Our thoughts go out to our affected Community members and their families in this region.

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Ram Rampalli

Hi everyone....this is Ram Rampalli from the catalog team. I am happy to announce the availability of Classical Music catalogs on eBay and Half.com sites effective immediately.

The classical music catalog includes over 140,000 products. Sellers can now leverage this catalog to list their items using eBay's listing tools, as well as some popular third-party tools.

With catalogs, sellers can create listings faster using pre-filled information. And catalog listings contain a more accurate description of the item, so buyers can find your products faster and easier.

Please click here to read more about pre-filled information.

Sincerely,

Ram Rampalli
eBay Catalogs

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• Discount School Supply recalls Jesus Fish Beads due to violation of the Lead Paint Standard
• Fantas-Eyes Inc/ recalls High School Musical manicure kits due to Lead Paint Standard violation
• Lip Gloss Key Chains recalled by Markwins Beauty Products due to excessive levels of lead
• Home Sweet Playhome canopies recalled by The Land of Nod due to entrapment and strangulation hazards
• DDI Inc recalls Construction Play Sets due to Lead Paint Standard violations

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 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.

To learn more about a new federal law dealing with recalled items called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, please see the following link:
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.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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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Call in to this week's live broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday January 29th, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm Pacific time. Dial 1-877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff, ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

If you can't catch a LIVE broadcast of Ask Griff, 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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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Jen Cano, VP of Education with Hammertapnow.com, will tell you if it really matters how long you run your listing.
• Ian Aronovich, President of Governmentauctions.org, DOBA, will be talking about some interesting items he ran into at a recent US Treasury Auction, a perfect place to find items to list on eBay.
• Ginger Leishman, eBay Certified Provider Program Manager, interviews Spencer Smith, Director of Marketing for Auctiva.
• Brandon Delgrosso,General Manager of DOBA, gives us product sourcing advice.
• Annemarie Fitzpatrick, Sales Director with Collectibles Insurance, talks about comics and insurance.

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
Don't forget to call in to this week's LIVE broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday, Jan. 29th, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. No guests on the Ask Griff show. Just two hours of your calls on any eBay topic of your choice! Call in during the eBay Radio or Ask Griff 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.

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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• Children's hooded jackets recalled by Ms. Bubbles Inc. due to strangulation hazard
• Jardine Enterprises recalls cribs sold through Baby's "R" Us due to strangulation hazard
• Rashti & Rashti expands recall of Taggies Sleep'n Play infant garments due to chocking hazard
• Stork Craft Baby Cribs recalled due to entrapment and suffocation hazard linked to mattress support bracket failure
• Axiom International recalls Children's Sunglasses due to a violation of the Lead Paint Standard
• Rainforest Portable Play Yards recalled by Simplicity Inc. due to fall and entrapment hazard
• Infantino expands recall of Lion and Lamb Grabby Rattles due to choking hazard
• Tony Hawk's Boy's Pajama Sets recalled by Mad Dog Concepts 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 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.

To learn more about a new federal law dealing with recalled items called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, please see the following link:
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.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

Hello everyone...Using up to date anti-virus software AND keeping your system up to date is the best way to protect your computers against exploits and viruses.
An internet worm is currently infecting unprotected PC's. In October of last year, Microsoft released a critical patch to protect against this worm. Once a computer is infected with this worm, it could steal your usernames and passwords, or alter your browsing experience in dangerous ways.

The best way to keep safe from vulnerabilities is to keep your system up-to-date with the latest security patches. Microsoft provides an automatic update feature for Windows we recommend you enable. You can also run a one-time scan to ensure you have the latest security patches by going to the Microsoft Update page.

In addition to activating auto-update on Windows and other systems, we recommend:

Taking these precautions can help insure you have a safe browsing experience throughout the web. For more security information, tutorials, and free tools, please visit the eBay Security Center.

Sincerely,
John Canfield
Senior Director Fraud Prevention Policy

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Call in to this week's live broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday January 22nd, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm Pacific time. Dial 1-877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff, ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

If you can't catch a LIVE broadcast of Ask Griff, 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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Renee VonBergen

Hi everyone...This is Renée from the My eBay team. As you know, we just retired the old version of My eBay on January 20th.

We'd like to share that many features from the old My eBay format have simply moved to a different location within the new My eBay. If you have questions about where these familiar features are located, or how to customize the new My eBay, please be sure to review the My eBay FAQ and User Guide links on the My eBay discussion board.

We are also aware some users are experiencing issues with the load time of My eBay and we're working to correct this.

Later this week, we'll be providing a "Send Comments" link at the top of the My eBay pages. If you think you're experiencing a technical issue, please tell us by clicking the "Send Comments" link. It will be helpful if you could provide:

Please take a moment to learn about the new features available in My eBay. These are listed in the FAQ and in the Organize My eBay with Lists posts on the My eBay discussion board.

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Hi Everyone,

We'd like to remind our members to make sure your shipping costs reflect the new carrier rates announced in January by USPS® and UPS. The new rates are now in effect, and we have updated the rates in the shipping calculator and PayPal Shipping Labels.

Also, new from USPS: a smaller Priority Mail flat-rate box for the same rate as a flat-rate envelope. The new box will be available in listing flows starting in late January.

Thank you,

eBay Shipping Team

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Don't miss the Thursday "Ask Griff" show
Don't forget to call in to this week's LIVE broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday Jan. 22, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. No guests on the Ask Griff show. Just two hours of your calls on any eBay topic of your choice! Call in during the Ask Griff show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

If you can't catch the show, you can always subscribe to the podcast , or access any past broadcast from the eBay Radio archives. To subscribe to the podcast all you need is an reader (a portable MP3 player is optional). Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.

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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We plan to update eBay Item Specifics year values in the following categories in the next few weeks:

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 in the next few weeks. If you use a third party listing service (such as ChannelAdvisor), please contact them to verify when they will update these Item Specifics.

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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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Call in to this week's LIVE broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday January 15th, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm Pacific time. Remember, there are no guests on the Ask Griff show just your calls on any eBay topic of your choice! Dial 1-877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff, ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

If you can't catch a LIVE broadcast of Ask Griff, 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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Renee VonBergen

Hi everyone!

This is Renée from eBay Product Management. Last November we announced we would be retiring the old version of My eBay on January 20th. More than 90% of eBay members currently use the new My eBay already, but if you are one of the remaining 10% who have not made the switch, we encourage you to give it a try in the next few days.

Be sure to review the FAQ and User Guide links on the My eBay discussion board if you have any questions about the new My eBay.

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	***Original: Update: 100% New My eBay in the New Year***
	November 20, 2008 | 02:13PM PST/PT Renee VonBergen Hi everyone...This is Renée from the My eBay team. For the last few months, our Community has helped us test the new My eBay. Along the way, you’ve also had some good ideas -- in fact, much of what members have told us has inspired the many improvements we’ve made. There are too many to share here, so to learn more please read this discussion on our My eBay forum. With product changes and testing behind us, we’re ready to retire the old My eBay on January 20, 2009. More than 90% of eBay members currently use the new My eBay already, but if you are one of the remaining 10% who have not made the switch, we encourage you to give it a try in the next several weeks: Just click the "try the beta" link in the upper right corner on the old My eBay pages. I’ll update you one more time when we’re about retire the old version, but don’t wait until then to try the new experience – go try it now! On behalf of the whole My eBay team, thanks again for your help and participation. Sincerely, Renée VonBergen My eBay Product team Regards, eBay
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Nick Donelson

Hello…this is Nick Donelson from the Seller Experience Team. For years, eBay Stores have been a great tool for sellers looking to create their own brands on eBay. With this in mind, we’re excited to let you know about our launch of a new eBay Stores Experience.  Improvements include new storefront templates and enhancements to Stores search results. These changes will improve the look of your Store, while enhancing your customers’ shopping experience.

Enhanced search results:

• Searches within your Store will include titles, categories, item specifics, and even similar keywords for more relevant results.
• Shoppers will enjoy a more consistent, streamlined buying experience throughout the eBay site.

Any time between now and the end of March 2009, you can preview how your Store will look in the new eBay Stores Experience.  If you like what you see, you can opt in to the new experience right away.  After March, all Stores will be automatically upgraded.

Note to Store Sellers:  We strongly encourage you to preview your eBay Store soon, especially if it is heavily customized.  We’ve worked hard to ensure that most eBay Stores will upgrade seamlessly, with little or no modifications required by sellers.  Some heavily-customized Stores may require more manual modifications, however. Through March, you can continue to use the current eBay Stores experience, while you optimize your Store to take full advantage of the new experience upgrade.

So don’t wait for the automatic upgrade! Preview your Store’s new look now. If you like what you see, you can start taking advantage of the new features right away. For more details, please see our frequently asked questions.

Best regards,
Nick Donelson,
Seller Experience

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Dinesh Lathi

Hi everyone...this is Dinesh Lathi, VP of Seller Experience, inviting you to join us for our first Town Hall audio event of the year on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm Pacific time. I hope you'll join me, our Town Hall moderator, Griff, and a number of my colleagues from Trust & Safety, Selling, Shipping, PayPal, and other teams. This month's Town Hall will focus on the news in last week's January 8 announcement, specifically, the update to the feedback removal policy regarding customs information, the addition of two new approved payment options, integration of merchant credit card accounts, and the updated Seller Checklist.

Or if you'd prefer, you can drop us an email with your question or comment about one of the topics on this Town Hall's agenda at townhall@ebay.com . We'll take several of these written questions on the specific topics during the Town Hall as well.

So please visit www.ebay.com/townhall to join the event or for more information. I look forward to hearing from you.

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Corey Lee, Senior Product Manager Buyer Experience with eBay, joins us to discuss eBay's New Approved Payment Methods- Moneybookers and Paymate
• Colette Marshall, Business Development Manager with Worldwide Brands Incorporated, DOBA, Business Development Manager with Worldwide Brands Incorporated, talks about using a fulfillment center, as it relates to light bulk selling. Sarah Brubacher joins us to discuss seller checklist and listing update reminders.
• Sarah Brubacher, joins us to discuss seller checklist and listing update reminders.
• Brian Burke,eBay's Director of Global Feedback Policy, joins us with an update to eBay's Feedback Removal Policy and Customs Fees.
• Richard Brewer-Hay,Chief Blogger for the eBay Ink blog, joins us to talk about eBay Ink, eBay's official source for information about whatÕs happening with eBay, Inc.

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
Don't forget to call in to this week's LIVE broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday Jan. 15, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. No guests on the Ask Griff show. Just two hours of your calls on any eBay topic of your choice! Call in during the eBay Radio or Ask Griff 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.

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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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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Dinesh Lathi

Hello everyone…We hope you enjoyed the holidays.  My team and I are looking forward to kicking things off in 2009. I’d like to provide you with a few important selling-related updates and reminders you should be aware of as you prepare your listings for the new year.

Update to Feedback Removal Policy – Customs Fees
Many of our cross-border sellers have asked for help when they receive a negative/neutral Feedback rating because they wouldn’t mark an item as “gift” in order to sidestep customs fees. eBay will now remove Feedback if a) the listing meets the Customs Requirements below and b) the seller receives a negative or neutral Feedback comment which references customs delays or customs fees.

The following text, or very similar wording, must be included in the listing and be:

• In the format below
• In a font size no smaller than the majority of the other text in the item description
• Prominently displayed (in the upper half of the description, free-standing, etc.)

“International Buyers – Please Note:

• Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility.
• Please check with your country’s customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.”

In addition, sellers may wish to include additional helpful statements for their buyers, such as:

• “These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up – do not confuse them for additional shipping charges.”
• “We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items as ‘gifts’ - US and International government regulations prohibit such behavior.”

To learn more, please read eBay’s Feedback Removal Policy.

New Approved Payment Methods -- Moneybookers and Paymate  
In February, we’ll be adding two new electronic payment methods to the permitted payments list in the Accepted Payments Policy: Moneybookers and Paymate. These are established payment methods that increase the safe choices available to our buyers and sellers, which currently include PayPal, credit and debit card payment to a seller’s merchant account, Propay or Pay on Pick-up. To learn more about these new payment methods, visit www.moneybookers.com/partners/us/ebay and www.paymate.com/eBay.  Please note, Propay also plans to open up its payment service to all levels of Powersellers starting January 22.  For more information about Propay, go to www.Propay.com/eBay

Better integration for Internet Merchant Accounts
For sellers who currently accept payments to an Internet merchant account, we‘re improving the checkout experience to make payments more convenient and secure for you and your buyers.  Buyers will be able to pay sellers directly to their Internet merchant account by entering their credit card information in eBay’s secure checkout instead of sending information via phone or email. You will need to sign up for a Payflow Gateway account in March to connect your Internet merchant account to eBay.  This service will be available to sellers with an Internet merchant account at no additional cost. For more details on these changes and how to take advantage of this new service, please read our Frequently Asked Questions.
 

Seller Checklist – Listing update reminders
Finally, be sure to review our Seller Checklist  at www.ebay.com/checklists for details on these important updates you’ll want to make to your listings:

1) Book, Music, DVDs & Movies and Video Game listings with shipping charges over the maximums in the item descriptions should now be removed.
2) References to checks and/or money orders, or any other payment method not permitted on eBay.com, should be removed from item descriptions by January 15. 
3) If you are shipping globally, add customs “disclaimer” text to your description to protect your Feedback.
4) A return policy and handling time must be specified in your listings by mid-March.

The above topics will form the agenda for our first Town Hall of 2009 on Wednesday, Jan 14th from 3-5pm Pacific. Stay tuned for details, we hope you’ll join us.

Thank you for your support – and we look forward to working with you again this year. Here’s to a successful 2009!

Sincerely,
Dinesh Lathi
Vice President,
Seller Experience

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Call in to this week's LIVE broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday January 8th, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm Pacific time. Remember, there are no guests on the Ask Griff show just two hours of your calls on any eBay topic of your choice! Dial 1-877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff, ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.

If you can't catch a LIVE broadcast of Ask Griff, 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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Changes this month are primarily generated from community suggestions.

Categories with updates are:
• Antiques
• Business & Industrial
• Cameras & Photo
• Cell Phones & PDAs
• Clothing Shoes & Accessories
• Coins & Paper Money
• Collectibles
• Computers
• Crafts
• Dolls & Bears
• eBay Motors
• Electronics
• Entertainment Memorabilia
• Health & Beauty
• Home & Garden
• Jewelry & Watches
• Pottery & Glass
• Sporting Goods
• Stamps
• Toys & Hobbies

We appreciate your input on how we can make categories better for everyone. Please submit categories suggestions here.

Thanks again to all our members who contributed to these changes!

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Dinesh Lathi

Sellers, be sure to check out the information link to learn about the few categories and types of listings that are excluded from this promotion.

We hope you enjoy this extended special price, and we wish you a very successful and happy 2009!

Sincerely,
Dinesh Lathi
VP, Seller Experience

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