eBay Seller Release to Include Changes to Fees, Feedback

[pierrelebel]

By Ina Steiner
EcommerceBytes.com
February 28, 2012

eBay will announce the first Seller Release of 2012 today, and fees and feedback are on the table. Some of the forthcoming policy changes are designed to encourage sellers to send items quickly and reward sellers for having no communication with buyers, and eBay is raising the bar for Top Rated Sellers who wish to receive the 20% Final Value Fee discount.

Beginning July 2nd, eBay will offer sellers free image hosting, and beginning in the fall, all listings will be required to have at least one picture - additional quality standards for pictures will also be in effect.

eBay will also raise the maximum Final Value Fee for auction listings to $250 for non-Store owners, which impacts auctions that close at $1,111 and above.

for more:  http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y12/m02/i28/s00 

[it*s-not-me]

With the exception of a few technicalities, I think I understand our CPO end of it........ (I'm still wondering if there an extra step involved or if the Paypal email will suffice?)

The biggest effect........ for me at least........ is how this affects US sellers shipping here.

Do First Class International shipments qualify as having tracking numbers?

Recently this service seems to have changed as I'm now receiving U.S. packages with fake tracking numbers just like our small packets service.

Packages have stickers which indicate that FCI can now be purchased on line.

However, since most US sellers might not be aware of that........

It seems that the immediate result is that First Class International shipping will be avoided............

at least for a while.

What am I missing, if anything?

[dutchman48]

Vincenzo - please reply to which rules apply if a Canadian lists on .com and/or .ca. I list freely on both. Do .com listinga follow .com rules and do .ca listings follow .ca rules? Needs to be answered as will make a huge difference where we list. Please reply  so I can adjust where I sell. If .com rules apply when a Canadian lists on .com, we are obviously killing our TRS due to tracking inability etc

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi it*s-not-me,

If the label is generated with PayPal it should get populated automatically. If it's not then you will want to provide it manually. I suggest keeping an eye on your transactions to US buyers over the next few weeks to make sure the process works well for your sales and that you are ready for the change.

We are not changing the Global program that controls badging and promotion on the CA site so US sellers will still need to meet the same requirements as they currently do to receive benefits on the Canadian site.

Note that a Canadian seller who is US TRS but not Global TRS still gets all the benefits on eBay.ca. This is not the case for US sellers. They need to meet the Global TRS requirements to receive benefits on eBay.ca as US TRS qualification does not give them any benefits on eBay.ca

[dutchman48]

I don't believe you can use paypal for letter mail? therefore, you will not have any number to upload. Again, correct me if I am wrong.

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

The listing site is actually not really the factor in this case. What matters is your seller performance on a specific site.

For example:

Global TRS and Not US TRS: you get discount for listings on both sites but promo and badging only on eBay.ca (regardless of where you list)

Global TRS and US TRS: you get discount, promo and badging on both sites (regardless of where you list)

Not Global TRS and US TRS: you get discount, promo and badging on both sites (regardless of where you list)

If you meet the US TRS requirements + the 90% tracking uplaod to US buyers your listings will receive the TRS benefits plus the extra promotion on eBay.com regardless of where the listing was created.

I hope that helps!

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi Dutchman,

I believe you are correct regarding lettermail. Note that even if you don;t print labels on PayPal, if you use a service that provides a record of shipment/tracking you can enter it on the site manually.

[puckstopshere]

I may have missed this, but busy mailing items.

How do you determine one day shipping?  I sell a ton of small items.  There are no tracking numbers - costs more than the items.  I use stamps.

I mark the items shipped on PayPal as soon as payment is received.  I do not have the time to keep going back and mark them shipped - after I have actually shipped them. 

Once I ship - usually within 12 hours of payment they are in the mail system - I then mark them shipped on eBay.

What is the point at which eBay determines that the item has been shipped?

Also, do I have to change the handling time in my actual listings?  It says 2 business days.  Actual shipping is almost always less than 24 hours from payment. 

Also, what about eChecks (my least favorite thing about the eBay selling experience)?  These can take 8 to 10 days to clear.  At what point does the one day shipping start from - clearance of the eCheck?  If it is time of purchase, then we are automatically screwed. 

[dutchman48]

Vincenzo,

that does not help. What I am getting at is the following:

How does TRS status and where affects the 20%

If I have TRS in Canada, but not in the US do I get the discount for what is sold in the US (on .com) as well as Canada (on .ca) or only on what is listed  and sold on .ca?

If I have TRS in Canada and I list everything on .ca and ship to Canada and the US will I receive the TRS discount for all sales even though I may not be TRS in the US?

This is what I am trying to get an answer to as these diffewrence in TRS is very complicated

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi Puckstopshere,

Lettermail will not count when it comes to 1 day handling because there is no tracking reference. So unfortunately sellers who only ship lettermail will not be able to qualify for the extra boost on the US site... but all the sellers who use this service will be "on the same boat" so it should not make a difference for their business.

Good news is that you actually don;t need to change anything to the way you currently operate.

If you meet all the other US TRS requirements you will recieve the badge, the discount and search promotion. You will simply not get the extra boost for tracking and 1 day handling but all sellers who ship the way you do will be in the same situation.

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi Dutchman,

As a Canadian seller you will get the discount for all your listings regardless of what site you use to list (US or CA) as long as you are either US or Global TRS.

[dutchman48]

Hi Vincenzo - If I list on .ca and only ship to Canadians, no international at all, is there still a TRS status in Canada only or is there no such thing?

Ebay is not making any of this easy to understand as usual.

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi Dutchman,

Yes there is. This is the Global Top rated program and it shows in your dashboard under the little "world map" icon.

Here is all the info regarding the Global and US programs as they currently apply to Canadian sellers:

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

[catsnewwife]

Re: Communication.

I have always emailed the buyer after I mailed the item, no matter if it has tracking or not. I get very few responses, which is fine, so a few months ago I thought I would just forgo contacting the buyer, mark the item as shipped and save myself a step. I got more emails asking "where's my item" "has my item been sent", that taught me that it IS IMPORTANT to buyers to have a little note letting them know what's going on, even if they don't respond (I don't respond to sellers on their "item has been mailed" emails, either). I think the communication DSR "button" is the LAST issue regarding DSR's that ebay should be tinkering with. In all my time here, I haven't heard any sellers "OH NO, my communication DSR got HIT!".

[dutchman48]

I know I am a pest but for .ca it states global buyers. If I sell only in Canada, it can't be global or can it. As I said, this whole thing is a disaster for Canadians to try to figure out

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi Dutchman,

Global buyers means all buyers without exclusions... so if you ship only to Canada your Global buyer population will only be comprised of Canadians.

This is in contract to the US program where only transactions with US buyers count.

[pocomocomputing]

Hi Dutchman,

Global buyers means all buyers without exclusions... so if you ship only to Canada your Global buyer population will only be comprised of Canadians.

This is in contract to the US program where only transactions with US buyers count.

contrast

I assume that is what you mean.

[altimateoutlet]

I am not sure if I am missing something. But, where does one upload tracking info?

Also, what does a seller do when the courrier of our choice is not listed in the drop down box?

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi poco,

Yes contrast. Sorry!

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi altimateoutlet,

Tracking can be uplaoded from My eBay, listing by listing or using the bulk tool. If you print labels using PayPal it should automatically get populated.

We'll be looking at the carrier options to identify potential gaps and will do our best to help Canadian sellers cover the most common carriers used to ship to the US.

[sheepgal54]

so just one more clarification please Vincenzo.  I ship expedited, light packet and small packet.  All these tracking and purchase numbers will count but what about my lettermail? If there is no tracking number for my lettermail then how will that affect my search status if all the other methods meet the requirements?  Will the few lettermail lower my standing in search?