John Canfield

Hi everyone…this is John Canfield, Senior Director of eBay’s Fraud Prevention Policy team. We are constantly working to keep eBay safe, and you also play an important role in your own online security. 

You may have heard on the news that April 1 is a day of potential issues with a worm known as Conficker.  The worm can be transmitted via infected USB drives, websites, or networks if a computer does not have the latest security updates. We have confirmed that visiting the eBay site alone will not expose your system to this worm, but having a secure computer is an important step to transacting safely on the web, so we encourage you to visit Microsoft’s page for protecting yourself against Conficker.

Strong passwords are also important to your online security. We recently introduced a new feature that makes it easy to strengthen your password. On the Change Password page, as you type in your new password, you’ll see feedback based on four criteria for how easy or difficult it is to guess. Your new password will be allowed only when you have passed each of the four criteria.

We also recommend that you have a secure password for your email account. Make sure you do not have the same username for your eBay and your e-mail accounts, and never use the same password across both accounts. This is important because fraudsters target e-mail accounts for takeover, and if they succeed, they have easier access to your other online accounts using Forgot My Password. 

Thank you for your attention and cooperation in keeping eBay—and all your online transactions—safe.

Sincerely,
John Canfield
Senior Director Fraud Prevention Policy

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Kurt Apen, Senior Director of Loyalty Marketing with eBay, tells us all about eBay Bucks, eBay’s reward program.
• Amy Skeeters-Behrens, Head of Marketing with WorldofGood.com and Global Citizenship joins us to talk about The Green Team.
• Cindy Shebley, Marketing Expert and eBay Education Specialist, joins us with tips on getting more traffic into your eBay Store.
• Cliff Ennico, eBay University Instructor and Author of, The eBay Business Answer Book , joins us to tell you how to avoid a tax audit this year.

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 Thursday's "Ask Griff" show
Join "Ask Griff" Thursday, April 2nd, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.

If you can't catch either of the 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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Kurt Apen

During the beta, eBay Bucks will only be available to randomly selected eBay customers who receive an invitation via email and in their My Messages inbox in My eBay. Here’s how it works: those who get the invitation and enroll in the program will earn 2% in eBay Bucks on all qualifying purchases. After the end of every calendar quarter, participants will receive an eBay Bucks certificate and will have 30 days to spend it on eBay. The eligible period for earning during the beta is April 1 through June 30. Beta participants will receive their first eBay Bucks certificate on or about July 9.

During this beta, we’ll be listening carefully to customer reaction to inform plans for extending the program to more customers.

If you have questions, the eBay Bucks team will be available on the eBay Bucks discussion thread in the Buyer Central discussion board.

Sincerely,
Kurt Apen
Sr. Director, Loyalty Marketing

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Call in to this week's LIVE broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday March 26th, 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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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Markus Kroeger with Moneybookers, tells you how you can use Moneybookers to complete your eBay transactions.
• Ruben Garcia, District Director with the U.S. Small Business Administration in San Diego, joins us to tell you about the new SBA stimulus package plan and potential opportunities for eBay sellers.
• Brandon Delgrosso, General Manager of Doba, joins us with his product sourcing tips.
• Skip McGrath, publisher of eBay Seller’s News, talks about “Hot Products in a Recession..”
• Eireen Diokno-Bernardo, an eBay Specialist and PowerSeller from the Philippines, joins us to share her experiences and expertise as an online cross-border merchant on eBay.

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 Thursday's "Ask Griff" show
Join "Ask Griff" Thursday, March 26th, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.

If you can't catch either of the 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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Ralph Hagemeier

Hi Everyone,

This is Ralph Hagemeier from the Catalog Team. I’m here with some good news for sellers listing Cell Phones or PDAs. Starting tomorrow through March 28, listings for Cell Phones and PDAs that use product details (pre-filled item information) will only pay 5¢ insertion fees. This applies to both Auction-style and Fixed Price listings.

When you list with product details, eBay can automatically fill in product details and even add a stock photo. Taking advantage of this feature is a best practice because it saves you time, makes it easier for you to list an item, and increases your exposure to buyers who are using standard search engines or online shopping comparison sites to find specific products on eBay. (Read more about pre-filled information here.)

Please note: for listing smart phones - such as Blackberry or HTC – with product details you need to pick PDA as your category.

For all the details about our promotion, please see the promotion page.

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Nick Donelson

We’re excited to let you know about a recent update to the Seller Dashboard.

New DSR reports in Seller Dashboard
Get more insight into your Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) and learn which selling practices directly affect your ratings and by how much.

You can now create reports showing how your DSRs vary by category, buyer location, date range, shipping service and more. Find out which types of listings result in low or high DSRs, and see if recent changes to your selling practices impact your ratings.

All sellers with 10 or more DSRs in the past 12 months have access to the Seller Dashboard. To see your new Seller Dashboard, just log into My eBay and look for the link under the Account tab.

Sincerely,
Nick Donelson
Product Management, Seller Experience

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Jeff King

Starting this week, we will be displaying all listings in search according to their Best Match sort order, even when they’re from the same seller. Since July of last year, we’ve been showing a maximum of 10 listings per page, whether Fixed Price or Auction-style, from any one seller. Now that a track record of recent sales is a key factor in the sort order for Fixed Price, most sellers are consolidating their listings into fewer low-cost multi-quantity listings. This has proven to be the right strategy for sellers and a great shopping experience for buyers.

As a reminder: To get the best position for Fixed Price listings, we encourage sellers to focus on the following:

• Create effective, accurate listings with distinct and descriptive titles.
• Use the long duration (30-day or Good ‘Till Cancelled) multi-quantity format whenever appropriate.
• Offer free shipping.

Auction-style listings continue to be the best deal on eBay for low starting prices and they get a boost in exposure with time ending soonest.
To learn more, read about how to get ahead in Best Match search.

Sincerely,
Jeff King
Senior Director, Finding

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Marsha Collier, author of the guide “2009 eBay Business All-in-One Reference For Dummies, 2nd Edition,” joins us with some smart tips for eBay listers.
• William "Wally" Hall,, Manager of a Pak Mail store in Gretna, LA, joins us with some shipping tips that every eBay lister should know.
• Annemarie Fitzpatrick, Sales Director with Collectibles Insurance, explains how expanded coverage now available for doll & teddy bear artists can cover, not just the finished products, but also the materials on-hand in your workshop that are necessary to make them.
• Barbara Weltman, Publisher of “Big Ideas for Small Business”, talks about new 2009 Tax Rules for eBay listers.

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 Thursday's "Ask Griff" show
Don't forget to call in to this week's LIVE broadcast of the "Ask Griff" show Thursday March 19th, 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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John McDonald

Hello everyone...This is John McDonald, Senior Director of eBay’s Seller Experience team. As you may already know, the International Site Visibility listing upgrade gives your items greater exposure on the UK site for a small fee. It’s a terrific opportunity to grow your potential buyer base by as much as one-third!

From tomorrow through March 27th, you can use the International Site Visibility upgrade for just 1¢ on your Auction-style listings. If you haven’t tried this feature yet, this is a great time to test it on your listings and see what it does for your business, especially if you have collectibles, unique items or products that are not available in the UK.

How it works
When you choose the International Site Visibility upgrade in the Sell Your Item form, Turbo Lister and third-party tools like ChannelAdvisor, your item will be displayed in regular search results on eBay UK. This way, your item receives added exposure for less than it would cost to list directly on both eBay.com and eBay.co.uk.
For all the details about our promotion, and to learn more about the International Site Visibility listing upgrade, please see our promotion page.

Sincerely,

John McDonald
Senior Director
Seller Experience

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Join us for this week's broadcast of the "Best of Ask Griff" show Thursday March 12th, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm Pacific time.

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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Dinesh Lathi

From now through the end of 2009, pay only 5¢ Insertion Fees when you list books, music, movies, and video games on eBay.com in Fixed Price with product details. Your listings will show up on both the new eBay product pages and in search results. That’s double exposure for just 5¢. Plus, get Subtitle free with Fixed Price and Auction-style listings in these categories when you list with product details.

We’re extending this promotion as part of our commitment to make eBay a top destination for books, music, movies and DVDs and video games. The goal: give today’s buyers the deals and selection they demand, and give sellers the pricing and exposure they need to succeed.

Also, starting in May, Half.com sellers will be able to choose to have their listings show up on eBay product pages at no extra cost. With almost 60% of the inventory on Half.com not currently being offered on eBay, this will go a long way to delivering the selection buyers expect.

Also in May, we will be launching an all-out consumer marketing campaign to bring buyers in these categories to eBay—and to your listings.

Find out the best practices for getting more exposure for your listings in these categories—and check out the article on eBay ink.

Sincerely,
Dinesh Lathi
Vice President, Seller Experience

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

We'll also be broadcasting the "Best of Ask Griff" on Thursday, March 12, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.

If you can't catch either of the 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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Jim "Griff" Griffith

Listen to this week's broadcast of the "Best of Ask Griff" show Thursday March 5th, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm Pacific time.

If you can't catch a 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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Dinesh Lathi

Double discounts for free shipping extended through June
The response from buyers and sellers continues to be fantastic, so we’re extending the promotional incentives we introduced last October through the end of June for sellers who offer free shipping:

• PowerSellers: Get double Final Value Fee discounts on all Fixed Price and Auction-style items with free shipping sold through June 30, 2009.
• All sellers: Get a free Subtitle upgrade on Auction-style and Fixed Price items listed with free shipping through June 30, 2009.

Get your eBay invoice in a new summary format
Starting this month, you can choose to get your eBay invoice in a new easy-to-read summary format or in the current detailed format.

The new summary invoice gives you an at-a-glance look at your billing activity instead of detailing individual transactions. This format includes total amounts for each type of discount, credit or fee.

Plus, you can now have your billing-related emails sent to a separate email address.

It's easy to get started with these new options. Just go to My eBay to set your preferences and select the invoice format that’s right for you.

Dutch Auction format discontinued
In mid May, we will discontinue Dutch Auctions, a little-used listing format in which sellers offer multiple-quantity items for sale in one Auction-style listing. This format – often confusing to both buyers and sellers – comprises only a small fraction of all Auction-style listings on eBay.

If you now list with the Dutch Auction format, you’ll have until mid May to convert those listings to another format, such as single-item Auction-style or multi-quantity Fixed Price. Dutch Auction listings that are live when the format is discontinued will be allowed to run to their conclusion, and Good ‘Til Cancelled Dutch Auctions will reset to a quantity of one when relisted.

Although we are retiring this one particular auction format, I want to emphasize that eBay remains committed to Auction-style listings. We value the format, and will continue to support other forms of Auction-style listings going forward.

Sincerely,
Dinesh Lathi
Vice President, Seller Experience

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Jim "Griff" Griffith

• Worldwide Brands joins us with the latest product sourcing tips to keep you listing.
• Amy Skeeters-Behrens, Head of Marketing with WorldofGood.com, will be on to tell about the latest gifts you can get that will benefit people and the planet.
• Lisa Suttora, Founder and CEO of WhatDoISell.com, joins us to talk about Twitter and other social marketing tools that are useful to eBay sellers.
• E.J. Bantz with Seller Machine, an eBay Certified Solutions Provider, tells you how Seller Machine can help you keep track of your customers.
• Dilip Rao, Founder and Managing Director of PayMate in Australia talks about this latest addition to the list of eBay approved payment methods.

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 Thursday's "Best of Ask Griff" show
This week's we'll be broadcasting the "Best of Ask Griff" Thursday, March 5, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.

If you can't catch either of the 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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