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 August 2007 |
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***Join Griff at eBay University in Golden, CO -- Sept. 8*** |
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August 31, 2007 | 04:29PM PST/PT
| Jim "Griff" Griffith |
Hi everyone, this is Jim Griffith (most people call me “Griff”).
I’m eBay’s Dean of Education, and author of The Official eBay Bible. I’m also the host of eBay Radio, and I regularly answer member questions on eBay’s Chatter blog (www.ebaychatter.com). I’ll be traveling to Colorado in early September, and I want to personally invite you to join me and our other esteemed instructors at eBay University in Golden, Colorado. I’ve been teaching at eBay Universities nationwide ever since the program began in 2000. I usually teach the Basic Selling course, where I enjoy getting to meet “newbies” or buyers who are just thinking about selling for the first time. Our Golden event will host the Basic Selling course as well as the Beyond the Basics of Selling course (for those who are looking to increase their eBay sales). Don’t miss your chance to learn about eBay from me, as well as other great instructors.
Our one-day program is only $59, and you can even bring a friend for free if you register before 11:59pm (ET) on September 7th. See our course page for a description of the classes, and for more information about eBay University. I hope to see you in Golden!
Sincerely,
Griff
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***Upcoming Workshops: Best Time to List, Bid History Changes, & Using Secondary Market Merchandise*** |
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August 31, 2007 | 04:10PM PST/PT
We would like to invite you to attend the following workshop this week:
Increase your eBay Sales by Discovering the Best Time to List
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, September 4th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time.
This month the Terapeak marketing team will be hosting a workshop to introduce some tools that you can use to find the best times to end your auctions. There are a variety of free and paid tools that eBay Sellers can use to find out how long to list an item, what time of the day or week to end an auction, or what times of year see big spikes in demand. We will even show you a few cool trends that illustrate the huge spikes in sales that occur over the upcoming holiday season! Join us as we review some great examples and stick around for the hour to answer any questions you may have about market research!
Bid History Re-design changes
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, September 5th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time.
The bid history page is an important tool used by many of our members when monitoring auctions. Based upon extensive research and community involvement, eBay has recently updated this page with new features and functionality to improve the buyer experience. These updates include the ability to bid directly from bid history page as well as improvements to the masking of User IDs over $200. This workshop will be conducted by the buyer experience product management team to discuss the recent changes and the impact it will have on buyers and sellers.
Building a Profitable eBay Business with Secondary Market Merchandise
This workshop will be held on Thursday September 6th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time.
eBay sellers are under constant pressure to not only have the right inventory to sell, but to acquire it at a cost much lower than the price that eBay buyers are willing to pay per item. The secondary market can be an eBay seller's "gold mine" for finding the right inventory to stay competitive. As you scale your eBay business, it is important know how to locate quality sources of products and how to effectively resell the goods to eBay buyers. Please join Julie Davis and Steve Kuertz of Liquidation.com as they discuss how to effectively use the secondary market to maximize your profit potential.
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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***Enter the eBay Stores $2,500 Passport Sweepstakes for September*** |
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August 31, 2007 | 09:53AM PST/PT
| Rich Lee |
Hi everyone, this is Rich Lee with the eBay Stores Marketing team. We are kicking off the fourth "eBay Stores $2,500 Feature Passport" Sweepstakes. The sweepstakes are held every other month as a fun way to highlight some of the great free features that are available to eBay Stores sellers.
Your eBay Stores subscription comes equipped with powerful tools and resources to help you drive buyers – from eBay, the general Web, and offline – to your eBay Store. Every other month, we'll pick one of these tools to be the feature of the month. All Stores sellers who use the selected tool at least once during the specified timeframe will be automatically eligible to win one of two $2,500 cash Grand Prizes!
Feature for September: Listing Frame
Our highlighted feature for the month of September is the Listing Frame. With Listing Frames you can promote your Store on all of your listings by showcasing your Store header, search, and category navigation. All it takes is a couple of clicks! For more information on what the Listing Frame can do for you, and to get started today on adding a custom Listing Frame, click here.
To qualify for the sweepstakes, simply use a Listing Frame by September 30, 2007. Doing so will automatically enter you into the sweepstakes. It’s a great reason to try it out – and if you’re already using the Listing Frame, you’re all set!
At the end of the month, two Grand Prize winners will be randomly selected to receive the $2,500 cash prize. For full details about the eBay Stores $2,500 Feature Passport Sweepstakes, see our information page.
Good luck, and thanks for using eBay Stores!
Sincerely,
Rich Lee
eBay Stores
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***Snapshot View: Try It Out in the Playground*** |
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August 30, 2007 | 02:56PM PST/PT
| Hilary Holmquest |
Hello...This is Hilary Holmquest with the eBay Finding team. As you know, we've been working hard to improve the search and finding experience on eBay. If you haven't already, make sure to try out some of our ideas in the Finding Playground at playground.ebay.com. We just added a cool new feature to the Playground that we call Snapshot View, which Philipp mentioned in his last message. I'm here to give you more details.
What's Snapshot View?
As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Snapshot View is like window shopping - from the comfort of your computer. It lets you quickly browse through enlarged pictures from tons of items, so you can easily spot the items that interest you.
We've also added a new color and price slider so you can easily narrow your search by color and price.
How to try Snapshot
Snapshot View is currently available in the finding Playground by using the tab next to Picture Gallery. There are several ways to get there.
From the Playground: If you run a search in our test environment where the majority of the items fall into one of 8 test categories where pictures are particularly important, Snapshot View will be shown by default. You'll see pictures for all listings that include at least one image (Gallery or otherwise). But don't worry – we're not excluding listings that don't have a picture. We'll display a general "image not available" message for those. These 8 categories include:
- Antiques
- Arts
- Crafts
- Jewelry & Watches
- Apparel
- Collectibles
- Home & Garden
- Pottery & Glass
From eBay.com: If you're searching in one of these categories on eBay.com, you'll see links at the top of the page to take you directly to Snapshot View. If you're searching outside of these categories, you'll instead see links to visit the Playground, where you can then try out Snapshot View. For these categories, you'll see pictures if the seller purchased Gallery, or either the camera icon or "image not available" message if they didn't.
Just remember - the same items are shown in the Playground as on eBay.com, and all bids and purchases are binding.
We're pretty excited about this new feature, and we really think it will make shopping on eBay more fun. As always, we want to hear what you think, too! Your opinion counts, so after checking out the Snapshot View, send us an email at sneakpeek@ebay.com and tell us what you think.
Sincerely,
Hilary Holmquest
Finding Team
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***Updated: A Message from Philipp Justus – Huge Savings for Sellers in September*** |
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August 29, 2007 | 03:47PM PST/PT
| Philipp Justus |
Hello Sellers,
I have one more piece of good news: Unlike our last promotion, this time you WILL get these Insertion discounts if you use bundles with Gallery, such as Value Pack, Pro Pack, Gallery Plus, Gallery Featured, and Picture Pack. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Philipp Justus
Senior Vice President, Auctions
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Link to this announcement | Back to top
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***Original:
A Message from Philipp Justus – Huge Savings for Sellers in September*** |
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August 28, 2007 | 05:00PM PST/PT
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| Philipp Justus |
Hello Sellers,
I have great news for you! Based on the success of our last Listing with Gallery promotion on 8/15, we are running a similar promotion for the entire month of September. Like the last promotion, if you buy Gallery and start your Auction-style or Fixed Price listings at $9.99 or less, we're going to give you the insertion fee for FREE. In addition, for items with a starting price of $10 or more, you'll save 25% off the listing fee (up to $1.20 per listing!).
But wait – there's more! This promotion runs from August 29 to September 30. That means significant savings for our sellers who will be able to take advantage of this promotion for an entire MONTH! (Read here for more promotion details.)
We think this is a great deal for both our sellers and buyers. Sellers have the opportunity to realize significant savings, while buyers benefit from a richer shopping experience. We're really happy to deliver savings to our sellers who look to the eBay marketplace as the best place to move inventory. We also hope this promotion will continue to improve the buyer experience by encouraging sellers to use Gallery, which helps buyers shop in a more visually appealing way.
On behalf of my whole team, we hope you enjoy this promotion – and we appreciate your continued business and support.
Sincerely,
Philipp Justus
Senior Vice President, Auctions
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Link to this announcement | Back to top
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***eBay Radio: Call in Today at 11:00 AM Pacific Time*** |
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August 28, 2007 | 09:49AM PST/PT
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| Jim "Griff" Griffith |
Call in to eBay Radio today, August 28th, 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:
- Michael Shaw, Pak Mail franchise owner, tells how you can get help with packing and shipping small items.
- Mark Hojnacki, VP of Sales with Small Business Transportation AKA Freight101.com, tells you what to do if you need to ship large items.
- Ina Steiner, Editor of AuctionBytes.com, joins us to discuss eBay’s Seller Non-performance policy as well as other issues faced by eBay sellers.
- Elizabeth Bennett, President of Africa Direct, an eBay PowerSeller and one of the 2007 Hall of Fame Winners, joins us with her tips for selling one-of-a-kind items on eBay.
- Danna Crawford, of AskDanna.com, is a “PowerSelling Mom” with tips on eBay education.
 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/ebay
radio
for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your
computer.
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***Upcoming Workshops: 2 Workshops to Help Jump Start Your Biz - Shipping Tips & Marketing Tools*** |
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August 24, 2007 | 04:27PM PST/PT
We would like to invite you to attend the following workshop this week:
Shipping Tips & Best Practices: Using eBay & PayPal Shipping Tools
This workshop will be held on Monday, August 27th from 1:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Get into ship shape
with shipping tips and best practices. See the top tips for packaging your items for shipment. Learn to use the eBay Shipping Calculator in your listings or to research shipping rates. Print U.S. Postal Service® and UPS® shipping labels on PayPal right from your computer on standard printing paper. Shipping addresses are pre-filled and you can purchase labels right from your PayPal account for no additional fee. Please join us to learn about these great tools and how they can help you become a smart shipper.
Powerful Marketing Tools That Will Boost Your eBay Business
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 28th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Join Diane and Rebecca from OASIS Connect to learn marketing strategies that will get your eBay business noticed--on eBay and on the Internet. These powerful tools are like giant road signs pointing the way to your eBay biz and most of them are right under your nose. Did you know if you have an eBay store, you can blog, write reviews and guides and send out newsletters to your customers, all for free? Use these tools and you'll be the expert in your eBay market. You'll show up on search engines... You'll get more traffic... And you'll get more sales!
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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***Bid History Update - More Details*** |
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August 24, 2007 | 03:44PM PST/PT
| Evan Liang |
Hello...I'm Evan Liang with eBay's Buyer Experience team. My team and I focus on improving the experience members have when they place a bid or make a purchase. As Philipp mentioned, we're making a few important changes to the bid history page that we think will improve the overall bidding experience. You will begin to see these changes next week.
Making winning easier – bid right from the bid history page
We know from talking to Community members that many people spend a lot of time monitoring competitive auctions from the bid history page. Knowing how important this page is to bidders, my team has enhanced the user interface so you can now place a bid directly on the bid history page.
For our competitive bidders who use the bid history often, we think this change will simplify your experience and help you win that "must have" item.
Enhancing SMI -- adding transparency for items over $200
Last January, Rob Chesnut introduced an important Trust & Safety initiative called Safeguarding Member IDs (SMI). This project protects eBay's bidders on high-end items from fake Second Chance Offers and other malicious email. (Read Rob's announcement from January 8, 2007 for more details.)
While SMI has been very effective in protecting our marketplace from fraud, we also realize that it reduced transparency on the site, and, for some bidders, took away some of the magic of that makes eBay so unique.
As promised, my Buyer Experience group has teamed up with Trust & Safety and the Community over the past few months to look at ways to make the bid history more transparent without jeopardizing the safety that SMI has added. I'm pleased to let you know that this week, we'll be making the following adjustments to the User IDs displayed on bid history for items over $200:
- Actual Feedback Score is back – We will be bringing back the bidder’s actual feedback score next to each member's respective User ID.
- New User ID Masking - We are replacing the current aliases (Bidder 1, Bidder 2 and Bidder 3) with a masked ID that consists of two random characters from the member's User ID – for example a***b. For any given member, this masked ID will be consistent across all auctions over $200 for which they place bids. At the end of a listing, the winning bidder's User ID will be displayed on both the item and bid history page. Please note: Sellers will still be able to view the actual User IDs for bidders on their listings through the Bid History page.
Also, please understand that to protect our Community, eBay reserves the right to change this masking algorithm in the future, but will only do so if absolutely necessary and with advance notice. We expect to add more enhancements in the future, although our intent is to move cautiously so we can ensure we’re preserving safety.
My team will be holding a workshop on September 5 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time (stay tuned for more info), and I hope you can join us. You can also check out my video on The Chatter blog for more information. As always, we appreciate your support and feedback, and look forward to further improvements to your buyer experience.
Sincerely,
Evan Liang
Buyer Experience
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***Coming Soon: Changes to Item Specifics for Clothing*** |
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August 24, 2007 | 10:19AM PST/PT
On Thursday, August 30th, we plan to update the Item Specifics in the Clothing category. Changes will be made to the following categories:
- Women's Shirts, Tops
- Women's Dresses
- Men's Casual Shirts
- Men's Dress Shirts
To see details about the specific changes for these categories, as well as a preview of other changes planned for September, please visit our Item Specifics Update page.
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.
Also, if you use a 3rd party listing service (such as Marketworks) please contact them to verify that they will update their Item Specifics in the Clothing categories.
For general information about Item Specifics and how to use them, please visit the Item Specifics Overview page.
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***Join Jason Miner at eBay University in Langhorne, PA – Aug. 25*** |
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August 23, 2007 | 03:53PM PST/PT
| Jason Miner |
Hi everyone, this is Jason Miner, longtime PayPal employee and eBay University instructor. I want to personally invite you to join me and our other esteemed instructors at eBay University in Langhorne, PA on August 25th. Not only have I been part of PayPal’s Product Education team, but I’ve also enjoyed playing the role of guest host for eBay Radio in Griff’s absence. I’ve been teaching at eBay Universities nationwide since 2002, and enjoy getting to meet all levels of eBay users - from ‘newbies’ to seasoned sellers. Attend the Selling Basics class if you’re new to selling, or the Beyond the Basics of Selling class if you’re looking to take your selling to the next level. Our one-day program is only $59, and you can even bring a friend for free if you register online before 11:59pm (ET) on August 24th. See our course page for a description of the classes, and for more information about eBay University.
I hope to see you this weekend!
Jason
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***A Message from Jeff King - Finding News*** |
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August 23, 2007 | 02:20PM PST/PT
| Jeff King |
Hi everyone....As Philipp recently mentioned, our Finding pages are getting a much-needed visual update this week. These are cosmetic changes that will not affect the way your search and browse experience works - your search results will stay exactly the same. We hope you find the new look less cluttered and more engaging.
Search Results Layout Update on eBay.com
This visual update to the layout of our search results pages gives them a more consistent look-and-feel with the rest of the site, and puts more emphasis on the most important part of these pages – your listings! For example, we've removed the alternating gray-and-white background that we used to show (which a lot of members found distracting) and replaced it with simple white space that makes each listing title stand out more.
After testing the updated design in our Finding Playground, as well as talking extensively with members on our discussion forums, we're moving it out to the eBay.com site slowly over the next few days. We want to hear what you think about the new look, so we've started a new thread on our Search discussion board that I hope you'll visit.
Updates to the Finding Playground
These layout changes will also be made to search results within the Finding Playground (found at playground.ebay.com). In addition to these designs, we're testing a variety of different features within the Playground, and will also be adding in several of the favorites you've requested. Check out this discussion thread for more information, and to leave your feedback about the Playground.
I'd also like to say thank you for your continued feedback on the new Finding experience in the Playground. Our testing - and your input - is crucial for us to understand what works best before we launch anything to the eBay.com site. We're already seeing a few categories where the new experience is working better for buyers, which means it's helping to create more sales. While we're pleased with the results we've seen so far, we also know there is a lot of room for improvement, so keep sending us your thoughts.
My team will keep you updated on our progress. And stay tuned for more information about the "Snapshot View" Philipp referenced coming soon!
Sincerely,
Jeff King
Senior Director, Finding
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***List Using the 10-Day Duration Option For No Extra Charge - August 23-24, 2007*** |
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August 22, 2007 | 05:00PM PST/PT
List your items for 10 days for no extra charge during this 2-day special offer on www.ebay.com. With the 10-day duration listing option, your item gets more exposure, so more buyers have a chance to bid. Boost the chances your item will sell and keep it listed longer...for FREE.
The promotion will start on Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 00:00:01 Pacific time (12:00 a.m. plus one second) and end on Friday August 24, 2007 at 23:59:59 Pacific time (11:59 p.m. plus 59 seconds). Listings that were created prior to the promotion and are scheduled to start during the promotional period (August 23-24, 2007) will also be eligible for the discounted rate.
This 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 10-day duration promotion!
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***A Message from Philipp Justus – Making winning on eBay even more fun*** |
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August 21, 2007 | 10:29AM PST/PT
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| Philipp Justus |
Hello everyone... We've been talking a lot with you about improving the buyer
experience on eBay, and I'm pleased to let you know about some great new enhancements
that we're adding to the site over the next two weeks. We've been working hard
to ensure that these enhancements will add to the thrill you feel when you win
a great item at a fantastic price. Winning on eBay is a big part of the great
experience you have on eBay and we want you to win faster, more often and have
even more fun than ever before.
If you've been keeping on eye on Sneak Peek (www.ebay.com/sneakpeek),
you're probably aware of many of the products and enhancements we're working
on. I'd like to give you a quick snapshot on a number of enhancements that are
on their way.
Our new eBay home page – A homepage is like a front
door, and it can say a lot about the business inside. Making its debut this
week, our new eBay homepage has a simplified interface that puts the focus on
you and what you love. Quick access to key My eBay information, featured items
and recent activities helps to make a more inspired and fun shopping experience.
We hope you like our new "front door" – and that you find it
welcoming, informative and fun.
Bid History redesign – Through research and talking
to a lot of you, we know that our competitive bidders spend a lot of time on
the bid history page. We've enhanced the page to be more functional for you.
You'll now be able to bid directly from the Bid History page. We heard that
it's really important for you to be able to see more information on all items
you're bidding on, so we've restored some transparency when bidding on items
over $200.
New look & feel in Search – We're making a number
of visual changes to our current Search to make the search results pages less-cluttered.
Soon you'll notice subtle changes to color and other details that will help
the most important content on the page – your items – stand out
better.
Snapshot View on Search Results – Snapshot View allows
you to browse quickly through larger item images – it's a little like
window shopping but with faster results. Browse for what you are looking for,
or refine your search by color or price, and let your visual sense be your guide.
You'll find the link to Snapshot View at the top right of every search results
page. This is an exciting new way to help you to find and win items on eBay.
You'll be hearing more about these projects and others – like progress
with our new My eBay beta, our Finding tests, and more – in the coming
weeks. Until then, keep checking our General Announcements board, and visiting
our Sneak Peek page for updates. We also hope you'll use our sneakpeek@ebay.com
email address to let us know what you think about our new projects. We really
want to hear from you – so don't be shy.
Sincerely,
Philipp Justus
Senior Vice President, eBay Auctions
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***eBay Radio: Call in Today at 11:00 AM Pacific Time*** |
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August 21, 2007 | 09:33AM PST/PT
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| Jim "Griff" Griffith |
Call in to eBay Radio today, August 21st, 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:
- Jen Cano, VP of Marketing with Hammertapnow.com joins us to discuss her topic, “How big is the market, and how big is my piece of the pie?
- Chris Malta, President of Worldwide Brands joins us with his guest, Sandy Ghezzi, VP of Marketing with Craft & Hobby Association.
- Alice Eastland, VP of Communications of Midprofile.com joins us to tell us how you can run your eBay business from your cell phone.
- Jody Rogers, owner of Beachcombers! Joins us on the PowerSeller Hour with tips on branding and search engine optimization.
- Mario Campa, Founder and President of Toys From The Attic joins us on the second segment of the PowerSeller Hour to give us tips on retaining customers.
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/ebay
radio
for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your
computer.
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*** Upcoming Workshops: PayPal MultiOrder Shipping, Product Sourcing for the Holidays, and many more*** |
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August 17, 2007 | 12:05PM PST/PT
We would like to invite you to attend the following workshop this week:
Make Shipping up to 50 Times More Productive with PayPal MultiOrder Shipping
This workshop will be held on Monday, August 20th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time.
PayPal MultiOrder Shipping
is a powerful new tool that will help you save time and let you focus on building your eBay business. MultiOrder Shipping allows you to print up to 50
domestic U.S. Postal Service® shipping labels at a time, right from your PayPal account for no additional fee. MultiOrder Shipping is now better than
ever with recent enhancements including integration with USPS SCAN form, the ability to upload files of orders for shipment, using shipping presets,
and a package identification manifest. Please join us for an interactive seminar on all that MultiOrder Shipping has to offer.
Successful Product Sourcing for the Holidays
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 21st from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m Pacific time.
The holiday selling season is just around the corner and buyers are heading online to shop earlier than you think! But will you have the products
they want? Creating the right product line mix is essential to your successful holiday sales. Without a correctly balanced product assortment, you'll be
unable to offer your buyers the products that excite them, attract buyers to your listings, or increase your final sales tickets through cross-selling or
up-selling. Please join Lisa Suttora Founder/CEO of Certified Provider WhatDoISell.com and featured speaker on the eBay Live 2007 Product
Sourcing Panel as she discusses how to put together a winning product line for the holiday season and make this your best holiday selling season
ever!
Exciting New Features in eBay Blackthorne
This workshop will be held on Thursday, August 23rd from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.
Join the Blackthorne Software team for this workshop to learn about the exciting new features in the most recent release of eBay Blackthorne. User
definable custom fields and support for GivingWorks are just a few of the new features you'll learn about.
Supercharge Your Motors Parts & Accessories Sales with eBay Marketplace Research (eMR)
This workshop will be held on Friday, August 24th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.
Historical listing and sales performance information about products within eBay Motors Parts & Accessories is now available! In this workshop, we'll
demonstrate how the eMR research tool can help with your eBay sales, using Motors Parts & Accessories listings as examples. Our eMR expert will
be on hand to research key product stats for you, and perhaps uncover ways your specific business can get the edge over the competition. This
workshop is for all sellers.
Small Business Financing 101
This workshop will be held on Friday, August 24th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time.
Need a small business loan and not sure where to get it? Or, are you certain a loan is what you need? In this informative workshop, Prosper Marketing
Director, and former eBay PowerSeller Program Manager, Shira Levine will demonstrate how financing can help your business. We’ll cover the five
basic questions every business should ask themselves before you finance, how to know where you stand financially, and the importance of cash
reserves in your company. Then we’ll cover financing basics: debt vs. equity, credit scores and reports, and common pitfalls to avoid. The workshop
will end with how to create an excellent loan listing on Prosper that will get your business funded. We’ll also look at how eBay PowerSellers are using
Prosper both to borrow for business and to make money using Prosper’s referral program.
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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***Gallery Plus Extended to Self-hosted Pictures*** |
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August 15, 2007 | 06:06PM PST/PT
| Keith Wescourt |
Hi Everyone ... I'm Keith Wescourt with the Seller Experience team. Gallery
Plus displays a bigger preview picture of sellers' items when buyers move
their mouse over their Gallery picture in Search results. Until now, Gallery Plus
has been available only when using eBay-hosted pictures, but now sellers using
self-hosted pictures can also use Gallery Plus to make their listings stand out
in Search.
You can add your self-hosted Gallery Plus picture when you create a listing
using the Sell Your Item (SYI) form, eBay tools like Turbo Lister, or third-party
listing tools that support this change to Gallery Plus (check with your listing
tool provider). You just need to provide the URL for your self-hosted picture
during the listing process. The fee
for using Gallery Plus, whether you use a self-hosted or eBay-hosted picture,
will remain the same.
For best results....
When you use a self-hosted picture with Gallery Plus, we automatically create
and store a correctly-sized and compressed copy of the picture on our servers.
To ensure that buyers see a good-quality and full-sized Gallery Plus picture
in Search results, just make sure you provide us with the right-sized picture.
For good results after eBay resizing and compression, we recommend submitting
a URL for a high-quality self-hosted picture that is between 1000 and 1600 pixels
in size. The Gallery Plus picture we create from it will be stored at a 400-pixel
size for display.
I'm pleased we are now able to offer the availability of Gallery Plus when
using self-hosted pictures so that all sellers are able to use this upgrade
to boost the success of their listings on eBay.
Sincerely,
Keith Wescourt,
Seller Experience Team
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***Refer A Friend To Sell For The First Time On eBay – And Earn Up To $50*** |
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August 15, 2007 | 03:18PM PST/PT
| Zoulfia Moret |
Hi everyone...I'm Zoulfia Moret from the Seller Marketing team. I'm here to let
you know about a great new Refer
a Friend program we're kicking off this week to help you share the fun of
selling on eBay — and earn selling credits for yourself at the same time.
Here's how it works:
From today, August 15th through September 15th, we'll give you $5 for every
friend you refer to sell on eBay (up to a total of 10 friends) via our Refer
a Friend site. Note that your friend (or better still, friends) should never
have sold on eBay before and should list an item during the dates mentioned.
We'll credit your referral reward to your eBay Seller Account 6 weeks after
the promotional period.
To qualify for the Refer
a Friend program, you should be registered on eBay.com, be a registered
seller yourself, and have a Feedback score of at least 10.
What's in it for your friends:
Besides discovering the exciting world of selling on eBay, your friends will
also get the listing and Gallery fees for their first 3 listings credited to
their Seller Accounts (6 weeks after the promotion ends). In order to qualify,
your friends will have to list by clicking on the link in the email they’ll
receive during the promotion period. (Cancelled listings do not qualify.)
We have terms
and conditions for the Refer a Friend program. For instance – you
can't refer yourself (duh!) or someone who has the same address or phone number
as you. So please check out the fine print!
We hope you'll have fun helping your friends get started selling on eBay through
the Refer a Friend
program! Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Zoulfia Moret
Marketing
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***Powerful Giving for PowerSellers through the eBay Foundation*** |
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August 15, 2007 | 02:43PM PST/PT
| Edurne Jorda |
Hi there... I'm Edurne Jorda from the Seller Development Team. I’m here to tell you about a great program for PowerSellers made possible by the eBay Foundation, a charitable fund that serves as the main channel through which eBay contributes to local community organizations.
Are you familiar with Powerful Giving, the special program for PowerSellers made possible through the eBay Foundation? Every year, under the Powerful Giving program, the eBay Foundation donates $5,000 each to several charities that are recommended by our PowerSellers. This year, the Foundation will choose 10 charities recommended by PowerSellers! That’s $50,000 in charitable giving chosen by PowerSellers. So, submit your favorite charity for consideration because it could be chosen!
It's really simple to nominate your favorite charity:
- Fill out the PowerSeller Recommendation form explaining why your charity should get the grant. Please provide your name, contact information, charity contact, and the reasons why you feel your charity should receive the grant.
- The eBay Foundation will then request the charity to submit a proposal.
- The eBay Foundation will review the recommendations and proposals and donate $5,000 grants to the 10 selected charities. Grant decisions will be made by the end of October, 2007.
The deadline for recommendations is August 31st, 2007. Go to the eBay Foundation Powerful Giving Grants page to submit your recommendation and learn more about past recipients, and the Powerful Giving program!
Sincerely,
Edurne Jorda
eBay Seller Development
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***Updated: Mark Your Calendars -- Next Town Hall on Wednesday, August 15*** |
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August 15, 2007 | 12:24PM PST/PT
Don't miss today's Town Hall from 4:00 - 5:30 PM PT
To phone in your question dial toll free: 877 474 3302 or you can send your question via email by emailing townhall@ebay.com
Be sure to go to the Town Hall page today at 4:00 PM PT to join the Town Hall.
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***Original:
Mark Your Calendars -- Next Town Hall on Wednesday, August 15*** |
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August 08, 2007 | 06:24PM PST/PT
| Kip Knight |
Hi everyone... I’m Kip Knight, Vice President for Marketing North America at eBay. I’ve been at eBay for 5 years, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to be your host for this month’s Town Hall. I’m stepping in while eBay’s North America President (and my good friend) Bill Cobb is on vacation.
As you’re probably aware, the teams here at eBay have been hard at work on projects to improve the experience that our buyers have on eBay. We’ve invited several of the team leaders to be part of our Town Hall panel this month, so they can update you on important projects such as the new My eBay, Finding progress, and other initiatives. Go to www.ebay.com/sneakpeek to learn more.
Save the Date
Please mark your calendars for one week from today, Wednesday, August 15, 2007 from 4:00 – 5:30 Pacific time to join the August Town Hall.
Got a question? Phone us live ON THE AIR
If you have a question for me or the other eBay leaders on our panel on the air, you can dial toll free 877-474-3302 to talk to us in person during the event.
We'll be broadcasting LIVE via Internet radio with the help of our friends at wsRadio (the same folks that produce Griff's eBay Radio show). As always, you'll be able to listen in via Windows Media Player or Real Player.
Email Us Your Question
If you'd prefer to email us your question, send it to
townhall@ebay.com.
So I hope you'll join us to let us know what's on your mind and to hear what other Community members have to say. Please visit www.ebay.com/townhall for all the details about the Town Hall.
Sincerely,
Kip Knight
Vice President, eBay Marketing
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***Consumer Product Safety Commission: Mattel Product Recall*** |
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August 14, 2007 | 01:48PM PST/PT
Today, August 14, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Mattel, issued a recall for various figures such as Batman, Barbie and Tanner, Doggie Day Care and Polly Pocket items due to the risk of magnets detaching from the toys and posing a choking or other hazards. The recall also involves the 'Sarge' die cast car as it poses a lead poisoning hazard.
eBay takes recalled items very seriously, and we work closely with the Consumer Product Safety Commission on these issues. We encourage buyers and sellers to visit the http://www.cpsc.gov/ for more details (see 'Recent Recalls') about the products and serial numbers included in this recall.
For Sellers: Please check your product serial numbers and refrain from listing any items that are part of this recall. Any currently listed items that are included in the recall should be ended.
For Buyers: If you believe an item you are interested in bidding on or purchasing may be part of this recall, we encourage you to use the Ask Seller a Question feature to verify the serial number.
For additional information, call Mattel toll-free at (888) 597-6597 anytime, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.service.mattel.com.
We appreciate your understanding and support.
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***eBay Express News - More Merchandising for Sellers, More Inventory for Buyers*** |
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August 14, 2007 | 09:30AM PST/PT
| Lara B. Housser |
Hi everyone... This is Lara Housser with eBay Express. I don't know about you,
but I can hardly believe that it's mid-August already. I hope you are enjoying
summer barbecues and other warm-weather pursuits! It may be summer outside, but
my team is already busy thinking about the upcoming holiday season.We're working
hard to make sure your shopping and selling on eBay Express this fall is successful.
Speaking of success, here are a couple upcoming improvements that I’d
like you to know about:
- Greater emphasis on merchandising -- We're updating
our eBay Express site and emails with more merchandising placements
and better recommendations over the next few months. These placements
showcase special deals as well as branded products, which we know that
Express buyers are very interested in.
Note to sellers: You can benefit from increased exposure for your
items in these placements simply by using the Combined
Shipping Discount and/or Markdown
Manager. The promotions that you put into these tools apply to both
eBay.com and eBay Express.
- More eBay Express inventory -- We're always looking
for ways to increase buyer convenience and choice on eBay Express. Earlier
this year we added items on Half.com to eBay Express, and in late August,
we’ll begin doing so for qualified listings from merchants on
Shopping.com, an eBay-owned company, as well!
In order to be eligible for exposure on eBay Express, Shopping.com sellers
need to:
- be part of Shopping.com's "Cart" program, which allows their items to be
purchased directly on Shopping.com, and
- have demonstrated reputable business history (e.g. through a positive relationship
with Shopping.com for one year or longer).
So stay tuned for these improvements, as well as news about future enhancements.
As always, we appreciate your feedback and support!
Sincerely,
Lara Bridges Housser
Director, eBay Express
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***FREE Insertion Fees when you Buy Gallery and List at $9.99 or less -- Tomorrow, August 15*** |
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August 14, 2007 | 09:12AM PST/PT
As a special offer to our sellers, we are pleased to announce a one-day promotion
for www.ebay.com and www.ebay.ca
where the insertion fees for Auction-style and Fixed Price listings will be
FREE when you use Gallery and have a start price of $9.99 or less!
The promotion starts on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM
plus one second) and ends that same day, Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 23:59:59
PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). Listings which were created prior to August 15,
2007 and scheduled to start during the promotional period will also be eligible
for the special promotional rate.
The Insertion Fee
Sale will not apply to eBay Motors vehicles and Parts & Accessories
listings, or to International, Live Auction, Professional Services, Real Estate,
Ad Format, and Store Inventory listings. Also, the following Business &
Industrial categories are excluded from this promotion: tractors & farm
machinery (category #91952), heavy equipment (25249), concession trailers, carts
(67145), imaging and aesthetics equipment (92035), forklifts and other lifts
(97185), manufacturing equipment (92080), metalworking equipment (92082), and
commercial printing presses (26247).
Please note:
- Bundles that contain Gallery, such as Value Pack, Pro Pack, Gallery Plus,
Gallery Featured and Picture Pack will not be eligible. You will need to purchase
Gallery separately to be eligible for this promotion.
- For sellers listing with any tool other than the latest version of the Sell
Your Item form (SYI 3.0) the promotional price will not be shown during the
listing process. Instead the discount will be reflected in the "View
Account Status" section in My eBay, as well as in your next invoice.
For full promotion details, please click here.
We hope you enjoy this special Insertion
Fee offer!
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***eBay Radio: Call in Today at 11:00 AM Pacific Time*** |
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August 14, 2007 | 09:07AM PST/PT
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| Jim "Griff" Griffith |
Call in to eBay Radio today, August 14th, 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:
- Matt Halprin, Vice President, Trust & Safety talks about stricter enforcement of Seller Non Performance.
- Shipscript, a PowerSeller and 2007 Hall of Fame Winner tells us what she does that made her a winner.
- Terry Gehrke, Founder/CEO of The Gehrke Group and Co-Founder of the International Association of eBay Sellers, and an eBay Certified Education Specialist, gives tips on how to become a successful eBay Seller.
- The PowerSeller Hour This week, Rebecca Floeter, “The Mermaid Queen”, PowerSeller, and owner of the Mermaid Art to Art eBay Store, tells us how she went from working with Nicholas Meyer at Paramount Pictures to selling on eBay?
- Marsha Collier, PowerSeller and Author, eBay For Dummies series of books, entrepreneur.com eBay columnist, tells us how she got started on eBay.
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/ebay
radio
for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your
computer.
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***A Message from Philipp Justus – Understanding eBay’s Seller Non-Performance Policy Enforcement*** |
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August 13, 2007 | 10:51AM PST/PT
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| Philipp Justus |
Hello everyone...We’ve been sharing our plans with you to reignite the core marketplace and improve the buying experience. Some may wonder what this means, but, really, the “buying experience” is a combination of many different aspects of the marketplace. Over the last few months, you’ve heard from a number of marketplace teams who are working on significant projects like Finding, for instance, to make finding items easier and more exciting for shoppers. We’re investing in auctions, as well as other core areas of the site. Across all these efforts, our goal is to thrill and delight both our buyers and our sellers, and to make eBay the best shopping destination, on and off the internet. (Learn more about what’s in the works at www.ebay.com/sneakpeek.)
While improving functionality on the site is critical, a big part of the buyer experience is in our sellers’ hands. We recently launched Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) to give buyers more information about the kind of service they can expect from a seller. DSRs add transparency to the marketplace by giving buyers a sense of how accurately sellers describe their items, what their shipping times are like, whether previous buyers have felt their shipping & handling charges are fair, and how they handle communication during the transaction. The majority of our sellers deliver a great buyer experience, and now it’s even easier for them to differentiate themselves from those that do not perform as well.
The vast majority of eBay sellers deliver consistently positive experiences to buyers. However, a very small minority -- just 1% -- of sellers currently cause fully 35% of bad buying experiences. This small minority not only damage their own reputations, but also indirectly damage all of the good sellers who benefit from a strong and vital eBay marketplace. To address this problem, we have begun enforcing our Seller Non-Performance policy in stricter ways than in the past by considering a seller’s buyer dissatisfaction rate.
New enforcement of eBay’s Seller Non-Performance Policy
There are currently two types of input from buyers which we use to measure a seller’s buyer dissatisfaction rate: the percentage of negative and neutral feedback they’ve received and the percentage of Item Not Received complaints filed against them. Sellers who have demonstrated buyer dissatisfaction rates greater than 5% within a 90-day window are now subject to temporary 14-day restrictions in the form of selling sanctions or reduced listing volume. Sellers with dissatisfaction rates that are 10% or greater are now subject to indefinite restrictions until they improve their buyer dissatisfaction rates to less than 5%. In both cases, sellers are given instructions on how to resolve their open disputes and take other recommended actions to in order to regain their full selling privileges. (Please read Seller Non-Performance policy and our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.)
More about Feedback and DSRs
Some of you have asked why neutral feedback ratings have become a part of measuring buyer dissatisfaction. Through our quantitative research as well as many conversations with community members, we have found that neutral feedback is most often an expression of deep buyer dissatisfaction. Therefore, leaving it out of the calculation would mask a significant part of the issue. Ultimately, only positive feedback is an indication of satisfied customers.
Detailed Seller Ratings are not used in our buyer dissatisfaction calculations currently, however, we expect them to become an additional input in our calculations in the future. We will keep you updated on adding DSRs as part of our calculations, and how they will impact a dissatisfaction rate.
Helping sellers improve their satisfaction rates and become successful is goal #1
Please know that our goal in restricting or sanctioning sellers is always to drive them to resolve their business challenges, improve their satisfaction rates, and remain in the marketplace as successful sellers. Our communication to impacted sellers spells out specific actions they should take to improve their rates, such as settling any open buyer dispute issues, refunding buyers when appropriate, asking for mutual feedback withdrawal when disputes have been resolved, etc.
Please remember that this new enforcement impacts the bottom 1% of current sellers, who cause 35% of the negative buying experiences on the site. The vast majority our sellers provide great buyer experiences by following these and other best practices:
- They accurately represent the condition, size, and quality of the item directly in the listing.
- They accept payment for an item at the end of a successful sale.
- After payment is received, they promptly ship the item with proper packaging.
- They proactively and professionally communicate with the buyer throughout the transaction. (Please read our Seller Tips for more information.)
We’ve talked to a lot of sellers and other members about this effort, and it’s clear that many members understand the need for this enforcement and are supportive of these efforts. The whole marketplace, and especially the 99% of our good sellers, will benefit by cracking down on bad buyer experiences in this way.
It’s also clear we need to do a better job communicating with sellers on these issues, and helping them understand what to do to avoid problems, or resolve them after they’ve occurred. My hope is through better education and communication, those sellers who are impacted can change their practices quickly and as painlessly as possible for their continued success and the good of the whole marketplace.
Sincerely,
Philipp Justus
Senior Vice President, Auctions
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***Upcoming Workshops: Improve Customer Relationships to Grow Your Business and Getting organized will give you more time to sell on eBay!*** |
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August 10, 2007 | 02:01PM PST/PT
We would like to invite you to attend the following workshop this week:
Customer Relationships to Grow Your Business
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 14th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. Tuesday, August 14th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time.
In this workshop, Steve Yeich, CEO of Certified Solution Provider HostedSupport, will discuss why happy customers are your best sales force, and how customer support can help make them happy. Learn from real-world examples showing how word of mouth can increase sales.
Getting organized will give you more time to sell on eBay!
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, August 15th from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. You were suppose to call a supplier yesterday and forgot because you misplaced your paper reminder! You have a bill to pay but you have lost the invoice! You have lots of little receipts for your purchases at garage sales, but you have lost some of them! Getting your records organized will save your hours every week. Hours that you can spend doing the thing you like best – generating income from your eBay sales. Join Phyllis Wischer of Certified Provider KeepMore.net as she discusses methods and procedures to get your paper work (and your life) more organized and productive.
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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***Join Jason Miner at eBay University in Arlington, VA – Aug. 18*** |
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August 08, 2007 | 05:51PM PST/PT
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| Jason Miner |
Hi everyone, this is Jason Miner, longtime PayPal employee and eBay University instructor. I want to personally invite you to join me and our other esteemed instructors at eBay University in Arlington, VA on August 18th. Not only have I been part of PayPal’s Product Education team, but I’ve also enjoyed playing the role of guest host for eBay Radio in Griff’s absence. I’ve been teaching at eBay Universities nationwide since 2002, and enjoy getting to meet all levels of eBay users - from ‘newbies’ to seasoned sellers. Attend the Selling Basics class if you’re new to selling, or the Beyond the Basics of Selling class if you’re looking to take your selling to the next level. Our one-day program is only $59, and you can even bring a friend for free if you register online before 11:59pm (ET) on August 17th. See our course page for a description of the classes, and for more information about eBay University.
I hope to see you in Arlington!
Jason
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***Now Available -- Motors Parts & Accessories in eBay Marketplace Research*** |
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August 07, 2007 | 01:26PM PST/PT
| Nick Donelson |
Hi everyone... I'm Nick Donelson from the Seller Solutions team. Today,
I'm here to share some good news for sellers who sell in the Parts & Accessories
category on eBay Motors. Now Motors Parts & Accessories data is available
in eBay Marketplace Research,
the popular feature that many sellers and buyers use to gather critical intelligence
on trends in the eBay marketplace.
If you're thinking of stocking an inventory of parts and accessories, you might
first want to take a look at how each of those items is selling on eBay. If
you're wondering whether the product you’re planning on selling can deliver
the margins you require, or whether the market is big enough to support another
seller, you can answer these and other questions by subscribing
to eBay Marketplace Research!
eBay Marketplace Research
helps sellers optimize their listing practices based on what has been proven
to work on eBay. Among other things, sellers can:
- Identify the most profitable products by learning about the demand and average
sales prices for those products on eBay
- Learn more about advanced information like "sell through rate"
(the number of items sold vs. the number available on the site)
- Research specific sellers (to see what the competition is doing) or look
at the potential of specific eBay sites in other markets and countries (available
to subscribers of eBay Marketplace Research Pro).
eBay Marketplace Research comes in handy for buyers as well. Many buyers use
the feature to look at historical pricing information on eBay to help them make
educated buying decisions. To learn more about which level of eBay Marketplace
Research is suitable for your needs, take a look at our information
page.
I also invite you to attend our workshop Supercharge
Your Motors Parts & Accessories Sales with eBay Marketplace Research
on Friday August 24th from 10am – 11 am PT. Our team will be on hand to
research key product stats for you, and perhaps uncover ways your specific business
can get an edge in the marketplace. Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Nick Donelson,
Seller Solutions
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***eBay Radio: Call in Today at 11:00 AM Pacific Time*** |
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August 07, 2007 | 09:56AM PST/PT
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| Jim "Griff" Griffith |
Call in to eBay Radio today, July 31st, 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:
- Debbie Levitt, President of As Was, joins us to talk about how personality in eBay listing design can lead to more sales.
- Barbara Weltman, Publisher and Editor of the "Big Ideas for Small
Business" newsletter and Author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting an eBay Business"
joins us to talk about the importance of being prepared for disasters that could affect your
business.
- Lisa Suttora, Founder/CEO of Certified Provider WhatDoISell.com and
featured speaker on the eBay Live! 2007 Product Sourcing Panel will discuss how to put together
a winning product line for the holidays so you can make this your best holiday selling season
ever!
- Todd Lutwak, Contributing Editor of eBay Radio's new Powerseller Hour
(officially launched next Tuesday) to talk about the PowerSeller hour and the eBay PowerSeller
program in general.
- Andrew E.R. Sukow, President of Terapeak, joins us with his top five tips
for PowerSellers.
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/ebay
radio
for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your
computer.
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***eBay Motors Parts & Accessories 50¢ Insertion Fee Sale Tomorrow, August 7th*** |
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August 06, 2007 | 05:12PM PST/PT
eBay Motors Parts and Accessories is holding a one-day 50¢ Insertion Fee sale on August 7th! This promotion starts Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at 00:00:01 Pacific time (12:00 a.m. plus 1 second) and ends that same day, Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at 23:59:59 Pacific time (11:59 p.m. plus 59 seconds).
During the eBay Motors Parts and Accessories 50¢ Insertion Fee sale: For regular auction-style and Fixed Price Parts and Accessories listings with a starting price above $9.99 on the U.S. Motors site (www.ebaymotors.com), the insertion fee will be capped at $0.50. All insertion fees less than $0.50 will still be charged at the normal rate. For more information about insertion fees during this promotion, please click here.
Listings created prior to August 7, 2007 that are scheduled to start during the promotional period (August 7, 2007) will be eligible to receive the promotional rate. Excluded are Vehicle listings, listings on international eBay sites, Live Auction, Professional Services, Ad Format, and Store Inventory listings, and listings on www.ebay.com.
For full details about the sale, please see our information page. We hope you enjoy the eBay Motors Parts & Accessories 50¢ Insertion Fee sale!
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***Upcoming Workshops: Market Research, Difference between Liquidation, Closeouts and Surplus, Using Business Structures to Pay Less Tax and Accurately Determining Freight Class*** |
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August 03, 2007 | 05:08PM PST/PT
We would like to invite you to attend the following workshop this week:
Your Listings Can Beat Up Their
Listings with Market Research
This workshop will be held on Monday, August 6th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. Please join Jen Cano, from
HammerTap, a Certified Solution Provider, as she delivers a formula for outperforming your competition. When it comes to market research, you can
always imitate your best competition. But how do you surpass them? Come find out how to build perfect listings based on solid market research, not
guesswork.
What is the difference between
Liquidation, Closeouts, and Surplus?
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 7th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time.Using liquidation products is
a great way to enhance customer experience and find great unique ways to increase your profit margins. Product Sourcing Experts,
WorldwideBrands.com, and leading industry experts, Liquidation.com, will explain the basics of the key elements to liquidation and how to use it
appropriately with your listings.
Using Business Structures to Pay
Less Tax
This workshop will be held on Wednedsay, August 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. There are good
business structures, bad business structures and one really bad business structure. What’s the best one? It depends! Please join best
selling-author and CPA Diane Kennedy and learn the five questions you need to ask yourself about your income, your expenses and your business to
make the best informed decisions.
Get Educated on Accurately
Determining Freight Class
This workshop will be held on Thursday, August 9th 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? Or have you wondered why different types of large items cost different rates to ship?
Different types of products have different shipping costs associated with them. Does the idea of figuring your item’s freight class make you want to
skip class? Join the Freightquote team, Pamela Mattes and David Barnes, to unravel the mysteries of Freight Class in order to accurately quote
freight rates to potential buyers. They will be hosting a workshop presenting the various options that are available when shipping large or heavy items
and how freight class impacts freight pricing. 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 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.
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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***Coming Soon: Changes to Item Specifics for Shoes and Athletic Shoes*** |
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August 03, 2007 | 02:16PM PST/PT
On Thursday, August 9th, we plan to update the Item Specifics for Men's Shoes, Women's Shoes,
Men's Athletic Shoes and Women's Athletic Shoes. The changes are detailed below:
- Men's Shoes – We're adding "Main Color" attribute, adding "Extra Narrow" Width, and
replacing "Other" type-in Condition with "Used"
- Women's Shoes – We're updating "Main Color" values and replacing "Other" type-in Condition
with "Used"
- Men's Athletic Shoes – We're adding "Main Color" and "Width" attributes, renaming size 5 to
"Size 5 & smaller" and adding sizes 16.5 and "17 & larger." We're also replacing "Other" type-in
condition with "Used"
- Women's Athletic Shoes – We're adding "Main Color" and "Width" attributes and replacing
"Other" type-in condition with "Used"
Also, for both men's and women's athletic shoes, choosing a brand will no longer be dependent on
choosing a sport first. Members can list or search for a brand (for example, Nike), without
first having to choose which sport the shoe was designed for. We're also redesigning the list of
brands you can include in Item Specifics, to make it easier to use and to eliminate "null"
results.
If you list items manually through an eBay seller tool (for example the Sell Your Item form or
Turbo Lister) or the eBay API, the updated Item Specifics will be available on August 9th. If
you utilize a third party listing service (for example, Marketworks), please contact them to
verify when they will update these Item Specifics.
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 Item Specifics, please
email them to taxonomy@ebay.com and they will be considered for future enhancements.
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***eBay Blogs – New Features *** |
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August 02, 2007 | 11:32AM PST/PT
| Nii Ahene |
Hi Everyone… I'm Nii Ahene from the eBay Blogs team. It's been little over a year since we launched eBay Blogs at eBay Live! 2006. Since then, thousands of members have started their own blogs on eBay. It's really been amazing to see how members use eBay Blogs to connect with people from across the globe to share their experiences, not only about eBay but also about their personal lives and interests. eBay Blogs truly celebrate the spirit of the eBay Community. .
I'm here to tell you about several new features we're adding to eBay Blogs to help eBay members connect with each other in new and exciting ways. These changes include:
- Cool new features on the hub page – To help members connect in more ways than ever we've added a few new features to the eBay Blogs hub page:
- You can see bloggers' eBay MyWorld pictures next to their posts.
- A moving "film strip" shows you who are the newest members to eBay's blogging community.
- Twice as many blog entries on the hub page – twice as many people to connect with!
- Ability to add eBay To Go – Now you can showcase your favorite eBay finds or items you're selling directly on your blog, through the eBay To Go widget. Turn your blog readers into your customers!
- Ability to embed video – A picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be worth at least a thousand pictures! Now you can embed videos from YouTube on your eBay Blog (here's how). Just make sure your videos are in compliance with our links policy.
- Ability to Personalize your blog – Now you can personalize your blog's appearance with a variety of templates, or use HTML and style sheets to express your individuality to the rest of the eBay Community.
You can use your eBay Blog to talk about just about anything, from tips and tricks for other eBay members, to a rundown of your recent vacation, to your love of precious stones. If you're a seller, keeping a blog is a great way to interact with potential buyers and to talk about your products. Remember that what you write on your blog will be picked up by internet search engines, so blogging is a great way to attract buyers who use search engines to find products on the internet.
If you don't already have an eBay Blog, you can create one easily at blogs.ebay.com. After you create your eBay Blog, you can find it at blogs.ebay.com/YourUserID.
For more information about eBay Blogs, please see our information page and our Frequently Asked Questions on the eBay Blogs discussion board. We're also hosting a workshop about eBay Blogs today, Thursday, August 2nd, from 3-4pm PT, so please come by with any questions you may have about eBay Blogs. Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Nii Ahene
eBay Blogs team
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***Pilot Program: Unpaid Item Protection for PowerSellers*** |
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August 01, 2007 | 12:38PM PST/PT
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| Edurne Jorda |
Hi…This is Edurne Jorda with our Seller Development team. It was a fantastic
experience to be able to meet so many of our PowerSellers face to face at eBay
Live! in Boston. There was a lot of good news for the PowerSeller program (read
my announcement) and for the thousands of sellers who are part of it. I'm
pleased to be able to update you on one of these announcements – Unpaid
Item Protection – which Bill Cobb also mentioned during his keynote
speech.
The Unpaid Item Protection Program is intended to give our PowerSellers extra
protection in the event they experience a buyer who does not pay. All sellers
are refunded their Final Value Fees when they close an Unpaid Item dispute, and
they also get an Insertion Fee credit if they re-list and sell the item the second
time. Now, for listings starting August 1st through the remainder of 2007, eligible
PowerSellers will also receive a refund for their listing Feature Fees when their
listing meets these conditions:
- The item is listed in an auction-style or auction-style + Buy It Now format.
(Fixed price listings are eligible for Immediate Payment and do not necessarily
pose the same risk from non-paying bidders that auction-style listings do.)
- Reasonable shipping & handling charges are specified. (Please read our
Frequently
Asked Questions for more information.)
- PayPal is accepted.
Specifying shipping and handling charges that are reasonable, and accepting
PayPal are best practices that a seller can implement to help reduce the incidence
of Unpaid Items. With this program, we aim to protect PowerSellers that are
engaging in these best practices.
Feature Fee credits will apply to eligible US and Canadian PowerSellers selling
on eBay.com, eBay.ca, eBay Express and eBay Motors Parts & Accessories.
PowerSellers will receive their Feature Fee credits monthly -- by the 15th of
each month they will receive the credits for the Unpaid Item disputes closed
in the prior month.
PowerSellers rank among the most successful eBay sellers in terms of product
sales volume and customer satisfaction on eBay. We're proud to recognize
and reward their significant contributions to the success of the eBay Community.
The PowerSeller program is open to all sellers who qualify.
This pilot program will run through December 31, 2007.
This program has been designed as a Pilot because it's important for us
to monitor unintended consequences for the buyers, the sellers and the overall
marketplace. Our intent is to analyze the results of this Feature Fee refund
carefully through the end of the year. We encourage PowerSellers to continue
to do their best to communicate with their buyers and try to resolve any Unpaid
Item disputes that may arise. We will update you on the future of this program
at a later date.
For more details, please check the PowerSeller
portal and Frequently
Asked Questions.
Sincerely,
Edurne Jorda
eBay Seller Development
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***Skype Alerts – eBay Activity Reminders Right on Your Desktop*** |
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August 01, 2007 | 09:23AM PST/PT
| Benjamin Shapiro |
Hi Everyone… I'm Benjamin Shapiro, from eBay's Internet Marketing team. We've been working with our friends at Skype (which is part of the eBay family) on ways in which people can benefit from Skype products in their eBay activities.
Now you can get alerts about your eBay activities on your desktop through your Skype instant messenger. (Skype joins the list of instant messenger programs through which eBay members can choose to receive alerts – AOL Instant Messenger, MSN/Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Instant Messenger.)
If you have Skype version 3.1 or above (it's free to download), you can get:
- Watched Item reminders – Skype will remind you 15 minutes before a listing you're watching in My eBay is about to end.
- Outbid alerts – if you're outbid on a listing, you can still keep the item from getting away, because Skype will instantly let you know.
You can sign up for alerts on your Skype account, either from the Notifications Tab under the Preferences section in My eBay, or directly from an item page. Just find the text about getting alerts on the item page (it's towards the center), and click the "IM" link.
You only have to sign up for Skype Alerts once – after you sign up to receive a Skype alert for one item, you'll get them for all your Watched Items or for items you've been outbid on. I hope Skype Alerts will make using eBay more convenient for you (and more fun too!).
Sincerely,
Benjamin Shapiro
Internet Marketing
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