E-cigarettes
From 30th June 2009, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes will be banned from sale on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie.  This ban will enable ebay.co.uk and ebay.ie to have consistent policies with other eBay sites throughout Europe. The ban also includes any listing of component parts (including but not limited to):  cartridges, atomisers, liquid refills, vaporisers, batteries and shells. Full details of this policy will be available on 30th June

Manufacturer Vouchers
From 30th June 2009, eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie will launch a Manufacturer Vouchers policy.  eBay is committed to working with the voucher industry to help ensure that eBay is not a venue for fraudulent voucher-related transactions and to providing its users with a safe place to trade. Therefore, the listing of valid vouchers will be permitted on the site with the following limitations: 

• Expired Vouchers: The sale of recently expired vouchers is not permitted on eBay as such vouchers serve no valid purpose and could be used in a fraudulent manner. Collectible vouchers that clearly cannot be redeemed may be permitted.
• Electronic "scanned" vouchers: All vouchers sold through eBay must be physically delivered to the buyer, and may not be delivered by electronic means for home printing. Further, to reduce the potential for voucher abuse, eBay asks that sellers refrain from placing clear, unaltered scans of vouchers in their listings that could be copied, printed and redeemed in stores. The sale of scanned or photocopied vouchers may breach copyright laws, and sellers of such unlawful items could face legal action.
• Bulk voucher sales: Bulk voucher listings are defined as listings that contain more than 20 vouchers for the same item, or more than 100 total vouchers. If it is unclear how many vouchers are offered, the listing will be considered to be in breach of policy. Voucher inserts (packets of vouchers typically found in newspapers) are limited to a maximum of 5 per listing, unless the seller indicates in the listing that the quantity of vouchers for sale is under 100 total vouchers.
• Vouchers for 'free' products: Vouchers for free products, with no purchase required, are limited to two per listing. Internet home-printed vouchers are also limited to 2 per listing.

Full details of these two policies will be available on 30th June

Regards,

The eBay Team

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Under eBay Buyer Protection, eBay will, as always, encourage sellers to resolve any problem that their buyers may have. However, as part of this policy, there may be instances where a seller doesn't resolve a claim and we find in favour of the buyer, in which case eBay will pay the buyer and invoice theseller for the transaction amount.  Where a seller fails to comply with the eBay Buyer Protection policy, eBay may also remove any special status associated with the account (e.g. PowerSeller status), reduce or eliminate any discounts received by the seller, decrease visibility of the seller’s listings in search results, place certain requirements regarding payment options offered by the seller and potential holds on payments made through PayPal and/or restrict or suspend the seller’s account.

As with earlier updates to the User Agreement, we’ve made other minor changes to reflect eBay’s current product and service offerings and industry legal standards. You'll see references to, “eBay site, services and tools” where the old agreement simply reads, “eBay site.” These changes reflect the many new ways you can access eBay’s offerings through other websites, wireless devices, and tools.

The new User Agreement is effective immediately for new members registering on or after 27th May 2009, and on 8th July 2009, for current members. You don’t need to do anything to accept the new User Agreement. If you don't wish to accept it, you can follow these instructions to close your account.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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• Expanded protection for sellers when they use PayPal.
• Introducing PayPal as payment option on all listings on eBay.ie.

• New item detail page available on eBay. Get your listings ready now.
• New way to list using Buy It Now enables you to offer all variations of one product - e.g. colour and size - in a single low-cost listing.
• Introducing free pictures in the Clothes Shoes & Accessories and Home & Garden categories, and a new webfile upload option.
• New Smart FAQ to answer buyers’ top 20 questions before they contact you.
• Customise item specifics when the available choices don’t apply to your item.

• Increase in price of listings will no longer affect recent sales score for Best Match.
• Mandatory specification of postage time.
• Category and items specifics changes - find out if your listings are affected.
• Policies relating to multiple-item listings and duplicate items changed.

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Buyers feel more confident about buying on eBay and sellers are more likely to see their listings convert to sales when PayPal is offered as a payment method. Through PayPal we can provide protection for buyers and sellers should things go wrong.

Here’s an overview of the upcoming changes that will make it safer and easier for you to buy and sell on eBay.ie.

Increased Buyer and Seller Protection
We're delighted to announce a significant expansion of the protection offered to buyers and sellers when using PayPal on eBay. These improvements will come into effect from June 2009.

Good news for buyers:
Starting in June eBay buyers will receive protection up to the full value of their purchases (including postage) when they pay with PayPal. Terms apply.

Good news for sellers:
Also from June all sellers will be eligible for expanded seller protection against certain claims for fraudulent payments and items not received - regardless of whether they are a PowerSeller or not. Under the terms of the expanded Seller Protection coverage, you will not be required to post to confirmed addresses for eBay transactions. There won't be an annual coverage limit and Seller Protection will cover the 190 countries supported by PayPal for sales made via eBay.

We’ll give you an update on this soon.

We’ve seen that transactions made using PayPal result in significantly reduced instances of fraud. With every listing on the site offering a traceable, protected payment option buyers will have increased confidence to return to shop with you again.

Sellers will continue to be able to offer other payment methods alongside PayPal, as per eBay’s Accepted Payments Policy. Listings in the Motors Vehicles, Property and Services categories will be exempt from this policy.

Thanks for your support in helping to keep eBay.ie a safe place to buy and sell.

Regards,
The eBay Team

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New item detail page coming soon to more buyers
The new item detail page is coming with bigger, better pictures, a real-time countdown timer for auction-style listings and much more.
To be sure that this works for everyone, we’re going to start testing the new item detail page soon. We'll be looking carefully at the test to help us make sure that we've taken care of any issues before we introduce it fully in the summer. We highly recommend you preview how your listings and listing templates will look in the new item detail page by early July to make sure they look great.

Here is how to preview your Listings in the new View Item Page

1. Upload good quality photos - 1000 pixels wide or larger
2. Check your item descriptions
3. Shops sellers: pick your top categories and upload your message
4. Boost exposure with cross-merchandising

To preview your listings, just click the 'Switch to the new version of this page' link at the top of your listing. 4 things to look for:

1. Photos: The new page puts your item front and centre with bigger, better pictures. Later this year, a special zoom function will let buyers roll over your picture for a close-up look. Make sure your item shines by uploading high quality pictures that are 1000 pixels or larger.

2. Item descriptions: For security reasons, the new page hosts the content you generate in a different location to eBay-generated content. In a few cases, this may cause some item descriptions to look ‘broken’.

3. Shops header: The new page shows categories in the header and gives Shops sellers a space in the header for a customised marketing message. Go to Manage My Shop to configure your categories and message.

4. Cross merchandising: Sellers will also have the option to cross-merchandise on each others’ relevant item pages. You can choose not to have cross-merchandising on your item pages but your relevant items won’t appear on other sellers’ items pages. You’ll want to consider the trade-offs carefully.

To preview your listings, just click the 'Switch to the new version of this page' link at the top of your listing. For more details see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Save time and money with our new multiple variations listing format
Save on listing time and fees!
From mid-July 2009 all sellers who have an eBay Shop will be able to include multiple product variations in one Buy It Now listing in Clothes, Shoes & Accessories and selected Home & Garden categories. Price each variation just the way you want. For example, you could sell all the colours and sizes of Gap Women’s and Girls’ shirts for a single listing fee.

• Manage inventory right from your listings
• Get multiple free pictures
• Just one feature fee covers the entire listing, including all variations
• Great cross-selling—show buyers all variations in one listing

Use multi-variation listings to maximise your sales.

• Try multi-variation Buy It Now listings for new listings. If you move inventory from your current single and multi-quantity Buy It Now listings and create a new listing, your recent sales scores in Best Match search results for the original listings are not carried over.
• Consider Featured First as a way to jump-start a recent sales score for your new listings. Just one feature fee covers the entire listing, including all variations, so it could work out to be a good deal.
• Inventory with good supply is best. Select items for which you have consistent supply and ready access.
• Keep your listing stocked. You can add inventory to any variation at any time, even after there have been purchases.
• Use lots of pictures! You can upload multiple sets of picture variations. You pay for only one set—the set with the most pictures.
• List with long duration—30 day or Good ‘Til Cancelled—to build your recent sales score. You pay the same listing fee as you would normally. (Good 'Til Cancelled listings are automatically renewed for the same fee every 30 days).
• Remember, your position in Best Match search results is based on a variety of factors including recent sales, the relevance of your listing title, item cost, your track record as a seller (DSRs), and Free P&P. Get more tips for making Best Match work for you.

For more details see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Introducing free pictures in the Clothes Shoes & Accessories and Home & Garden categories, and a new webfile upload option.
We’re pleased to announce that all pictures within the Clothes, Shoes & Accessories and Home & Garden categories will be free from end of June.

• Free Gallery Plus
• Free Supersize
• Free additional standard pictures
• Free Picture Pack

If you currently host your photos somewhere other than eBay, now is a great time to start moving them over to eBay Picture Services (EPS). Later this year, if you host your pictures on eBay using EPS, you'll be able to take advantage of the new zoom feature.

Introducing Smart FAQs
We’re introducing this new free feature to help you save time. It will draw on ‘live’ information from your listings to answer the top 20 buyer questions before buyers even reach ‘Ask Seller a Question’. Some top eBay sellers who’ve tested new Smart FAQ found it halved the time they’d usually spend answering buyer questions – and this was without a negative impact on sales.

For more details see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Introducing Custom Item Specifics
To help get your listings found on search results, we’re making it possible for you to specify your own item specifics when the current choices don’t cover your item. If the list of available Custom Item Specifics does not appear to be complete in a given category, you can use the “Add your own item specific” link to add your own custom name and value. However, the best practice is to use eBay item specifics recommended in the Sell Your Item flow, as long as they accurately describe your item.

For example, say eBay offers a Custom Item Specific called “Colour” that has value choices of: red, green, blue, pink and yellow. If you are selling a cornflower blue blouse, select the existing “blue” option rather than entering “cornflower.” You can include “cornflower” in your item title or description. By using the existing “blue” value in your Custom Item Specifics, your item is more likely to be found by buyers who use the left-hand navigation of the search results page to refine their search results.

For more details see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Regards,
The eBay Team

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In November 2006 we made bidder IDs anonymous on listings. This change has been very successful; research we conducted in 2007 showed a 90% reduction in fake second chance offers and other malicious emails.

To bring eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie in line with other global eBay sites, and to increase security for sellers, we will be going one step further and extending anonymous User IDs to winning bidders as well.

This change will be implemented 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 – buyers and seller IDs, with comments visible to all.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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eBay Shops has always been a great way for sellers to create their own brands on eBay. With new shopfront templates and enhanced search results, the new eBay Shops format is even better - both for Shops sellers and their customers.

Most Shops sellers have chosen to upgrade and are currently benefitting from the new format and from Wednesday, 20th May, we will begin upgrading the rest of eBay Shops automatically. If you haven’t already done so, it’s important that you preview your Shop and opt in beforehand. Just go to My eBay and click “Manage My Shop” in the Account menu.

For most Shops, the transition is seamless and requires no modification by the seller. If your Shop has been significantly customised, you may need to make some changes. So make sure you check now, before the automatic upgrade begins.

For more details, please see our frequently asked questions.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We told you in February that we would be retiring the old eBay search system in April in the UK (February Announcement).

We wanted to confirm that this retirement will take place on 29th April. After this date the older technology will no longer be available.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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eBay.co.uk Sellers: Spring 2009 Update

We wanted to let you know about some changes that will happen in the week commencing 15th June 2009.

From now on, we’re going to try to give you as much advance notice as possible of changes to eBay that affect your business.  We’re also going to group those changes into two major releases for 2009.

Here’s an overview of the first release for 2009.  You’ll be able to find out more details about each change by clicking the relevant links.

Better listings to drive more sales

• New item page rolling out to all of eBay. Get your listings ready now.

• New eBay product pages shown to more buyers. List using product details from a catalogue.

• New way to list in Buy It Now allows you to offer all variations of one product - e.g. colour and size - in a single low-cost listing.

• Introducing free pictures in the Clothes, Shoes & Accessories categories, and a new webfile upload option. 

Making selling on eBay more efficient

• New Smart FAQ to answer buyers’ top 20 questions before they contact you.

• Easy Returns, a new way for you to manage returns in the Resolution Centre and automatically get your Full Value Fee (FVF) credit.

• Customise item specifics when the available choices don’t apply to your item.

Policy & other changes to selling on eBay

• Introducing free P&P in selected Clothes Shoes & Accessories and Tech categories (accessories only), plus Final Value Fee promotion for Shop owners.

• New, more efficient process for handling disputes.

• Extended deadlines for mandatory specification of dispatch time

• Category changes - find out if your listings are affected.

• Policies relating to multiple-item listings changing.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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On Sunday 29th March, clocks will be springing forward once again, going ahead one hour at 1:00 GMT to 2:00 BST. The necessary adjustment to the eBay official time will be made to reflect this change.

As a reminder, all items that are listed before the time change will still run for exactly the same length of time of 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 or 30 days. This means that if an item begins at 1:00PM before 29th March and ends after the time changes, the ending time will be changed to 2:00PM instead of 1:00PM.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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In addition to the first picture, which incurs no fee, registered Featured and Anchor Shop owners on eBay.co.uk will be able to include two pictures in listings in the Clothes, Shoes, Accessories category for no additional cost when they list items between Monday 23rd March 2009 and Tuesday 31st March 2009.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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If you're a seller on eBay.co.uk looking to increase the visibility of your listings, eBay AdCommerce is a new tool to help you do just that. Adcommerce is available on eBay.co.uk. See below for further details

About eBay AdCommerce:
eBay AdCommerce is a pay-per-click advertising programme that lets eBay sellers promote their listings and eBay Shops via ads ('sponsored results') on eBay search result pages.

AdCommerce is another powerful advertising option for eBay sellers who want to drive more traffic to their listings and eBay Shops. Your ads will be shown on search results pages to buyers that are searching for a keyword, which covers your item.

How AdCommerce works:
Let's say you sell laptops and want your ad to appear when buyers search for the keyword 'computer' on eBay. You would need to decide your maximum 'cost per click' bid for the keyword 'computer'; that is, how much you're willing to pay each time a buyer clicks on your ad after running a search for 'computer'.

If you're one of the highest bidders in terms of cost per click for that keyword, your ad - which can include a title, a short description, and an optional image - will appear near the bottom of the search results page when a buyer runs a search for 'computer'.

When you create these kinds of advertising campaigns with AdCommerce, you can specify the maximum you want to spend on clicks. Once your budget is used up, your ads will stop appearing or you can add to your budget if you want to continue advertising.

With AdCommerce, there are no setup fees and no minimum payments: you pay only when a buyer clicks on your ad and goes to your listing or eBay Shop.

Get started now
It only takes a few minutes to register and create your first ad. To get started now, or read more about the service, go to http://www.adcommerce.co.uk.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From today, there's no insertion fee if you’re a private seller and you list your item in the auction-style format with a starting price of up to 99p (eBay.co.uk) or €1.49 (eBay.ie). Final Value Fee rates have also changed.

Zero insertion fees means that if you’re a private seller, you pay the majority of fees only when you successfully sell an item in a qualifying category. For full terms and conditions, visit http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/private-sellers-pricechange/ (eBay.co.uk) or http://pages.ebay.ie/sell/private-sellers-pricechange/ (eBay.ie)

Fees for business-registered sellers using the auction-style format and all sellers using the fixed price format or Buy It Now will be unchanged.

For full details about the fee changes, qualifying categories and how to list for free, visit:

eBay.co.uk: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/sell/private-sellers-pricechange-march/
eBay.ie: http://pages.ebay.ie/sell/private-sellers-pricechange-march/

The eBay Team

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This weekend, when you list your car or any other vehicle on eBaymotors.co.uk, you’ll only have to pay a £4* insertion fee - that’s half the usual price. You can list using the Auction-style, Auction-with-Buy It Now, or Buy It Now only formats.

* Terms and conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay Team

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Retiring My eBay 'Classic' design

The current My eBay design will be retired on eBay.ie on 2nd March and eBay.co.uk on 9th March, and the ability to opt out of the new design will be removed.

Retiring old search system

Last year we introduced a new search system on eBay.co.uk. Until now, buyers and sellers have been able to choose not to use the new search system.

However, with more than 98% of you now using the new search we'll be retiring the older technology in April 2009.

If you're one of the few users who's opted out, you'll see some reminder messages during your searches. We suggest you familiarise yourself with the new search in the coming weeks so that you're ready when the old search is retired.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From 12th March 2009, there's no Insertion Fee if you’re a private seller and you list your item in the auction-style format with a starting price of up to 99p (eBay.co.uk) or €1.49 (eBay.ie). Final Value Fee rates are also changing.

Fees for business-registered sellers using the auction-style format will be unchanged.

Pay only when you sell

In 2008 we made it free to include a picture for your listing. We’re continuing our commitment to moving the cost of selling on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie away from front end fees so that the majority of fees are paid only when you successfully sell an item.

Learn more about the new zero Insertion Fee on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We’d like to update you on the changes to the policy on the sale of knives.

From 10th March 2009, all knives and swords except cutlery will be banned from sale on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie. The definition of cutlery includes those implements which can be used for eating, including cutlery sets, individual pieces of cutlery and antique cutlery.

All other items, including knives used in the preparation of food will be banned, including (but not limited to);

all swords

Under the new policy buyers will be asked to enter credit card details if they attempt to bid on or buy any item of cutlery in the new cutlery category. These details will need to be provided again after six months if the buyer seeks to buy or bid again.

We will be able to determine if the buyer or bidder enters the details of a debit card, solo card or pre-paid card, the types of card most likely to be held by under-18s. If the details of any of these types of cards are entered, eBay will prevent the buyer or bidder from completing the transaction.

If the bidder or buyer enters valid credit card details they will then be given the option to pay using any approved method of payment.

We will be strict in the enforcement of these new policies and any seller who repeatedly attempts to break this policy will face strict sanctions, including possible suspension from the eBay site.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: Change to policy regarding sale of knives on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie***
	09 February, 2009 | 08:00PM GMT We wanted to inform you of a change to our policies regarding the sale of knives. All knives except cutlery will be banned from sale on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie. This will impact UK, Irish and international sellers who currently list knives for sale to buyers on the eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie sites. Over the last year we have made several changes to our policies regarding sales of knives and also Samurai swords to ensure that only legal knives are available on the UK and Irish sites. However, the criteria for what constitutes a legal knife are increasingly complex, and this step is necessary to help further protect our members and provide them with the highest safety standards. We will be updating this AB post shortly to ensure that any sellers of knives have full notice, details and timings for the changes. Thank you for your support in continuing to make eBay such a vibrant and trusted marketplace. Regards, The eBay Team
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Tickets to a series of concerts in March organised by the Teenage Cancer Trust to help raise essential funds to build specialist teenage cancer units within the NHS will be going on sale on today, 13th February 2009.

Because of the limited number of tickets that will be available, we expect that some of these tickets will be offered for sale on eBay. We have been working with Teenage Cancer Trust to further their fundraising efforts and will apply the following conditions on the sales of these tickets:

• At least 20% of the final sale price for any Teenage Cancer Trust ticket for the events listed below must be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust through our eBay for Charity programme.
• Sellers of Teenage Cancer Trust tickets need to be registered with eBay for Charity.
• One-day and three-day listings will not be allowed.

The conditions above will apply to the following events:

Tues 24th March: Antony and the Johnsons, Florence and the Machine
Weds 25th March: Acts to be confirmed
Thurs 26th March: Stereophonics plus special guests
Friday 27th March: Kasabian plus special guests
Saturday 28th March: Acts to be confirmed
Sunday 29th March: An Evening of Comedy with Gavin and Stacey's Mathew Horne and James Corden

Thanks for your understanding and for your support of this cause.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We want to learn more about the business attitudes of eBay’s top sellers in the UK. To do this, we need your help.

If you’re one of eBay’s top sellers in the UK, you may shortly be contacted by an independent research consultancy, FreshMinds, asking you to take part in a survey on behalf of eBay.

The findings of this survey will collect the views of online businesses trading on our site, and help us to understand the issues that affect businesses on eBay. We plan to use the findings to speak up on your behalf and to help the media and politicians understand more about how the current state of the economy is affecting online businesses.

It will only take a few minutes to complete – but as a thank you, we are offering participants the chance to win a cash prize. The top prize is £250, with two further prizes of £50 for the runners-up.

If you’re asked to take part, we hope you’ll take the time to complete the survey. Thank you in advance for your help!

Regards,
The eBay Team

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Further to our announcement on 5th February, we're happy to confirm that you can use both Turbo Lister and the Sell Your Item (SYI) form to remove subtitles from live Good 'Til Cancelled listings that already have a sale - you don't have to cancel the listings.

If you use Turbo Lister, make sure you install the latest updates before editing your Good 'Til Cancelled listings. Go to the Tools menu and click 'Check for Programme updates'.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Previous update: Editing features on Good ‘Til Cancelled listings that have sales***
	05 February, 2009 | 03:57PM GMT Edited to clarify situation on removal of subtitle feature. Sellers can now add or remove features (e.g. bold, subtitle) from Good ‘Til Cancelled (GTC) listings that have a sale without having to cancel the listing first. (This has been possible since 3rd February.) If a feature is removed from the listing before the listing renewal date then sellers will not be charged for it after the listing renewal date. Currently, if you want to remove subtitles, you need to use the Sell Your Item form. We’re working on updates so you can remove subtitles using Turbo Lister and the bulk editing tool. For the removal of any other feature from GTC listings, the tools below can be used. The same tools can be used to add features: Sell Your Item (SYI) page Turbo Lister Bulk editing tool Regards, The eBay Team
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	***Original: Editing features on Good ‘Til Cancelled listings that have sales***
	05 February, 2009 | 02:10PM GMT Sellers can now add or remove features (e.g. bold, subtitle) from Good ‘Til Cancelled (GTC) listings that have a sale without having to cancel the listing first. (This has been possible since 3rd February.) If a feature is removed from the listing before the listing renewal date then sellers will not be charged for it after the listing renewal date. Currently, you can only remove subtitles using the Sell Your Item form. We’re working on updates so you can remove subtitles using Turbo Lister and the bulk editing tool. For the removal of any other feature from GTC listings, the tools below can be used. The same tools can be used to add features: Sell Your Item (SYI) page Turbo Lister Bulk editing tool Regards, The eBay Team
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A Coldplay/Killers charity concert is being organised at Shepherd's Bush Empire on February 18 to help raise essential funds for War Child.

As there are a limited number of tickets available, we expect that some of these tickets will be offered for sale on eBay. We have been working with the organisers of the concert to further their fundraising efforts, and will apply the following conditions on the sales of these tickets in line with our charity tickets policy:

• At least 20% of the final sale price for any ticket for this event must be donated to War Child through our eBay for Charity programme.
• Sellers of these tickets need to be registered with eBay for Charity.
• One-day and three-day listings will not be allowed.

Thanks for your understanding and for your support of this cause.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From 27th January until 31st March 2009, when you offer free domestic P&P* in the DVD sub-category of the DVD, Film and TV category, we'll reduce your Final Value Fee by 25% for each item.

* Terms and conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We'd like to update the announcement 'Free Subtitle' originally posted on 22nd December 2008 (see below).

Unfortunately sellers won't be able to remove the subtitle feature from live Good ‘Til Cancelled listings from 8th January 2009 onwards as previously announced. This will now only be possible from Tuesday 3rd February 2009 onwards.

We will extend the subtitle renewal fee refund period from 1st January – 9th February 2009 (inclusive) for sellers who took advantage of the subtitle promotion.

If you have a Good ‘Til Cancelled listing with a renewal date after 9th February 2009, you will need to remove the subtitle feature from the listing before 9th February 2009 if you do not wish to be charged for this feature.

Sellers must still meet any of the previously mentioned requirements in order to qualify for a refund.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: Free Subtitle***
	22 December, 2008 | 09:41AM GMT During December we ran a free subtitle promotion. Some of our feature and anchor shop sellers took advantage of this promotion and added a subtitle to their GTC listings. Due to system constraints sellers are not able to remove the subtitle feature from live GTC listings. However, this functionality will be available from 8th January 2009 We would therefore like to advise sellers who took advantage of the subtitle promotion that we will refund any subtitle renewal fee incurred between 1st - 15th January 2009 (inclusive) for sellers who created: a new Good ‘Till Cancelled listing with subtitle feature enabled in December or added a subtitle to an existing Good ‘Till Cancelled listing in December From 8th January 2009 sellers will be able to revise their live multi-quantity listings with a sale and remove the subtitle feature without having to cancel the listing. For Good ‘Till Cancelled listings with a renewal date after 15th January 2009, the subtitle feature will need to be removed from the listing prior to 15th January 2009 if you do not wish to be charged for this feature Regards, The eBay Team
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The PayPal site will undergo maintenance on Friday, 9th January 2009 between 7am and 8am GMT.

During this time, the PayPal site will be unavailable.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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In April we announced that we're noting the computers you normally use to buy and sell on eBay.

We've now started blocking sellers who are listing from a computer they don't normally use. If you're listing from a different computer (e.g. at a friend's house, at the library), we'll ask you for some additional verification to make sure it's really you listing the item.

This helps us protect your account and all buyers and sellers from fraudulent unauthorised activity. For more details please check our FAQ.

Thank you for your support as we work to make eBay a safer and more secure place to buy and sell.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From Saturday 27th December 2008 to Sunday 28th December 2008 (UK time), private sellers who list item(s) in an eligible category using the Auction-style or Auction with Buy It Now format on eBay.co.uk, will pay a reduced Insertion Fee of 5 pence (£0.05) per listing.

*Terms & conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay Team

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**Correction to retirement date for old Search - it will be retired at the start of March.

We'd like to let you know about our plans for the first quarter of 2009, including:

Duplicate listings policy
Retirement of old search
My eBay update
Item details page update
Postage & packaging policy

Changes to the duplicate listings policy
 
From 27th January 2009, we'll be making some changes to the duplicate listings policy. You'll still be allowed up to 15 duplicate listings for identical items. However, only one of these can be a Buy It Now listing.
                                       
Find out about amendments to the duplicate listings policy at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#2

Retirement of old search system
 
Earlier this year we introduced a new search system. A small percentage of users chose to stick with the old system using an opt-out link. At the start of March, we're retiring the old search completely, so any users who opted out of the new search will be automatically redirected to the new search system.

Learn more at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#3

My eBay update
 
We've been gathering feedback on the new My eBay design and have been making improvements. On 20th January 2009, we’ll retire the current My eBay design and switch to the new one.

If you'd previously opted out of the My eBay test, please opt in and try the new version. We think you'll like it.

Learn more at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#4

Item details page update
 
We're currently testing the new version of the item details page (also known as the ‘view item page’). Sellers can see how the new item details page looks for their listing by using the link at the top right of their current item details page.

Find out about the new item details page at  http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#5

Reminder - postage & packaging policy changes
 
From 27th January 2009, we'll be making changes to our postage and packaging (P&P) policy on eBay.co.uk.

To coincide with the introduction of free DVD P&P, we'll be running a promotion offering a 25% discount on the Final Value Fee on all DVD sales.

Learn more at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#6

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: Important changes coming in 2009: duplicate listings policy, P&P policy, retirement of old search, and more***
	08 December, 2008 | 02:30PM GMT We'd like to let you know about our plans for the first quarter of 2009, including: Duplicate listings policy Retirement of old search My eBay update Item details page update Postage & packaging policy   Changes to the duplicate listings policy   From 27th January 2009, we'll be making some changes to the duplicate listings policy. You'll still be allowed up to 15 duplicate listings for identical items. However, only one of these can be a Buy It Now listing.                                         Find out about amendments to the duplicate listings policy at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#2   Retirement of old search system   Earlier this year we introduced a new search system. A small percentage of users chose to stick with the old system using an opt-out link. At the end of January, we're retiring the old search completely, so any users who opted out of the new search will be automatically redirected to the new search system. Learn more at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#3   My eBay update   We've been gathering feedback on the new My eBay design and have been making improvements. On 20th January 2009, we’ll retire the current My eBay design and switch to the new one. If you'd previously opted out of the My eBay test, please opt in and try the new version. We think you'll like it. Learn more at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#4   Item details page update   We're currently testing the new version of the item details page (also known as the ‘view item page’). Sellers can see how the new item details page looks for their listing by using the link at the top right of their current item details page. Find out about the new item details page at  http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#5   Reminder - postage & packaging policy changes   From 27th January 2009, we'll be making changes to our postage and packaging (P&P) policy on eBay.co.uk. To coincide with the introduction of free DVD P&P, we'll be running a promotion offering a 25% discount on the Final Value Fee on all DVD sales. Learn more at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/businesscentre/newsletter/#6 Regards, The eBay Team
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Following our VAT announcement earlier this week we understand there is some concern in the community about the changes that will come into effect on Monday 1st December.

We would like to confirm that we will be automatically refunding the listing costs incurred by UK sellers who are business or VAT registered, where the listing is:

manually ended and then re-listed to update the VAT information, between Tuesday 25th Nov 2008 and Friday 5th Dec 2008 For these listings we will refund the Insertion and Feature fees.

We have set up a thread on the Q&A board for Frequently Asked Questions here.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: Changes to VAT on 1st December 2008 - advice for eBay.co.uk sellers***
	26 November, 2008 | 08:25PM GMT Effective 1st December 2008, the standard rate of VAT in the UK will be 15%. This rate reduction from the previous rate of 17.5% was announced by the UK Government in their Pre-Budget Report on 24th November. We’re making changes to eBay.co.uk so that the site’s ready for the changes, and we’d like to advise those affected by the rate change on how to amend their listings. Sellers should review all their listings to determine whether they need to amend their VAT information. Please consult with your tax advisors or HMRC for specific guidance on how this change affects you. If you do need to amend your listing here’s what you need to do: Current listings with no bids or sales made yet: If a listing has had no sales, sellers can edit it according to revision guidelines at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/edit_listing.html Current listings with bids or sales made: If the listing has already had sales, you can: wait for the listing to end then edit it, or end it manually, then edit it. Whether you wait for your listing to end naturally or end it manually, the quicker you relist the ended listing, the less your recent sales score for that listing will be affected. ‘Change in item description’ factor removed from recent sales score calculation Changing your item description will no longer affect your recent sales score, so if you need to change the item description to reflect the new VAT rate your recent sales score will not be affected. We’ll be updating the FAQs at http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/find/bestmatch_faq.html to reflect the change. We’d like to remind you that there will be no change to the application of VAT on your eBay selling fees. Your contractual relationship is with eBay Europe S.à r.l, based in Luxembourg and the rate of VAT there (also 15%) will still apply where applicable. For more information on how VAT is applied to selling fees please visit http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/account/vat-local.html With strong competition and early discounting coming from the high street this Christmas season we know buyers are now, more than ever, being attracted to great value bargains. Regards, The eBay Team
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Effective 1st December 2008, the standard rate of VAT in Ireland will be 21.5%. This rate increase from the previous rate of 21% was announced by the Minister of Finance in the 2009 budget. See http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/leaflets/vat_ratechange_budget2009.htm for further details.

We’re making changes to eBay.ie so that the site’s ready for the changes, and we’d like to advise those affected by the rate change on how to amend their listings. Sellers should review all their listings to determine whether they need to amend their VAT information. Please consult with your tax advisors or Revenue for specific guidance on how this change affects you.

If you do need to amend your listing here’s what you need to do:

Current listings with no bids or sales made yet:

If a listing has had no sales or bids, sellers can edit it according to revision guidelines at http://pages.ebay.ie/help/sell/edit_listing.html

Current listings with bids or sales made:

If the listing has already had sales or bids, you can:

1. wait for the listing to end then edit it, or
2. end it manually, then edit it.

Whether you wait for your listing to end naturally or end it manually, the quicker you relist the ended listing, the less your recent sales score for that listing will be affected.

‘Change in item description’ factor removed from recent sales score calculation

Changing your item description will no longer affect your recent sales score, so if you need to change the item description to reflect the new VAT rate your recent sales score will not be affected.

We’ll be updating the FAQs at http://pages.ebay.ie/help/find/bestmatch_faq.html to reflect the change.

We’d like to remind you that there will be no change to the application of VAT on your eBay selling fees. Your contractual relationship is with eBay Europe S.à r.l, based in Luxembourg and the rate of VAT there (also 15%) will still apply where applicable. For more information on how VAT is applied to selling fees please visit http://pages.ebay.ie/help/account/vat-local.html.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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This weekend, private sellers can list their items on eBay.co.uk using the auction-style format with a starting price of 99p or under and pay no Insertion Fee*. So it's a great opportunity to clear out your unwanted items in your home before Christmas and make a little bit of extra cash too!

*Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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This weekend, when you list your car or any other vehicle on eBayMotors.co.uk you'll only have to pay a £4* Insertion Fee - that's half the usual price. You can list using the Auction-style, Auction-with-Buy It Now, or Buy It Now Only formats.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We thought you'd like to know that today we're launching a new marketing campaign for Christmas.

The ‘Guess What’ campaign communicates the great value sellers are offering on eBay this Christmas, especially on new and Buy it Now items, alongside auction and used items.

The campaign’s main message – that eBay is on average 25% cheaper than the high street on like for like new items – was highlighted in a report earlier this year by European research firm Frontiers Economics, which tracked the prices of over 280 goods across 12 categories and compared them with identical items on the high street.

Look out for some of the advertising in newspapers, poster sites and online as well as some fun activity in main commuter stations in early December, all reminding shoppers that whatever they're looking for this Christmas, eBay sellers offer super gift ideas at great prices.

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We're testing a new option in eBay Checkout on eBay.co.uk, which will enable buyers to easily 'Give a Pound' to a featured charity when they’re buying, and support a good cause.

So far, eBay users in the UK have raised over £6 million for good causes through the eBay for Charity programme. Learn more about eBay for Charity.

To give £1 from eBay Checkout:

• Purchase an item on eBay.
• On the 'Review Your Purchase' page, tick the 'Add a £1 donation to my order' box.
• Pay for your purchase with PayPal. If you don't want to pay by PayPal, you'll be asked to go back and remove the donation.
• Your donation will be collected and delivered by MissionFish, our registered charity partner. Note that the £1 donation will appear as a separate transaction, paid to MissionFish, in your PayPal account.

Thanks for your continued support of the eBay for Charity programme.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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Please note that the e-Parcel Service discount for eBay sellers located in Ireland will end on 31st December 2008.

All existing e-Parcel Cards and discounts are valid until that date.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From today we're testing a new advertising placement on selected item details pages (also known as View Item Pages) on eBay.co.uk. The placement will be a short clickable string of text clearly labelled as a sponsored link. A click on this link will open a new browser window and will sometimes lead to on-eBay content and sometimes to off-eBay content.

Goods and services promoted in this sponsored link will not compete with the item for sale on the View Item Page and will be complementary to the View Item Page item whenever possible.

This test will account for less than 1% of View Item Pages in the following categories only:

• Musical Instruments
• MP3 Players
• Home Audio / HiFi

Depending on the results of the test, we will expand the placement to View Item Pages in other categories.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From 1st November until 31st December 2008, when you offer free domestic P&P in media categories* on eBay.co.uk, we’ll reduce your final value fee by 25%, allowing you to offer even greater value to your buyers this Christmas.

Please note: increasing the price of your product to incorporate your postage & packaging price will affect your recent sales score in Best Match for that listing.

*Terms and conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From Thursday 6th November until Sunday 7th December you can add the International site visibility upgrade fee on Auction-style listings in eligible categories on eBay.co.uk for just 2p*.

All other eBay selling fees will still apply.

*Terms and conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We'd like to clarify what happens to listing durations when British Summer Time (BST) ends this Sunday. On Sunday, 26th October 2008 at 2am, the clocks go back an hour, from 2am to 1am.

Listings on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie which started before this Sunday's time change and which end after it will run for the correct length of time (e.g. 3, 5, 7 or 10 days), taking into account the clock change.

For example, a listing starting at 13:00 before the time change and ending after the time change, will end at 12:00 instead of 13:00.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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eBay.co.uk recently announced that from 27th January 2009 their Postage and Packaging (P&P) policy will be updated. The changes will affect those Irish sellers that list on eBay.co.uk.

The changes will affect all sellers who list on eBay.co.uk in the following categories:

• Books, Comics & Magazines
• DVD, TV & Film
• Music
• Video Games
• Mobile & Home Phones

Any Irish seller listing in the above categories on eBay.co.uk must adhere to maximum Postage and Packaging limits as outlined on the Postage and Packaging policy update page.

Please note that the policy changes do not affect Irish sellers listing on eBay.ie, whose listings will remain visible on eBay.co.uk. Such sellers can still include an international P&P amount in their listings, at whatever level they choose.

Read more about how the policy changes will affect sellers listing on eBay.co.uk at: http://web.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/maximumP&P_FAQ.html#maxcosts.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We wanted to let you know of important changes to some eBay policies.

Counterfeit currency and stamps policy
From 27th October we'll be extending our Counterfeit Currency and Stamps policy to include novelty banknotes.

Under section 18 (1) of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, it is a criminal offence for any person to reproduce any British currency note or any part of the British currency note on any substance whatsoever, and whether or not to the correct scale, unless the relevant authority has previously consented in writing.  Further, the Bank of England does not authorise any reproductions in the form of a novelty banknote. For additional details, please visit the Bank of England website.

Hazardous materials policy – laser pointers
From 1st November we'll be extending our Hazardous Materials policy to include laser pointers.

Listings of hand-held lasers with an output of more than 1mW are generally not permitted on eBay. The only exceptions to this policy are club/disco/'rave' type lasers, which may generally be listed, even if their output is greater than 1mW. For further information on laser safety, please visit the HPA website.

Trading in ivory goods
From January 2009 our Animals and Wildlife Products Policy will completely prohibit trading in ivory goods.  For more information about this policy change, please visit the eBay Ink blog. We will continue to enforce our existing policies until the new policy comes into place.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From 28th October, we'll remind buyers when they're leaving Feedback for a seller who has offered free postage & packaging on their transaction.  We'll also remind buyers when their transaction was an international transaction, so that they can allow for the extra delivery time involved.

Feedback is often left days or even weeks after payment is made, so providing these reminders should increase the accuracy of buyer Feedback and help to ensure sellers who sell internationally or who offer free postage & packaging receive appropriate DSRs for 'dispatch time' and 'postage & packaging charges'.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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The problems with Title and Description search have now been corrected.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: Title and Description Search issue ***
	15 October, 2008 | 01:42PM BST We wanted to let you know that we're aware that 'Title and Description Search' is currently not displaying all items correctly. We've identified the steps we need to take to resolve the issue, and expect to have fixed it by the end of next week. We realise how frustrating this is, and will try to resolve the issue as soon as possible. If you're a seller and the item you're selling is not displaying in a Title and Description Search, please contact Customer Support. They'll refund your fees once they've confirmed that your item is affected. If you're a buyer, these items are always available by using Title-only Search (which can be run by unticking the 'Include title and description' box when running a search). You may also consider temporarily changing any 'Favourite Searches' you have set up to search by Title only. Regards, The eBay Team
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This weekend, you can list your items using the Auction-style format with a starting price of 99p or under on eBay.co.uk and pay no Insertion Fee*.

Business-registered users and PowerSellers are not eligible for this promotion.

*Terms and conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay team

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We are committed to making eBay a better place to trade by introducing the following measures:

• changes to our Postage and Packaging policies on eBay.co.uk
• making dispute resolution simpler on eBay (UK & IE)
• ensuring our members can trade in a more secure environment (UK & IE)

We will be elaborating on these points over a series of 3 posts.

From 27th January 2009, we’ll be making changes to our Postage and Packaging (P&P) policies on eBay.co.uk. The new requirements include:

1. The need for sellers to specify a domestic P&P cost on all their listings. Back in spring, we implemented this requirement for new sellers. We are now extending it to all sellers.
   
   
2. The introduction of maximum costs for domestic P&P in the following categories:
• Books, Comics and Magazines
• DVD, TV and Film
• Music
• Videogames
• Mobile and Home Phones
  
  
3. All DVD listings are to offer Free P&P for domestic deliveries

These changes will apply to all new listings. Read more about how these changes will affect your listings.

Excessive P&P costs are cited as a major reason for buyers to spend less online. Offering a competitive P&P cost can drive higher sales conversions on eBay. We believe these changes will enable sellers to continue offering the best value on eBay and for us to continue serving you with the largest volume of buyers on the web.

To help sellers add this information to multiple listings at once, we’ve added new functionality which is now available in Selling Manager and Turbo Lister.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We are committed to making eBay a better place to trade by introducing the following measures:

• changes to our Postage and Packaging policies on eBay.co.uk
• making dispute resolution simpler on eBay (UK & IE)
• ensuring our members can trade in a more secure environment (UK & IE)

We will be elaborating on these points over a series of 3 posts.

Launching the new Dispute Console

At the end of October, we’ll be launching a new Resolution Centre to make it easier for buyers and sellers to resolve disputes. This Resolution Centre will be replacing the current Dispute Console.

You’ll be able to find the following:

• A new “Case Table” 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
• New options to filter by case types and statuses
• A separate flow for buyers and sellers to mutually agree to cancel a transaction. Sellers can still use the existing Unpaid Item process if the buyer hasn't paid them for an item.

You can access the Resolution Centre from My eBay and the View Item page of a closed transaction.

Introducing Feedback revision

As indicated earlier this year at eBay Live!, we’ll be introducing Feedback revision from the week of 20th October.

Feedback revision will enable the seller to ask the buyer to change their Feedback rating, comment and Detailed Seller Ratings once a dispute has been resolved to the buyer’s satisfaction. This can be used for negative or neutral Feedback, or if the buyer accidentally left incorrect Feedback in the first place.

While the Feedback revision process is initiated by the 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 will have a limit of 5 requests per 1,000 Feedback earned within a 12-month period, enabling sellers to address the occasional mistake

We will monitor the system use and make adjustments as required. Read more about Feedback revision.

We hope these new changes will enable you to have a better trading experience on eBay.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We are committed to making eBay a better place to trade by introducing the following measures:

• changes to our Postage and Packaging policies on eBay.co.uk
• making dispute resolution simpler on eBay (UK & IE)
• ensuring our members can trade in a more secure environment (UK & IE)

We will be elaborating on these points over a series of 3 posts.

Changes to Member to Member emails

To increase security for our users and make email communication easier for our members, eBay will be introducing some changes to the email system which will come into effect from 21st October.

Specifically, email addresses sent through the system (i.e. Ask Seller a Question, Reply to Question and Contact eBay Member links on the site) will be made anonymous in emails sent before a sale takes place.  

Sellers will also now be able to respond directly to all customer emails from their own email client (eg: Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail) by simply replying to the email without using the yellow Respond button.

Anonymous email addresses will apply to members who have not recently transacted with each other. Once an item is purchased, the buyer’s and seller’s email addresses will be visible to each other. Until then, eBay will replace the sender’s email address in the “From” field with a temporary anonymous address.
This helps eBay to detect and stop spam and fraudulent messages. It also helps prevent fraudsters from easily obtaining members’ email addresses.
To help us ensure emails are from legitimate members, you may need to add email addresses to your eBay account. If you forward member messages from your eBay registered email account to a secondary email account, you should update your preferences in My eBay with this secondary email address.
To set up this preference:

1. Sign in to My eBay and go to Notification Preferences. In the section titled Delivery Options, click the Show link next to Member-to-Member email address.
2. Choose whether you want to use the same email address to send and receive emails from other members or different addresses for each. You may choose the second option if you need to have one email address to process and route inbound requests, and a second for outbound replies.
3. Enter the email address(es) you want to use to send and receive emails and click on Save.

A short grace period will apply before eBay begins to validate the email address a member is using to reply to member messages. This validation is a secondary security measure to prevent a fraudster from trying to gain access to your account.

Update on protecting buyers and sellers from identity theft

In April, we announced that we're noting the computers you normally use to buy and sell on eBay.

We've now started to verify sellers who are listing from a computer they don't normally use. If you're listing from a different computer (e.g. at a friend's house, at the library), we'll ask you for some additional verification to make sure it's really you listing the item.

This helps us protect your account and all buyers and sellers from fraudulent unauthorised activity. For more details, please check our FAQ.

Thank you for your support as we work to make eBay a safer and more secure place to buy and sell.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We wanted to inform you of some changes we are proposing to eBay’s internal organisation, announced today.

As part of the proposals, we propose re-organising some of our internal-facing teams across Europe, with the aim of ultimately making eBay simpler, safer and more consistent to use.

You can read more detail on the proposals by visiting the eBay Ink blog.

We would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that there will be no outward change to eBay.co.uk or to our existing Customer Support and Account Manager teams, who will continue to be there to help you in the run-up to the important holiday season and beyond.

Thank you for your continued custom and support.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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For the entire month of October, you can list any car or other vehicle on eBayMotors.ie for zero insertion fee*.

You can list using the Auction-style listing format.

*Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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The PayPal site is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance. The maintenance began at 7am BST and is scheduled to run for approximately 1 hour.

During this time, the following features will be unavailable:

• Sending or receiving payments through your PayPal account
• Some instant payment notifications may be delayed or potentially not delivered
• Payflow account sign up
• The ability to modify fraud filter settings

Regards,

The eBay Team

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As previously announced, PayPal is significantly expanding the amount of protection offered to buyers and sellers when they use PayPal on eBay.

From 1st October, buyers on eBay.co.uk will receive protection for the full value of their purchases (including postage) when they pay with PayPal. Previously, buyers were protected up to a maximum amount of £500. Learn more about buyer protection.

From 7th October, eBay.co.uk sellers will no longer need to post to confirmed addresses in order to be eligible for Seller Protection. PayPal is also making several other improvements to Seller Protection, such as removing the annual coverage limit and more. Learn more about Seller Protection.

These changes are available to all eBay.co.uk buyers and sellers at no additional cost.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We wanted to let you know that the PayPal site will undergo maintenance on Friday, 3rd October 2008 between 7am and 8am BST.

During this time, the following features will be unavailable:

• Sending or receiving payments through your PayPal account
• Some instant payment notifications may be delayed or potentially not delivered
• Payflow account sign up
• The ability to modify fraud filter settings

Regards,

The eBay Team

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There’s still plenty of time to register for your chance to win a year’s worth of eBay and PayPal fees. One UK eBay seller will be drawn every month for the remainder of 2008, so don’t miss out!

Our September winner Mr Jeff Dunnill will have the value of his 2008 eBay insertion fees, eBay final value fees and PayPal fees to date refunded directly to his PayPal account. And, he can get listing more eBay items in time for the busy Christmas selling period, with no fees to pay for the rest of the year.

You too could be one of the lucky winners to be drawn every month until the end of the year. Simply register at the 'A Year of Free Fees' competition page, link your eBay ID to your PayPal Account Profile, then continue doing what you do best – selling on eBay and accepting payments with PayPal.

*Terms and conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay team

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The updates to Turbo Lister to support the improvements to Buy It Now and Shops on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie are nearly complete.

In the meantime, you can manually update Turbo Lister by following these steps:

• Open Turbo Lister
• Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R
• When a dialogue box appears click OK
• Check for updates and download as normal

Doing the above will trigger the complete update for Turbo Lister.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: Update: Turbo Lister***
	25 September, 2008 | 12:38PM BST The updates to Turbo Lister to support the improvements to Buy It Now and Shops on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie are nearly complete. In the meantime, you can manually update Turbo Lister by following these steps: Open Turbo Lister Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R Doing the above will trigger the complete update for Turbo Lister. Regards, The eBay Team
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The major improvements to the way Buy It Now and Shops work on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie announced in August are now here.

Our new Buy It Now means sellers can list as many identical items as they want in one listing, for 30 days, and all for a single flat fee.  The more items that sell from that listing, the higher the listing is likely to appear in search results.

If you sell lots of Buy It Now items, our new Shops are designed to give you the opportunity to offer even more stock on eBay, and to enjoy a lower upfront cost - as low as 1p on eBay.co.uk and 2c on eBay.ie depending on what level Shop subscription you choose.

We'd like to remind you that if you've pre-registered your interest in a Shop you’ll need to log in and complete your Shop registration before you start loading up your inventory.  We've also introduced changes to the qualifying criteria for Feature and Anchor Shops so that the best opportunities are open to the sellers offering the best service. Please check to make sure you've met these criteria.

To make the most of these changes, if you haven’t already done so, follow these four essential steps:

1. Sign up for the right Shop and get even lower insertion fees
2. Take advantage of cheaper multiple-item and Good ‘Til Cancelled listings
3. Get the best placement in search results with good products, great prices and Featured First
4. Keep delivering great service to buyers

To find out how to take advantage of these changes visit: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/buyitnow08 (eBay.co.uk) or http://pages.ebay.ie/buyitnow08 (eBay.ie).

We realise that there may be some technical issues with the merging of the two fixed price formats which means a SIF listing created before 25th September may incur a charge when gallery is added or when single listings are turned to multiple-item listings. We'll credit these charges in the next invoice cycle for sellers affected by this.

You may also notice that some of the Feature Pricing is displayed incorrectly in eBay and third-party tools. The correct pricing will be charged at the end of the transaction. We're working hard to make sure that the correct pricing will be displayed. To see the correct fees please visit http://pages.ebay.co.uk/pricechange08/index.html (eBay.co.uk) or http://pages.ebay.ie/pricechange08/index.html (eBay.ie).

We’re also awaiting updates to Turbo Lister to go live later today. We will keep you updated on the progress of this.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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This summer, we’ve been introducing a new search system with new layouts, greater flexibility in how to refine searches and more comprehensive search results. Next week, the remaining users, who have not seen the new search will be automatically redirected to the new search system.

This change will not affect eBay.co.uk users who have opted-out from the new search or those users already using the new search (an easy way to tell if you’re seeing new search is to look for search URLs that start with http://shop.)

To minimise any disruption, we suggest that you familiarise yourself with the new search system and find some items that you would not have found before.

See the new search experience or find out more.

Regards,
The eBay Team

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As of September 22nd, eBay Marketplace Research will be retired and a new service from Terapeak will be offered as a replacement.

On this date, existing subscriptions to eBay Marketplace Research will be cancelled and the tool will no longer be available.

If you were an eBay Marketplace Research subscriber on eBay.co.uk as of Friday August 15th, you're eligible to transfer your current subscription to Terapeak at your current rate. You can do this now by signing in with your eBay user ID and password here:

http://pages.terapeak.com/uk/learn_more/

You'll be guided through the process of signing up for the Terapeak tool and offered your subscription benefits.

Marketplace Research by Terapeak currently supports the following eBay sites:

• eBay.co.uk
• eBay.com
• eBay.com.au
• eBay.ca
• eBay.de
• eBay.fr
• eBayMotors.com Parts & Accessories

Currently, Terapeak does not support eBay.ie data. However, eBay.ie users that are interested in UK data should sign up for Terapeak’s eBay.co.uk Marketplace Research.

Regards,
The eBay Team

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As part of our ongoing efforts to make eBay an easier and safer place to shop, we’re working on giving eBay.ie a new look and some new features.

Find what you want
eBay will be changing the way its search function works, with improved matching that gives better search results.

Previously, buyers only saw search results where the item title keywords exactly matched their search terms. For example, a search for a term like ‘MP3 Players’ would not return items with specific titles like ‘Apple iPod Nano 8GB’. Search now looks at the category an item is listed in and any item specifics the seller provides so that buyers are more likely to find what they want. Find out more about how the new search looks and works.

We are also introducing a new sort order mechanism for displaying your items, called Best Match. The aim of Best Match is to present the most relevant items to buyers first, based on the popularity of the items. eBay.ie will continue to display items from Irish sellers first, and within the Irish items, they will be in order of Best Match.

Easier Browsing including Window Shopping
We’re going to be improving the item details page (sometimes referred to as the ‘View Item Page’). The new page will be easier to read at a glance. There's a bigger picture at the top of the page, with quick and easy access to the other pictures. The new layout also makes it easier to find payment and postage information. This means that the essential information needed before bidding and buying can be read at a glance. There’s also a real-time countdown clock to let you know how much time is left on an item. Find out more about the new Item Details page.

Watch more items
Your new My eBay will allow all members to watch up to 200 items, which makes it easy to keep tabs on items you might wish to buy. The new My eBay also lets you create customised lists to help you group items the way you want and gives you at-a-glance status information. This should be available to all our members in Sept. More information and FAQs about the new My eBay.

Faster checkout
The new checkout feature makes it easier for buyers to pay for items on eBay without having to transfer to the PayPal website. It’s also easier to manage delivery addresses, and Postage and Packaging costs.

Find Good Sellers
We are making changes to how listings are displayed in search results to reward sellers who offer great customer service, by making it easier for buyers to see listings from those sellers at the top of their search results.

Listings of sellers with a Detailed Seller Rating of 4.3 or below on any of the four rating categories (item as described, communication, delivery time, postage & packaging charges) will appear lower in search results. Ratings are calculated on a 30 day basis, so sellers can improve their DSR scores quickly by offering good customer service. For buyers this will result in a better buying experience, and for sellers this will mean happier buyers resulting in more repeat business. Read some tips to help you improve your service and scores. eBay.ie will continue to display Irish sellers above overseas sellers in the search results.

We hope you will find these new features really helpful for buying and selling on eBay.ie.

Regards,
The eBay Team.

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List for just 10c for the whole weekend of Sept 20th and Sept 21st 2008. All Insertion fees are only 10c for any listing using the Auction-style, Auction with Buy It Now or Buy It Now Only (Fixed Price) formats in eligible categories on eBay.ie.

Get ready to save more!

Final value and feature fees are not included in this promotion.

Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,
The eBay Team

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We’re always trying to make our sites simpler and take off features that don’t get much use. That’s why we’re going to retire Bid Assistant – which allowed you to bid on multiple similar items in succession – from eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie in the next few weeks.

The removal plan
On 22 September, we’ll start removing the links to Bid Assistant from item pages and from My eBay, and buyers will no longer be able to create new groups of items. If you’ve used Bid Assistant on eBay.co.uk or eBay.ie recently, or plan to use it before 22 September, here’s how you’ll be affected:

• If you’ve got an active Bid Assistant group as of 22 September: You’ll still see the link to Bid Assistant in My eBay, and will be able to view your groups of items inside it. Bid Assistant will also continue to bid on the items in each group as scheduled.
  But you won’t be able to add or remove items from a group or change your maximum bids. Your Bid Assistant groups will essentially ‘lock’ on 22 September so if you want to change anything in them, make sure you do it before that day.
• If you have a closed Bid Assistant group as of 22 September: You’ll still be able to view your closed groups via the link in My eBay.

We’ll take Bid Assistant off eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie altogether in mid-October.

Regards,
The eBay Team.

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The PayPal site is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance. The maintenance began at 7am BST and is scheduled to run for approximately 1 hour.

During this time, the following features will be unavailable.

• Sending or receiving payments through your PayPal account
• Some instant payment notifications may be delayed or potentially not delivered
• Payflow account sign up
• The ability to modify fraud filter settings

Regards,

The eBay Team

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On Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September, you can list any car or other vehicle on eBayMotors.co.uk for just £4* - that’s half the usual Insertion Fee.

You can list using the Auction-style, Auction-with-Buy It Now or Buy It Now Only (Fixed Price) formats.

*Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We'd like to provide you with more information and updates to the announcements we made 20th and 25th August about improvements to Buy It Now and Shops on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie.

Updated: effective date of changes

All the announced changes, including to fees, Shop and search, will be introduced by the start of business on 25th September.

We'll start the process of introducing the changes on 24th September, so you may notice that some changes are visible earlier than 25th September.

Buy It Now (BIN) Relist Credit

To clarify changes to relist credits announced in August, from 25th September, we'll no longer offer the Insertion Fee relist credit on Buy It Now listings. As before, Auction listings may still be eligible for a relist credit.

Get more details on all price changes: UK | IE

Read the current policy on relist credit: UK | IE

Minimum price for Buy It Now (BIN) listings

From 25th September 2008, the policy on a minimum price of 99p (UK) or €1 (IE) for multiple-item listings will be extended to cover all Buy It Now listings, both single and multiple-item. The minimum BIN price for an Auction with BIN listing will also be 99p (UK) or €1 (IE).

Current Shop Inventory Format listings priced below 99p (UK) or €1 (IE) will be cancelled by 31st December 2008. Please refer to the FAQs for more information: UK | IE

Sellers listing with the Auction-format only will continue to be able to list with starting prices lower than 99p (UK) or €1 (IE).

We're introducing this change to address concerns around feedback manipulation.

Additional Questions

For further questions and answers on the announced changes, please read the FAQs: UK | IE. We'll update these regularly to reflect and include the most up-to-date answers.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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SMS text alerts are free in September for eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie users (normally 12p per alert in the UK and €0.20 in Ireland).

Text message alerts are a great way of keeping tabs on items you're watching or bidding on when you're not at your PC.  If you've never tried them before, why not give them a go for free now?  Terms and conditions and more information about this promotion can be found at:

eBay.co.uk: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/mobile/alerts/tandc.html
eBay.ie: http://pages.ebay.ie/mobile/alerts/tandc.html

You can also access eBay.co.uk on your mobile phone or Blackberry.  When you visit http://www.ebay.co.uk or http://www.ebay.ie on your mobile, you'll get the eBay Mobile site, which has been optimised for mobile phones.  If you need to access features that aren't on eBay Mobile, you can choose to browse the full, non-mobile-optimised version by scrolling down and clicking the link for the 'Classic' view.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We wanted to let you know that the PayPal site will undergo maintenance on Thursday, 11th September 2008 between 7am and 8am BST.

During this time, the following features will be unavailable.

• Sending or receiving payments through your PayPal account
• Some instant payment notifications may be delayed or potentially not delivered
• Payflow account sign up
• The ability to modify fraud filter settings

Regards,

The eBay Team

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eBay provides a great deal of flexibility for users to select a user ID and Shop name that meets their needs. Our User ID policy provides guidelines on what names are allowed.

As a reminder, you can't have user IDs or Shop names that represent an email or web address (URL), nor include a website address in your Shop header.

In the past, we have allowed certain user IDs registered before this policy came into place in November 2001 to contain URLs. In response to community feedback, we will be standardising our policy and removing this exemption.

If you were previously allowed to trade with a user ID or Shop name containing a URL, please update your user ID and Shop name by Thursday 2nd October to comply with our User ID policy.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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On Thursday 4th September 2008, it'll cost you just 5p in insertion fees to list any item using the auction-style, auction-with-Buy It Now and Buy It Now only (fixed-price) formats in eligible categories on eBay.co.uk.

The discount doesn't apply to final value and feature fees.

Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We’re shortly going to be testing a new look and some features on the item details page (sometimes referred to as the ‘View Item Page’), and we wanted to let you know about the changes you can expect to see if you’re part of the test group.

We’ve had lots of requests for bigger pictures and a more structured layout, and the new design directly meets those requests.

New look

The new page is cleaner and easier to read. There's a bigger picture at the top of the page, with quick and easy access to the other pictures. The new layout also makes it easier to find payment and postage information.

Easier bidding & buying
The essential information needed before bidding and buying can be read at a glance. There’s also a real-time countdown clock.

We’ll be following the results and feedback closely to make sure the changes are improving the eBay experience.

Information for sellers:

Preview your item in the new item page. Although only a very small fraction of buyers will see the new design, all sellers, as of today, will be able to see how their items will appear in the new design. As a seller, if you have an item listed, simply sign in and click the new preview link at the top of your listing to view the item as it would appear in the new design. Our test will last for at least 4 weeks to allow you to adjust your listings as necessary.

The redesigned item page description section will be flexible in width, not fixed width. 3rd-party developers and sellers told us that our original plan to require a fixed width for the description area of the item page would cause too much disruption to listing templates. We’ve modified our design, so now the top section will be fixed width, but the lower description section will be flexible in width (as it is today) to accommodate the various types of listing templates our sellers use.

More details and FAQs for buyers, sellers and Shop owners are available at: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/newlook08/viewitem/.

New My eBay beta
We’re starting to introduce the new look My eBay to more users now, following our initial testing.  If you’ve been transferred to the new My eBay beta, you can still opt out of the test, if you’d prefer.  If you can’t see the new My eBay but would like to, you’ll be pleased to know that all users can now opt-in to view and use the new My eBay beta.  The new My eBay makes it easier for you to personalise the information you want to see.  Click the ‘Try out the beta’ link at the top right hand of the My eBay page.

As always, we’ll be happy to hear your feedback. More details are available at: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/newlook08/myebay/  (eBay.co.uk) or http://pages.ebay.ie/newlook08/myebay/ (eBay.ie)

Regards,

The eBay team

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	***Original: Changes to item details page and an update on My eBay ***
	15 August, 2008 | 01:32PM BST We’re shortly going to be testing a new look and some features on the item details page (sometimes referred to as the ‘View Item Page’), and we wanted to let you know about the changes you can expect to see if you’re part of the test group. We’ve had lots of requests for bigger pictures and a more structured layout, and the new design directly meets those requests. New look The new page is cleaner and easier to read. There's a bigger picture at the top of the page, with quick and easy access to the other pictures. The new layout also makes it easier to find payment and postage information. Easier bidding & buying The essential information needed before bidding and buying can be read at a glance. There’s also a real-time countdown clock. We’ll be following the results and feedback closely to make sure the changes are improving the eBay experience. Information for sellers: Preview your item in the new item page. Although only a very small fraction of buyers will see the new design, all sellers, as of today, will be able to see how their items will appear in the new design. As a seller, if you have an item listed, simply sign in and click the new preview link at the top of your listing to view the item as it would appear in the new design. Our test will last for at least 4 weeks to allow you to adjust your listings as necessary. The redesigned item page description section will be flexible in width, not fixed width. 3rd-party developers and sellers told us that our original plan to require a fixed width for the description area of the item page would cause too much disruption to listing templates. We’ve modified our design, so now the top section will be fixed width, but the lower description section will be flexible in width (as it is today) to accommodate the various types of listing templates our sellers use. New My eBay beta We’re starting to introduce the new look My eBay to more users now, following our initial testing.  If you’ve been transferred to the new My eBay beta, you can still opt out of the test, if you’d prefer.  If you can’t see the new My eBay but would like to, you’ll be pleased to know that all users can now opt-in to view and use the new My eBay beta.  The new My eBay makes it easier for you to personalise the information you want to see.  Click the ‘Try out the beta’ link at the top right hand of the My eBay page. As always, we’ll be happy to hear your feedback. More details are available at: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/newlook08/myebay/  (eBay.co.uk) or http://pages.ebay.ie/newlook08/myebay/ (eBay.ie) Regards, The eBay team
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We'd like to let you know about some changes to our policies on buying and selling knives on eBay. These will come into effect from September this year.

Extra verification when buying

From September, buyers must have a credit card on file with us in order to purchase a knife on eBay.co.uk. If you don't, we'll ask you to enter your card details when you place your bid or use Buy It Now. This is for verification only; you won't be charged.

Rules for sellers

1) It is an offence in the UK to sell knives to a person who is under the age of 18.

2) It is an offence to market a knife in a way which indicates or suggests that it is suitable for combat, or is likely to encourage violent behaviour involving the use of the knife as a weapon.

3) The following knives are not permitted on eBay. Please check our policy for full details and examples.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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Updated to add link to further details: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/newlook08/newsearch/index.html

Two new features are coming to search on eBay.co.uk: search suggestions and a new Refine Your Search.

Search suggestions means that the search box will offer suggestions to help you complete your query as you type. The search suggestions feature will make searching faster and easier than ever. If you don’t like it, though, don’t worry, you can always turn suggestions off.

The changes to Refine Your Search will make it easier to find and select options like 'Search including Title & Item Description' and show only 'Auctions'.

More details on the changes are available at: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/newlook08/newsearch/index.html.

Everyone searching on eBay.co.uk will see the features during the next 7 days.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: New Features in Search***
	12 August, 2008 | 11:38AM BST Two new features are coming to search: search suggestions and a new Refine Your Search. Search suggestions means that the search box will offer suggestions to help you complete your query as you type. The search suggestions feature will make searching faster and easier than ever. If you don’t like it, though, don’t worry, you can always turn suggestions off. The changes to Refine Your Search will make it easier to find and select options like 'Search including Title & Item Description' and show only 'Auctions'. More detail on the changes will be available soon. Everyone searching on eBay.co.uk will see the features during the next 7 days. Regards, The eBay Team
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We’re making major improvements to the way Buy It Now and Shops work on eBay.ie. These changes will come into effect from September 24th 2008.

If you already own a Shop, list lots of Buy It Now items or want to grow your business, we strongly advise you find out more about these improvements and what you can do to make the most of them for your business.

Find out more about the changes: http://pages.ebay.ie/buyitnow08

What’s changing?

Buy It Now
Buy It Now listings will last up to 30 days, giving your listing more chance of selling by trebling the maximum exposure time from 10 days.

The insertion fee for Buy It Now listings will cost a flat 50c (25c in media category, different pricing applies to the Vehicles category), whatever the price of the item. Insertion fees as low as 2c will be available to Shop owners.

Shops
If you have lots of items you want to list using Buy It Now, open one of our improved Shops to get much lower insertion fees.

Our new Shops are designed to give sellers more opportunities to offer more stock on eBay, and to enjoy a lower upfront cost - as low as 2c depending on what level Shop subscription you choose.

All items listed through a Shop will appear in main search results. This means Shop Inventory Format will no longer be available as a listing format.

What do I do now?
If you list lots of Buy It Now items, own a Shop, want to grow your business or offer your entire inventory on eBay.ie at lower cost, follow our ‘four essential steps’ to understand how these improvements will affect you and how you can make the most of them.

1. Sign up for the right Shop and get even lower insertion fees
2. Take advantage of cheaper multiple-item and Good ‘Til Cancelled listings
3. Get the best placement in search results with good products, great prices and Featured First
4. Keep delivering great service to buyers

Read more about four essential steps to making the most of improved Buy It Now and Shops: http://pages.ebay.ie/buyitnow08

Why are we making these improvements?
Buyers and sellers have been telling us they want more choice in how they shop and how they sell. As well as the magic of auctions, many buyers increasingly want the convenience of being able to buy a great item, at a great cost, instantly. These improvements now mean sellers have the opportunity to meet this demand and grow their businesses.

Thanks for your continued support in making eBay such a vibrant marketplace to buy and sell.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We’re making major improvements to the way Buy It Now and Shops work on eBay.co.uk. These changes will come into effect from September 24th 2008.

If you already own a Shop, list lots of Buy It Now items or want to grow your business, we strongly advise you find out more about these improvements and what you can do to make the most of them for your business.

Find out more about the changes: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/buyitnow08

What’s changing?

Buy It Now
Buy It Now listings will last up to 30 days, giving your listing more chance of selling by trebling the maximum exposure time from 10 days.

The insertion fee for Buy It Now listings will be the same fee, whatever the price of the item:

40p (20p in media category, different pricing applies to the Vehicles category)

Insertion fees as low as 1p will be available to Shop owners.

Shops
If you have lots of items you want to list using Buy It Now, open one of our improved Shops to get much lower insertion fees.

Our new Shops are designed to give sellers more opportunities to offer more stock on eBay, and to enjoy a lower upfront cost - as low as 1p depending on what level Shop subscription you choose.

All items listed through a Shop will appear in main search results. This means Shop Inventory Format will no longer be available as a listing format.

What do I do now?
If you list lots of Buy It Now items, own a Shop, want to grow your business or offer your entire inventory on eBay.co.uk at lower cost, follow our ‘four essential steps’ to understand how these improvements will affect you and how you can make the most of them.

1. Sign up for the right Shop and get even lower insertion fees
2. Take advantage of cheaper multiple-item and Good ‘Til Cancelled listings
3. Get the best placement in search results with good products, great prices and Featured First
4. Keep delivering great service to buyers

Read more about four essential steps to making the most of improved Buy It Now and Shops: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/buyitnow08

Why are we making these improvements?
Buyers and sellers have been telling us they want more choice in how they shop and how they sell. As well as the magic of auctions, many buyers increasingly want the convenience of being able to buy a great item, at a great cost, instantly. These improvements now mean sellers have the opportunity to meet this demand and grow their businesses.

Thanks for your continued support in making eBay such a vibrant marketplace to buy and sell.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From 24th September, we’re revising fees for Auction and Buy It Now listings, Shop subscriptions and for Gallery.

Free Gallery
We’re happy to confirm that we’re removing the fee for the Gallery listing upgrade (was 15p on eBay.co.uk and 20c on eBay.ie). This makes permanent the promotion that was due to end on 30th September 2008.

Success-based fees
Overall, we are continuing our commitment to moving the cost of selling an item on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie away from the front-end insertion fee and increasing the final value fees, so that the majority of fees are paid only when you successfully sell an item.

Sellers can continue to enjoy large discounts on final value fees based on volume of sales and good service.

Fees to fit your business
We are also providing more tailored pricing options to fit the different sizes and business models of Shop owners and Buy It Now format sellers. This will help provide a more vibrant market place with even greater choice for buyers and greater opportunities for all sellers.

Find out more about the fees changes:
eBay.co.uk: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/pricechange08/
eBay.ie: http://pages.ebay.ie/pricechange08/

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From the beginning of October we’ll start to give buyers more detail about the items they want to buy, based on information given to us by sellers.

What do I need to do? 
Sellers should update listing templates now and make sure new listings include postage options, dispatch times and return policies.

Postage options and dispatch time
From the beginning of October, when sellers put in a dispatch time for an item, we’ll start to display the estimated delivery time for that item at checkout.

This will be calculated by combining information about the ‘Dispatch Time’ and ‘Postage Option’ the seller specifies when creating their listing, and is a great way to help set realistic buyer expectations on delivery times.

Early next year all sellers will be required to enter a dispatch time on all their listings.  If there’s no information regarding normal delivery times for the postage option chosen, we’ll just show the dispatch time.

Return policy
From the beginning of October, every seller will need to specify whether they do or don't accept returns. We’ll remove the pre-selected dropdown menu that allows sellers to choose the length of time during which returns will be accepted.

This means business sellers should adapt their return policy in line with their legal obligations, and specify the number of days during which returns will be accepted by them.  We advise all sellers to update this at the earliest opportunity.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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From 12th August until 23rd September you can list multiple numbers of identical items within the same listing on eBay.co.uk using the Buy It Now only or Shop Inventory Format and pay only one Insertion Fee for each category that you list in.

Terms and conditions apply

Regards

The eBay Team

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Last month we announced that we’ll be recalculating Feedback percentages to exclude neutral Feedback from the calculation.

Neutrals, whether left in the past, or those you might receive in the future, will no longer be counted as part of the Feedback percentage.

The recalculation is scheduled to take effect next week (week commencing 19th August), before the next PowerSeller eligibility deadline. This means neutral feedback will not affect PowerSeller eligibility for August.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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All Insertion fees are half price for any listing using the Auction-style, Auction-with-Buy It Now or Buy It Now Only (Fixed Price) formats in eligible categories on eBay.co.uk.

Get ready to save more!

Final value and feature fees are not included in this promotion.

*Terms and conditions apply

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We're delighted to announce a significant expansion of the protection offered to buyers and sellers when they use PayPal on eBay. These improvements will come into effect from October this year.

Buyers
Starting in October, eBay buyers will receive protection for the full value of their purchases (including postage) when they pay with PayPal.  Currently, buyers are protected up to a maximum amount of £500. Find out more about buyer protection

Sellers
Also from October, all sellers will qualify for expanded seller protection against certain claims for fraudulent payments and item not received, regardless of whether they are a PowerSeller or not.

Improvements include:

• No more confirmed address. eBay Sellers can post to whichever address the buyer provides them for the eBay sale through PayPal, whether it is confirmed or not.
• No more coverage limit. Currently sellers have a coverage payout limit under the Seller Protection Policy of £3,250 per year. We are removing this limit to cover all eligible claims.
• Coverage in more places around the world. Coverage is now extended to the 190 countries supported by PayPal for sales made via eBay, so sellers can post to customers wherever they are and feel safe.

Find out more about expanded seller protection (currently only available for PowerSellers).

These improvements continue our efforts to make eBay a safer, more vibrant marketplace, where buyers can shop and sellers can sell with even greater confidence that they’ll be protected in the unlikely event that things go wrong. 

We look forward to updating you with further details nearer the time.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We'd like to remind business sellers on eBay.co.uk that you should register as an eBay business now, if you haven't already done so.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 came into force in the UK on 26th May 2008.  The regulations introduce a general duty not to trade unfairly and seek to ensure that traders act honestly and fairly towards their customers.  It is a criminal offence in the UK for a business to falsely claim or create the impression that it is not acting for purposes relating to its trade, business, craft or profession or to falsely represent itself as a consumer.

Sellers who mislead potential buyers into thinking that they are a private individual when they are in fact a business seller (i.e. by not registering as a business seller with eBay) will be breaking the law.

Find out more about eBay.co.uk - the law and policies that affect you.

Business sellers on eBay.ie should note that the same offence also exists in Ireland (under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 - 1 May 2007).  For more information, go to: eBay.ie - the law and policies that affect you

Regards,

The eBay Team

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Over the last couple of years, we've introduced a lot of changes in the marketplace and made significant progress in our fraud prevention efforts.  We wanted to give you an overview of how our initiatives fit into an overall strategy.

Preventing fraud:

• We've made it harder for fraudsters to open new accounts by using stronger identity verification.
• We've worked with the likes of Yahoo! and Google to block phishing emails before they get to your inbox.
• Later this year, we'll prevent accounts from being taken over by requiring anyone attempting to list an item from an 'unknown' computer to go through identity confirmation.

Removing fraud visibility:

• We prevent items most favoured by fraudsters appearing in search immediately to give fraud detection algorithms and teams more time to detect fraud.
• In March 2008, we expanded the use of anonymised bidder IDs to all auction-style listings, resulting in a 90 per cent reduction in fake Second Chance Offers.
• In 2009, we'll prevent malicious content by controlling 'active' user-generated content in listings.

Ensuring safer transactions:

• We now require all sellers to accept PayPal and sellers of higher-risk items to accept PayPal only.
• Later this year, anonymous email forwarding via our secure member-to-member communication system will keep pre-sale communications safe on eBay and keeps buyers’ e-mail addresses anonymous and protected.  If you ever suspect that an email you receive isn't legitimate, forward it to us at spoof@ebay.com or spoof@paypal.com to help protect yourself and other members.

While we do all we can to make the marketplace as safe as possible, you also play an important role.  Your community reports help us to clean up listings that slip through the cracks, so please report any fraudulent listings you see to help protect yourself and other members.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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A charity football match between England and the Rest of the World at Wembley Stadium on 7th September 2008 is being organised by Soccer Aid to help raise essential funds for UNICEF.

As there are a limited number of tickets available, we expect that some of these tickets will be offered for sale on eBay. We have been working with the organisers of the match to further their fundraising efforts, and will apply the following conditions on the sales of these tickets in line with our charity tickets policy:

• At least 20% of the final sale price for any ticket for this event must be donated to UNICEF UK through our eBay for Charity programme.
• Sellers of these tickets need to be registered with eBay for Charity.
• One-day and three-day listings will not be allowed.

Thanks for your understanding and for your support of this cause.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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PayPal is giving away a year’s worth of eBay insertion, final value and PayPal fees to one eBay seller every month, for the remainder of 2008.

For a chance to win, simply register at the A Year of Free Fees competition page and continue selling on eBay and accepting payments with PayPal.

Winners will have the value of their 2008 eBay insertion fees, eBay final value fees and PayPal fees refunded directly to their PayPal accounts.

For full details on how to enter for your chance to win free eBay and PayPal fees for 2008, visit the A Year of Free Fees competition page.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We wanted to let you know about some changes that we are making to our Seller Non-Performance policy in response to feedback from sellers.

The Seller Non-Performance policy puts in place penalties, up to and including account suspension, for sellers who cause unacceptable levels of buyer dissatisfaction.

While most sellers appreciate the need for a programme like this to maintain service standards on the eBay marketplace, we have heard from many sellers that they would like clearer information about how they are performing against the policy, and that they would like to have a chance to improve their performance if they should happen to breach it.

With this in mind, effective immediately, we will be introducing a 1-month warning period for sellers who breach the Seller Non-Performance policy for the first time. If a seller breaches the policy for a second time within six months of the warning, they will face account restriction or suspension.

To help sellers keep track of where they stand with regard to the Seller Non-Performance policy, we are also adding a new feature to the Seller Dashboard – the Buyer Satisfaction Rating. This rating is made up of a number of weighted elements, including:

• negative feedback
• neutral feedback
• low detailed seller ratings scores
• disputes that closed in favour of the buyer.

These elements are taken as a percentage of a seller’s overall transactions during the preceding 30 days to generate the Buyer Satisfaction Rating. Sellers who are rated as ‘Poor’ or ‘Unacceptable’ will be in breach of the Seller-Non Performance policy, and will be contacted by eBay and given a warning, account restriction or suspension as appropriate.

We hope that sellers find the Buyer Satisfaction Rating a useful tool to help them provide great service, and that the introduction of a warning period gives all sellers an opportunity to improve their performance if they should fall foul of the Seller Non-Performance policy.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We’ve made changes to the eBay User Agreement (UK User Agreement | Ireland User Agreement) and eBay Privacy Policy (UK Privacy Policy | Ireland Privacy Policy).  These are effective immediately for new members and on 13 August 2008 for existing members.

If you accept the new User Agreement and Privacy Policy, you don't need to take any action. If you do not wish to accept the new User Agreement or Privacy Policy, please refer to our Help pages for instructions on how to close your eBay account.

Here’s a quick summary of the changes:

User Agreement updates

The primary changes to the User Agreement are:

New catalogue services
The agreement’s content and liability sections have been revised to accommodate new features that may give sellers catalogues of content and product descriptions, so they can easily include complete and up-to-date product information for the items they list.

Fee withdrawal from PayPal for fees overdue by 180 days
eBay will take fees that are overdue using a PayPal withdrawal if the balance has been overdue for 180 days and our other collection efforts have been unsuccessful. If eBay withdraws late fees, this will not alter the status of a seller’s PayPal account or funds remaining after the withdrawal.

Privacy Policy updates
We’ve made a few changes to the policy that allow us to offer new services, better tailor the services we provide, and help make our site safer.

Combating Fraud
We're increasing our efforts to combat fraud on the site with a variety of programmes which allow us to address malicious activities using our message systems, or to better authenticate you if you’re using an unfamiliar computer to prevent fraudsters from abusing your account. We're also making sure our disclosures about cooperating with law enforcement agencies allow us to respond in a timely manner to increasingly sophisticated fraudsters and criminals.

Streamlining Services
We’ve made some changes to the Disclosure section to allow our Customer Support team to help you with questions that also relate to our other companies, and streamline your use of the services provided by multiple members of the eBay corporate family. Some of our new programmes also mean you'll see eBay services and content in a lot of places (not just on the site), so we've made some changes to clarify where our policies apply.

Customising Your eBay Experience
You'll be able to sign in and change your advertising preferences in My eBay at any time using a new setting called AdChoice. In some cases, we may also use information from other companies to select the right audiences for our promotions. In the revised Privacy Policy (UK Privacy Policy | Ireland Privacy Policy), you’ll see a new Marketing section that describes in more detail our collection and use of information for these and all our marketing programmes.

Thanks for using eBay.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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Earlier this year we made significant changes to the Feedback system to improve seller standards and give buyers even greater confidence and trust when buying on the site.  As a result we’ve already seen more sellers improving their standards, as measured by Detailed Seller Ratings, and fewer buyers reporting bad experiences.

At the same time we’ve heard concerns from sellers about key areas of Feedback.  Based on what you’ve told us, we’re making the following changes:

Recalculating Feedback percentages without neutrals
Effective in late August, neutrals will no longer be counted as part of the Feedback percentage. This means we will be recalculating Feedback percentages retroactively for users worldwide. In the interim, no one will lose their PowerSeller status as a result of neutrals being included in their Feedback percentage.

Helping you resolve disputes and satisfy buyers
By the end of October, we’ll introduce a new process to help sellers resolve disputes with buyers, even after Feedback has been left by the buyer.

This will give buyers a way of changing or withdrawing Feedback in certain limited circumstances.  Please note that this is not a re-introduction of the old Mutual Feedback Withdrawal process, which could be abused by some sellers to place undue pressure on buyers to withdraw their Feedback.

We'll provide more details of this new process soon.

We’ve also recently received lots of feedback from sellers about the Seller Non-Performance programme.  We’ll provide an update on changes to this programme early next week.

Thanks for your continued commitment to making eBay such a great place to buy and sell.  We want to continue an open and constructive discussion with both buyers and sellers while we make major improvements to the marketplace; it means we can respond quickly to address your concerns, and introduce ideas that benefit everyone.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We wanted to let you know that the Community discussion boards will be undergoing maintenance tomorrow, 11 July, between 7am and 9am.

You may notice some disruption to discussion board services during this time. Normal service will resume once the maintenance has been completed.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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On Tuesday, 8th July 2008, Insertion Fees are just 5p for any listing using the Auction-style, Auction-with-Buy It Now and Buy It Now only (fixed price) formats in an eligible category on eBay.co.uk.

Final value and feature fees are not included in this promotion.

Terms and conditions apply.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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We wanted to let you know that you can read a letter from eBay's Douglas McCallum regarding our fight against counterfeits.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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Updated to add link to more information and FAQs about the new My eBay.

As part of our ongoing efforts to make eBay an easier and safer place to shop, we’re working on giving eBay.co.uk a new look and new features.

We’re doing this because better design makes it easier for you to use eBay, and easier to display and find the information you need to buy and sell.  The new designs also let us add useful features while keeping the site simple.

New checkout
Testing on our new checkout system has progressed well, and is now being used by 100% of members.  The new checkout makes it easier for buyers to pay for items on eBay without having to transfer to the PayPal website.  It’s also easier to manage delivery addresses, and P&P costs and P&P promotions offered by sellers are handled better.

My eBay
From today, a small group of UK members will see a new version of My eBay while we test new features.  The new My eBay lets you create customised lists to help you group items the way you want and gives you at-a-glance status information with colour-coding. More information and FAQs about the new My eBay.

Watch up to 200 items
All members can now watch up to 200 items, making it easier to keep tabs on the things you want to buy.

While the new features are being tested or are bedding in, we’ll keep a close eye on things to make sure that the changes we make meet your needs.

Regards,

The eBay Team

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	***Original: A new look for checkout and My eBay on eBay.co.uk ***
	02 July, 2008 | 12:22PM BST As part of our ongoing efforts to make eBay an easier and safer place to shop, we’re working on giving eBay.co.uk a new look and new features. We’re doing this because better design makes it easier for you to use eBay, and easier to display and find the information you need to buy and sell.  The new designs also let us add useful features while keeping the site simple. New checkout Testing on our new checkout system has progressed well, and is now being used by 100% of members.  The new checkout makes it easier for buyers to pay for items on eBay without having to transfer to the PayPal website.  It’s also easier to manage delivery addresses, and P&P costs and P&P promotions offered by sellers are handled better. My eBay From today, a small group of UK members will see a new version of My eBay while we test new features.  The new My eBay lets you create customised lists to help you group items the way you want and gives you at-a-glance status information with colour-coding. More details will be available soon. Watch up to 200 items All members can now watch up to 200 items, making it easier to keep tabs on the things you want to buy. While the new features are being tested or are bedding in, we’ll keep a close eye on things to make sure that the changes we make meet your needs. Regards, The eBay Team
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