforts will mean that Yahoo!’s millions of users will have more access to eBay listings, and eBay.com sellers should benefit from increased traffic to the site.

eBay looking to Yahoo! for best-in-class search marketing
The sales, implementation, and management of ad space on the Internet is a highly specialized function, and Yahoo! is a leader in this area. While eBay serves up many graphical ads on the site today, quite frankly, our own advertising infrastructure is not as robust as it could be. Instead of investing in more infrastructure for eBay, we’re pleased to be partnering with Yahoo! who can provide this service as a benefit to our buyers and sellers.

Another area eBay will work with Yahoo! on is improving our keyword ad program. We realize that sellers have wanted better service and support than has been provided through our current eBay Keywords program. I believe eBay’s marketplace will benefit from leveraging Yahoo!’s strengths in this area.

Over the summer, eBay and Yahoo! will also be testing new text ad placements on some eBay pages. For instance, we’ll be looking at placements at the bottom of search results pages if there are no matching items found. We’ll be testing other placements on a limited number of search results pages, too, as a way to learn what works well for eBay buyers and sellers. This will include testing some sponsored search ads for complementary products and services – for example, a buyer searching for a hair dryer might be presented with sponsored search ads for related items like shampoo or hair brushes. To be clear, we will not place ads on view item pages.

Our number one concern is ensuring that the changes we make are right for our sellers and buyers. As we test, we’ll be monitoring the impact of any changes carefully, as well as listening to your input.

Additional areas of the agreement
PayPal is rapidly becoming the standard way to pay on the Internet. Today, we’re very pleased to announce that Yahoo! has decided to have PayPal exclusively power their own Yahoo! Wallet. Plus, we’ll be working with Yahoo! on a co-branded version of the eBay Toolbar. Finally, as e-commerce continues to evolve rapidly, Yahoo! and eBay have agreed to work together to explore click-to-call advertisements via Yahoo! Messenger with Voice and Skype, which would allow internet users to call merchants directly through their advertisements to pursue a transaction.

This agreement applies only to eBay.com and Yahoo! properties in the U.S. and does not extend to any of our international markets. You won’t see changes overnight on eBay, as both companies will be taking a careful approach to any site changes we make that includes substantial testing in 2006 before full implementation in 2007.

I believe this new agreement between Yahoo! and eBay leverages the best strengths of both our companies -- and in doing so, benefits both our communities. I invite you to share your comments or questions on eBay’s partnership with Yahoo! – please write to me at billcobb@ebay.com.

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America

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Now the Learning Center lets you tailor your education around your own skill level and interest. Once you sign in, you can create your own customized lesson plans to focus on areas that are most interesting to you. The topics range from "Feedback and the eBay Community" to "Selling Your Item." Over time, we'll add even more advanced lessons, such as "Researching the eBay Marketplace," "Selling Worldwide," and more.

So give the new eBay University Online Learning Center a try – you might learn something new! To visit, click here.

Sincerely,

Mike Rudolph
Director, eBay Education & Events

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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***
	April 25, 2006 | 05:09PM PST/PT The category structure will be updated in mid-May 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. Updated categories: CELL PHONES Look for changes under Accessories, Parts. CLOTHING, SHOES & ACCESSORIES Check out changes under Infants & Toddlers, Boys and Women's Accessories, Handbags. DVDS & MOVIES Look for a new category for UMD. EBAY MOTORS Check out changes under Cars & Trucks, Motorcycles, Powersports, and Parts & Accessories. JEWELRY & WATCHES Look for changes under Designer Brands. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Check out changes under DJ Gear & Lighting, Guitar, and Pro Audio. SPORTS MEM, CARDS & FAN SHOP Look for changes under Cards and Manufacturer Authenticated. 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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During this time we’ve received a lot of great feedback – thank you for telling us what you think! I want to share a few of the comments that we've received through our Comments on eBay Express survey, and provide you with an update on what we’ve been working on during the Preview period.

Many of you have had positive feedback on eBay Express:

"I like the search features, in particular the narrow your search feature. I really like the fact you can search on size, color or price range by clicking on it. I think this is a strong feature of eBay Express."

"Overall I would say this was a great buying experience. It is very similar to my .com site where I also sell, which is eBay's stated goal with Express…. One other note... I strongly suggested to my wife that she do her shopping on eBay this past Christmas. I sat with her as she shopped, and I became as frustrated as she did with the countless different auction terms, hard to find shipping costs, low feedback scores, etc. She went back to the .com sites to do her shopping, understandably. Based on my experience with Express today, I can invite her to come back for another try!"

"My first experience visiting the Express site as a buyer was an absolutely positive one. I found it easy to navigate and fairly intuitive. The site is clean and fast loading, and isn't filled with extraneous befuddlement. ... I know you guys have a lot of glitches to get behind you, and that may bring with it a lot of negativeness, but I'll bet the raves outswell the nays. I definitely think it is a positive asset to eBay and you did a great job with it."

"Fast easy sales...great for new eBayers...great for sellers..it's a win win."

"The only feature that I thought was missing: if I clicked on the 'continue shopping' button it brought me back to the main Express page -- NOT where I was shopping before I added the item to my cart or the items page I was viewing."

"I can't figure out why my listings don't appear."

"If it’s possible I would like to know what items of mine sell through Express, maybe have it included in the email stating that my item sold."

"It would be nice if a potential customer could see other items for sale by the seller without having to first click on the sellers User Id."

The Express team has been working to deliver some of the features you've asked for as we continue to fine-tune the site. I'd like to tell you about a few of the enhancements that have recently released or are coming soon:

• Item number search. You've told us it's important to be able to search for an item on eBay Express using the item ID number. This feature was launched last week, so you are now able to do so. Just type the item number in the search box on any page of eBay Express.
• "Continue shopping" from shopping cart. We've improved the "Continue Shopping" button to make it more convenient and intuitive. Now it takes you back to the category where you were last shopping.
• Self-Hosted Gallery Photos. Currently, listings that provide a self-hosted Gallery URL, but do not include a standard image URL or Enhanced Picture Services picture, do not qualify for eBay Express. We are working to add support for these listings within the next few weeks.

There are still some areas that need improvement, and we are working hard on those now. Some of the specific issues that we are working on include:

• Providing a tool to help sellers identify why their account, or their listings, aren’t qualifying for eBay Express
• Providing more tools for sellers to view their business performance and manage their listings on eBay Express
• Improving the ability for buyers to shop for more items from a single seller.

We'll continue to work on eBay Express, and I'll be back soon with more details as we have more announcements to share. In the meantime, I encourage you to keep telling us what you think! The Comments on eBay Express survey is available from the eBay Express homepage, and we're also actively monitoring the eBay Express discussion board. And for those of you attending eBay Live! in Las Vegas in June, I'll be there with my entire team – we hope you’ll stop by, say hello, and give us your feedback.

Sincerely,

Lara Bridges
Director, eBay Express

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• Greg Isaacs, Director of eBay's Developers' Program, and Brian Lawe, of myStoreCredit.com, will be profiling the eBay Radio Developer showcase of the month on how to increase repeat customers on eBay.
• Jason Miner of PayPal will be joining us for open phones to answer all your PayPal questions.
• Chris Zomaya, President and Founder of EZComputerCheckup.com, will be here to help make sure your computer is running at peak performance.
• David Powers, VP of Communications for GotVMail, will tell us how eBay Sellers to use voicemail to increase their eBay Sales.
• Mike Fox, Senior Marketing Manager for the eBay Developers Program, will be by to discuss the upcoming eBay Developers Conference.
• Shaun Shienfield, President of eBay operations for Knetgolf, will share how they grew their business through eBay.

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 subscribe to the , or access any past broadcast from the eBay Radio Archives. To subscribe to the podcast all you need is an  reader (a portable MP3 player is optional). Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.

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Visit the Brand New eBay Express Board
The eBay Express team will be taking your questions about this new eBay specialty site from 10:00am to 12:00 Noon PT on the eBay Express board.

A Talk With the eBay Live! Organizers
The eBay Live! and Education team will visit the eBay Live! board one last time before the big event in Las Vegas to answer any questions you may have about eBay Live! Swing by to talk with them from 10:00am to 11:00am PT.

Trust & Safety Team Answers Your Questions
Policy Managers from eBay's Trust & Safety team will be on the Policies-User Agreement board from 10:30am to 11:30am PT to answer your questions about how to stay safe on eBay.

As always, other Pinks from around the company will also be checking in on various boards, including the Night Owl's Nest where the Pinks Game will take place from 1:00pm to 4:00pm PT.

We hope you enjoy Pinks Day!

Sincerely,

Rachel Makool
Senior Director, Community Development

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The promotion will start Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) and end on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Listings created prior to May 23, 2006 and scheduled to start during the promotional period (May 23-24, 2006) will be eligible for the promotional rate. Try Subtitle, Gift Services, and Listing Designer for added visibility and to attract more buyers.

During the 1¢ Subtitle, Gift Services and Listing Designer Sale:

For auction-style and Fixed Price listings, as well as Ad Format listings that will run for less than or equal to 30 days, the fees for Subtitle, Listing Designer, and Gift Services will be 1¢. This promotion will not apply to the following types of listings: eBay Motors vehicles and non-vehicles, International, Live Auction, Professional Services, and Stores Inventory listings. For full promotion details, please see our information page.

We hope you enjoy the 1¢ Subtitle, Gift Services and Listing Designer Sale!

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Shipping Cross Border
This workshop will be held on Monday, May 22nd from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. Please join member clearpath_service for a discussion on the regulations and processes of shipping auctioned items across borders, particularly into Canada and the European Union. They will also cover the cross-border service options available to sellers, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Reduce Frustration & Claims Using PayPal Dispute Resolution
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, May 23rd from 15:00 PT to 16:00 PT. This workshop is a repeat of Friday's for those who couldn't attend last week. PayPal Dispute Resolution, a new extension of the PayPal Resolution Center , enables buyers and sellers to work out buyer transaction problems before they become claims. Learn how the PayPal Dispute Resolution process can take the angst and frustration out of transaction problems, how it differs from the eBay Item Not Received Process, and get some helpful hints on how to reach amicable resolutions.

Get to Know eBay's Community Outreach Coordinator
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, May 24th from 10:00 PT to 11:00 PT. Swing by this workshop to meet Cheryl Fujii, eBay's Community Outreach Coordinator. She is the main point of contact within eBay for Attorney General Offices nationally, and oversees the consumer complaint process for eBay and PayPal. Cheryl also educates consumer protection agencies about safe-trading programs and tools available on the site. Come meet Cheryl to learn more about her role and responsibilities, and how she works with consumer-focused organizations nationwide to make eBay a safe place to trade..

Using the new Turbo Lister
This workshop will be held on Thursday, May 25th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. The new Turbo Lister is here! Download the newest version at http://www.ebay.com/turbo_lister . Thousands of sellers use this popular tool to list items in bulk for sale on eBay. Join us for this workshop to get answers to your Turbo Lister questions.

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

• Go to www.ebay.com
• Click on Community at the top of the page
• Click on "Workshops" in the "Events" section
• This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board.

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

Want timely reminders about workshops? We recommend two ways to make sure you never miss an important workshop:

• Sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about upcoming eBay Workshops. (To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.)
• Subscribe to the RSS feed for the Workshop board. When a new workshop becomes active, your RSS reader will be updated. (You can also subscribe to just the specific topic thread that interests you.) To subscribe, click on the RSS button ( ) at the bottom of the Workshop board or thread. Copy and paste the feed URL into your reader to subscribe. For more information on RSS, please read our RSS Help page.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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If you have any questions we encourage you to please read our Frequently Asked Questions, and invite you to attend one of the two PayPal Dispute Resolution workshops, today from 10 a.m to 11 a.m PT and again on May 23rd from 3 p.m to 4 p.m PT.

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	***Original: Coming Soon – PayPal Dispute Resolution Process***
	May 09, 2006 | 11:39AM PST/PT Colin Rule Hi everyone… I'm Colin Rule, Director of Dispute Resolution at PayPal. Back in January 2005, eBay launched the Item Not Received process. This online dispute resolution process has been helping eBay sellers and buyers effectively resolve disputes by facilitating direct communication. I'm happy to announce that starting next week, PayPal will launch a similar Dispute Resolution process to help sellers and buyers communicate to resolve problems when the item was paid for with PayPal. For eBay members, this means that all Item Not Received disputes involving eBay items paid with PayPal will be directed to the new PayPal Dispute Resolution process, instead of being directed to the claim process, like they are today. Work it out before escalating to a claim The new PayPal Dispute Resolution process offers a number of features to help buyers and sellers resolve their transaction problems. These include: Tracking all dispute and claim activity in one location – the PayPal Resolution Center A "Customer Service Message" box sellers can use to target buyers with important messages, such as your policies on shipping times, before buyers can escalate the situation to a claim. A 2000-character area where buyers and sellers can both post messages Easy buyer access to updated tracking and delivery information Automatic email notifications for sellers when new disputes are created. How it works When a buyer opens a dispute in the PayPal Resolution Center, they can read customer service messages sellers may have posted beforehand about transaction issues such as shipping times. Buyers will have up to 45 days from the date of payment to open a dispute and up to 20 days after filing the dispute to escalate to a claim (disputes not escalated to a claim after 20 days will be automatically closed). Because PayPal Dispute Resolution is the first stage in the buyer complaint process, a temporary hold will be placed on the funds in the seller's account if the payment amount exceeds $100, just like the current PayPal claims process. To familiarize yourself with the PayPal Dispute Resolution process, please read our Frequently Asked Questions. We will be holding two PayPal Dispute Resolution workshops, on May 19th from 10 a.m to 11 a.m PT and again on May 23rd from 3 p.m to 4 p.m PT to answer your questions about the new process. We hope you can join us. Sincerely, Colin Rule Director, Dispute Resolution, PayPal
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Soon we're going to make this a lot easier. If we know your location (because you've signed in, for example), we'll automatically do all the calculations for you as soon as you get to the search and listings page. Later this year, we'll also extend this to the item page – once you sign in, all calculated shipping will be done for you whenever you click into a new item page.

Sincerely,

Leigh Goldstein
Director, Shipping

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For the first time in the history of eBay Live!, we expect to hit our registration capacity early. We're already going to have the largest attendance ever...and believe me, we're ready for the record crowd. But within the next week, we anticipate having to close registration for this year's event. We don't want any of our members disappointed, so if you’re planning to attend eBay Live! next month in Las Vegas, the time to register is now!

We’re looking forward to our best eBay Live! Last year's 10th anniversary celebration set a new standard for eBay Live! – and we're going to make this year’s event even better, with more learning opportunities, more networking and more fun than ever.

Hope to see you next month. Viva Las Vegas!

Regards,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America

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