So as mentioned to you earlier, I just have a few more comments in regards to the weekly chat that I didn't have a chance to comment on before the chat closed yesterday.
(Message #10: Response to 2nd-time-around-jewelry)
I realize this is asking you to change the way you list and manage your items, and that requires a lot of shift in your business. This type of change isn't something that we make lightly, and without being confident that this is going to be the best way to continue to attract buyers to your items, from within eBay and from external search engines.
I really want to know if there are data from eBay's end that supports the complete elimination of 30 days FP listings. Is the utilization rate low? Unless the utilization rate is less than 10% of eBay's revenue, I don't think it makes sense to get rid of 30 days FP listings and enforcing conversion to GTC. Is there data that you could kindly share with us, that could better convince us that this 30 days FP to GTC move is actually, beneficial, and that it'd be the best way to continue to attract buyers? I would like to see stats that are based on smaller boutique sellers like me, instead of larger "retailers" who have 10000+ listings.
Personally, I feel that this 30 days FP to GTC move is going to cause the most inconvenience to a lot of sellers who mainly use 30 days FP, as this requires continued manual effort to keep track of their listings and end them every 29 days (30 days is cutting it close); it's a lot of shift as you said. For me, because sometimes I work long hours and may not have access to the computer (I still find eBay app a pain to use), I might actually have to end my listings in 25-ish days instead of right at 29 days. Currently, I can simply let my 30 days FP run till day 30 and relist items when I'm free, and I rotate between different listings so I'm not always listing the same books. The new update really limits flexibility with listings.
(Message #16, to Izzame)
Answers to your hypothetical are below:
A. Ending your items is not the same as a cancellation. The most applicable reason in this case is probably 'The item is no longer available for sale'.
This is what I hate about "manually ending the listings". The reasons available are horribly limited options. That means after the Spring Seller Update, I'll have to keep telling my buyers that "Oh, I'm ending this because it's no longer available" or that "I'm stupid and I made an error with this listing", not because "Oh, I'm gonna be charged insertion fee if I don't end this. I still have this available, so wait for my relist!"
When a listing ends on its own at 30 days, most buyers will keep it on their watch list and wait for a relist (I do the same thing as a buyer). When it is manually ended, buyers would assume that the item is literally not available anymore and will stop watching the item. To me, this HURTS the sellers more that the so-called "increased exposure" that eBay believes a shift to GTC will bring. I actually have experienced immediate sales a few times when I relist a book two months later that still had watchers.
If the elimination of 30 days FP is inevitable, then please at the very least, add other options as reasons for manually ending listing. For example, "ending listing for upcoming restock" "item still available, please contact seller if interested in purchasing this item"?
Please keep in mind that none of this is personal and I do realize that this post probably won't make a dent with the upcoming Spring Seller Update; I really need to see the research and stats to be convinced that this change from 30 days FP to GTC is going to be a good move and that it'd actually beneficial to smaller sellers like me. Right now I'm not convinced. I really wish that eBay can focus on fixing existing issues rather than introducing something that is of limited benefits to the majority of its users.
To me, this is the biggest transition over the years that I am really not looking forward to. Change from USD to CAD? Fine, one-time change, or switch to .COM. Adding tax to fees? Fine, it's automatically billed anyway so I'll just make one-time adjustment to my listing prices. Changing the way TRS counts? Well, nothing much I can do about that. I might get less sales, then so be it. Getting rid of 30 days FP and then needing to manually end the listings every 29-ish days from now on? Boy, that's some extra work every month!
As I said in another thread, it's hard to not think that this is another move by eBay to weed out smaller sellers. I can understand the addition of tax to fees, I can see why systemically it's needed to limit CAD only for dotCA and getting rid of the USD option. But for getting rid of 30 days FP, I can only see it as a money-grab (sellers forgetting to end their listings and it ended up getting renewed and charging insertion fee) since keeping 30 days FP should not impact buyer experience.
Thank you for reading. Now I'm gonna go sleep. 
TL;DR - 30 days FP is important to many sellers. Keep it please ❤️
Hi @zee-chan-jpn-books - thanks for sharing your thoughts on this change, I'll make sure that the right folks are aware of your input.
I don't have any data or statistics available to share with you when it comes to current listing habits of members. I do hear you about end-reasons, and I'll get that suggested for future enhancement!
