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 above.

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

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Julian Green

ProStores 7.1 features an improved eBay checkout redirect — eBay shipping, tax, and insurance rates can now be carried over to your ProStores web store during checkout. Plus you can configure multiple shipping options for your eBay listings from ProStores, designate listings for checkout redirect from eBay seller tools such as Turbo Lister, and more! To see all of the new features in ProStores 7.1, check out our information page at www.prostores.com/newfeatures.

ProStores is also teaming up with PayPal on a special offer for new ProStores subscribers. Simply sign up for ProStores at the Business, Advanced, or Enterprise tier, and activate PayPal Website Payments Pro to accept credit cards on your ProStores web store, and you'll pay no ProStores subscription fees for two months. PayPal and PayPal Website Payments Pro are fully integrated with ProStores, and setup is easier than ever before with ProStores 7.1.

You can find full details about this promotion at www.prostores.com/2monthtrial, or by calling 1-866-747-3229.

Sincerely,

Julian Green
Director, ProStores

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Shawn Henderson

Have a "small space" in your house that could use a facelift? eBay and Family Circle Magazine want to know how you'd decorate and upgrade that kitchen nook, home office, nursery, or other small space as part of the "Designing Small Spaces" contest. Simply visit our contest page by September 25th to submit an essay of 250 words or less describing the space, and how you'd use your creativity and passion for finding unique products on eBay to make your vision for your small space a reality. You'll also need to upload a photo of the space that you'd like to redesign and enter the dimensions to be eligible for the contest.

Four finalists will be selected in October and given $2,000 that will be deposited in their PayPal accounts. They'll then shop on eBay to complete their redesign by December 15th - and receive a consultation with eBay's Design Director, Shawn Henderson!  In January, the eBay Community will vote for the grand prize winner, who will receive $5,000 to spend however they wish!

If you need a little inspiration, check out our previous winners and their redesigns. For more information and to enter, please see our Designing Small Pages contest page and read the official rules. We look forward to reading about your small space and how you'd like to transform it!

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Steven Frame, of the Tax Club with a list of the "red flags" the IRS looks for in a small business tax return.
• Adam Nash and Chung Meng Cheong, Group Product Managers for eBay Express , on how to use the new Express Listing Eligibility Tool to determine if your item qualify for eBay Express.
• Chris Malta, eBay Radio Product Sourcing Editor , with tips on negotiating with suppliers and drop shippers.
• Christopher Spencer, CEO of The Spencer Company and eBay Education Specialist, tips from his new book "The eBay Entrepreneur."
• Jason Miner, host of PayPal Radio, with the latest news from Pay P al. Jason will also take your PayPal questions.

Plus "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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The promotion will start on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second) and end that same day, Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Listings created prior to August 29, 2006 that are scheduled to start during the promotional period will be eligible for the promotional rate. Take advantage of this promotion and try Gallery Plus with all your listings!

This promotion will not apply to the following types of listings: International, Live Auction, Professional Services, Motors Vehicles and Non-Vehicles, Real Estate/Ad Format, and Store Inventory listings. For full details about the promotion, please see our promotion page.

We hope you enjoy the 35¢ Gallery Plus promotion!

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In addition, Google and eBay will work together to deliver "click-to-call" advertising functionality on eBay and Google sites in the United States and around the world. "Click-to-call" functionality enables online consumers to initiate an Internet voice call to merchants or advertisers directly.

The companies will start testing initiatives of the agreement beginning in early 2007, after the 2006 holiday shopping period. For more details of this agreement, please read our press release.

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

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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Listing Items with File Exchange
This workshop will be held on Monday, August 28th from 10:00 am PT to 11:00 am PT. Do you list lots and lots of items in the Books, Movies, Music and Video Games category? If so, you're the prime candidate to use File Exchange, eBay's free end-to-end selling tool that enables you to list multiple items on eBay in a single file. Join us to learn how to use File Exchange to list items to eBay or Half.com. To learn more, go to the File Exchange information page.

Blackthorne Pro Consignment Tool
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 29th from 2:00 pm PT to 3:00 pm PT. Learn how to use Blackthorne Pro to manage your consignments - from setting up clients & commission plans to generating payout reports. Blackthorne Pro is an auction management program which allows you to do everything to manage your eBay listings from submitting listings & managing inventory to relisting to emailing buyers, leaving feedback and tracking sales. Please join BTPro tester & user, GOing1nceAMC, as she presents her fourth eBay workshop on using this software.

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 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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This Back-To-School season, we invite you to support Educating America's Future. Check out http://www.ebay.com/spotlight_education to view a variety of nonprofit organizations who are working to provide tools and resources that help our youth, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Boys & Girls Club of America, Junior Achievement, and over 80 other fantastic organizations.

And it's easy to show your support! Simply list an item and donate part or all of the final sale price to one of these organizations, or buy an item that’s been listed by a participating seller. For sellers, this is a wonderful way to help your listings stand out, and for buyers, you have even more great items to shop for - all while supporting a worthy cause.

Spotlight On A Cause is your opportunity to make a difference. We hope you’ll get involved today and invite others to join you as well. Be sure to check eBay Giving Works regularly to find out about upcoming campaigns - please join us in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and stay tuned for more ways you can help!

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• The week of September 5th, existing eBay Keywords text box ad placements will be removed from search results pages. eBay Keywords customers will still have access to larger graphical ad placements through the end of the month.
• On September 30th the program will close. (No ad placement inventory will be available for the eBay Keywords program.)

The eBay Keywords program has been used by a very small percentage of eBay members since its launch in 2003. Sellers who have participated in the eBay Keywords program will receive an email with more information about the closing of the eBay Keywords program.

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Lara B. Housser

Adam Nash

Note: This announcement was originally posted yesterday, 8/22/2006. The custom FAQ feature mentioned in the original post will not be available at this time. We have corrected this announcement and apologize for any confusion.

Hi everyone,

We're back with some exciting news – we've been working hard on new features that will make it easier to both sell and shop on eBay Express. We're pleased to introduce some important changes that are rolling soon just in time for our upcoming holiday marketing campaign!

Features for eligible Sellers:

• eBay Express Listing Eligibility tool. Find out if your item qualifies for eBay Express, and if not, exactly what you need to change about your listing to make it qualify. Learn more about this tool.

• Greater exposure for eBay.com listings on eBay Express. As Bill Cobb mentioned in his earlier announcement, qualifying auction-style listings with Buy It Now will be displayed on eBay Express. Learn more about the details here.

Features for Buyers:

• Search Enhancements. Buyers will soon be able to search using ISBN or UPC numbers. In addition, enhanced spell-check functionality will help ensure that typos won't slow down shoppers.

• Popularity hubs. eBay Express Pulse will showcase the most popular searches, artists, and products on eBay Express. Highlights will also include other popular resources such as product descriptions and product reviews. Look for more information about this soon on the eBay Express discussion board.

• Report this Item Links. To make it easier to report listings that may be in violation, every item page will have a "Report this Item" link at the bottom of the page, similar to eBay.com. Clicking this link will take you directly to a list of possible reasons why the listing needs to be brought to our attention.

More about our Marketing Plans
Those of you who joined us at eBay Live! in Las Vegas got a sneak peek of our favorite part of our marketing plans...our TV commercials! These will be airing in early September, and are just one piece of our integrated eBay Express marketing campaign. Stay tuned for more details on these marketing initiatives coming soon.

Join Us for an Online Workshop
The eBay Express team will be hosting a workshop to discuss these enhancements this Thursday, August 24th, from 2:00–3:00pm PT. Please join us to learn more about the changes.

And as always, please keep telling us what you think! The Comments on eBay Express survey is available on the eBay Express homepage. And although we can't post to every question and every thread, we actively monitor the eBay Express discussion board and appreciate your comments there, too.

Sincerely,

Lara B. Housser & Adam Nash
eBay Express

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The correct value of each item is required on customs forms as it helps determine the proper duties and taxes, and whether they should be applied. Some countries will soon begin taking steps to address this issue, such as levying fines on the addressee when the declared value is determined to be lower than the invoice.

To make sure you're complying with international regulations, please make sure the stated value on your customs declaration is supported by your invoices or other documentation.

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Adam Hersh, CEO/President, AdamHershAuctions.com with cost-cutting shipping tips for small item, high volume eBay sellers.
• Jennifer Ibarra, manager of Cause-Related Programs, will be here to talk about eBay Giving Works and how buyers and sellers can get involved in Spotlight On A Cause, to raise money for various causes throughout the year.
• Nathan Etter, Senior Project Manager with news and updates about the “Sell Your Item” form (aka; SYI 3.0).
• Colin Rule, eBay Radio Contributing Editor and Dispute Resolution Specialist , and o ur own “Mr. Manners and Ettiquette” returns to address the perennial favorite, "Who should leave feedback first … the buyer or seller?"
• Linda Strean, Managing Editor, Great Schools.net, will be by to show us how to use eBay to find great deals for back-to-school items and clothing.

Plus "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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You can list now your digital items in our auction-style, auction-with-Buy It Now, and Fixed Price formats. And while payment still needs to be by either credit card or balance transfer through PayPal, you no longer need to use Immediate Payment (where the item doesn’t close until the payment has been processed).

Please note: Strict copyright laws prohibit selling digital items for content that you didn't create yourself or for which you are not a copyright owner. You can learn more about what is and is not allowed by reading our Frequently Asked Questions.

For more information about selling digitally delivered goods, please see our Digital Items information page.

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

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 Sell Your Item Form
This workshop will be held on Monday, August 21st from 2:00 pm PT to 3:00 pm PT. New and experienced sellers will want to join us for this workshop to discuss in the new 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 the new features here.

Understanding Your Billing and Payment Methods
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 22nd from 12:00 pm PT to 1:00 pm PT. To have a fun and safe eBay experience, it's important to take the time to learn about maintaining and protecting your account. If you are a seller, maintaining your account includes providing eBay with payment method information to pay your selling fees and paying your balance due each month. Please join eBay staff for a brief overview of the billing cycles and the automated billing process, with a focus on the payment methods available and the benefits of each. Due to privacy concerns, we won't be able to address specific account questions.

Listing and Stores Best Practices Clinic (7 Steps)
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, August 23rd from 3:00 pm PT to 4:00 pm PT. Please join eBay Staff for a review of the best practices in developing an quick, easy shopping experience for buyers in eBay Stores and on their listings.

Making Buyers More Efficient - A Redesign of Search Results
This workshop will be held on Thursday, August 24th from 12:00 pm PT to 1:00 pm PT. We've been working on a number of projects that drive new buyers to the site, and that ensure that - when they get here - they have the best shopping experience possible. As part of this effort, we are testing a new search results page. The new design shows more information for each listing than our current pages. We've also improved the look-and-feel to help buyers be more efficient as they make decisions about which listings they want to click into. If you'd like to see what the new design looks like, please see our information page. Please provide your feedback, questions or issues regarding the new search results page during this workshop or by posting your comments to this thread on the search discussion board. We hope you find the changes we have made both fun and helpful in improving your finding experience.

Learn About Exciting New Enhancements to eBay Express
This workshop will be held on Thursday, August 24th from 2:00 pm PT to 3:00 pm PT. Join the eBay Express team in this workshop to learn about several exciting new features that will be releasing soon and how they can help you and your buyers be more successful on eBay Express!

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

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This change will help new buyers who come from outside eBay and are often confused about how to find active listings that match what they were originally looking for on other sites.

Sellers, please note: If you have Cross Promotion Connections set up with other sellers, those items will continue to be the only items displayed. Also, as before, you may opt out of this program. Doing so means your closed item pages will not display similar items from other sellers, nor will your active listings appear on other sellers' closed items.

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Lisa Oda

To automatically enter the daily prize drawing, simply win an auction-style listing or use Buy It Now, and you’ll get one entry into that day’s prize drawing.

For up to five more entries into a daily prize drawing, you music buffs can take the Pop Hits trivia challenge. Each day we'll post five music trivia clues that'll help you guess which pop songs of the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and today made eBay's list of hits. Simply choose song names from the drop-down menus provided on our trivia page. For each exact song name you choose, you'll get one entry into the daily prize drawing. Come back every day for new clues and chances to win!

The eBay Pop Hits! Sweepstakes starts August 16th, so get ready to shop, buy, and win!

Sincerely,

Lisa Oda
eBay Marketing

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• Platform – Nintendo DS Lite will be available as an option in Games, Accessories, and Systems.
• Rating – "Everyone 10+" will be added.
• Accessory Type – Hard Drive and 2GB Memory will be added.

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

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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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