From collectibles to cars, buy and sell all kinds of items on eBay
home | pay | services | site map
Shop for itemsSell your itemTrack your eBay activitiesLearn, share and discuss--for business and for funGet help, find answers and contact Customer SupportAdvanced Search
Choose a Topic
All General Announcements  
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
Archived
System
Announcements
Subscribe to all announcements using RSS
Related Links
Discussion Boards
The Chatter
Community Calendar
Community Hub
July 2006
***Save 50% or More on Auction-Style Listings Tomorrow, August 1***

July 31, 2006 | 05:04PM PST/PT


We are pleased to announce a one-day promotion for www.ebay.com, www.ebay.ca and www.ebaymotors.com (for Parts and Accessories listings only). Insertion fees for Auction-style listings will be 50% Off, and capped at 50¢! This means that the absolute maximum you will pay will be 50¢, regardless of your starting price.

The promotion starts on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) and ends that same day, Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Listings which were created prior to August 1, 2006 and scheduled to start during the promotional period will also be eligible for the special promotional rate.

The 50% Off Auction-Style Listings Promotion will not apply to eBay Motors vehicles 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).

For full promotion details, please click here.

We hope you enjoy the one-day 50% Off Auction-Style Listings Promotion!


Link to this announcement | Back to top

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

July 30, 2006 | 10:43AM PST/PT


Jim "Griff" Griffith
Call in to eBay Radio today, July 30, 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.


Link to this announcement | Back to top

***Upcoming Workshops: Building Buyer Trust, Business Metrics Clinic, and Researching the Competition***

July 28, 2006 | 05:25PM PST/PT


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

Building Buyer Trust to Increase Sales
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 1st from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. When shoppers don't have complete confidence in a potential transaction, they either avoid buying or discount the price they are willing to pay. Join buySAFE's Founder, Steve Woda, to learn ways you can effectively build buyer trust to increase your sales. Steve will provide research showing the importance of building trust among buyers, as well as data showing the positive impact sellers see when buyer confidence exists. He'll also explain how you can use credible signals and other methods to build trust and turn more shoppers into buyers.

Business Metrics Sales Clinic
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, August 2nd from 15:00 PT to 16:00 PT. In this workshop, we'll take a look at key metrics that drive a seller's business, including those that focus on opportunities to improve your overall ecommerce strategy. eBay Staff will also review tools available to help you find this information, such as Sales Reports and eBay Marketplace Research.

Want to Know the Secret to Success on eBay? Research Your Competition to Find Out!
This workshop will be held on Friday, August 4th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. Have you ever wondered what successful sellers are doing to make their sales? Terapeak's marketing team of Sarah Taheri, Dave Frey, and Morgan Brooks will illustrate how market research can be used to evaluate yourself and your competition. Knowing what successful sellers are doing can guide you in the right direction for your selling, and ultimately increase your sales and sell-through rate.

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!


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Updated: Gallery Plus Now Available***

July 28, 2006 | 04:39PM PST/PT


Gallery Plus, the new listing upgrade detailed in our original announcement below, is now available. Take advantage of Gallery Plus to:

  • Showcase your listing using a larger Gallery image within the search results page.
  • Help draw more attention to your item and further increase its exposure.
  • Enable buyers to see a larger image of your item as they browse through categories and search results to improve the likelihood of a bid or sale.

For more information about Gallery Plus, please see our information page.


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Original: Show Bigger Pictures with Gallery Plus***

July 27, 2006 | 04:31PM PST/PT

Steve Grove
Hi...this is Steve Grove with eBay's Product Management team. I'm here to introduce Gallery Plus, which will be available in the next few days. Gallery Plus is a new listing upgrade designed to help you better showcase your items.

Gallery Plus is just like our current Gallery listing upgrade – just bigger! When you use Gallery Plus, an "Enlarge" icon will display right below your Gallery image on search results pages. A buyer can click or hover over the icon with their mouse, and a larger version of the picture will appear (up to 400x400 pixels, depending on the original size of the picture). This is useful for items such as antiques or clothing, where detailed photographs improve the likelihood of a bid or sale.

Gallery Plus costs a flat $0.75 (which includes the regular Gallery fee), and is also included as part of Gallery Featured for free. On eBay Motors vehicle listings, Gallery Plus is $2. For complete pricing information, please see our information page.

Sellers will be able to add the new Gallery Plus upgrade from the Sell Your Item form, or any of eBay’s selling tools such as Turbo Lister. To include Gallery Plus on your existing listings, please use our Revise Your Item form. (Please note that Gallery Plus is only available for images hosted through eBay Picture Services).

Sincerely,

Steve Grove
eBay Product Management


Link to this announcement | Back to top

***Updated: Transcript and Audio Archive for July's Town Hall Now Available***

July 28, 2006 | 02:47PM PST/PT


The audio archives and transcript from the July 20th Town Hall are now available. Visit our Town Hall Archives to read or listen to Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, and members of his leadership team as they answer questions about rebalancing the eBay marketplace, as well as a variety of other topics.


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Original: Save The Date: Town Hall with Bill Cobb on Thursday, July 20th***

July 14, 2006 | 09:24AM PST/PT


Bill Cobb
Hi everyone...this is Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America. I'm here to invite you to our next Town Hall event on Thursday, July 20th from 4:00-5:00 pm PT.

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America


Link to this announcement | Back to top

***Coming Soon: Changes to Item Specifics in Event Tickets***

July 27, 2006 | 10:23AM PST/PT


In early August, we will be updating the Item Specifics within the Event Tickets category. With the changes sellers will be able to specify if they are selling either full or partial season tickets for a particular team or venue.

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 our Item Specifics overview page.


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Coming Soon: Pre-Fill Features to Debut in Several Categories***

July 26, 2006 | 05:55PM PST/PT


Over the next week, we will be introducing Pre-Filled Item Information as an optional listing method in several new categories. Pre-Filled Item Information is already available in categories such as Books, Movies, Music and Video Games and enables sellers to quickly list products from stock information available in our database.  Now, sellers can add available product information such as brand, model, color, and in some cases, a stock photo, automatically to their listings.  Sellers can find available product information by searching via a brand, product type or model number.

Pre-Filled Item Information will be added to the following categories:

  • Consumer Electronics
    • CB Radios
    • Calculators
    • Phones
  • Computers and Networking
    • Routers
  • Cameras and Photo
    • Telescopes
  • Home and Garden
    • Vacuums
    • Coffee and Espresso Makers
    • Kitchen Cooktops
  • Baby
    • Strollers
    • Car Seats

If you list items through an eBay seller tool (e.g. Sell Your Item form, Turbo Lister, Selling Manager) or the eBay API, Pre-Filled Item Information will be available in the next week. If you utilize a 3rd party listing service (e.g., ChannelAdvisor, Marketworks, etc.), please contact them to verify that they will offer the Pre-Filled Item Information functionality in the categories listed below.

We also encourage your to check out our Pre-Filled Item Information page for more information.

 

 


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***eBay Radio: Call In Today at 11:00am PT***

July 25, 2006 | 08:57AM PST/PT


Jim "Griff" Griffith
Call in to eBay Radio today, July 25th, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, live from 11:00am to 2:00pm PT. Guests this week include:

        • Lynn Dralle, “The Queen of Auctions” continues with our new series, "Fine Tuning Your Business on eBay" by providing tips on cutting your operating costs
        • Arturo Zacarias, eBay's Senior Product Manager for new technologies, will talk about RSS Feeds
        • John Seifert, an apprentice of Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kivosaki, on what it takes to be an entrepreneur and think differently
        • Steve Woda, CEO of BuySafe with techniques for sellers to instill buyer confidence
        • Jamie Iannone, Senior Director, Product Marketing, to discuss the recently announced changes to eBay Store Format fees

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.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

***Item Specifics Updates for In-Dash Units within Car Audio***

July 24, 2006 | 04:53PM PST/PT


In early August, we will be updating the Item Specifics within the Car Audio In-Dash Units category. Item Specifics that will be added or updated include:

  • Brands - Adding brand options fo Dual, Eclipse, and Pyle.
  • HD Radio Ready - Sellers can specify if a unit is HD Compatible and if it is multi channel.

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 Passenger Vehicle 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 caraudio@ebay.com and they will be considered for future enhancements.


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***eBay Radio: Call In Today at 3:00pm PT***

July 23, 2006 | 10:41AM PST/PT


Jim "Griff" Griffith
Call in to eBay Radio today, July 23, 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.


Link to this announcement | Back to top

***Win Up to $100 in eBay Gift Certificates or a Grand Prize Movie Experience with 'Name That Show & Win It'***

July 21, 2006 | 03:51PM PST/PT

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Lisa Oda
eBay Marketing
Link to this announcement | Back to top

***Upcoming Workshops: PayPal Chargeback Coverage, Turbo Lister, and Getting to Know the Chatter Blog & RSS***

July 21, 2006 | 02:54PM PST/PT


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

PayPal Dispute Resolution Chargeback Coverage – What You Need to Know
This workshop will be held on Monday, July 24th from 11:00 PT to 12:00 PT. At eBay Live! 2006, Meg Whitman announced that beginning July, sellers who resolve a dispute amicably with the buyer through PayPal Dispute Resolution or who win a PayPal claim will be covered against any subsequent chargeback on that transaction. Please join Sarah Livnat, Colin Rule and other PayPal staff for a workshop in which we can answer questions about Meg's announcement, PayPal Dispute Resolution, and chargebacks. We look forward to seeing you there.

Be sure to check out the Chatter blog, for video previews and excerpts from select Workshop hosts.

Is Turbo Lister Right for Me?
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, July 25th from 10:00 PT to 11:00 PT. Do you list more than 10 items per month? Are you looking for a tool to help you list items more quickly and easily? Join us for this workshop to learn more about eBay's free listing tool that can help you create more professional-looking listings. You can download Turbo Lister here.

The Chatter Blog and RSS Overview
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, July 26th from 14:00 PT to 15:00 PT. For years, The Chatter was our online newsletter written by and for the eBay Community. Now we've joined the 21st century and have turned it into the Chatter Blog! Moving to the blog format will let us post much more often, while still providing the same fun and interesting material as we did before. Plus you can get updates right when new posts are made by subscribing to our RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. The Chatter Blog team will be on hand to talk about the blog, and to explain what RSS is and how you can use it around eBay.

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!


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Updated: Now Available - PayPal Dispute Resolution Chargeback Coverage***

July 21, 2006 | 02:03PM PST/PT


As Larry Friedberg announced last month, PayPal has now launched chargeback coverage for sellers who use PayPal Dispute Resolution. This protection eliminates the "double jeopardy" situation that can happen when a seller is involved in a transaction dispute. Complete details can be found in the original announcement immediately below.

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about chargeback coverage and PayPal Dispute Resolution please join us for a workshop on Monday, July 24 from 11am – Noon PDT.

 


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Original: Coming Soon: PayPal Dispute Resolution Chargeback Coverage***

June 15, 2006 | 04:00PM PST/PT

Larry Friedberg
Hi everyone, I'm Larry Friedberg with PayPal Trust & Safety. During Tuesday's keynote address at eBay Live!, Meg Whitman announced an important change that will benefit PayPal sellers. Beginning later this summer, PayPal will be offering chargeback coverage for sellers who use PayPal Dispute Resolution. This protection eliminates the "double jeopardy" situation that can happen when a sellers is involved in a transaction dispute.

Chargeback coverage will apply in two situations: if a PayPal seller resolves a dispute amicably with the buyer through PayPal Dispute Resolution, or if the dispute is escalated to a claim and PayPal finds in the seller's favor. In either case, if the buyer then files a chargeback with their credit card company for that transaction, PayPal will fully protect the seller from a chargeback. (Please note that if the dispute or claim hasn't been resolved prior to the chargeback being filed, the seller will not be covered against the chargeback.)

Our PayPal Dispute Resolution page will be updated in the next few weeks with more information about this extra chargeback coverage.

Sincerely,

Larry Friedberg
PayPal Trust & Safety Marketing


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Coming Soon: Item Specifics to Debut in the Toys Model RR, Trains Categories***

July 21, 2006 | 12:10PM PST/PT


In early August we will be introducing the Item Specifics fearure in the Toys & Hobbies > Model RR, Trains categories. Sellers will be able to assign grades to their items, which are the same grades designated by the Train Collectors Association.

For sellers, Item Specifics help make it easier to present a clean, well-organized description that clearly articulates important details that buyers want to see. Using Item Specifics is free and optional. For buyers, Item Specifics improves the ability to find the right item for a given application, and you'll be able to search for items using Item Specifics a few weeks later.

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

We have started a thread on the Toys & Hobbies discussion board to provide more detail about the upcoming changes. To access the thread please click here.


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***Back to Basics - 20 ¢ Core Insertion Fee Sale – Two Days Only!***

July 19, 2006 | 05:18PM PST/PT


Jamie Iannone
Hello…I'm Jamie Iannone, senior director of product marketing, and I'm excited to tell you about a two-day promotion that starts at midnight tonight.

By now, you've probably seen Bill Cobb's message about resetting the balance of the eBay marketplace and bringing eBay.com's auction-style and other core listing formats back to center stage. Auction-style listings deliver the signature eBay buying experience, in addition to being the fastest way to sell online. These listings are eBay's foundation – and going forward, we're going to be doing more to encourage a higher proportion of auction-style listings on eBay.

As a start, I'm excited to tell you about our “Back to Basics” promotion. Starting at midnight tonight, we're holding a two-day sale on core listing formats (Auction-style or Fixed Price) for eBay.com and eBay Motors Parts & Accessories. Please click here for full details on this promotion.

We hope you take full advantage of this great promotion!

Sincerely,

Jamie Iannone
Sr. Director, Product Marketing
eBay North America


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***A Message from Bill Cobb: Resetting the Balance of the eBay Marketplace***

July 19, 2006 | 01:43PM PST/PT

Bill Cobb
Since its debut in 1995, the eBay marketplace has continually evolved to meet the needs of the eBay Community. For the most part, the behavior of buyers and sellers has naturally adapted to changing conditions – over time, we've learned to allow the marketplace to direct itself as much as possible. On some occasions, though – in the interest of the eBay marketplace's long-term vitality – we've had to step in and implement new policies, introduce new formats, or make changes to our fee structure to create needed incentives for eBay members.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Core Listings
Core listing fees will remain unchanged. So for the vast majority of eBay sellers who use only these formats, their fees are not increasing.

And we'll be providing greater exposure for core listings on eBay Express. In late August, we'll begin displaying auction-style listings with Buy It Now on eBay Express for qualifying sellers. Also in late August, core fixed price and auction-style Buy It Now listings that qualify for eBay Express will be advantaged over Store Inventory listings.

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

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

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

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

Starting Price New Insertion Fee

Current Fee

$0.01 – 24.99

$25.00 – and higher

10¢

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

Selling Price New Final Value Fee

Current Fee

$0.01 – 25.00 10% 8%

$25.01 – 100.00

7% 5%
$100.01 – 1,000.00 5% (no change) 5%
$1,000.01 and higher 3% (no change) 3%

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

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

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

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

Half.com Listings Added to eBay.com Search Results
I recognize that sellers in the Books, Movies, Music and Video Games categories will have unique challenges with the changes we're making. As many of our media sellers have requested, starting in late August we'll again provide visibility for Half.com listings in core search results, by bringing back the Half.com listings merchandising feature we used previously (click here for an example). We're also exploring additional ways to promote Half.com listings in search results on both eBay.com and eBay Express.

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

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

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

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

I'll be hosting a Community Town Hall discussion tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time, where I'll answer your questions. Please click here for more details on the Town Hall, or to submit a question in advance.

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America


Link to this announcement | Back to top
***eBay Radio: Call In Today at 11:00am PT***

July 18, 2006 | 09:33AM PST/PT


Jim "Griff" Griffith
Call in to eBay Radio today, July 18th, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, live from 11:00am to 2:00pm PT. Guests this week include:

        • Steven Frame of The Tax Club - Selling on eBay: Are you a Hobby or a Business?
        • Evan Lasky, CEO of Pak Mail Centers of America with packing and shipping tips for eBay sellers
        • Colin Rule, eBay's Dispute Resolution Specialist, talks about the red flags that can indicate potential fraudulent activity.
        • Skip McGrath, an eBay PowerSeller, helps us continue with our new series, "Fine Tuning Your Business on eBay" by providing tips on cutting your operating costs.
        • David Glanzer, Director of PR for Comic Con International, with an update about their comic book convention in San Diego (opening this week).

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.