We're excited to announce some upcoming dates for eBay University 2007 in Ireland.

This autumn we will be running two eBay University seminars at the National College of Ireland, which is located near the IFSC in Dublin.

4th Sept – Selling Seminar
13th Sept – Beyond the Basics

Register now or find out more about these seminars.

We look forward to meeting you there!

Regards,

The eBay.ie team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We wanted to let you know that search, browse and bid history pages are getting a much needed visual update this week.

Search and Browse pages
The changes to search and browse pages are cosmetic and will not affect which items show up or their order. The update to the layout of search and browse pages will provide a more consistent look and feel with the rest of the site, and put more emphasis on the most important parts of these pages – the items.

For example, we've removed the alternating grey-and-white background that we used to show (which a lot of members found distracting) and replaced it with white space to make each item title stand out more. 

Bid History page
The Bid History page is important to many Community members to monitor items. From this week you will be able to place bids directly from this page. At the same time we are enhancing the visual appearance of the page. Our objective is to make it easier to bid and win items.

These changes will make buying at eBay easier, especially for new and less-frequent buyers.  We hope you find the new look less cluttered and more engaging. 

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We are pleased to announce that you can now 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 from skype.com), you can choose to receive:

• 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 being won by another eBay member, because Skype will instantly let you know that you have been outbid.

You can sign up for alerts on your Skype account from the Notifications Tab under the Preferences section in My eBay. You can also sign up directly from an item page. Just find the text about getting alerts towards the centre of the page, 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. We hope Skype Alerts will make using eBay more convenient for you.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We have received a number of reports that members are not receiving sold item emails once an item has been won or purchased using the Buy It Now (Fixed Price) Format. We are currently working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

We apologise for the inconvenience, and appreciate your patience as we work to bring this feature back to normal working order.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We are pleased to announce that from 1st September until 31st December 2007 we are reducing the price of the Gallery Listing Upgrade feature (gallery picture) for items listed in the Media and Collectables categories using any format (excluding Shop Inventory Format) . Instead of costing the normal 15p, a gallery picture costs just 5p until the end of the year.

Many items listed in the Media and Collectables categories don’t have a gallery picture, and we know that buyers love to see what’s on offer.    The use of a gallery picture greatly increases interest from buyers and helps to convert listings into sales, so if you haven’t used a gallery picture before, now’s the time to give it a go.

Find out more about the reduced Gallery feature fee.

Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

eBay.ie is delighted to announce an exciting new venture with An Post.

The e-Parcel Card entitles eligible eBay sellers resident in the Republic of Ireland to preferential rates on postage when sending parcels between 0kg and 5kg nationally and internationally.  The e-Parcel Card is accepted at all automated Post Offices within the Republic of Ireland. 

The e-Parcel Card is initially being introduced on a pilot basis and will run until 30th April 2008. During this time eBay.ie and An Post will assess the effectiveness of the service offering.

Learn more about the e-Parcel Card.

Regards,

The eBay.ie Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

Following feedback from the eBay community, we are pleased to announce that eBay.ie has launched a new category specifically for Local Services. This new category provides a place for local service providers and those in need of local services to get in touch with each other easily and quickly.

Information for Service Providers
The new Local Services category has a category structure to support the different types of services that exist in the marketplace. Listings in the Local Services category will be available in the Classified Ad format only, with a 28-day listing duration.
Listing in the Local Services category will be free of charge from now until 16 October 2007 (launch price only).

You can add or view listings from the eBay.ie Local Services page which is located at http://localservices.ebay.ie,

Regards,

The eBay.ie team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

This Wednesday, when you list an item on eBay.co.uk using the Auction-style format in an eligible category, you will pay a half-price Insertion Fee on every item you list!

Terms and conditions apply. Click here for full details.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

The PayPal Credit Card lets you shop with PayPal online, offline, anytime and includes great features and benefits.

Apply now and get this great cashback offer. You will earn 3% on every PayPal merchant purchase, including eBay, and 0.5% on all other purchases, every time you use your card! This is a limited offer so hurry! †

The PayPal Credit Card in brief:

• 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 9 months* (a 2.5% fee applies)
• 0% p.a. on purchases for 6 months**
• No annual fee
• Free Identity Theft Assistance and Internet Fraud Guarantee
• MasterCard® worldwide acceptance in over 24 million outlets
• Award-winning Balance Cancellation Cover***
• Online Account Management
• Typical 15.9% APR variable

Find out more
Credit is subject to status to UK residents aged 18 years or over. The PayPal Credit Card is issued by GE Capital Bank Limited, trading as GE Money, 6 Agar Street, London, WC2N 4HR. Registered No. 1456283.


* This offer applies to balances transferred within 6 weeks of the date that you call to activate your PayPal Credit Card and is subject to the available credit on the account. A transfer fee of 2.5% of the total amount transferred will be charged each time you make a transfer. This fee will be shown on your next monthly statement. Only UK storecard and credit card balances may be transferred and these are subject to our approval. At the end of this period, for any outstanding balance your standard retail purchase rate will apply.
** At the end of this period for any outstanding balance your standard retail rate will apply.
*** Balance Cancellation Cover won the Most Successful Credit Card Enhancement Program – Insurance Category, at the Credit Card Awards 2007. Click here to view terms and conditions of Balance Cancellation Cover.
† This offer is available to the first 2500 customers who successfully apply for a Paypal Credit Card between 23rd July and 21st  August 2007. Successful applicants will have Cashback applied at a rate of 3% (up to a maximum of £25) on all purchases made with their Paypal Credit Card on their Paypal or EBay account until 23rd October 2007, and thereafter at a rate of 0.5% (up to a maximum of £25) until 31st December 2007. Cashback will also be applied at a rate of 0.5% on all other Retail Purchases made with their Paypal Credit Card (other than the purchase of Shares or Cash Advances) until 31st December 2007. Any Cash back earned will be credited to their Paypal credit card by 31st January 2008.

Link to this announcement | Back to top

On August 14, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Mattel, issued a recall for various toys due to the risk of magnets detaching from the toys and posing a risk of 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. 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, visit the firm’s website at www.service.mattel.com.

We appreciate your understanding and support.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We wanted to let you know that we will be testing some new home page layouts over the next few months.

From this week onwards, a small sample of our users will be included in the test automatically.  Users who are included may see differences in the way their home page is laid out.

These tests are designed to help us understand how to make it simpler for our users to use the eBay.co.uk home page.

If you are part of the test group, there is no need for you to do anything apart from use the site as you would normally.  Otherwise, we would appreciate hearing your feedback on the community board in the discussion thread.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We wanted to tell you about some scheduled maintenance that will affect your use of Paypal online postage.

In order to maintain a reliable technological system for you to use via PayPal online postage, Royal Mail Group need to make essential changes to their systems.

This will mean that Royal Mail & Parcelforce Worldwide items will be unavailable for purchase via PayPal online postage between 7pm Saturday 18th August and 9am Sunday 19th August. After this time full service will be restored.

We apologise for any inconvenience that this causes you.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We are pleased to announce that we are making a number of category changes during the week beginning 10th September.

Within the categories listed below in bold font the Item Specifics feature has become firmly established and all sub-categories will be removed.

We will no longer ask sellers to input multiple sub-categories AND repeat the same information in the Item Specifics fields. Sellers will simply choose the main category e.g. DVDs and then Item Specifics, such as Genre and Region.

In addition, buyers will not be presented with both Matching Categories and a series of drop-down boxes (a ‘Finder’). Instead the more complete and flexible ‘Finders’ will be the only refinement choice. Besides making the page clearer, the ‘Finders’ allow buyers to simultaneously search by multiple criteria such as Genre and Region.

DVD, Film & TV > DVDs

Once the changes have taken place you will be able to see the new and changed category IDs on the All Categories Page. 

We would like to thank all the members who took the time to contribute the thousands of ideas and suggestions that have helped to shape these changes.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We wanted to let you know about additional steps that we are taking this year to ensure that eBay remains a safe place to buy and sell.

Having listened to Buyers, we have heard that some Sellers are failing to deliver consistently good service. Those Sellers receive considerable negative or neutral Feedback or cause Buyers to file an Item Not Received complaint, because they are not meeting Buyer expectations. Key areas that Sellers need to deliver against are: listing accuracy, professional communication, and fair prices for timely postage.

eBay has decided that Sellers with low positive Feedback levels – more than 5% combined negative and neutral Feedback or multiple Item Not Received complaints in the last 90 days – need to demonstrate improvement in Feedback to continue trading at current levels. This is an extension of the work that eBay has always done in addressing Seller Non Performance.

For further information please read the Seller Non Performance policy.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We wanted to let you know that from next week, items listed in certain categories on eBay.co.uk will need to offer PayPal as a payment option or as the sole payment method.

We are doing this as part of our ongoing efforts to reduce fraud and protect buyers and sellers in the eBay community.

PayPal will need to be offered as a payment option on listings in the following categories:

• Video Games
• Health & Beauty

PayPal will need to be the only payment method on sales in the following category:

• Video Games: Consoles

If you would like to sell in the categories affected, please sign up for a PayPal account if you do not already have one.

• Sign up for a PayPal account
• Learn more about how PayPal protects buyers/sellers

We appreciate your continuing support in helping to keep eBay a great place to buy and sell.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new UK community manager, Monisha.

There are two main parts to Monisha’s role. She will raise issues that concern the eBay community and work with eBay’s management to fix them. She’ll also help improve the eBay.co.uk site to make it easier for our members to connect with each other.

Monisha is looking forward to spending time on the boards to hear your thoughts on how we can make eBay an even better place to spend time online.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

On 2nd August, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for a number of Fisher-Price toys due to a lead poisoning hazard. The recall involves some figures and toys that were manufactured between 19th April, 2007 and 6th July, 2007. 

eBay takes recalled items very seriously. We encourage buyers and sellers to visit http://www.fisher-price.com/uk/help/customerservice.asp#safety for more details 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 visit the Fisher-Price website at http://www.fisher-price.com/uk/

We appreciate your understanding and support.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top

eBay.co.uk has launched several features to help eBay bloggers connect with each other in new and exciting ways.

New features on the hub page

• Bloggers’ My World pictures appear next to their posts.
• A moving "film strip" displays the newest members to eBay's blogging community.

Ability to personalise blogs

• Blogs can be personalised with a variety of templates, or through the use of HTML and style sheets.

eBay Blogs enable sellers to interact with potential buyers and talk about their products.  Blog content is picked up by search engines, so blogging can help attract buyers who are using search engines to find products on the internet.

When you've created your eBay blog, you'll find it at http://blogs.ebay.co.uk/YourUserID.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

Link to this announcement | Back to top