Use Market Research to Craft an Unbeatable Auction!
This workshop will be held on Friday, July 7th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. Sara Taheri, Dave Frey, and Morgan Brooks, marketing team from eBay Certified Provider Terapeak, will use this workshop to illustrate how market research can be used to build outstanding auctions. They will run through the process of building an auction and show how market research can be used to make the right choices.

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 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 Cell Phones category.

For general information about Item Specifics and how to use them, please visit the Item Specifics overview page. If you have any comments or feedback about these changes, please send them to portable_electronics@ebay.com and they will be considered for future enhancements.

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In addition to stepping up enforcement against egregious violations, we have made some clarifications to our Excessive Shipping & Handling policy. The changes outline the types of charges sellers may pass on to the buyer in the form of shipping and handling. They also provide guidelines that sellers can use to make sure their listings are in compliance with the policy. Simply stated, sellers can feel confident they are in compliance by charging actual shipping fees plus actual costs for packaging materials.

As Bill mentioned, our Community has told us – and our research confirms -- excessive shipping prices drive buyers from our site. This hurts the entire marketplace. These unfair charges also un-level the playing field, allowing some sellers to hide their costs in the shipping charges to manipulate their priority in search. In the coming months, we will be proactively looking for listings that are in violation of our policy, and we'll be following up on member reports. Please know that it will take some time to clean up the marketplace, but your help and cooperation, we can regain buyer trust and re-level the playing field for the vast majority of honest sellers.

Thank you to those of you who have been reporting examples of excessive shipping that you see on our site. It is only through working together that we will make an impact on this issue.

If you would like to read further about this policy, please visit the Excessive Shipping Charges Policy page.

Sincerely,

Sarah Brubacher
Global Trust & Safety Policy Team

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Member-created Product Descriptions are based on wiki technology, which allows members to collaboratively contribute content. For instance, if you're knowledgeable about the iPod Shuffle mentioned in the first paragraph, use this feature to provide information that other Community members can use to learn about the Shuffle.

To get started, click the "Create a product description" link when you're on a Product Detail Page. If another member has already added a description for that product and you would like to add to it or edit it, click the "Edit" button below that information. You will also be able to view any revisions made by other members for each product.

These links will initially only be available on Product Detail Pages within our consumer electronics, media, and golf categories. To find them, search for a specific product in one of these categories – most items that can be listed with Pre-Filled Item Information will have a Product Detail Page. Member-Created Product Information will only be viewable on the Product Detail Page itself.

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• JP O'Brien, CEO SageFire, Inc., is the current eBay Radio Developer Showcase of the month. He'll be joined by Greg Isaacs, Director of the eBay Developers Program.
• Christophe Gillet, Product Manager of the brand new eBay FAQ feature for sellers' listings.
• Jennifer Ibarra, Associate Manager, Cause-Related Programs and Meredith Landis Marketing Associate, GlobalGiving.
• Dan Burkhart, Marketing Manager, with details and tips for the recently launched eBay Blogs.
• Chad Wehrmaker, Marketing Manager, with news about the recent release of the eBay Wiki.

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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Here is how it works:

Shop to Win
Enter into the daily sweepstakes by registering on our promotion page and then purchasing an item from an eBay Store seller between June 26 and June 30. You’ll be eligible regardless of whether you use Buy It Now, or win an auction-style listing that ends during the promotion. Every day, 10 lucky winners will be randomly selected to win a $100 eBay Gift Certificate.

Play to Win
You also can play our daily instant-win game. Simply pick the "Lucky Red Door" on the promotion page - every day 100 members will instantly win an eBay Gift Certificate.

Go to http://www.ebay.com/reddoors to register now! For complete details about the rules, please click here.

Shop eBay Stores to discover more of what you love!

Sincerely,

Artemisa Saucedo
eBay Stores Marketing

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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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Using the New Turbo Lister
This workshop will be held on Monday, June 26th from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. Get the help you need upgrading to the newest Turbo Lister and see how this free seller tool can make listing items in bulk even faster and easier. Download the latest version of Turbo Lister at ebay.com/turbo_lister.

Starting Price – Fish with the Right Hook
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, June 27th from 10:00 PT to 11:00 PT. In this workshop, Jen Cano, Education Specialist from Certified Solution Provider HammerTap, will discuss research strategies for finding that optimal starting price. During the workshop, we'll compare starting prices to a fishing hook. If your hook is too big for the fish, you'll come away empty handed. Likewise, if your hook is too small, you'll end up giving away the bait. Just as in fishing, your hook needs to be the right size. Join us for tips on choosing a starting price that's sure to hook buyers.

Using the New Sell Your Item Form
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 28th from 15:00 PT to 16:00 PT. New and experienced sellers will want to join us for this workshop to discuss in the new Sell Your Item (SYI) form. With fewer pages and more customized features, the new form helps to make selling on eBay faster and easier. You can learn more about these new features here.

Using ChannelAdvisor For Your Charity Listings!
This workshop will be held on Thursday, June 29h from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. eBay Giving Works is the dedicated program for charity listings on eBay where sellers can list items to support nonprofit organizations. Up until now, sellers could list eBay Giving Works items only through the Sell-Your-Item form or Turbo Lister. Now sellers can also use Channel Advisor to create charity listings! Join us for this workshop to learn how to take advantage of this new functionality and use the power of cause marketing to help your listings stand out.

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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First, at the request of our sellers, the U.S. Postal Service has introduced their new co-branded Priority Mail® shoebox size for the eBay Community. This box (and others) are available for free to registered eBay members at http://ebaysupplies.usps.com/.

Second, eBay and the USPS realize that busy sellers need to be able to stock enough shipping supplies, so the co-branded box site no longer limits you to one box order per day. Now you can order as many boxes as you need to send all your eBay shipments!

Sincerely,

Leigh Goldstein
Director, Shipping

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From this section you can access your:

• Item Promotions. These include your cross-promotion selections and Favorite Seller Top Picks.
• Logos & Branding. Here you can add or change any personal logos or messaging that appear in your End of Auction or invoice emails, or while your buyers go through checkout.
• Stores Marketing. If you're an eBay Stores seller, you can customize your listing frame, create a promotional flyer or set up RSS to drive more traffic to your store.

You'll find Marketing Tools under the "Seller" section in the left-hand navigation of My eBay.

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So what exactly is a wiki?
We've been working on ways to help members contribute useful information and knowledge to the Community. A wiki is the perfect format to do just that. Basically, the eBay Wiki will allow members to quickly and easily create articles about a variety of eBay topics. Once created, these articles can be found by other members through a simple search.

But here's what makes the wiki so interesting. Not only can other members of the Community read these articles, but they can also add to and modify existing content. Articles are not owned by any one individual – they belong to the entire Community. By design, a wiki is collaborative - you can work with other members to provide the best material possible. Over time, the information in the eBay Wiki articles will be refined and eventually become a reflection of the collective wisdom and shared experiences of the entire Community.

This simple but powerful tool will help everyone to benefit from the shared knowledge of those who know eBay best – our buyers and sellers!

You can find the eBay Wiki at www.ebaywiki.com. Plus I'll be hosting a workshop about the eBay Wiki in early July – stay tuned for more information as we get close to the workshop date.

Sincerely,

Joe McCaffery
eBay Product Management

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Please read the details about this week's software update on the eBay Picture Services and Picture Manager discussion board, as well as detailed instructions for downloading and installing the new ActiveX control.

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What do I do with a blog?
With eBay blogs, you can create your own personalized publication featuring your own writing and links to photos. Use your blog to talk about just about anything, from tips and tricks for other eBay members, to a rundown of your recent vacation, to your love of precious stones. And if you’re a seller, keeping a blog is a great way to interact with potential buyers and to talk about your products.

Plus you can personalize your blog appearance with a variety of templates, or use HTML and style sheets to create your very own look.

You can access and search eBay Blogs at blogs.ebay.com. Once created, your personal blog will be found at blogs.ebay.com/[yourMemberID]. Start your blog now!

For more information about eBay Blogs, please see our information page and FAQs on the eBay Blogs discussion board. We're also hosting a workshop about Blogs today, June 19th, from 3-4pm PT. Click here to join us.

Sincerely,

Michael Bierman
eBay Product Management

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eBay Blogs – An Introduction to Blogs & Blogging on eBay!
This workshop will be held on Monday, June 19th from 15:00 PT to 16:00 PT. Just launched on eBay, members will now be able to create and manage an eBay Blog! Blogs are an exciting and easy new way for you to interact and showcase your personality, opinions and knowledge. eBay Staff will be on hand to discuss blogs, to help you get started, and answer your questions.

Prepare Now for Holiday Season Sales
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, June 20th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. For buyers, summer shopping is just beginning. But for sellers, it's time to stock your Store for the upcoming holiday shopping season! Beginning with back-to-school shopping, and continuing through Halloween and the gift-giving season, buyers are headed your way. The planning, inventory purchases and stocking of your eBay store should be happening now! Join Lisa Suttora, Founder and CEO of What Do I Sell.com™, an eBay Certified Service provider, to find out what you need to do to be ready for your buyers during the biggest shopping season of the year.

Tax Benefits for the Family eBay Business
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 21st from 10:00 PT to 11:00 PT. An eBay family business can be a great way to build a family legacy. Learn how to turn the tax laws to your favor by bringing family members into your business and teach your kids valuable business skills at the same time.

Global Law Enforcement Operations: How Does eBay/PayPal FIT Work with Law Enforcement Agencies?
This workshop will be held on Thursday, June 22nd from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. Did you know eBay helped break up a notorious Romanian Internet crime ring? Or that eBay/PayPal's Fraud Investigation Team (FIT) works with local, state, federal and international law enforcement agencies to help make eBay a safer online platform for you? This follow up workshop will again touch upon the roles and responsibilities of eBay/PayPal's worldwide Fraud Investigation Team. Join Carolyn Patterson, Senior Director of Global Law Enforcement Operations, and members of her management team for a closer look into the infrastructure of eBay's Fraud Investigation Team and highlights from their successful investigations.

Shipping Cross Border II
This workshop will be held on Friday, June 23rd from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. Please join Certified Solution Provider ClearPath, a Pitney Bowes service, for a discussion on what is required to sell and ship your items internationally. Topics will include how to expand your target customer base easily and successfully, how duty is calculated, and how your selection of shipping methods affects buyers. The cross-border service options available to sellers and the advantages and disadvantages of each will also be covered.

Sourcing Products at Trade Shows III
This workshop will be held on Friday, June 23rd from 14:00 PT to 15:00 PT. In part III of the Sourcing Products at Trade Shows series, Rebecca Shapiro, Artist & Creative Director of Pig and Panda, will discuss how to organize yourself when your orders start arriving, how best to automate your business so you can continue to source great product lines, and how to keep track of your accounts and manage inventory. She'll also provide tips on how to negotiate contracts and work with attorneys as you grow your business. Check out Part I and Part II for previous discussions.

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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The Community Hall of Fame Award was first established in 2002 at our first eBay Live! event. It celebrates and honors members of our Community who demonstrate a strong commitment to the eBay Community and practice eBay's Community Values.

This week at eBay Live! in Las Vegas, we added five new members to the eBay Community Hall of Fame. They are:

• my*only*princess
• bone*diva
• purpleferret999
• b.wind
• dave-r

I encourage everyone to visit our Community Hall of Fame page to read more about these outstanding members and their special contributions to the eBay Community.

Sincerely,

Rachel Makool
Senior Director, Community Development

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Win More Items with eBay Alerts
eBay Alerts are designed to make it easy to stay on top of - and win! - the auction listings you're interested in. We're improving our current text messaging options, and adding the ability for you to use instant messaging and actual cell phone calls to receive alerts and bid on items. I've provided more detail about each option below:

• Text Messaging (also known as SMS) - With SMS alerts, you'll be able to receive "Outbid" and "Item Ending Soon" alerts for any item you choose, and you can even re-bid on an item by replying to the SMS. One thing to note: these are considered to be "premium SMS messages" by cell phone carriers, so a $0.25 charge will be applied to your cell phone bill.

• Instant Message Alerts - Similar to SMS, you can receive free "Outbid" and "Item Ending Soon" alerts for any of your items if you're using AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or MSN Messenger.

• Phone Call Alerts - Through a pilot program with our partner Unwired Buyer, you can receive a phone call in the last 3 minutes of a listing. From there you can check your status, or even place a bid, up until the listing has ended. Just like with the IM alerts, these calls are free (although check your cell phone plan to see if your carrier will charge for incoming calls).

Receiving Alerts
Signing up for these alerts is easy. Over the next few weeks, we'll be adding links for all three methods on item pages across the site, so simply choose any or all you’d like to receive for a particular item. The text messaging option will be available in mid-June, IM alerts will follow a few weeks later, and phone alerts will be here in mid-July.

For more information about eBay Wireless, and to learn about these new features, please see our information page.

Sincerely,

Eric Shoup
eBay Product Management

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Build your brand and express yourself with eBay Blogs
Many people are already familiar with blogs and how they work, but some of you may not be. Blogs are a way to create your own webpage where you can publish information, share your pictures, and link to your other favorite blogs. Around the internet, many people use blogs to express their points of view, share news with their families, and update their clientele with the latest business news.

eBay Blogs are a natural fit for eBay Community, and we're excited to see how you will use them in creative new ways to promote your eBay business and share your passion about eBay. (Visit www.blogs.ebay.com to learn more.)

Collaborate with the eBay Wiki
Around the internet, wiki technology offers a way for people to collaborate with others to create helpful content and share their expertise. Now the eBay Wiki brings this collaborative technology to the eBay marketplace.

eBay members are experts on all kinds of eBay-related subjects – it's one of the things that make eBay such a rich, vibrant environment to buy and sell. We hope you'll contribute your own expertise in this new forum. (Visit www.ebaywiki.com to learn more.)

Community at eBay Live! and every day…
It's a treat to be here at eBay Live! and see thousands of buyers and sellers learning and networking face-to-face. What's truly special, though, is that this sense of connection happens for many eBay members online everyday.

You, our buyers and sellers, have always found ways to connect with each other. Every day, whether it is on the Answer Center, Discussion boards, through eBay Groups, or on our Chat board, millions of members around the world connect with each other. You share tips and advice, you help each other figure out solutions to new problems, you share your passion for what you buy and sell, and you voice your concerns.

eBay has always provided a home for you to express yourself and connect with others, and we'll continue to look for new ways, like eBay Blogs and the eBay Wiki, to facilitate this activity for you. But the bottom line is that your interaction with each other is what makes eBay more than just a good place to buy and sell – it's what makes it a real marketplace, where people connect in a personal way every day. (www.ebay.com/community)

Sincerely,

Rachel Makool
Senior Director, Community Development

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We've picked 14 categories -- like Cars & Trucks, Real Estate, and Lost In Space -- to be a part of this test, which you can check out here. They're spread out across a broad range of categories, which will help us measure the how Skype works best on the eBay marketplace.

How to add Skype
When you use the Sell Your Item form to list in one of these categories, you'll be able to choose to add either a Chat or Voice button (or both) to your listings. Buyers just need to click on the buttons, register for Skype (if they haven't already done so), and then send their message. It's fast, it's easy, and it's free.

To learn more about adding Skype to your listings, click here.

Sincerely,

Henry Gomez,
General Manager, Skype North America

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We owe a lot of thanks to the many sellers and buyers who have helped us "kick the tires" over the last few weeks. We've heard from many of you about what works well and what has needed some improvement. We've already released several rounds of enhancements, with more on the way in coming weeks. Here's a summary of some of the highlights we’ve been working on:

For sellers:

• eBay Express sales tracking in My eBay. You've asked for this and we listened. Now it’s here! You can see which listings sold on eBay Express within My eBay.
• Self-hosted gallery. Sellers can now use a self-hosted Gallery photo without needing to specify the URL.
• New Search API. We've introduced a new Search API based on our new search engine, redesigned from the ground up to more easily allow developers and affiliates to drive traffic to eBay Express.
• Same seller merchandising. Buyers can now "See more items from this seller" on View Item pages within eBay Express. This will make it easier to shop for more items that qualify for eBay Express from the same seller.

For buyers:

• "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.
• Related Searches. We'll be adding links for "Related Searches" (similar to what we have on eBay.com) to direct users to merchandise that similar shoppers have purchased.
• Spell Check. We'll help you find what you are shopping for when there is a typo in your search term.
• Save for Later. Not only will the shopping cart hold your items for a longer period (in case you are interrupted while shopping), you will also have the ability to save items in your cart for up to 90 days.
• Cart Reminder Email. We'll send buyers who've left items in their cart a new reminder email to encourage them to complete the sale.
• Search by Item Number. You can now search for an item on eBay Express using the item ID number. Just type the item number in the search box on any page of eBay Express.

Finally, as Bill mentioned at the keynote, and as we committed to you earlier, we're launching a major integrated eBay Express marketing campaign for the back-to-school selling season. The centerpiece of the campaign will be TV commercials that build on the strength of our highly successful "it" campaign. Stay tuned for more details on the General Announcements Board.

So we'll keep working hard on more enhancements to eBay Express over the summer, and I encourage YOU to keep telling us what you think! The Comments on eBay Express survey is available on the eBay Express homepage, and we're actively monitoring the eBay Express discussion board.

Sincerely,

Lara Bridges
Director, eBay Express

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Last night, I delivered the keynote address with Meg, where we shared some reflections of the last year, plus some news we have about the eBay marketplace. For those who couldn't join us here in person, I invite you to listen to an audio file of the keynote speech.

Meg announced an important milestone for the eBay Community. Last Saturday, the 200 millionth member of the global eBay Community registered on the site. As Meg pointed out – if the eBay Community were a nation, we’d be the fifth largest in the world. Wow.

Meg also announced a Skype test on eBay.com. We'll provide more details on this separately – but eBay.com sellers in certain categories will be able to opt in to this test and add "Skype Me" buttons to their listings. This will be a great way to see how Skype can improve communications between buyers and sellers -- particularly in categories with complex transactions, or where people want to connect with others who share their interests and passions.

There will be follow-up announcements with more details in the next few days, but here are some of the highlights:

New Community Products – eBay Blogs and the eBay Wiki
The "social web" is a hot topic these days, but here at eBay, we've been pioneering online communities for over a decade. Every day, millions of people around the globe connect and share their expertise via eBay discussion boards, the Answer Center, eBay Groups, Reviews & Guides, and other forums. Now we’re pleased to introduce eBay Blogs and the eBay Wiki – they're on the site now. Rachel Makool, Senior Director of Community Development, will be sharing more details about how these technologies offer new ways to connect on eBay.

We also announced the introduction of MyCollectibles, a great new destination for eBay’s collectibles categories where members can organize their treasures and share them with the eBay Community.

Update on New Trust & Safety Policy Enforcement
A few months ago, Matt Halprin's global policy management team began revamping how we enforce our policies, so that we’re more effective and consistent in cleaning up the site and fairer to the vast majority of our sellers who want to comply. Sellers told us that the old system of warning after warning -- followed by a long suspension -- created confusion and fear. Matt’s team has made our policies clearer, created more education and improved communications, and developed guidelines that allow us to slow down and penalize repeat violators. Overall the number of actual suspensions has gone down, replaced by brief selling restrictions intended to be less disruptive.

We’re making good progress, although we realize it hasn’t always seemed like it. Our goal has been to minimize the unnecessary disruption to our sellers’ businesses and create a safer, fairer marketplace. But in some cases, we realize, we’ve actually caused our sellers more concern. I told our live audience last night that we realize that this has not been smooth for some sellers, and we are listening and working with the Community to fine-tune our processes. For example, a seller who runs thousands of listings a week may take a bit longer to revise all their listings to be in compliance. We will keep working on this until we get it right.

Excessive Shipping
As many of you who listen to my monthly audio Town Halls know, I have personally committed to making sure the problem of some sellers charging excessive shipping costs gets addressed. You’ve told us and we agree -- excessive shipping has become a serious issue that needs a solution. It sets up unfair competition through fee avoidance and search manipulation, and, most importantly, it is eroding buyer trust in the eBay marketplace. In fact, we completed research that found this is the number one reason that buyers leave eBay.

That said, this is an open marketplace, and we’ve been very reluctant about telling our sellers what they can charge for shipping and handling. Our sellers sell everything from pianos to t-shirts.

Over the last few months, the best talent in the company has been looking at solutions to this issue. We’ll continue to look at site changes and other solutions, but I’m pleased to announce that one major change we are instituting – starting Monday, June 19th - is new aggressive enforcement against Excessive Shipping & Handling.

Now, before sellers become unnecessarily concerned, let me make it clear – this policy is geared for those egregious cases that are clearly taking advantage of the system and our buyers. You all know the listings that I mean – the .01 BIN listings with $25.00 shipping & handling for an item that weighs less than a pound to ship.

We’re going to clean up the site and stop this type of listing -- which does a disservice to the whole Community. We are going to proactively search for the worst offenders -- those whose business model is predicated on a low Buy It Now cost offset by outrageous shipping charges. Last night I gave these sellers a clear message: stop this practice, or you’re no longer welcome on eBay.

Now please understand -- if you’re charging simply to cover your actual shipping, packaging and overhead costs, you have no reason to be concerned. If you’ll be charging for custom crating, or other services, just say so in your listings.

Cross-Border Trade – A Privilege, Not a Right
Last night, I also told eBay Live! attendees that later this year, we’re going to introduce more stringent requirements for sellers who wish to sell across borders on eBay. In the U.S., we’ll require non-U.S. sellers to be PayPal verified, or to have a credit card merchant account. Other eBay sites will similarly raise the bar for international sellers in their markets – but we’ve concluded that around the world, selling internationally on eBay should be a privilege, not a right. You’ll hear more about this initiative before any changes are made that affect you.

Grand Opening for eBay Express
And, finally, last night, I had the pleasure of announcing the Grand Opening of eBay Express! During the last several weeks that eBay Express has been available as a preview, our sellers and buyers have been using the site and giving us all kinds of good input and suggestions. The Express team has been hard at work fine-tuning and adding enhancements based on your needs, and we are delighted by the results so far. In fact, it’s living up to its name – so far, the record for filling a cart and checking out is 7 seconds! Stay tuned for a letter from Lara Bridges that will offer more details about new features.

I also gave a preview of the eBay Express marketing campaign, which will be hitting the airwaves soon. To properly launch eBay Express, we wanted to break the pattern and create some intrigue. We’ve developed an out-of-the-ordinary campaign that includes 30 different TV commercials, each with the same simple message: "Get It New, Buy It Now, on eBay Express." We’ll provide more details on the eBay Express marketing campaign soon.

That’s it for now. I encourage you to watch the General Announcement board for more news on these and other topics. I hope you’ll tune into my Town Hall that we’ll be audio streaming from eBay Live! this Thursday at 11:00 a.m. PT. And for daily updates on eBay Live! don’t forget to read our eBay Chatter blog at www.ebaychatter.com.

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America

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What are Buyer Requirements?
As a reminder, Buyer Requirements let sellers block bids from members who meet certain criteria. Buyer Requirements let you block buyers who:

• are registered in countries to which you don't ship
• have a negative feedback score (-1, -2, etc.)
• have recently received Unpaid Item strikes from eBay
• have bought or are bidding on too many of your items recently
• don't have a PayPal account.

Setting Buyer Requirements by Listings
Until now, your Buyer Requirements selections would apply to all of your listings at once. This new feature allows you to set your Buyer Requirements selections on an item-specific basis. This gives you the ability to tailor the level of selling risk you're willing to take for individual items.

For example, you may decide to turn on more Buyer Requirements for higher-priced items where an Unpaid Item might be especially disruptive, such as a laptop. For lower-priced items where you’d rather make sure you get more bids -- such as a laptop's power cord -- you might reduce your selections.

If you have previously made Buyer Requirements selections in the Preferences section of My eBay, they display as the default when you list new items. Now, if you'd like to change your defaults for a specific listing you can edit them in the new SYI form. You can also still edit your Buyer Requirements in the Preferences section of My eBay. (For more information, please visit our Help page on Selecting Buyer Requirements.) Item-specific Buyer Requirements are also available in Turbo Lister.

Monitor how many bids you've blocked with Buyer Requirements Activity Log
The ability to make item-specific Buyer Requirements selections is a powerful tool for reducing your unpaid item risk. Because there is a tradeoff between reducing your unpaid item risk and blocking more bids, we recently introduced a tool to let you see just how many bids you've blocked with your Buyer Requirements selections. Check out the new Buyer Requirements Activity Log (read our earlier announcement) by going to My eBay, opening Preferences, and then opening Buyer Requirements. With this new log, you can see exactly how many bids your selections have blocked, and then adjust your selections up or down accordingly.

With these two new Buyer Requirements features, you have full control over how much selling risk you're willing to take on with each of the items you're selling, and you can see exactly what the impact is of your selections on your bidding volume.

Sincerely,

Clayton Kunz
Senior Manager, Trust & Safety

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• Tuesday, June 13th, from 11:00am to 3:00pm PT. This show will feature interviews with employees from Skype, eBay Express, The United States Postal Service, WorldWide Brands, UnWired Buyer, and RedRoller. Plus, successful eBay Sellers Lisa Suttora, Skip McGrath, and Marsha Collier will give their own selling tips. From 2:00pm to 3:00pm PT, Jason Miner will host PayPal Radio to cover all the latest in PayPal news.

• Wednesday, June 14th, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm PT. Griff will be talking with employees from eBay Stores, ProStores, Shopping.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, Pakmail, The Sutton Law Center, HammerTapNow.com, and BuySafe.com.

• Thursday, June 15th, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm PT. On the final day of eBay Live!,the show will feature interviews with Rob Chesnut, eBay's Vice President of Trust & Safety, as well as employees from ProStores, The Tax Club, Filmloop, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Other guests will include "The Queen of Auctions" Lynn Dralle, and more.

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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MyCollectibles
MyCollectibles is a new destination that lets you display your favorite collection with others, provided by Kaboodle, a leading online service for collecting, organizing and sharing information. Whether you collect Swavorski crystal, Air Jordan shoes, or anything in between, now you can import your items from eBay, or upload your images and descriptions of your collection from your computer. Other members can view your collection, review and comment on the items, and talk with you through a message board.

To learn more about MyCollectibles, click here.

Collector's Corner
Collector's Corner is a central hub for every collector to interact, learn and discover what's happening in the world of collecting. Provided by Mpire, a third-party tools and services provider, Collector's Corner displays sales trends and pop culture comparisons on hot topics, such as the average sale price of items related to NBA basketball stars. Plus, you'll find interesting collecting-related content and links to just about every collecting resource around eBay.

To check out Collector’s Corner, click here.

Sincerely,

Laurence Toney
Director, Collectibles

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The promotion starts on Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) and ends that same day, Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Listings which were created prior to June 8, 2006 and scheduled to start during the promotional period will also be eligible for the special promotional rate.

The 20˘ Insertion Fee Sale will not apply to eBay Motors vehicles and Parts & Accessories listings, or to 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 20˘ Insertion Fee Sale!

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Christophe Gillet

In the next few days, you'll be able to choose to display custom Frequently Asked Questions, as well as other important information, to your buyers when they click on "Ask Seller a Question" from any of your item pages. You can opt to show any or all of the following:

• Up to 15 Frequently Asked Questions that you’ve created. For example, use them to answer questions such as "Do you take PayPal?" or "Will you combine shipping if I buy multiple items?"
• Any Item Specifics you used when listing the item. We'll essentially show the same Item Specifics section seen on your listing on the Ask Seller a Question page.
• Any questions (and answers) that you've already posted on your listing.

To customize your Ask Seller a Question page, go to your Preferences in My eBay. In the Selling Preferences section, click on "Show" next to "Ask Seller a Question". From there, click simply click "Edit" and begin customizing.

For more information about these custom FAQs, please see our Help page. We’re also holding a workshop today in about an hour (at 1pm PT) where you can learn how to use these new FAQs. Click here to join us.

Sincerely,

Christophe Gillet
eBay Product Management

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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***
	May 25, 2006 | 10:33AM PST/PT The category structure will be updated in mid-June 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: BABY Look for changes under Baby Gear, Baby Safety & Health, Bathing & Grooming, Diapering, Feeding, Nursery Bedding, Nursery Décor, Nursery Furniture, and Toys. CRAFTS Check out changes under Basketry, Bead Art, Candle & Soap Making, Ceramics, Pottery, Crocheting, Cross Stitch, Decorative, Tole Painting, Embroidery, Fabric, Fabric Embellishments, Floral Crafts, General Art & Craft Supplies, Handcrafted Items, Kids Crafts, Lacemaking, Tatting, Leathercraft, Paper Crafts, Painting, Quilting, Ribbon, Rubber Stamping & Embossing, Scrapbooking, Sewing, Spinning, and Woodworking. DVDs & MOVIES Look for the addition HD DVD. HOME & GARDEN Check out changes under Bath, Bedding, Building & Hardware, Dining & Bar, Food & Wine, Furniture, Gardening & Plants, Home Décor, Kitchen, Pet Supplies, Vacuum Cleaners & Housekeeping. SPORTS MEM, CARDS & FAN SHOP Look for 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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• Chris Malta, Product Sourcing Editor for eBay Radio, and Dennis Hester, founder of MillionDollarDeals.com, will share how to find products to sell locally.
• Alex Linkser, net search marketer, shares his secrets of finding better ways to search the Internet.
• Powerseller Christopher Spencer will talk about the "Ride to eBay Live!".
• Clayton Kunz, a manager in eBay's Trust and Safety department, will offer insights about buyer requirements and limiting unpaid items.
• Brian Bieron, eBay's Sr. Director of Federal Government Relations, covers the issue of "Net Neutrality" and why you need to let your voice be heard in Washington.

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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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 June 6, 2006 that are scheduled to start during the promotional period (June 6, 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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Some of the blogging highlights you'll find include: Laura's Welcome post, a letter from Griff on the road in Vermont, thoughts about PayPal Dispute Resolution from Colin Rule, American Idol eBay trivia from Jeff, and much more.

The Chatter team will continue to bring you the news that inspires, informs, and entertains you via this new blog format. Make sure you get the most current daily updates as they happen by subscribing to the RSS feed.

Don't Miss – The Chatter team will be blogging from eBay Live! in Las Vegas! If you can't attend eBay Live! from June 13-15, you can still stay in touch with what's happening at the conference by reading The Chatter blog.

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Motorcycles:

• "Type" will be added as a required field. The values available will be Cruiser, Dual-Purpose, Naked, Off-Road, Sport Bike, Sport Touring, Standard, Touring, and Other.

Other Vehicles: Boats

• Item Condition is being added as a required field in the Power and Fishing Boats categories and in the Sailboats categories.
• Various manufacturers will be available as options for "Make" and "Engine Make" in the Power and Fishing Boats categories.

Other Vehicles: RVs and Campers

• Item Condition will be a required field.
• Various manufacturers are being added as options for "Make."
• Dry Weight will be an optional field for non-motorized RVs and campers.

Other Vehicles: Commercial Trucks

• Item Condition will be added as a required field.

We are also adding 2007 as a model year option across all the vehicle types.

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., Auction123, AutoRevo, etc.), please contact them to verify that they will update their Item Specifics in the Passenger Vehicle category.

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

We have also started a thread on the eBay Motors discussion board to provide more detail about the upcoming changes. To access the discussion board thread, please click here.

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Call in to eBay Radio today, June 4, 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. This two-hour Sunday edition of eBay Radio is dedicated entirely to your calls! Call in during the show toll-free at 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 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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Identity Theft Protection Workshop – Equifax Credit Alerts for PayPal Users
This workshop will be held on Monday, June 5th from 13:00 PT to 14:00 PT. Identity theft is quickly becoming one of America's fastest growing crimes. Last year, nearly 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft, costing time, money and frustration. In an effort to help Community members protect themselves from the damage of identity theft, PayPal recently launched Equifax Credit Alerts, a new free program for exclusively for PayPal users. Please join PayPal and Equifax staff members for a workshop on how to use this new program and how you can protect yourself.

Managing Risk – Chargebacks & Protection with PayPal
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, June 6th from 14:00 PT to 15:00 PT. From buyer chargebacks to fraud and security, sellers face unique risks when selling online. Successful sellers know how to manage these risks in order to maximize sales opportunities. Join the PayPal Seller Protection team for a workshop on Seller Risk, Chargebacks and Protection. We will use this session to answer your questions about chargebacks, confirmed/unconfirmed addresses, the PayPal Seller Protection Policy, and the steps PayPal takes to protect sellers.

Accounting Do's & Don'ts for eBay Members
This workshop will be held on Thursday, June 8th from 09:00 PT to 10:00 PT. Please join JP O'Brien, CEO of Certified Solution Provider SageFire, Inc., as he outlines some of the common mistakes small business owners make that can end up costing them literally thousands in overpayments to the IRS each year. Members will also learn how to use the new KeepMore.net solution, the "Plain English" online accounting tool for their eBay business.

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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Here’s how it works:

Every time you use Buy It Now or win an auction-style listing between June 5th and June 11th, you'll be entered into a daily prize drawing for a chance to win the purchase price of your item up to $500 USD (excluding shipping, taxes, and insurance costs) or a last-minute Las Vegas getaway. We'll have a total of 51 winners every day!

But wait, there's more. Each day we'll feature an eBay staff member or personality you're likely to know (like Meg Whitman or Bill Cobb) on our promotion page. Follow the "Pick What They Packed" link and use the drop-down menus to guess which five items they packed in their suitcases for Las Vegas. If you can correctly guess the exact five items the designated person packed that day, you'll get one more entry into the daily prize drawing for a chance to win that 5-day/4-night Las Vegas trip, including a one-bedroom suite at the Luxor hotel, air transportation, a dining allowance, and ground transportation between your hotel and the Las Vegas airport.

Pack Your Bags and Win It starts June 5th, so get ready to shop, buy, and win!

Sincerely,

Lisa Oda
eBay Marketing

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We're committed to helping you protect your privacy and, specifically, to help protect you from spoof (also called phishing) emails and websites and fake second chance offers. I'd like to reiterate some basic tips to make sure that you are keeping your accounts and personal information secure:

• Fake Second Chance Offers. - Sending fake Second Chance Offers is a common trick used by fraudsters. If you receive an email with a Second Chance Offer for an item you recently bid on, please check your My Messages inbox (located in My eBay) on the eBay site to make sure the offer is authentic. If it appears in My Messages with the title 'eBay Second Chance Offer for Item...', it's authentic. If the Second Chance Offer does not appear in My Messages, or appears with a different title, it is not legitimate and should be ignored.

• Never pay with Western Union or Money Gram. - eBay strongly encourages its members to avoid using instant cash wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. It's against eBay’s Safe Payments Policy for a seller to request payment via these methods as they've proven to be unsafe when paying someone the buyer doesn't know.
• Check My Messages to verify the authenticity of eBay emails. - Any email eBay sends you about your account or requesting personal information will also be in My Messages. Before responding to an eBay email asking for information about your account or requesting personal information, verify it's authentic by checking My Messages. If it's not in My Messages, it's a fake email. If you receive a suspicious email that looks like it's 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.
• Be suspicious of any email that requests personal information. - Be cautious of other emails that request you to click a link and submit your financial or personal information. If in doubt, call or contact the institution first to verify the authenticity of the email. Do not click on any links in this type of email if you can not verify it 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. - Prevent problems by staying alert and catching any suspicious activity early. We 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.

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,

Matt Halprin
Vice President, eBay Global Trust & Safety Policy

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ProStores 7.0 makes it easier to design and customize your store, list on eBay, promote multiple products on your home page, offer your customers a choice of shipping carriers, and much more.

Some highlights include:

• Easier Setup and Design. Use the new Basic Design Editor to customize the design and content of your pages, without needing to know HTML. Simply add, drag, and drop images and text into the desired location.

• Expanded eBay Integration. Copy your eBay Store's logo, fonts, colors, and categories to your ProStores site to create a consistent online brand. You can also create and save unlimited eBay listing templates, saving you time when you list items from your ProStores catalog to eBay.

• More Options for Buyers. Now you can offer your buyers multiple shipping options, as well as promote more of your products on your store’s home page to draw customers into your store.

For full details about these enhancements, visit www.prostores.com/newfeatures.

Thanks for using ProStores!

Sincerely,

Julian Green
Director, ProStores

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To make it easier for sellers to track their inventory through the different stages of a sale, the Custom Label field will now be shared across three of eBay's main listing tools – Turbo Lister, Selling Manager Pro, and File Exchange. For example, if you use Turbo Lister to list an item with a Custom Label (such as "located in Aisle 2, Shelf 3") this Custom Label will also be displayed in Selling Manager Pro to help you fulfill your buyer's order.

The Custom Label will replace the following current fields in our seller tools:

• "Item Label" in Turbo Lister
• "Part Number" in Selling Manager Pro
• "Private ID" in File Exchange

Selling Manager Pro and File Exchange will be upgraded automatically to include the shared Custom Label field. It will also appear in the latest version of Turbo Lister, which you can download at the Turbo Lister page.

Sincerely,

Anar Shah
eBay Product Management

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