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June 2007
***Upcoming Workshops: How Research Can Improve Your eBay Sales***

June 29, 2007 | 04:59PM PST/PT


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

How Research Can Improve Your eBay Sales!
This workshop will be held on Friday, July 6th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Pacific time. Please join Sara and Denise from Terapeak, a Certified Solution Provider, as they explain how using research from closed listings can improve your sales. During the workshop, they will use a case study of an imaginary eBay seller to demonstrate how you can apply what you learn from past listings to build more profitable listings in the future.

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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***Introducing the New eBay MasterCard - Get Rewards With Every Purchase!***

June 28, 2007 | 09:44AM PST/PT

Jen Wehrmaker
Hi everyone...I'm Jen Wehrmaker with our Marketing team. I'm excited to let you know about the new eBay MasterCard.

With this card, you can get rewards with every purchase you make, both on and off eBay. Plus, you can choose from 3 unique card designs, and include your User ID if you'd like.

Here are some of the benefits of the new eBay MasterCard:

  • Rewards on eBay. Earn 1 reward point for every dollar you spend in purchases with your card - anywhere MasterCard is accepted. Then, you can redeem your points for anything on eBay! Visit our information page for more details.

  • Safe Shipping & Zero Liability. You're protected if you don't receive the item you purchased on eBay. Just notify GE Money Bank within 60 days of billing. You also won't be liable for any unauthorized purchases made with your card.

  • Fits Perfectly with PayPal®. You can view your Card spending and check your reward points right from your existing PayPal account. If you're not already a verified PayPal member, you'll become one automatically when you get your Card.

Check out http://mastercard.ebay.com to learn more, and to apply today.

Sincerely,

Jen Wehrmaker
eBay Marketing


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***Beta Test the new PayPal Homepage – We want your input ***

June 26, 2007 | 03:12PM PST/PT

Don Fotch
Hi…I'm Don Fotsch, Vice President of PayPal Product, User Experience and Design. My team's goal is to continually improve the user experience on PayPal to make it safer and simpler to pay and be paid online.

One of the ways we're working to achieve this goal is through the redesign of the PayPal Home Page. And that's why I'm here today. The test of the new home page is now in process, and I want to invite you to be part of this beta.

Here's an overview of some of the changes we're testing:

  • New home pages for personal and business users. We developed different home page designs, each with information that is better tailored to the needs of specific types of users.
  • New products & services page. Based on significant user input, we've created a better overview of the products and services we offer.
  • Site-wide Search. The new home pages include the ability to search the entire PayPal site for information you need.
  • New navigation. We've developed a new structure that we feel is more intuitive so that you can more easily navigate the site.
  • Improved content. New users, in particular, told us they wanted clearer, more concise content on our home page. We took this input to heart, and we think the new designs showcase better content. 

Your Input Counts – Join the beta test by visiting the PayPal site and clicking on the ‘Preview the New Homepage' link at the top of the page. You can provide input by emailing us at homepagebeta@paypal.com or by clicking on the 'Site Feedback' link in the footer of the homepage and Account Overview page. Your comments will help us make improvements before launching the final versions of the home page.

Thank you for helping us test drive the new PayPal home pages and stay tuned for more improvements coming soon.

Looking forward to your input!

Don

* NOTE: This was reposted to correct an error in the email address.


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***eBay Radio: Call In Today at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time***

June 26, 2007 | 11:56AM PST/PT


Jim "Griff" Griffith
Call in to eBay Radio today, June 26th, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, live from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. Guests this week include:

        • Joseph David, owner of Watermark Consulting, will share his experiences with the Inuit population of Alaska, where he teaches them how to sell their art on eBay.
        • Kristina Klausen, Senior Director of the eBay Global Shipping Team. Kristina will share details of the new UPS Savings Program announced at eBay Live.
        • Lisa Carey, eBay's Senior Manager for Brand Marketing, with news about "windorphins."
        • Cliff Ennico, attorney, author and eBay University instructor, will join us to discuss the variety of software, products and services that were offered at eBay Live! this year.

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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***Two-Day 20¢ Sale for Gallery on June 26-27***

June 25, 2007 | 05:03PM PST/PT


As a special offer to our sellers, starting tomorrow we'll be holding a two-day sale on www.ebay.com where our Gallery listing upgrade will only be 20¢. Show off your items with a Gallery photo next to your listing in search results and help buyers find what they're looking for!

The promotion will start Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 00:00:01 Pacific time (12:00 a.m. plus one second) and end on Wednesday, June 27th at 23:59:59 Pacific time (11:59 p.m. plus 59 seconds). Listings created prior to June 26, 2007 and scheduled to start during the promotional period will be eligible for the promotional rate.

The promotion will not apply to the following types of listings: all eBay Motors listings (including Parts & Accessories, Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Power Sports, and Other Vehicles), as well as International, Live Auction, Professional Services, Real Estate, Ad Format, and Store Inventory listings. For full details, please see our promotion page.

We hope you enjoy the 20¢ Gallery Sale!


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***A Message from Jeff King: Visit the Finding 'Playground'***

June 25, 2007 | 02:38PM PST/PT

Jeff King
Hi everyone...In early May, I told you about some tests of our new Finding technology that we've implemented on eBay. As I mentioned, a very small percentage of buyers have been selected to participate in the test for data collection purposes. To let the rest of the Community try it out and give us input, however, we've just released a new experimental site we call the Playground.

It's eBay...but with a different Finding experience
If you attended eBay Live!, I hope you had a chance to see the Playground in action at the Finding booth. The Playground is a site that allows anyone - not just those in our test groups - to try out the new Finding experience. When you are in the Playground, you're still using eBay as before, and have access to all the same listings, but you get to experiment with our new method of finding items. Come try it out and let us know what you think. We want your feedback on everything from the look and feel to whether you're finding the right items easily. Plus, all bids and purchases are binding, just like in the "regular" Finding experience, so you can get your shopping done at the same time you’re checking it out!

We're constantly updating the Playground
Check back often! We'll be updating the Playground with new features and changes as we try new things, and learn what works and what doesn't – in fact, we've already made a few changes to the way we display items based on early feedback. Also, a few Finding features haven't made their way over to the Playground yet, including Advanced Search and Completed Item Search. That doesn't mean that we’re removing them — it just means that we're still working on them.

Come visit the Playground, and stay as long as you want. Once you close your browser, or click the "Go to the regular eBay site" link, you'll return to the Finding experience that you were using prior to visiting the Playground.

For more details about how the Playground works, visit our FAQ page.

So come on in, play around, and most importantly, Find!

Sincerely,

Jeff King
Senior Director, Finding

P.S. I get a lot of questions about why we call it "Finding" instead of "Search." Check out my short video on The Chatter Blog for the answer.


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

June 24, 2007 | 10:09AM PST/PT

Jim "Griff" Griffith
Call in to eBay Radio today, June 24th, 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 podcast , 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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***Upcoming Workshops: Freight Shipping and Paying with PayPal, Customer Service The eBay Way, and More***

June 22, 2007 | 05:18PM PST/PT


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

Freight Shipping and Paying with PayPal
This workshop will be held on Monday, June 25th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time. Are you limiting your sales with heavier items over 150 lbs by only offering local pickup? Join the Freightquote team, Pamela Mattes and David Barnes, for a deep dive into the differences of shipping freight. They will be presenting the various options that are available when shipping large or heavy items and how pricing is calculated. The Freightquote team will demonstrate how you can save time and facilitate sales by adding a Freight Calculator to your auction and how you can utilize the eBay Freight Resource Center (ebay.freightquote.com) to schedule pickups. Join this workshop for tips to save money, and generally minimize headaches when you need to ship large items you are selling or buying.

Customer Service The eBay Way
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, June 26th from 09:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. Good customer service is essential for an eBay seller to be successful, and should be your number one priority. This includes knowing how to effectively communicate with buyers so the transaction will have a happy ending and bring you repeat customers. Please join Charlene Davis, author of "How to Sell Clothing, Shoes & Accessories on eBay" and co-author of "Make Big Profits on eBay," as she talks about providing great customer service and the importance of establishing policies for refunds, payment, shipping, and feedback. We'll also look at dealing with difficult or nonpaying customers and protective measures you can take.

From Hobby to Home Business
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, June 26th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time. Many eBay sellers start out selling online using items they find locally, such as in their attic or at a yard sale. But how do you take the hobby of selling on eBay and create a profitable business? Colette Marshall, Business Development Manager for Product Sourcing Experts WorldwideBrands.com, will explain the different sourcing methods and how to take your hobby and build it in to a business.

Tax Tips for the Family eBay Business
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 27th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. The family that works together can save taxes together. Please join best selling-author and CPA Diane Kennedy in this fun, interactive workshop to learn about the special tax deductions available for the family 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 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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***Windorphins Are Everywhere!***

June 18, 2007 | 04:08PM PST/PT

Lisa Carey
Hi everyone...We've all experienced that feeling you can only get on eBay – you know, the excited rush you get when you win that item you really wanted at a great price? Or when you sell an item for more than you expected?

Well, we've had a scientific breakthrough! According to our official scientists – after a lot of arduous, painstaking research - it can be linked to a phenomenon called "windorphins". To learn more about this discovery and to see some of our cutting-edge research methods, check out www.windorphins.com.

And if you live in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or Los Angeles, or read national magazines like People, Us, Time, or Newsweek (among others), keep your eyes out for more buzz about windorphins.

Plus, if you visit www.windorphins.com, you'll have another chance to get that winning feeling with the Windorphins Instant Win Game. It runs through July 1st, so check it out soon!

Sincerely,

Lisa Carey
eBay Marketing


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***Reminder: Lower Final Value Fees in First Tranche from June 19th-August 5th***

June 18, 2007 | 02:58PM PST/PT


As Bill Cobb mentioned in his Keynote address at eBay Live!, starting tomorrow and running through August 5th, we will be lowering the first tranche of Final Value Fees from 5.25% to 4.50%. Regardless of what your item ends up selling for, you'll benefit from this discount!

For full details about this promotion, please see our promotion page.
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***Upcoming Workshops: 7 Essential Elements of Successful Product Sourcing, Desktop Security and New features in Turbo Lister***

June 17, 2007 | 11:29PM PST/PT


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

7 Essential Elements of Successful Product Sourcing
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, June 19th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Pacific time . What are the common denominators for successful product sourcing? Every successful eBay retailer is practicing at least some of the 7 Essential Elements. The most successful embrace all 7 Elements! Please join Lisa Suttora Founder/CEO of What Do I Sell.com and best-selling author of "What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It" (from McGraw-Hill publishers) as she discusses the 7 Essential Elements of Successful Product Sourcing and guides you in how to use them in your eBay business.

Desktop Security and Internet Best Practices
This workshop will be held on Thursday, June 21st from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. As an eBay member, you more than likely spend a lot of your time in front of your computer, and on the internet. During our next workshop, Ryan Wheaton, the Director of Information Technology from Certified Provider KeepMore.net, will discuss some best practices for protecting yourself online, desktop security practices, as well as some general system maintenance tips. Join us to learn some everyday things you can do to keep your data safe and your computer running smoothly.

New features in Turbo Lister
This workshop will be held on Friday, June 22nd from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pacific time . We added a few new features to Turbo Lister in early May 2007 to help you manage and sell your items even faster and easier. Join the Turbo Lister team to learn about the latest enhancements and ask questions.

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

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

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

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

  • Sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about upcoming eBay Workshops. (To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.)
  • Subscribe to the RSS feed for the Workshop board. When a new workshop becomes active, your RSS reader will be updated. (You can also subscribe to just the specific topic thread that interests you.) To subscribe, click on the 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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***eBay Live! 2007 - Shipping news***

June 15, 2007 | 03:44PM PST/PT

Kristina Klausen
Hi everyone. This is Kristina Klausen. If you've watched the webcast of Bill Cobb's Keynote, you already know the exciting news from UPS – they're offering a UPS Special Pricing Program for eBay Sellers! I'm here now to share the details.

UPS is offering the eBay selling community the opportunity to receive UPS's Daily Pickup rate, with no minimum volumes and no commitments. This program offers a savings of up to 31% for eBay packages shipped using the PayPal label printing solution, and is offered to eBay sellers who are currently paying non-discounted UPS published rates.

To get in on the savings, sellers need to go to www.ebay.com/ups.

There you can:

  1. Sign up for the UPS Special Pricing Program.
  2. Get a UPS account.
  3. Learn how to change your account preferences in the PayPal label printing solution in order to have the discounts apply to your shipping labels.

The new lower rates will apply to packages shipped during the week following your sign-up for the UPS Special Pricing Program. (Sign-up must be completed by Friday at 8 a.m. EST to apply to the following Monday's shipments). More information about the program is included in our Frequently Asked Questions.

Sellers who use the eBay Shipping Calculator in their listings to automatically calculate ZIP to ZIP delivery rates can modify their eBay preferences to have the Special Pricing Program reflected in their listings. Just change your UPS settings to "Daily Rates." Please read our FAQs for more details.

Price + Shipping Sort
Bill also mentioned an important test underway. We’ve all been frustrated by excessive shipping and handling charges. Price + Shipping Sort is a new search option that sorts search results according to the total cost of the item, including shipping and handling charges. That way, buyers can choose to have the full price picture sorted by either highest total cost or lowest total cost.

We will be testing this over coming weeks with a small sample of eBay buyers. If our tests are successful, we expect to roll the Price + Shipping sort option out more broadly. Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Kristina Klausen
Senior Director, Shipping


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***eBay Stores News From eBay Live! 2007***

June 15, 2007 | 02:39PM PST/PT

Darlene Clementz
Hi everyone...This is Darlene Clementz with our eBay Stores team. eBay Live! has been fantastic so far – we've had a lot of traffic to our booth (#839 if you're here with us in Boston!), and have received some very good feedback from our sellers who are here with us.

If you listened to the keynote address webcast last night, you heard Bill Cobb share some great news about some improvements to eBay Stores. Here are a few of the highlights he talked about:

Adding eBay Stores to the Site Header
As Bill mentioned, recently we launched a new header (the links at the top of eBay pages) across the site. Our new design did not include a link to eBay Stores, and many of our Stores sellers did not agree with this decision. You made your opinions heard, and we listened. I'm pleased to let you know that we are putting eBay Stores back in the header in the next 30 days.

More Value for Featured and Anchor Subscribers
Featured and Anchor Stores are our top-of-the-line offerings, and we've been working to make them even more valueable. Beginning in September, we're going to include more business tools and resources for these tiers, as well as make a few other changes:

  • Featured Stores renamed to Premium. We're changing the name of the Featured tier to "Premium." It's a minor cosmetic change, but we feel it more accurately reflects the benefits, namely the advanced business tools, this tier offers.
  • Free Marketplace Research. Both Premium and Anchor Store subscribers will receive eBay Marketplace Research free with their subscriptions.
  • Increased Email Marketing allotment. Both Premium and Anchor Stores will receive a larger Email Marketing allotment. Premium subscribers will be able to send 7,500 emails per month, and Anchor subscribers will be able to send 10,000 per month.
  • Dedicated 24/7 phone customer support for Premium Stores. Premium subscribers will now have access to customer support by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week!
  • 40% Off the Anchor Store price. We're cutting the Anchor Store subscription fee to $299.95 a month. That’s a savings of 40%!

For more details, visit www.ebay.com/comingtostores.

Showcase your Store with eBay Stores To Go
Based on our popular eBay To Go widget, we've just launched eBay Stores To Go! eBay Stores To Go lets you share your eBay Stores listings, as well as your Store's look-and-feel beyond eBay. Simply add the widget to your blog, website, social networking site, or just about anywhere on the web to give your viewers a convenient window into your Store. They can even bid and buy right from the widget itself! To learn more, visit www.ebay.com/storestogo.

Spruce up your Store at the eBay Stores Design Center
Whether you're looking for ways to improve your Store's appearance, or trying to build an eye-catching storefront from scratch, the eBay Stores Design Center is for you. Here you'll find design Do's and Don'ts, as well as FREE eBay Stores design templates. If you need a little outside help, check our Certified eBay Stores Designer Directory for designers who can help your vision become reality. We've even provided a few examples of eBay Stores that went through an "extreme makeover" to inspire you about the possibilities.

Our eBay Stores Design Center has just launched, so check it out at www.ebay.com/designcenter.

New Educational Resources
We've also just completed a revamp of our onsite education. Check out this valuable information by visiting our new and improved Stores Tutorials and Success Stories pages.

We hope you're as excited as we are about these new improvements. To learn more about other eBay Stores features and education, visit the eBay Stores Resource Center.

Sincerely,

Darlene Clementz
eBay Stores


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***A Message from PayPal President Rajiv Dutta from eBay Live! in Boston***

June 15, 2007 | 01:56PM PST/PT


Rajiv Dutta
Hi everyone...I'm Rajiv Dutta, President of PayPal. I’m a new face to many people, but I’m actually proud to be an eBay veteran. Over the last nine years I’ve been fortunate to be involved in eBay’s business from a variety of angles, serving as both eBay’s Chief Financial Officer for a number of years, as well as President of Skype, before becoming President of PayPal last September.

Last night, however, was a first for me. I joined Meg and Bill onstage during the Keynote, and what a great experience it was to be able to share some of my personal passion and excitement for what we’re doing to help the eBay Community. I’d like to share some of the highlights happening at PayPal that I offered to our audience last night.

First, let me say that we know that protecting yourself against fraud is a critical challenge that you face in running your business. You hate chargebacks and you hate fraudsters. And let me tell you something – so do WE!

You’ve asked for more support from PayPal in this area, and I’m excited to share some important new features with you that will be significant in helping keep eBay buyers and sellers safe when they trade with PayPal.

PayPal Security Key
Recently in beta testing, the PayPal Security Key is a small electronic device that adds an extra layer of security to your account. Sized perfectly for your keychain, it generates a unique six-digit security code every 30 seconds. You enter that code when you log in to your PayPal or eBay account with your regular user name and password. If someone tries to access your account without the code, they’re locked out. The code – which is synchronized with your log in – will then change at the next 30 second cycle, so you can only get in each time by physically having the Security Key. You can watch the demo here.

Response to the Security Key beta has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m proud to announce that we’re officially bringing the Security Key out of beta starting today. Click here to order yours.

Payment Review
We also understand that sellers want more information about some of the riskiest transactions in the system. So later this summer, we’re launching what we call Payments Review.

Payments Review means, quite simply, that we’ll highlight those transactions we have reason to believe may pose a risk. We’ll keep those transactions pending in your account while we’re investigating them, so that you don’t ship the items until you know the money is good. And when PayPal completes the transaction and you ship the goods, you will be protected 100% -- guaranteed!

We’re very excited about this new capability because it’s what you’ve been asking for – protection against risky transactions. We believe this will have a big positive effect in reducing chargeback issues for sellers.

Confirmed Addresses
The Seller Protection Program was an industry first six years ago when we started it. This year PayPal expanded the confirmed in our system by 50%. This means sellers can ship to 50% more addresses with the confidence that you’ll be covered against chargebacks. We realize you want us to go farther, and, as I said last night, our goal is to keep working on this until every address is confirmed.

I’d also like you to know that is just the tip of the iceberg. In the coming months, we plan to introduce new risk tools and filters that will give you more information to make better decisions. So stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Rajiv Dutta
President, PayPal


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***A Message from Bill Cobb – Highlights from eBay Live! 2007 in Boston***

June 15, 2007 | 01:18PM PST/PT

Bill Cobb
Hello everyone...It's good to be here in the fantastic city of Boston. Last night I -- along with Meg (Meg Whitman, eBay Inc. CEO) and Rajiv (Rajiv Dutta, President of PayPal) -- had the opportunity to address 10,000 eBay buyers and sellers at our keynote. We webcast the keynote live for folks at home, and I hope you had a chance to join us online.

I want to share some of the announcements I made for eBay.com last night. Rajiv will also be sharing some important PayPal announcements he made last night, plus some of my team will offer more specifics in their own posts later on.

Creating Colorful Commerce
By now, most members have heard us talk about "re-igniting the core." What we mean is that we're investing in the quintessential eBay experience of buying and selling – person to person – in an auction format. Today online shopping is main-stream – but it's also becoming boring. We're taking a stand for what we believe – that different is good – that people are more interesting than things – that eBay is still the place to go for the rockin' deal – and that the combination of all these things is what has created eBay.com into a destination like no other.

Bringing this promise to life is a "high stakes balancing act" as I said last night. Millions of people use eBay every day. We understand that as we work to transform the site, any change is a potential disruption to our members. The benefit must be absolutely clear. I think you'll agree that the projects we're working on now bring significant value to the marketplace – and make the most of our "eBay-ness."

  • New Homepage - We're testing a number of variations of a new design for our homepage. You'll notice that we've made a conscious shift with these new designs – moving from a static table of contents to a page that serves as a gateway to the world of eBay. The new homepage will be better organized, more relevant to you, and much simpler. There's even some white space! You can get a sense of the new look in Mike Osborn's recent Announcement board post. Look for a final launch of our new Homepage this fall.

  • Visual Navigation – I said last January that fixing Finding would be a top priority for us this year. A big step forward on this front is a new feature we call Visual Navigation. Visual Navigation makes shopping more like shopping, and less like reading from a restaurant menu. You can sort by price or color across almost any category. We've begun to introduce Visual Navigation in new products such as eBay To Go and eBay My World. Over the next several months, provided it meets your needs, we'll be introducing this into several categories where we think buyers will appreciate a more interactive shopping experience.

  • eBay Countdown - Our Buyer Experience team is working on a number of new ways to make bidding more exciting and more convenient. You recently learned about eBay To Go, a new widget that lets you showcase your eBay discoveries on your blog or website, as well as Bid Assistant, which gives buyers a fun way to bid on multiple auction listings at one time, so you get more chances to win the item you really want. Another feature we're working on is eBay Countdown. eBay Countdown celebrates the competition that is such a big part of the eBay auction experience. eBay Countdown is a new tool buyers can use with a BIG clock and a..."price ticker thingy"...to remind you of items you've saved or are bidding on. Look for eBay Countdown – plus, a new fast way to place a bid in the last 15 minutes of an auction – this fall.

Now I'd like to talk about our sellers. Buyers have more options online these days, but so do our sellers. We know that many of you are multi-channel, and we know that we need to continually add to the value that you get on eBay.

eBay Stores
First I'd like to acknowledge that after eBay Live! last year, we did something unusual and raised our fees for Store Inventory format listings. Many of our Stores sellers weren't happy about that – but as I said then, there was a pressing need to rebalance the marketplace. I'm pleased to say we're seeing the results we wanted, and we appreciate our sellers for their support. While growth in overall listings has slowed (as we expected), conversion rates have improved, due in part, to better quality inventory on the site.

Now, for those who may be wondering, I want to share with you what I shared last night – there will be no increase in selling fees this July.

We're doing a number of important things to make it worth your while to have an eBay Store. Darlene Clementz of the eBay Stores team will be following up this letter with information about some great new Stores improvements, but I'd like to personally let you know about one change I mentioned last night.

A few weeks ago we launched a new header design. Our Stores sellers have made it clear that they don't like it, because there is no eBay Stores link. Well, you're right – you should have one. Within the next 30 days, we plan to put eBay Stores back where they belong – in the header at the top of every eBay page.

PowerSeller Program
PowerSellers are vital to the marketplace. As we work to upgrade the buyer experience, we also want to revitalize the PowerSeller program to offer incentives, rewards, and recognition to those sellers who consistently delight eBay buyers.

  • New eligibility requirements for Seasonal and High-volume/Low ASP sellers - You've asked for these changes for a long time. Sellers who have a high-volume seasonal business, or who specialize in items with low average selling prices (like trading cards, media, etc.) want to get recognized for their hard work, and we agree. Starting this fall, we're adjusting the eligibility requirements to accommodate these groups of sellers. Edurne Jorda who manages the PowerSeller program will be back to give you more details.

  • Unpaid Item Rebate on Auction Feature Fees – For years you've asked us to insure you from losses on those occasions when a buyer doesn't pay. Well, we've heard you, and starting on August 1st, PowerSellers will get a rebate on unpaid item feature fees for auction listings (where Immediate Payment is not an option) when they accept PayPal and specify reasonable shipping & handling fees.

I also told the audience last night that we're currently evaluating how a seller's PowerSeller status and excellent track record serving customers might be factored into our search logic on eBay. It's something our best sellers have been wanting for a long time. We're not ready to do this yet – but it is something we're moving towards.

So these are some of the ways we're investing in our sellers, and we'll be announcing more throughout the coming months. By investing in the success of our sellers, we're investing in the eBay marketplace.

And on that note -- before I close -- I'm pleased to offer our sellers a little summer relief to your selling costs. Starting June 19th and continuing through August 5th, we will LOWER the first tranche of Final Value Fees from 5.25% to 4.5%. This applies to auction, auction BIN, or pure fixed price format listings. Consider it a little eBay Live! gift to our fantastic community.

So stay tuned for more information on these and other announcements. And thank you for your partnership – no matter how sophisticated our features get, what really matters is you, the people!

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America


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***List a Vehicle on eBay Motors for $1 from June 16 – 17, 2007***

June 15, 2007 | 11:57AM PST/PT


List a vehicle on eBay Motors using any format (auction-style listing, Fixed Price, or Best Offer) from June 16-17, 2007, and your insertion fee will only be $1. Save as much as $39 during this two-day promotion!

This promotion starts Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 00:00:01 Pacific time (12:00 a.m. plus one second) and ends on Sunday, June 17, 2007 at 23:59:59 Pacific time (11:59 p.m. plus 59 seconds). Listings created prior to June 16, 2007 which are scheduled to start during the promotional period (June 16, 2007 through June 17, 2007) will also be eligible to receive the promotional rate.

This offer applies to vehicles listed on eBay Motors in the Cars & Trucks, Motorcycles, Powersports, or Other Vehicles & Trailers categories. For more information about insertion fees during this promotion, please click here.

Excluded are listings in the eBay Motors Parts & Accessories categories, as well as Live Auction, Professional Services, Motors Local Market, and Store Inventory listings. Listings on eBay.com and international eBay sites are also excluded. For full details about the sale, please see our information page.

We hope you enjoy the eBay Motors $1 vehicle insertion fee sale!


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***eBay Radio: Broadcasting from eBay Live! 2007 in Boston***

June 14, 2007 | 05:47AM PST/PT


Jim "Griff" Griffith
eBay Radio with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay University, will cover the excitement and latest news from eBay Live! 2007. eBay Radio is pleased to be broadcasting live all three days from the Solutions Center floor in Boston.

If you are at eBay Live! stop by and see the eBay Radio team at booth 865 and pick up your eBay Radio 2007 button.

The live broadcast schedule is Thursday June 14th 7:00 to 9:00 A.M. Pacific time, Friday June 15th 9:00 to 11:00 A.M. Pacific time, and Saturday June 16th 10:00 to Noon Pacific time.

If you can't catch the live show, you can always access any past broadcasts from the eBay Radio Archives. Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio to listen live or via the archives.

We won't be taking calls during these live broadcasts.


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***A Message From Bill – Listen to my Keynote Address and Town Hall from eBay Live!***