2018 Seller Update Feedback Thread

[happy_pigeon]

Hi all,

As you’ve probably seen by now, the 2018 Spring Seller Update was released today. We’re sorry for the delay—we prefer to launch our pages as soon after the US pages as possible, but technical issues prevented us from launching the pages earlier.

Please use this thread for feedback and questions about this latest release. I have a good familiarity with the content (having diligently and painstakingly pecked the pages out with my beak), and should be able to either address any questions or clarifications as needed, or pass them on to the right person.

As always, feedback is welcome. I may not address your feedback directly, but I’ll be collecting the most salient points to pass along to the Seller Release team at large.

For my own purposes, I’d also love to hear back about how you find the structure of the update, from a Canadian perspective. Is it simple or challenging to differentiate between what’s available to Canada and what’s available to the US? Is the language plain and easily understandable? Is the information simple to navigate and digest? This type of feedback helps me make future Seller Updates better.

Here’s some supplemental reading to go with your morning coffee, for those interested. Some of it is linked from the Seller Update, but in case you missed it:

• Structured Data: The types of structured data, how to use it, and how it interfaces with the eBay catalogue.
• eBay catalogue: What the eBay catalogue is, when to use it, and detailed instructions on how to use it.
• eBay Seller Protection Policy: A simplified view of how sellers are protected when they choose to offer free returns.

Sincerely,

Pigeon

[momcqueen]

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@happy_pigeonwrote:

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@momcqueenwrote:
What do EBay.ca sellers need to do to me included in eBay.com
grouped results on items that match an American UPC and product. Since the time this new search started, my sales performance has tanked. I’d like to be included instead of left out in the cold on eBay.com. Like I used to be.

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Right now, you would need to list in the product lines outlined in the SR, and those won't be placed into grouped listings on .com until June.

I can promise you with almost complete certainty that the new product-based search results are not affecting your current search ranking.

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But they are; I have run the tests. My items, even when the UPCS match exactly, are nowhere to be found on ebay.com when Grouped listings are shown. Nowhere. I'm not just pontificating about it. 

[happy_pigeon]

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@dutchman48 wrote:

Is Ebay going to pay any additional fees for GTC listing twice in the same month due to this idiotic bunch of micromanaging?

• Gauge your pricing: You'll be able to price for success by comparing your item to similar items sold within the past 90 days.
• Best Offer: To attract more buyers, the option to add Best Offer may be added to listings that are priced higher than market value, or those that don't sell quickly. You can set a threshold to automatically decline low offers, or remove Best Offer altogether.
• Duration: Auction-style listings will now default to 7 days, and fixed price listings to Good 'Til Cancelled, with no added fees.
• Smart scheduling: We'll set the best time for your auction listing to go live.

---

It is my understanding that "default" means that you can opt-out in the Advanced view, but I need to clarify that with a Product Manager. Also, this particular selling flow will only be seen by casual sellers, so if you sell more than just occasionally, you can have no fear of being "micromanaged" by the algorithm...

[momcqueen]

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@hlmacdonwrote:

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@momcqueenwrote:
Where can I learn more about the Shopify announcement? I need to know more about how it affects my current situation.

---

From the sounds of if they'll have an officially supported export function to move shopify store listings over to ebay. These are pretty much available for any ecommerce platform, just does a live syncing of your available inventory much the same way existing listing services use eBay's API. If that is being offered free of charge and supported that is a reasonable value add as they are typically paid addons with reoccurring subscriptions. I would just continue on as you are on the Shopify side and then you can decide how you want to sync things in the future. If you use unique internal skus on your listings you might want to keep those consistent on the shopify side to avoid duplicated listings if you decide to use their export functionality.

---

Okay, thanks. That answers most of my question. Without seeing for myself now what tool ebay will offer for listings export to Shopify, I cannot guess whether it's any more or less intuitive than what third-party listing tool I've found to use for now. And I don't want to wait six months to learn it's no better, and just as much work for me. Thanks.

[esclyons]

i can guess who the 100,000 listing stores are for.. there is only one market of sellers who use this amount of listings..  and ebay who wants to simplify the shopping experience, these sellers all sell pretty much the same things. Talk about clogging the pages with duplicate inventory..

[hlmacdon]

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@happy_pigeonwrote:

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Here are the requirements Top Rated Plus sellers need to meet:

To qualify for Top Rated Plus, listings need to meet the following requirements: Meet all of the requirements of a Top Rated Seller listed above. Offer a 30-day or more, money back return policy. Offer same business day or 1 business day handling.

Here is some more info about the Top Rated US program in general.

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I understand, but my understanding is that in the past Canadians have had exemptions to the US requirements (ie we don't need 1 day handling times as per US seller requirements to qualify for a TRS discount) and were qualifying under what I believe  were the Global TRS requirements.  Essentially if we met the "Canadian" criteria, we received our fee discount regardless of which site we listed on, but with the caveat that we would not qualify for TRS Plus and receive search ranking benefits. I'm wondering if there has been any change here given the Spring Seller Update strong arms US sellers into offering free 30 day returns and that would not be tenable for Canadian sellers.

[happy_pigeon]

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@hlmacdon wrote:

---

@momcqueenwrote:
Where can I learn more about the Shopify announcement? I need to know more about how it affects my current situation.

---

From the sounds of if they'll have an officially supported export function to move shopify store listings over to ebay. These are pretty much available for any ecommerce platform, just does a live syncing of your available inventory much the same way existing listing services use eBay's API. If that is being offered free of charge and supported that is a reasonable value add as they are typically paid addons with reoccurring subscriptions. I would just continue on as you are on the Shopify side and then you can decide how you want to sync things in the future. If you use unique internal skus on your listings you might want to keep those consistent on the shopify side to avoid duplicated listings if you decide to use their export functionality.

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Sorry, I missed this one! I'm posting from my couch like a lazy so-and-so and jumping all over the place 

Here's some stuff you can read about the Shopify partnership:

• Shopify sign-up page
• Shopify announcement
• eBay announcement

[happy_pigeon]

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@momcqueen wrote:

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@happy_pigeonwrote:

---

@momcqueenwrote:
What do EBay.ca sellers need to do to me included in eBay.com
grouped results on items that match an American UPC and product. Since the time this new search started, my sales performance has tanked. I’d like to be included instead of left out in the cold on eBay.com. Like I used to be.

---

Right now, you would need to list in the product lines outlined in the SR, and those won't be placed into grouped listings on .com until June.

I can promise you with almost complete certainty that the new product-based search results are not affecting your current search ranking.

---

But they are; I have run the tests. My items, even when the UPCS match exactly, are nowhere to be found on ebay.com when Grouped listings are shown. Nowhere. I'm not just pontificating about it. 

---

My apologies. Can you give me an example of a listing (you can supply a .ca URL) that shows on .ca but not on .com?

[happy_pigeon]

Yes, the Top Rated Global program includes some allowances that make it easier for international participants to meet the requirements, e.g. the tracking requirement.

Since Top Rated Plus is not participated in globally (unlike Top Rated), it doesn't include any concessions that I'm aware of for international sellers.

[hlmacdon]

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@esclyonswrote:

Talk about clogging the pages with duplicate inventory..

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Number of listings won't matter with the move to a product based search. The whole point in getting everyone to use UPC and MPN was to allow all listings to be grouped to one search result which ebay is hoping will increase conversion rates by forcing sellers to sacrifice margins. The OOAK side sounds like it is going to be a complete mess based on how they are handling it. It is now a complete race to the bottom.

[happy_pigeon]

I'm going to sign off for the night, all, but keep the questions and comments coming, and I'll be back tomorrow. We have a good discussion going.

[sleco69]

I hope, as it is the 4th day without any sales.... never happens in my 10years sales history! It is more than urgent! Thx for looking at it.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Can anyone confirm once you open a store and sign up for 1 year, 250 listings, is that considered a contract, LOCKED for 1 year or can that monthly charge go up at any time? I was given  the impression if was frozen for that year.  I just tried to access the see store fees link and it has vanished. But then there are lots of LINKS that no longer work so not really surprised!!!

-CM

[dutchman48]

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@momcqueenwrote:

---

@hlmacdonwrote:

---

@momcqueenwrote:
Where can I learn more about the Shopify announcement? I need to know more about how it affects my current situation.

---

From the sounds of if they'll have an officially supported export function to move shopify store listings over to ebay. These are pretty much available for any ecommerce platform, just does a live syncing of your available inventory much the same way existing listing services use eBay's API. If that is being offered free of charge and supported that is a reasonable value add as they are typically paid addons with reoccurring subscriptions. I would just continue on as you are on the Shopify side and then you can decide how you want to sync things in the future. If you use unique internal skus on your listings you might want to keep those consistent on the shopify side to avoid duplicated listings if you decide to use their export functionality.

---

Okay, thanks. That answers most of my question. Without seeing for myself now what tool ebay will offer for listings export to Shopify, I cannot guess whether it's any more or less intuitive than what third-party listing tool I've found to use for now. And I don't want to wait six months to learn it's no better, and just as much work for me. Thanks.

---

You can do similar using inkFrog or Bonanza

[dutchman48]

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@happy_pigeonwrote:

---

@dutchman48wrote:

Is Ebay going to pay any additional fees for GTC listing twice in the same month due to this idiotic bunch of micromanaging?

• Gauge your pricing: You'll be able to price for success by comparing your item to similar items sold within the past 90 days.
• Best Offer: To attract more buyers, the option to add Best Offer may be added to listings that are priced higher than market value, or those that don't sell quickly. You can set a threshold to automatically decline low offers, or remove Best Offer altogether.
• Duration: Auction-style listings will now default to 7 days, and fixed price listings to Good 'Til Cancelled, with no added fees.
• Smart scheduling: We'll set the best time for your auction listing to go live.

---

It is my understanding that "default" means that you can opt-out in the Advanced view, but I need to clarify that with a Product Manager. Also, this particular selling flow will only be seen by casual sellers, so if you sell more than just occasionally, you can have no fear of being "micromanaged" by the algorithm...

---

Don't you think that should have been clarified in the actual update so Ebay can't use what they did put in as they see fit.

Clarity prevents a lot of future problems and misunderstandings.

[happy_pigeon]

---

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

Can anyone confirm once you open a store and sign up for 1 year, 250 listings, is that considered a contract, LOCKED for 1 year or can that monthly charge go up at any time? I was given  the impression if was frozen for that year.  I just tried to access the see store fees link and it has vanished. But then there are lots of LINKS that no longer work so not really surprised!!!

-CM

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I'm back, but just for a second!! I do not want this to be buried.

Here are the eBay Stores full terms and conditions. 

Here is the eBay Stores page, which includes all of the fees for the tiers we currently offer.

Also!!! You mentioned links not working, including one you tried to access for the Store fees page. If you have these handy, please pass these on to me (or you can PM me about them as you come across them, if you care to) so that I can address them. It's possible that you're trying to access the old Seller Centre, which I mercilessly did away with last year.

[happy_pigeon]

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@dutchman48 wrote:

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@happy_pigeonwrote:

---

@dutchman48wrote:

Is Ebay going to pay any additional fees for GTC listing twice in the same month due to this idiotic bunch of micromanaging?

• Gauge your pricing: You'll be able to price for success by comparing your item to similar items sold within the past 90 days.
• Best Offer: To attract more buyers, the option to add Best Offer may be added to listings that are priced higher than market value, or those that don't sell quickly. You can set a threshold to automatically decline low offers, or remove Best Offer altogether.
• Duration: Auction-style listings will now default to 7 days, and fixed price listings to Good 'Til Cancelled, with no added fees.
• Smart scheduling: We'll set the best time for your auction listing to go live.

---

It is my understanding that "default" means that you can opt-out in the Advanced view, but I need to clarify that with a Product Manager. Also, this particular selling flow will only be seen by casual sellers, so if you sell more than just occasionally, you can have no fear of being "micromanaged" by the algorithm...

---

Don't you think that should have been clarified in the actual update so Ebay can't use what they did put in as they see fit.

Clarity prevents a lot of future problems and misunderstandings.

---

I agree, and thank you for the feedback. It can sometimes be challenging to properly describe new features that are still being finalized.

[esclyons]

yes you are locked into a year contract, but the fee can definitely  go up.. otherwise everyone would be re-upping when they announce price increases..

[happy_pigeon]

OK, for real this time! Night all, see you tomorrow!

[ypdc_dennis]

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@hlmacdonwrote:

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To clarify, if a Canadian seller lists on .com. what requirements do they need to meet to receive a fee discount? 

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Current requirements:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/top-rated.html

Canadian sellers can qualify to be Top-rated in two separate programs. They can qualify for the Global program, which measures performance according to sales made to any buyer, and they can qualify for the US program, which measures performance only on sales made to buyers located in the United States. Qualifying for either Global or the USA makes you eligible for the 10% discount.

...

To become a US Top-rated seller you need to meet the following performance requirements:

• Have an eBay account that's been active for at least 90 days

• Have a positive Feedback rating of at least 98%

• Have at least 100 transactions and $1,000 in sales with US buyers during the last 12 months

• Upload tracking to your buyer's My eBay within your promised handling time for at least 90% of your transactions with US buyers in the last 3 months.

[momcqueen]

@dutchman48 wrote:

@momcqueenwrote:

@hlmacdonwrote:

@momcqueenwrote:
Where can I learn more about the Shopify announcement? I need to know more about how it affects my current situation.

---

From the sounds of if they'll have an officially supported export function to move shopify store listings over to ebay. These are pretty much available for any ecommerce platform, just does a live syncing of your available inventory much the same way existing listing services use eBay's API. If that is being offered free of charge and supported that is a reasonable value add as they are typically paid addons with reoccurring subscriptions. I would just continue on as you are on the Shopify side and then you can decide how you want to sync things in the future. If you use unique internal skus on your listings you might want to keep those consistent on the shopify side to avoid duplicated listings if you decide to use their export functionality.

---

Okay, thanks. That answers most of my question. Without seeing for myself now what tool ebay will offer for listings export to Shopify, I cannot guess whether it's any more or less intuitive than what third-party listing tool I've found to use for now. And I don't want to wait six months to learn it's no better, and just as much work for me. Thanks.

---

You can do similar using inkFrog or Bonanza

---

InkFrog moves listings to ebay and between ebay stores, not from ebay stores to another site. I cannot speak for Bonanza.