Please note changes scheduled to take place on eBay.com.au on July 15, 2008 for new international safe payment requirements have been postponed.

Originally, eBay Australia announced that items listed for sale on eBay.com.au on or after July 15, 2008 would require sellers to only offer PayPal or pay on pick up on their listings. These new safe payment requirements are being postponed until the review process with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). As previously announced, eBay.com.au is continuing to work with the ACCC to achieve an outcome that benefits buyers and sellers.

Important: Policies announced on by eBay Australia on May 21st, 2008 regarding accepted payment methods still apply. This means PayPal is required on all items listed for sale on eBay.com.au. Other payment methods (i.e. bank deposit, cheque / money order) are permitted and may be offered on items listed for sale on eBay Australia until further notice. Also, as previously communicated, any listings that do not comply with eBay’s Accepted Payments Policy will be removed.

Note: A small number of categories are excluded from these changes. Learn more about these exclusions.

To learn more about the delay in safe payment policies on eBay.com.au, click here.

Regards,
The eBay and PayPal Teams

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Consumer advisory: The PayPal™ payment service is regarded as a stored value facility under Singapore law. PayPal Pte. Ltd., the Holder of the PayPal™ stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions of use carefully.

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Today eBay launches its Developer Programme in Southeast Asia. Started in 2000, the Developer Programme has approximately 70,000 members and offers developers around the world the best outlet on the Web to monetize their applications.

To kick off the South East Asia Developer Programme, eBay is organizing a competition to encourage local developers in Singapore to experiment and innovate by building ecommerce applications for eBay and PayPal.

The best competition entries will be recognised with free development support and the eventual competition winners will walk away with the following prizes:

1st prize: SGD $10,000
2nd prize: SGD $8,000
3rd prize: SGD $5,000

Special Merit Prizes
Best Community / Viral Application: $1,000
Best Interactive / Visual Design: $500
Most Fun Application: $500

Developers interested in creating tools that add value for eBay users and showcasing their applications through the competition should first sign up for the eBay Developer Programme and submit their concepts by Friday 18th July via the website here

For more information on the competition, please check out our discussion board here.

We look forward to seeing creative and innovative concepts from our local developers!

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In mid May, we announced on June 17th that all items sold on ebay.com.au will require sellers to only offer PayPal or pay on pick up on their listings. No other payment methods will be permitted. However, a ruling last week by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will delay the removal of other payment methods from ebay.com.au until mid July.

eBay Australia intends to work with the ACCC in order to continue to provide buyers and sellers a more secure way to trade with confidence on ebay.com.au. To learn more or to read the media statement released by ebay.com.au, click here.

What does this mean for you?
From 15 July 2008, the only payment methods sellers may offer on eBay.com.au will be PayPal and pay on pick up.

Current policies regarding accepted payment methods do still apply. This means PayPal is required on all listings on eBay.com.au. Other payment methods (i.e. bank deposit, cheque / money order) may also be offered until 15 July 2008. As previously communicated, any listings that do not comply with eBay’s Accepted Payments Policy will be removed.

There are a small number of categories excluded from these changes. Learn more about these exclusions here.

Regards,
The eBay and PayPal Teams

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Consumer advisory: The PayPal™ payment service is regarded as a stored value facility under Singapore law. PayPal Pte. Ltd., the Holder of the PayPal™ stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions of use carefully.

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	***Original: IMPORTANT: Upcoming International Safe Payment Requirements***
	May 22, 2008 | 11:27AM a SGT ***Making eBay Safer and Easier with PayPal*** Buyers and sellers rank security as a primary concern when doing business online, which is why eBay and PayPal are committed to your security. In an effort to continue to improve trust & safety for both buyers and sellers in the marketplace, we would like to update you on a number of changes that will be happening internationally. What changes are being made? Many of our eBay international sites will require sellers listing items for sale overseas (sites other than ebay.com.sg, ebay.com.my, or ebay.ph) to offer PayPal on their listings as one of their safe modes of payment: In mid March, ebay.com began requiring sellers to offer PayPal or a merchant credit card as one of the safe payment options to buyers for: Items listed in categories with higher rates of buyer complaints New sellers with less than 100 feedback For sellers with higher than 5% buyer dissatisfaction rates Learn more about ebay.com safe payment options. In late March, eBay UK also began requiring items listed on ebay.co.uk to offer PayPal on listings for all sellers who have a feedback score of less than 100 (regardless of feedback percentage) and for items in specific categories. Learn more Starting 23rd May in Australia, all items sold on ebay.com.au will require sellers to offer PayPal as one of the safe payment options. Learn more On 3rd June, ebay.co.uk will require PayPal to be offered on all listings for all sellers. Learn more On June 17th, all items sold on ebay.com.au will require all sellers to only offer PayPal on their listings. No other payment methods will be permitted*. Learn more How does this improve the buyer and selling experience? Currently, with PayPal offered on around 95% of items for sale on eBay, our data shows that buyers are less likely to have a bad experience when they pay with PayPal, which results in building trust and driving more trade. PayPal keeps transactions secure, especially behind the scenes with industry leading fraud prevention tools, over 2,000 fraud experts 24/7, and proven results with industry-leading loss rates of <0.5%. Plus, for added security, PayPal has the highest industry encryption available, credit card and bank verification, and offers protections programmes for buyers and sellers. Why is this important to you? With PayPal offered as a payment option, buyers can shop with more confidence and protection across eBay’s international websites and sellers can benefit from being more likely to sell their items while reducing their loses. For buyers, PayPal means: More security: No sharing financial details with sellers, reducing possibilities of identity theft. More protection: Free purchase protection for eligible items bought on international sites and paid with PayPal. More confidence: 80% of US buyers said they would be more likely to buy again if PayPal is offered. For sellers, offering PayPal means: More security: No sharing of financial details with buyers or worries about storing their financial information. More reliability: Lowers unpaid item rates by nearly half. More sales: Increases repeat purchases by 80% and successful sales by 20%. Less Disputes: Four times less likely to have a buyer complaint - saving you money! For more information, check the Accepted Payments Policy page for the site you are listing on to be sure you know the Safe Payment Requirements. Happy and Safe Trading! The eBay and PayPal teams ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * A small number of exclusions will apply to these changes Consumer advisory: The PayPal™ payment service is regarded as a stored value facility under Singapore law. PayPal Pte. Ltd., the Holder of the PayPal™ stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions of use carefully.
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The planned site outage that was originally scheduled for Friday, May 30th has been rescheduled for Wednesday, June 11th from 2:00pm – 3:00pm SGT.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding.

Regards,
The PayPal Team

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	***Original: **PayPal Maintenance on May 30th*****
	May 23, 2008 | 02:05PM a SGT The PayPal site will undergo maintenance on Friday, May 30th, 2008 between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm SGT. The PayPal site and a majority of its features will be unavailable during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding. Once the maintenance has been completed, the PayPal site will return to normal functionality. Regards, The PayPal Team
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eBay celebrates 15 years of great deals at the 15th Anniversary of the Great Singapore Sale!

For a limited period from June 3rd till July 4th, eBay Singapore sellers can enjoy Bold, Subtitle or Gallery at S$0.15 each for Auction and Fixed Price listings.

Differentiate your listings from the crowd and increase your chances of a sale.

More details of the promotion can be found here.

Happy selling!

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In January 2008, eBay announced changes to Seller standards and incentives. The original announcement can be found here.

Previously sellers were only required to meet the following criteria to be awarded the PowerSeller status - consistent sales volume, 98% total positive Feedback, eBay marketplace policy compliance and an account in good financial standing.

New Criteria for PowerSellers
Starting this July, all Singapore registered sellers who sell domestically or internationally, will also need to meet a new criteria – detailed seller rating (DSRs) of 4.5 or higher in all four DSRs: item as described, communication, shipping time, and shipping and handling charges, to be designated as a PowerSeller (or remain in the programme).

The full list of criteria to qualify as a PowerSeller can be found here.

Feedback Changes – Impact on PowerSeller Status
Some sellers may have seen their positive Feedback percentage drop since the introduction of the recent Feedback changes.

To help those who have fallen below the 98% threshold improve their Feedback score to above 98%, eBay will provide a grace period from now till July 20th in which these accounts will retain PowerSeller status. After this date, PowerSellers who no longer meet the 98% threshold will not be eligible for the PowerSeller status and benefits.

Incentives for PowerSellers
PowerSellers in Singapore who sell internationally on eBay.com, eBay.co.uk and eBay.de will enjoy the same pricing benefits as qualified PowerSellers in the US, UK and Germany, as long as they meet the criteria for eligibility as outlined by each country's programme. The qualifying criteria and discounts can be found in the following links:

US PowerSeller Incentive Programme
UK PowerSeller Incentive Programme
DE PowerSeller Incentive Programme

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