For example, if you have a 1-day listing that you start at 13:00 PT (1pm) on Saturday, November 1st, it will end at 12:00 PT (12pm) on Sunday, November 2nd, giving it a full 24 hours on the site.

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Matt Ackley

Many of our sellers who run their own Web stores face the challenge of marketing their stores in a cost-effective way. With the release of ProStores 9.2, we can now offer sellers a way to take the hassle out of marketing their stores online with zero upfront cost or risk.

ProStores 9.2 includes Pay-Per-Sale Marketing (Beta), a new feature where ProStores can market your store for you and you pay a commission only on sales linked to the traffic we drive to your store. Just set a minimum commission rate of 8% and increase it for more exposure. This makes it possible to get more potential buyers to your store while controlling your advertising costs—with Pay-Per-Sale Marketing you won’t pay more for advertising than you make in sales.

And remember, ProStores is the online store solution for eBay sellers—with ProStores you can open your own Web store instantly using your eBay listings and other settings.

Learn more about Pay-Per-Sale Marketing and all the new features now available in ProStores 9.2.

Sincerely,

Matt Ackley
VP, Advertising and Internet Marketing

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• Wooden Toys recalled by Earth Friendly LLC due to choking hazard
• Casper the Friendly Ghost figurines recalled by Coyne's & Company due to high levels of lead in paint
• Crate & Barrel recalls Ghost Tealight Holders due to fire and burn 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 http://www.cpsc.gov (see the Recent Recalls section) for more details about the products and model numbers included in this recall. You may also wish to visit our Recalled Items policy at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/recalled.html.

For Sellers: Please check your product model 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.

As a service to our Community, eBay announces some product recalls, like these, when we believe the marketplace will be impacted. To stay informed about all CPSC recalls, please bookmark www.cpsc.gov and sign up to receive notices on new recalls issued by the CPSC.

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John Canfield

Trusted Selling with Identity Confirmation -- Progress Update
Trusted selling with identity confirmation, which we first announced in April, is designed to prevent fraudsters from gaining access to members’ accounts in order to commit fraud on eBay. It adds a new level of security by asking anyone listing an item from an “unknown” computer to confirm their identity.

Last spring, we began to implement this project by noting which computers members typically use when they buy and sell on eBay. Then two months ago, we started testing the identity confirmation process for a small population of users. I’m pleased to let you know that our testing has been successful – we’ve seen a significant reduction in account takeovers, and it’s been a smooth experience for users. We are now expanding this initiative to the entire Community, which should be completed within one to two weeks.

Going forward, if you list from a different computer than you usually use (e.g. a computer at a friend’s house, at the library, etc.), eBay will make an automated call to you to confirm it’s really you attempting to list an item. If you are not available to receive a call, you can instead confirm your identity via Live Chat with our customer support team.

Making Winning Bidder IDs Anonymous
Early last year, we began to anonymize bidder IDs on listings. This change was designed to protect bidders from fake Second Chance Offers and other malicious emails. As I’ve shared before, this initiative has been very successful, resulting in a 90% reduction in this type of fraud.

Today, however, the winning bidder’s ID is currently visible to everyone after the listing ends, and this continues to lead to fake checkout offers and other spam. Consequently, it also leads to unpaid items, as winning bidders who fall victim to these fake emails often send payment to someone other than the seller.

Based on the positive results we’ve seen by anonymizing bidder User IDs, as well as our commitment to protecting all bidders from becoming targets for fraudsters, we’ve decided to extend anonymized User IDs to winning bidders, as well. This change will be implemented sometime this week.

As always, the following information will still be accessible:

• Sellers will be able to view all bidder IDs on their listings.
• All members can click on the bidder ID and view the bidder’s Bid History page, which will detail the categories in which they’ve bid over the past 30 days.
• Feedback pages will show the same information as now – buyer and seller IDs, with comments visible to all.

Thanks for taking the time to read about these updates to improve safety on eBay, and we thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

John Canfield
Senior Director, eBay Trust & Safety

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty Insurance, joins us to talk about collector Vehicle Insurance and automobile coverage for your high-ticket eBay Motors listings.
• Ian Aronovich, President of governmentauctions.org, will give you tips on assessing the value of auction items and lots that you intend to bid on.
• Amy Skeeters-Behrens, Head of Marketing with WorldofGood.com -- a great place to get unique gifts that benefit people and the planet.
• Skip McGrath, Publisher of "The eBay Seller's News" at skipmcgrath.com and author of "Ten eBay Niche Businesses Anyone Can Do" and "How To Sell Used Books on eBay and the Internet," tells you "What Your Competitors Can Tell You" to help you increase your sales.
• Danna Crawford, CEO and Founder of PowersellingMom, Incorporated, talks about the holiday selling season and the launch of, "Ornaments for Charity."

Plus we'll have "The News" with Lee Mirabal, as well as the most important feature on eBay Radio: your calls! Call in during the show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff and his guests or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

Remember, one lucky caller per week, selected at random, will receive an autographed copy of Griff's book, "The Official eBay Bible".

Don't miss the Thursday "Ask Griff" show
Call in to this week's live broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday, October 30th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Pacific time. No guests on the Ask Griff show. Just two hours of your calls on any eBay topic of your choice!

If you can't catch either of the live shows, 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.

Select and listen to any past eBay Radio broadcast, listed by topic and date, in the eBay Radio archives. You can also join the eBay Radio eBay Group for more information on eBay Radio.

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John McDonald

For buyers, PayPal Buyer Protection now covers the full purchase price and original shipping costs with no coverage limit. Buyers are now even more protected against items not received and significantly not as described. See eligibility. All PayPal customers also continue to be 100% protected against unauthorized payments sent from their PayPal accounts.

For sellers, PayPal now protects all US sellers on eligible transactions with buyers from the 190 markets where PayPal is accepted—with no annual coverage limit and for no additional cost. Sellers can ship to any address listed on the transaction details page -- confirmed or unconfirmed -- for items sold on eBay. Sellers are now even more protected against unauthorized use and item not received claims, chargebacks and reversals. See eligibility.

Thanks to our partners at PayPal for helping us deliver this improved protection to the eBay Community!

Sincerely,

John McDonald
Senior Director, US Trust & Safety

Please note: The PayPal Promo link says October 31, 2008. However, the actual date for transaction coverage started October 22, 2008. We apologize for any confusion.

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Brian Burke

Hi everyone...I'm Brian Burke, Director for Global Feedback Policy. I'm pleased to announce that Feedback Revision is now available to sellers. You can send a limited number of requests to your buyers requesting that they change Feedback left for you.

You can get to the Feedback revision request form in a few ways:

• Go to the Site map, then go to the Request Feedback Revision link under the Community area
• Go to the Feedback Forum, then go to the Request Feedback Revision link in the Feedback Tools section
• Go to My eBay, then under the Account tab, go to the Feedback link. In the header of your most recent Feedback is a link to Request Feedback Revision

Sellers should only send a Feedback Revision request to the buyer once they have addressed, to the buyer's satisfaction, the cause for the negative or neutral Feedback. They may also send a request if the buyer accidently left incorrect Feedback in the first place.

Onsite buyer messaging about "Free Shipping" during the Feedback flow
Free Shipping is a great way for sellers to improve their Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) and attract more buyers. However, sometimes buyers may not take into account that fact that the seller offered Free Shipping while leaving Feedback on such transactions. To improve the accuracy of DSRs that buyers leave on transactions with Free Shipping, we've introduced onsite messaging that reminds buyers while leaving Feedback that the seller offered Free Shipping. This change should help improve the accuracy of Detailed Seller Ratings.

Sincerely,

Brian Burke
Director, Global Feedback Policy

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• Dollar General Merchandising recalls battery operated "Speed Boats" due to burn hazard
• My Way recalls baby walkers due to fall hazard
• Playkids USA recalls convertible cribs due to suffocation hazard
• Delta Enterprise recalls drop side cribs due to entrapment and suffocation hazard
• Performance Designed Products recalls Rage Wireless gaming guitar due to chemical burn risk
• YMCA Trading recalls "Gas Match" lighters due to burn hazard to children
• Leapfrog Enterprises recalls rechargeable batteries for Didj Custom Gaming System due to burn 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 http://www.cpsc.gov (see the Recent Recalls section) for more details about the products and model numbers included in this recall. You may also wish to visit our Recalled Items policy at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/recalled.html.

For Sellers: Please check your product model 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.

As a service to our Community, eBay announces some product recalls, like these, when we believe the marketplace will be impacted. To stay informed about all CPSC recalls, please bookmark www.cpsc.gov and sign up to receive notices on new recalls issued by the CPSC.

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Dinesh Lathi

Paperless Payments Required
eBay's new Paperless Payments policy will roll-out this week. That means sellers will no longer be able to list an item without one of the approved electronic payment methods: PayPal, credit or debit card payment to a seller's merchant account, or ProPay. You can also offer Pay on Pickup in addition to these payment methods. If you don’t already, you should add at least one of the approved electronic payment methods to your listings immediately so they aren't blocked when you relist. Once the new policy rolls-out, prohibited payment methods will no longer be displayed in the Payment Details section of the item page.

• Listing with ProPay
  When the new Paperless Payments policy rolls-out, you’ll be able to sign-up for a ProPay account and link it to your eBay account, so you can begin offering this payment option to your buyers. For more information, go to www.ProPay.com.
• More time to update listing descriptions
  You also need to remove references to checks and money orders from your item descriptions. We know that this is a busy time of year for sellers so we’ll wait until January 15, 2009, before we begin insisting on the removal of prohibited payment methods from item descriptions.
• Listing fee credits for restricted listings
  We will credit insertion and feature fees to sellers who are forced to cancel and relist "restricted" Good 'Til Canceled listings in order to remove references to checks and money orders from the item descriptions. We will credit insertion and feature fees for all multiple-item Good 'Til Canceled listings that meet the following criteria as of October 20, 2008:

  -- Listed on eBay.com in categories covered by the Paperless Payments policy
  -- Have at least one sold item
  -- Offer check or money order as a payment option.

Get more details and see Frequently Asked Questions on Paperless Payments.

Seller Standards: new policy requires minimum DSRs to list on eBay
I also want to remind you that the new Seller Standards policy is going into effect on November 3. We will begin enforcement of this policy as follows: Sellers with one or more Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) below 4.1 will be restricted from listing. Sellers with a DSR between 4.1 and 4.3 will be allowed to list, but their listings may be subject to further demotion in search results. See best practices for improving your DSRs.

These policies will go a long way to help all eBay members buy and sell with confidence, and we thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Dinesh Lathi
Vice President, Seller Experience

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Jen Cano, VP of Customer Experience with Hammertapnow.com and eBay Radio Contributing Editor, answers a question you might be asking yourself, "Should I invest?" She'll also give you tips for deciding whether to purchase a product or renew a sourcing contract.
• Bobby Tzekin, PayPal Product Manager, tells you all about PayPal Micropayments pricing and how it can work for you.
• Tod Cohen, VP of Government Relations and Deputy General Counsel, discusses some of the challenges facing eBay right now from a government relations perspective.
• Laurie DeAgostino, owner of Jordan and Jack's, a thriving eBay store.

Plus we'll have "The News" with Lee Mirabal, as well as the most important feature on eBay Radio: your calls! Call in during the show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff and his guests or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

Remember, one lucky caller per week, selected at random, will receive an autographed copy of Griff's book, "The Official eBay Bible".

Don't miss the Thursday "Ask Griff" show
Call in to this week's live broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday, October 23rd from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Pacific time. No guests on the Ask Griff show. Just two hours of your calls on any eBay topic of your choice!

If you can't catch either of the live shows, 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.

Select and listen to any past eBay Radio broadcast, listed by topic and date, in the eBay Radio archives. You can also join the eBay Radio eBay Group for more information on eBay Radio.

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Subha Shetty

For multi-quantity listings, both research and the input we've received from sellers indicate that buyers tend to purchase less often when they see a large quantity of items available. This is most likely because they feel a lack of urgency to purchase, or they perceive that the item isn’t selling well.

For this reason, we're changing the quantity displayed on multi-quantity listings that have more than 10 items for sale. Instead of displaying the actual quantity, such as "83 available," we're now displaying "more than 10 available."

Sincerely,

Subha Shetty
Buyer Experience Team

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Dinesh Lathi

Free shipping:

• PowerSellers get double Final Value fee discounts on all Fixed Price and Auction-style items with free shipping sold from October 1 – December 31, 2008.
• All sellers get a free Subtitle upgrade on Auction-style and Fixed Price items with free shipping listed from October 1 – December 31, 2008.

Books, Music, Movies & DVDs and Video Games:

• All sellers get 5 cent Insertion Fees for Fixed Price listings in these categories when they list with pre-filled item information between September 16 – December 31, 2008. (This does not include Video Game Systems).
• All sellers get a free Subtitle upgrade for Fixed Price and Auction-style listings when they list with pre-filled item information between October 13 – December 31, 2008, whether or not they offer free shipping.

I hope this helps clarify the great promotions we're offering our sellers, and thanks again for your support!

Dinesh Lathi
Vice President, Seller Experience

Reposted Thursday's original announcement to make a minor typographical correction, and on Friday to correct sub-title promotion.

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Dinesh Lathi

New Look for eBay’s Product Pages
In the next few days, we’re making some important design updates to eBay’s product pages (i.e. the pages you see when you click on "Matching Products" in search results.) You’ll see two different versions of this page—one style is for Books, Music, Movies & DVDs, and Video Games and one is for products in other categories. Sellers’ items will appear on these pages when they list with pre-filled item information.

Both new pages make it faster and easier for buyers to find just what they’re looking for from sellers they trust. Get a closer look at the new pages, along with tips for getting the best position for your listings.

Special Offer Starts: FREE Subtitle for Media Listings
From now through the end of the year you’ll get a FREE Subtitle upgrade when you list books, music, movies, DVDs and video games with pre-filled item information. Subtitles show up on the new product pages, so take advantage of this offer to help your listings stand out.

Introducing Featured First, a New Listing Upgrade
We’re also introducing a new listing upgrade called Featured First. Add Featured First to your listings for an opportunity to appear in the featured area at the top of the first page of search results. A limited number of Featured First listings are randomly selected to be rotated into the featured area, so there’s no guarantee yours will appear. But this upgrade is still a great way to significantly boost your chances of being displayed on the first page for increased visibility and increased likelihood of a sale. It’s also a great way to jump start "recent sales" for a new Fixed Price listing.

Featured First takes the place of Gallery Featured and is offered for the same price: $24.95 for up to 10 days, and $74.95 for up to 30 days. This upgrade is available only to sellers who have not been demoted in Best Match search results (see your seller dashboard for your status). Also note Featured First is not available for any Motors categories. Gallery Featured is still available for Motors sellers.

Relist Credits Ending for Fixed Price Listings October 22
As you know, we recently reduced Insertion Fees for Fixed Price listings to just 35 cents for a full 30 days, and just 15 cents in Books, Music, Movies & DVDs, and Video Games. As a result, starting October 22 we will no longer be offering Insertion Fees credits when Fixed Price items are relisted. Credits will still be issued for unpaid items and are now being extended to single quantity Store Inventory Format listings if there is an unpaid item. Note that relist credits for Auction-style listings will continue.

Best Match for Store Inventory Format Listings in Search Expansion Box
As you know, when search results surface a limited number of items, the search results page expands to show matching Store Inventory Format listings available from eBay Stores sellers. Best Match is now used as the sort order for these Store items, using the same factors that apply for Fixed Price listings. These include recent sales, competitive pricing—including shipping—and seller track record. Also, you may have noticed that we’ve increased the threshold for when Stores items appear from 30 listings or fewer to about 50 to show even more of your Store Inventory listings.

These changes create a more consistent experience and ensure that buyers find the most relevant inventory from sellers they trust. See details on how Best Match works, and how to make it work for you.

Thanks for taking the time to read about these updates, and we thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
Dinesh Lathi
Vice President, Seller Experience

This was reposted to add a link to the Featured First help page above.

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Ted Fong

The Resolution Center’s important improvements include:

• A new Case Table, which will give you a summary view of your Open and Closed cases.
• The ability to search through your cases by User ID or item number.
• A new option to filter by Case types and statuses.
• The ability for sellers to either open an Unpaid Item case, or to select Cancel Transaction (previously known as "mutual agreement not to complete transaction"). Although the steps for a seller to send a cancellation request to the buyer will be largely the same as before, we’ve updated the content to avoid any confusion with the Unpaid Item process.

You can access the updated Resolution Center using the same Dispute Console links within My eBay, the Site Map, and the Help system.

Sincerely,

Ted Fong
Buyer Experience

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Bev DeSomber

Selling with Paperless Payments
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 14th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.

Join this workshop to learn more about what sellers need to do get ready for paperless payments. Starting October 20, sellers will need to offer credit card payments through an internet merchant account, PayPal, or ProPay, all of which will be integrated into checkout in early 2009 (read our paperless payments page for more information). Staff from eBay, PayPal, and ProPay, a 3rd party payment provider, will be on hand to tell you more about the changes and answer your questions.

Profiting from Customer Complaints
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 14th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time.

In this workshop, Jerad Schempp, COO of Certified Solution Provider Hosted Support will discuss how you can turn those pesky complaints you get from your customers into real profits.

A Guide to Double Entry Bookkeeping
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, October 15th from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time.

Please join Phyllis Wischer, eBay Education Specialist and Business Success Coach for SageFire, Inc., Certified Solution Provider and creator of KeepMore.net, for a comprehensive explanation of double entry bookkeeping, how the equation “Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity” works in double entry bookkeeping and reasons why a simpler method (single entry bookkeeping) might work just as well as the more comprehensive double entry bookkeeping for your eBay business.

Buying with Paperless Payments
This workshop will be held on Thursday, October 16th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time.

You may have heard that beginning October 20th, checks and money orders will no longer be allowed on eBay. Use this workshop to learn the details of the actual policy. Plus, if you have never signed up for an electronic payment method such as a credit card, PayPal, or pre-paid cards, come and see how easy and convenient it is. Members of eBay's Trust and Safety and Marketing team will be on hand to discuss how to seamlessly continue to shop and pay on eBay, and some of the intrinsic benefits of our accepted payment methods.

Workshops are hosted in discussion threads on the Workshop Forum. Remember, if you can't make it during a particular workshop, just visit our Workshop Archives, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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

• Sign up for the Workshop 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 Forum. 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!

Sincerely,

Bev DeSomber
Community Development

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Brian Burke

Feedback Revision will enable buyers to change a Feedback rating, comment and Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs). While the Feedback revision process is initiated by a seller, buyers have the option to accept or decline a request. Buyers will have 10 days to respond and non-response will result in the Feedback remaining. Only one request can be made per transaction.

Sellers should only send a Feedback Revision request to the buyer once they have addressed, to the buyer’s satisfaction, the cause for the negative or neutral Feedback. They may also send a request if the buyer accidently left incorrect Feedback in the first place.

Sellers will have a limit of 5 requests per 1000 Feedback earned within a 12 month period. On average, sellers receive 8 negative Feedbacks per 1000 Feedback earned, so the 5 per 1000 limit will enable sellers to address the occasional mistake, while at the same time not enable sellers with greater than average negative Feedback to "cleanse their record."

We will monitor system use and make adjustments as required.

Onsite Buyer Messaging about “Free Shipping” During the Feedback flow
Free Shipping is a great way for sellers to improve their DSRs and attract more buyers. To enhance the accuracy of Feedback left on these transactions, beginning next week buyers will be reminded that the seller offered Free Shipping on the transaction as they are leaving Feedback for the seller.

I’d also like to let you know that in July we introduced messaging to remind buyers when their transaction was an international transaction.

Since Feedback is often left days or even weeks after payment is made, providing these reminders should increase the accuracy of buyer Feedback and help ensure sellers who do cross-border business or who offer Free Shipping receive appropriate DSRs for Shipping time and Shipping & Handling cost.

Sincerely,

Brian Burke
Director, Global Feedback Policy

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If you have a category suggestion you can send it to us on the Sending Suggestions to eBay page, located in the Help section.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to these changes.

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	***Original: Coming Soon - Category Changes***
	September 25, 2008 | 11:00AM PST/PT The category structure will be updated in early October based on feedback received from the eBay Community and from experts in the affected fields. If you sell in these areas, please be sure to take a look at the new category structure on Seller Central here. Changes this month are primarily generated from community suggestions. Categories with updates are: BABY BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL CLOTHING, SHOES & ACCESSORIES COINS & PAPER MONEY COLLECTIBLES CRAFTS DOLLS & BEARS ELECTRONICS ENTERTAINMENT MEMORABILIA HEALTH & BEAUTY HOME & GARDEN JEWELRY & WATCHES POTTERY & GLASS SPORTS MEM, CARDS & FAN SHOP STAMPS TOYS & HOBBIES eBay MOTORS We appreciate your input on how we can make categories better for everyone. Please submit category suggestions here. Thanks again to all our members who contributed to these changes!
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