2016 Spring Seller Update

Hello Canadian sellers,

 

This is the thread reserved for discussion around the 2016 Spring Seller Update announced today.

 

Read about the Update here:

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/sprupd16/index.html

 

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2016 Spring Seller Update

Regarding the change in store fees. I find the announce confusing because the increases is mentioned in a month hand then the quarter (3 months). eBay is flipping back and for between the two in the announcement. All because eBay wants to give free supplies based on the quarter (3 months). Really bad marketing saying $12 increase in a quarter. Who writes these announcements? They seem to deliberately try to confuse people and are not simple to read without reading it 5 times.

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2016 Spring Seller Update

Raphael, there are Product Reviews, and there are product reviews. I do my own in my listings. I am knowledgable about the items I sell and honest about all strengths and weaknesses. And as a consumer, I pay product reviews no heed at all. Unless they are on the manufacturer's website so that I am assured the creator of the product has already removed the useless ones. Have you actually READ any of the product reviews to be found here? I've seen none so far that add any value. Asinine at best.

I don't get to walk into ebay headquarters and put permanent marks of my opinion of your effort(s) all over your workspace, so what reason would I have to be thrilled about other people being allowed and ENCOURAGED to do this to mine?
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2016 Spring Seller Update


@pocomocomputing wrote:

@itsmythingdesigns wrote:

So you say that the increase of $12 quarterly has a value of $165. There is an increase of fixed price listings of only 50 and the auction listings by 150. How does that add up to $165 in value? I would also like to know why, since we will be forced to list in Canadian dollars, the final value fees are still in US dollars? Another thing is that the 'free' auction allotment is not free. I've tried on several occasions to list a free auction but there is a 5 cent fee being charged. How is that free?


For a basic store, you get 50 more fixed price listings which currently would cost you $0.20 each, so $10 a month, $30 for the 3 months in a quarter. You also get 150 more auction listings which would cost you $0.25 each, so $37.50 a month, $112.50 for 3 months in a quarter. That adds up to $142.50, add in the $25 free supplies which adds up to more than $167.50 more than the $165. It does not add up exactly so maybe my calculation is off.

 

On paper it sounds good but the only real benefit is the extra 50 Fixed Price listings to many sellers for a $10 saving but the seller has to pay an extra $4 a month for the 50 listings if on an annual subscription or $5 a month for the monthly. The extra 150 auctions with restricted categories and the $25 store supplies are not significant to many sellers in Canada.

 

As for the supplies, if it going to cost money to get them, I am not interested. I have plenty of used boxes which are free (time not counted). As for them being ebay branded, I don't care. This is just advertising for ebay on my sales. If I wanted to advertise for ebay, I could print an eBay logo to add to my packages.. Not!.


raphael or rodney, is there a detailed breakdown of how the $165 savings is made by ebay? I tried to explain the saving for the basic store above. How is the $165 made?


Same for the savings on Premium and Anchor stores.

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2016 Spring Seller Update

"Really bad marketing saying $12 increase in a quarter."

 

I totally agree.

 

A 25% increase in monthly fees is a 25% increase in monthly fees.

 

$16 to $20 = 25% increase

 

$20 to $25 = 25% increase

 

 Why can't eBay call a spade... a spade?

Message 84 of 220
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2016 Spring Seller Update

Hi itsmythingdesigns,


@itsmythingdesigns wrote:

So you say that the increase of $12 quarterly has a value of $165. There is an increase of fixed price listings of only 50 and the auction listings by 150. How does that add up to $165 in value?


The value of $165 is based on the incremental free listings you'll get each quarter (600 listings) and the value of the coupon you get for shipping supplies.


@itsmythingdesigns wrote:

I would also like to know why, since we will be forced to list in Canadian dollars, the final value fees are still in US dollars?


Final value fees are always charged in the same currency as the listing that the fees are charged for. If you listed in CAD, your final value fees will be in CAD. Make sure you don't confuse that with your billing currency, which is a separate thing. You could be billed in Japanese Yen if you chose to.


@itsmythingdesigns wrote:

Another thing is that the 'free' auction allotment is not free. I've tried on several occasions to list a free auction but there is a 5 cent fee being charged. How is that free?


Without seeing your invoice, it's hard to tell. But as x..e said, it may have to do with what category you listed in.

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2016 Spring Seller Update

I read through the seller update and for the first time, I think a change is coming which might actually not harm me as a seller. The additional 10,000 free listings will actually work for me as someone who is planning on listing that many items over the next 12 months. BUT that is only if no more changes are planned that will require me to revise all of my listings once they are up. 

 

I just signed up for Auctiva this week so that I could add professional templates to my listings. It is a shame that I even have to do that at all, given what I am paying E-bay already, but I digress. 

 

Anyway, I was getting all excited about having the scrolling gallery in my list to cross promote my items. BUT I just read that I cannot have active content in my descriptions if they are to work for mobile listings. At least that was how I understood it. So my question is this:

 

Is the use of active content in descriptions now banned? Or is it simply the case that my scrolling gallery will not be seen by someone shopping on their smartphone? 

 

The difference matters to me because most of my customers are over 60 and do not do their shopping on their smartphones anyway. So if it is not banned I can go ahead and use the templates for listing that I just spent the last 2 days designing. If it is banned, then I need to know now because I will have to take the scrolling gallery out of my templates. 

 

The dedicated customer support for anchor stores looks promising, I must say. 

 

I would appreciate it if someone can clear up the confusion. 

 

 

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2016 Spring Seller Update

There are no doubt legions of sellers who feel the Product Catalogue and Product Reviews take the heat off them to put effort into their listings, but that's not me. I have yet to find an accurate match to anything I sell in the product catalogue. In fact, all matches I've found to be incorrect --grossly or otherwise -- and I don't want or need that mess added to my eBay soup. By all means, leave those features available but it should be an optional choice.

The more choices you take from sellers, the less reason they have to stay here.
Message 87 of 220
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2016 Spring Seller Update


@canadiangemstamps wrote:

I read through the seller update and for the first time, I think a change is coming which might actually not harm me as a seller. The additional 10,000 free listings will actually work for me as someone who is planning on listing that many items over the next 12 months. BUT that is only if no more changes are planned that will require me to revise all of my listings once they are up. 

 

I just signed up for Auctiva this week so that I could add professional templates to my listings. It is a shame that I even have to do that at all, given what I am paying E-bay already, but I digress. 

 

Anyway, I was getting all excited about having the scrolling gallery in my list to cross promote my items. BUT I just read that I cannot have active content in my descriptions if they are to work for mobile listings. At least that was how I understood it. So my question is this:

 

Is the use of active content in descriptions now banned? Or is it simply the case that my scrolling gallery will not be seen by someone shopping on their smartphone? 

 

The difference matters to me because most of my customers are over 60 and do not do their shopping on their smartphones anyway. So if it is not banned I can go ahead and use the templates for listing that I just spent the last 2 days designing. If it is banned, then I need to know now because I will have to take the scrolling gallery out of my templates. 

 

The dedicated customer support for anchor stores looks promising, I must say. 

 

I would appreciate it if someone can clear up the confusion. 

 

 


Signing up for Auctiva may be a mistake. The Professional templates add too many characters to a listings and will not be mobile friendly withe the 250 character and 800 characters suggestions by eBay in this update. Auctiva templates are not the way to list according to current eBay listing guidelines. Too much HTML, embedded pictures and so on.

 

Not that you can't use Auctiva without all the features. A seller I know is using Auctiva with plain simple descriptions (no pretty outlines, no scrolling gallery, no separate shipping, return, about me sections, just plain) which would meet the current listing guide lines and probably would do well with the 250 and 800 character mobile recommendations. I will ask them if I can post their ebay id for you to look at their listings.

 

The scrolling gallery will definitely be active content and forced out when active content is banned in 2017.

 

Auctiva and third party listing tools advantages over the years have slowly be eroded (pictures used to cost extra for example) by eBay adding similar features for free or banning the features (like third party payment systems). They will adapt to the new eBay to try and keep customers but there is less reason to have a third party tool. I am wondering f the third party tools like Auctiva can survive financially with this new direction by eBay.

 

eBay has tools like Selling Manager Pro ($15.99 a month) and  free Turbo Lister.

 

Turbo Lister is free but it is quirky and buggy and in my opinion not an easy tool to work with.

 

Selling Manager Pro is such an old design and has its own quirks. ebay is moving to a new tool called the eBay Seller Hub which is being forced on sellers with this update also. eBay has not announced if the Seller Hub will have the features of Selling Manager Pro (inventory, templates).

 

I do not know if Auctiva is a good move on your part. Too much change on ebay right now.

 

I do know that once your pictures and listings are on Auctiva, it is potentially a lot of work to move them off to another tool.

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2016 Spring Seller Update

Thanks for the response. That really sucks. I like the Auctiva templates. The extra sections make a page look professional instead of a tiny description squashed onto a page with tons of blank white space. Can you point me to the specific guidelines that state that they are not ideal?

 

 

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2016 Spring Seller Update


pocomocomputing wrote:

 

eBay has tools like Selling Manager Pro ($15.99 a month) and  free Turbo Lister.

Turbo Lister is free but it is quirky and buggy and in my opinion not an easy tool to work with.

 

 

Pardon me for butting in, but Turbo Lister is also NOT Mac-compatible, is it? 

 

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2016 Spring Seller Update

What operating systems does Turbo Lister support?
Turbo Lister supports the Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP operating systems. The product does not currently support Macintosh operating systems, but we continue to evaluate the demand for Macintosh support. Please visit the Solutions Directory and search for third-party listing tools that support Macintosh.

 

I found this info at http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/turbolisterfaq.html.

Alex

 



This is my POSTING id.
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2016 Spring Seller Update


@triber wrote:

raphael@ebay.com wrote:

Hello Canadian sellers,

 

This is the thread reserved for discussion around the 2016 Spring Seller Update announced today.

 

Read about the Update here:

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/sprupd16/index.html

 


In the spring seller update it gives details for the future  limited characters in the description. I don't understand the difference in the 250 character and 800 character options, and I don't know what "active content" is. 

 

I have "boxes" in my descriptions, will these count in the characters?

 

Does eBay expect us to count the characters in each description?

 

I think it is a good idea for eBay to do a store option at $59.95 for 1,000 listings. I think there are a lot of sellers who would like that amount, but don't want the high cost of an anchor store, but for those sellers like me who just need the 500 listings, and that is what we signed up for, why should we be asked to pay double the fees for an amount we never wanted.


I found this:

"The use of active content in listings, including JavaScript, Flash, plug-ins and form actions, inhibits purchases on mobile devices and can lead to abuse in the marketplace."

----

So, no more JavaScript, Flash, plug-ins, or form actions. I guess that means no more sliding showcases... Smiley Frustrated

Alex



This is my POSTING id.
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2016 Spring Seller Update


@pierrelebel wrote:

"Really bad marketing saying $12 increase in a quarter."

 

I totally agree.

 

A 25% increase in monthly fees is a 25% increase in monthly fees.

 

$16 to $20 = 25% increase

 

$20 to $25 = 25% increase

 

 Why can't eBay call a spade... a spade?


I agree.

I don't think that the figures should include something that many of us may not use.

 

I think that there would have been more value for some in including a free buy it now option for auctions in a store. It's never made sense to me why sellers who are getting free listings have that option free while sellers who are paying a monthly rate have to pay for it.

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2016 Spring Seller Update

These, for example, are part of the product reviews on a product that I currently sell here. This screen capture, however, is from another website, a different one, a competing one to ebay. Does ebay consider 'reviews' such as these to be of value? Or would they be deemed inappropriate? I'd like to know. For the record, it's a toy that I have listed at more than $150 CAD here which is selling for almost twice that elsewhere. 

 

jpgScreen Shot 2016-04-06 at 11.28.44 AM.png

 

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2016 Spring Seller Update

How does the use of these things "lead to abuse in the marketplace"? What does this even mean?

 

Cross-promoting my items is abusive?

Building trust by putting embedded, larger pictures in my listings is abusive?

Putting additional information about my business in my description  page that users don't have to leave the listing to see is abusive?

 

It seems to me that what they mean my this is that they don't want us using any more 3rd party tools that they themselves don't provide us. Maybe they do provide them, but everything with Turbolister and Selling Manager Pro just seems so cumbersome. Auctiva is user friendly, well laid out and clear. 

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2016 Spring Seller Update


@mjwl2006 wrote:

These, for example, are part of the product reviews on a product that I currently sell here. This screen capture, however, is from another website, a different one, a competing one to ebay. Does ebay consider 'reviews' such as these to be of value? Or would they be deemed inappropriate? I'd like to know. For the record, it's a toy that I have listed at more than $150 CAD here which is selling for almost twice that elsewhere. 

 

jpgScreen Shot 2016-04-06 at 11.28.44 AM.png

 


I don't want my buyers seeing reviews like that in my products, because that might discourage them from buying it. Honestly, I don't think 3/4 of the people on eBay read the reviews before they purchase, but for those that do...I don't know.
Alex


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2016 Spring Seller Update


@x..e wrote:

What operating systems does Turbo Lister support?
Turbo Lister supports the Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP operating systems. The product does not currently support Macintosh operating systems, but we continue to evaluate the demand for Macintosh support. Please visit the Solutions Directory and search for third-party listing tools that support Macintosh.

 

I found this info at http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/turbolisterfaq.html.

Alex

 


Turbo lister is theoretically no longer supported by Ebay.

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2016 Spring Seller Update


raphael@ebay.com wrote:

@lorraine_carol wrote:

" eBay derives a brief, 250-character, text-only description summary from your full item description. This provides relevant listing information that allows shoppers to make fast, informed buying decisions."

 

I've been selling on ebay for over a decade and the suggestion/advice by ebay given to sellers was to ALWAYS include as much pertinent info as possible in order for buyers to make an informed decision to purchase or not to purchase. So now, ebay will be editing our listings picking out certain words they feel will describe our item(s). Am I understanding this correctly?

If this is the case, how will ebay respond to buyer's complaints stating 'seller didn't state 'this or that' in their listing', when in fact "this or that" was included in the non-edited ebay version?

Lorraine


Hi lorraine_carol,

 

Your own description isn't going away. eBay will pull a summary from your description and use that mainly on mobile buying channels, where buyers know they have to click a link to see the full description.

 

With this change, we aren't taking anything away. In fact we are adding a longer, better description summary and putting it where buyers will see it.


1 - A few months ago eBay did a test on some listings where they pulled out part of the description and I believe they put it where the condition box is. The info that they pulled was not always the most relevant info. Will they be pulling info for mobile the same way that they did for the test? 

 

2 - Will a character count be available on the syi form so that we know how many characters we have?

 

 

3 - From the update - Because the new View Item description summary is automatically generated by eBay, no action is required from you. If you want to highlight information that isn’t captured in our auto-generated summaries, you can choose the specific listing information you want to show using more advanced HTML options

 

Will eBay be explaining what those more advanced HTML options are or will there be something on the syi form to indicate which information we want highlighted?

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2016 Spring Seller Update


raphael@ebay.com wrote:

@pierrelebel wrote:

"once we're able to set something up"

 

Am I understand correctly that while American sellers will have access to this special pricing on quality shipping supplies this month, it will not be available to Canadians for some time?

 

"Later this month, sellers will be able to conveniently purchase affordable eBay-branded shipping supplies on eBay with quick handling time and free shipping. Premium-quality boxes, envelopes and tape are available at very competitive prices, providing you with one-stop shopping convenience for all your packaging needs. eBay-branded shipping supplies are eco-friendly, too."

 

"North American registered Store subscribers will also receive a coupon for eBay-branded shipping supplies "


Canadian sellers also get a coupon for eBay shipping supplies, but will have to obtain them from the same (US) place as US sellers until we are able to set up a similar program in Canada.

 

As I said earlier, this is a feature that was added quickly before the announcement and we preferred being able to offer something rather than nothing immediately.


First of all what are "Quality shipping supplies"?  

Secondly,  if Ebay wants me to advertise their logo on my shipments, they should be paying me for it and not the other way around.

Third, will the cost be competitive?. I get my padded shipping envelopes at a net cost  .06 cents. Will Ebay be matching that?

Fourth, will Ebay be using the Global Shipping Program to ship these products into Canada? If so, you will be able to buy about $15 in product and pay $35 for shipping, handling and taxes.

 

So how exactly is this a perk again? How will this benefit the sellers? I'm thinking "nothing" would have worked just as well instead of using a lame attempt and trying to offset price hikes.

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2016 Spring Seller Update

Please ebay...explain how allowing ANYONE, not just your buyers of those products you might have quantities of, posting reviews that show up on your listings as being a good thing? I see this being abused quickly, by other sellers who create dummy accounts to post negative reviews on listings of other sellers they do not like, to direct buyers to their own listings. If you have a LOT of listings, you might not catch the negative reviews right away, and until whatever "removal" tool for reviews happens, potential buyers will still be reading them and probably going to shop elsewhere.

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