Posts filed under 'eBay'
If you are an eBay “old-timer” you will remember Katy. I just read the news of her passing. For full details please see the eBay Chatter blog here.
You can read more on the eBay Memorial Thread.
I’m sure there are many IMA members who remember Katy, so I thought it was only fitting we should start our own memorial post to her, on our blog. Please post your remembrances of her in the Comments section below.
May you Rest in Peace Katy, the Pinkest of the Pink.
Cyn
April 5th, 2008
Anyone who sells items that can be sent by email or delivered through eBay/Paypal’s download service has certainly had a rough week. eBay announced earlier this week that sellers of digital goods would no longer be able to list those items in auction format. Sellers of digital goods would be required to list their wares in the classified ad format that costs $9.95 per ad and doesn’t receive any on eBay feedback for the transactions (since they would all be completed off eBay).
The main reasoning for this rules change was stated as FEEDBACK MANIPULATION. Many of the digital downloads are easily replicated and any seller could quickly generate thousands of listings and pump up their feedback. Unfortunately all goods that can be “shipped” digitally do not fall in this category of items, eBay listing templates and store templates come to mind.
Yesterday, Brian Burke answered some of the biggest questions about the new requirements for digital downloads on the eBay Chatter blog. Probably the best news from this blog post was that Brian says that custom services like auction template designs and store designs do NOT fall under these new guidelines for digital downloads.
This is because website designs are considered custom services because the buyer and seller work together to design and implement the template. He did say that a Single template page even if you could customize the color or “insert your name here”, would not be considered custom services and would be required to be listed in the Classified Ads format.
The eBay template designers are not out of the woods yet! It remains to be seen if the automated software processes eBay has in place will recognize that the listing is for custom work and is ok to list. Not to mention if T&S would “automatically” cancel a legal listing should it be reported by an eBay user.
Chuck
March 28th, 2008
Yesterday Kristina Klausen from eBay’s Shipping Team announced that starting this week eBay will begin requiring all new sellers who are listing for the first time to specify their shipping costs using the Shipping Details section. By the time eBay Live arrives specified shipping costs will be required in most listings on eBay. Click here to read the full announcement.
What does this mean for me as a seller?
If you use USPS or UPS then you can take advantage of the eBay Shipping Calculator, if you prefer FedEx or DHL then you will have to enter a flat rate when listing.
Flat rate shipping doesn’t have to be as bad as it sounds. You do not have to charge shipping to zone 8 for all orders no matter how close they are. What you want to do is determine what shipping amount will cover most of your shipments. The best way to arrive at this number is to pull a list of all your orders from the previous month, quarter or even the last year. The more data the better.
With this data you should be able to determine what your average shipping cost was as well as other interesting metrics like what percentage of your orders are only traveling a short distance and which ones are traveling further. Your goal should be to at least cover shipping on all orders and maybe have a little profit built in should the rates or surcharges increase.
Probably the best benefit of Flat Rate S&H that I can think of is while all the other sellers are scrambling to change their S&H on thousands of listings, your S&H doesn’t have to be changed. We experienced this back in 2006 when the USPS changed their rates. While many sellers were frantically changing the S&H in their listings, we continued to list and sell additional product.
As a seller I believe it creates a good buying experience if we provide the potential buyer with a shipping quote upfront and in the actual search if possible. This change will not affect our business because we already do this. However, I am concerned for other sellers because the eBay shipping calculator can be buggy at times and doesn’t support all the carriers. It would be easier for everyone to swallow if eBay would have added the functionality for all major carriers to the shipping calculator.
Chuck
March 25th, 2008
Today eBay announced more exposure for Stores in Search. It’s not the infamous “Stores in Search” but it is definitely better than the small amount of exposure Stores currently receive in search:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200803121000132.html
Raj Patel
Hi everyone…I’m Raj Patel with the eBay Stores team. As many of our Store sellers know, last November we began testing several new ways to display Store Inventory listings in the expansion area below search results. (As a reminder, this area appears when a search returns 30 or fewer auction-style and fixed price items.) For example, some of our tests included the display of Gallery images for Store Inventory listings when available. We also experimented with different quantities of Store Inventory listings in this area.
The purpose of all these tests was to determine what presentation makes the optimal experience for buyers. Based on our results, I’m pleased to let you know we’ll be making two important changes:
Store Inventory Gallery Images Will be Displayed
Gallery images (when available) will now be shown in the Store Inventory expansion area when a search returns 30 or fewer core listings (auction-style and fixed price items).
Up to 50 Listings Displayed
We will now show up to 50 Store Inventory listings in this expansion area, a significant increase from our previous maximum of 30.
To learn more about eBay Stores, check out our information page.
Sincerely,
Raj Patel
eBay Stores
What do you think of this latest bone eBay is throwing to Store owners? Post your comments below.
Cyn
March 12th, 2008
Like a lot of sellers, I believe eBay did a questionable job in creating the Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) system. The Shipping Time score is open to a lot of buyer interpretation. Are they supposed to rate us on how quickly we get the package to the carrier after receiving payment, did we ship on-time based on our promises in the listing, or are they supposed to rate us purely on how quickly the package arrives?That said, I take minor exception to so many sellers saying they have absolutely no control over how fast a package is delivered by the carrier.
I firmly believe there are things sellers can do to influence transit time. Here are two lists of packaging traits, guess which group’s packages will arrive faster?
Group A Packaging Traits:
- Handwritten addresses
- Addresses using improper abbreviations
- Addresses poorly formatted
- Non-validated addresses
- Frankenstein school of box building (i.e. irregularly shaped parcels, 2 or more pieces taped together, frequently created from re-used boxes, many with other labeling on them)
- No indication of carrier service class
- Packaged in other carrier’s free supplies
- Poorly sealed
- Fluid stains or excessive rattling
- Wrong class of postage used (i.e. Media Mail rate for non-qualified items)
- For International, wrong Customs Forms or improper information on forms
Group B Packaging Traits:
- Computer printed shipping labels
- Fully validated and properly formatted addresses
- Clean, new boxes in standard shapes
- Labels on multiple sides of the package indicating class of service (if appropriate)
- Concatenated Delivery Confirmation Barcode (USPS trick, adds the destination ZIP Code to the barcode information)
- Well sealed with appropriately sturdy tape
- Proper void fill and cushioning
- For International, appropriate Customs Forms accurately filled out
I agree that once we hand off the package it is an act of faith. But if you give the carriers good raw materials, they have a better chance of delivering great service.
Yes I have had my share of wacky delivery delays. Fortunately those are the rare exception because of how I package and label my shipments.
Submitted by Chris of sun-bits
February 28th, 2008
Back when Pierre first conceived the eBay idea, he decided that the community should police itself. He did not have time to mediate disputes between buyers and sellers, so he instituted “feedback.” The concept was that buyers and sellers would leave each other honest feedback, which would weed out the bad community members.
New ebayers could easily see the feedback of a seller and decide whether or not to buy from this seller. The theory was if the seller had a lot of negative feedback, the buyers would go elsewhere to bid. In other words, Pierre made the assumption that humans are able to look out for themselves.
It is my opinion this theory has been proven wrong over and over again. One only has to have seen the feedback for the now infamous seller “Bargainland” to know that people cannot look out for themselves. With feedback at 90% and many times lower, they continued to sell 100’s of items a day. Burned buyers would post to the eBay boards regularly whining that they got “taken” by Bargainland. Seasoned eBayers would ask these buyers why they didn’t heed the feedback? It’s right there, pasted in the auction, why didn’t you heed it?
Maybe for the same reason the government had to make it a law that motorists wear seatbelts, or that manufacturers of hair dryers put a warning on the cord not to use it in the bathtub. What appears to be common sense, is not always so.
Because the Feedback theory has been busted, eBay is now taking matters into their own hands, well, sorta. Sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback for buyers, even if the buyer threatens and harasses the seller, or files chargebacks, or doesn’t pay for the item. eBay is also stating they will “disadvantage” sellers with poor DSR’s in search. DSR’s are not even a year old, yet they are being given more importance than a sellers feedback, which in many cases has been built over many years of selling on eBay. That feedback you worked so hard to build will now basically get you nowhere, except kicked out of the Powerseller program if it falls below 98%.
So the Feedback myth is busted, and DSR’s are now the wave of the future. Since they are anonymous eBay feels they are more relevant. However, with only a 10% difference between sellers with the highest DSR’s and those with the lowest, how relevant are they?
That’s my opinion, what’s yours?
Cyn
February 17th, 2008
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