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 

[catnip2002]

Just want to clarify a point about the numbers supplied by Canada Pist on small packet items shipped using the shipping process in Paypal. I have been told that although these numbers are not trackable they are still in fact recorded on the Canada Post site and are required to receive a refund when applying for a claim.

So they are in fact real numbers with a real use, right now if you go into the post office to mail an item you need the cn22 form filled out which has no number, to recieve a refund on a claim you would need to keep this form and attach it to your refund. When using paypal online postage you get taken to the canada post website and fill in all the info, they give you this number not paypal and it is to be used for refunds if claims are filed.

They are legitamite numbers with a real purpose, the only difference is they have no tracking ability.

Shona

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Hi Pierre,

Replying to post 110

Canadian sellers are expempt from the tracking requirements from a fee perspective but not for the highest level of search promotion on eBay.com.

To receive the top level of promotion on the US site Canadian sellers still need to meet the tracking requirement. They are just exempt from meeting this criteria when it comes to the TRS discount qualification.

Yes it does create a small advantage for Canadian sellers (they were already being advantaged by the fact that Global TRS status would give them discount for listings created on eBay.com) but given the difficulty for Canadian sellers to ship with tracking at reasonable costs, taking the other route would have put them at a significant disadvantage.

The Canadian business team's mission is to help Canadian sellers while doing the right thing for the marketplace and in this context helping Canadian sellers a little bit with this rule was better than adding to the existing disdvantage they face compared to US sellers.

To be clear, it does not give Canadian sellers the top level of exposure in US searches, it just protects their discount if they meet all the other criteria which is in itself not always and easy task when you live north of the border. To get the top level of exposure, Canadians still need to meet the exact same requirements as US sellers.

I hope that helps put things in context and explain the decision that was made. 🙂

[pierrelebel]

Thank you Vincenzo for taking the time to explain how TRS Canadian sellers are affected by the changes of policies.

[recped]

To be clear, it does not give Canadian sellers the top level of exposure in US searches

Yeah instead of being at the 432nd level of search "boost" they will only be at the 429th level!

By my estimate there must be at least 40 factors that go into Best Match placement, the most important ones are Click/Impressions and total price, the rest are mostly smoke and mirrors.

And NONE of those things matter unless the buyer is using Best Match exclusively.

[dollyfife123]

Please explain why they would change the seller requirement to $1000  but leave the item amount at 100

[prodigital2000]

Hi,

Can someone explain to me why we would have lost our TRS badge on .com for not meeting the 90% US tracking # upload requirement. (Caused by Canadian holidays counting as a business day.)

Seems to me from what I've read here that we should have kept the badge on our listings on ebay.com

[cumos55]

Canadian sellers do not show a TRS on eBay.com.... Yet we "qualify" as a TRS on eBay.com  but without the required for 90 % tracking provided.

In contrast  a US seller loses the TRS badge if they do not provide 90 % tracking.

People that do not provide 90 % tracking for eBay.com  do not have the badge.

No tracking no TRS badge for both US and Canadian sellers on eBay.com

If a Canadian and a US seller do provide the necessary information... 90 % tracking  and one day handling....  they both have the TRS plus badge on eBay.com

Notice it is TRS plus... not TRS... something extra

eBay is saying no 90 % tracking  and no TRS badge on eBay.com... With  this "Rule"  with respect to the TRS badge, both a Canadian seller and a US seller are treated the same on eBay.com

[Anonymous]

Vincette, excuse me, why are we paying lots of $$ and then get the maxmium search exposure??  It means that all my listings at the fixed price format are in low search exposure and eBay is taking advantage of getting more insertion fees that way which is UNFAIR!!   Put us in high search exposure so we can sell the items, then eBay can get the final value fees.  It doesn't make senses!!

It is annoying to get messages about the so-called Free pictures.  I thought we already have up to 12 free pictures at any time at any categories???

Hey, when are you offering us the free listings promotions?  It has been 3 months now and I am seeing my unsold items disappearing now!  It is time consuming to list them with the right detailed information only to have them disappeared and I have to start all over again.  I am not being paid to do all those time consuming things!!  Come on, offer us every 2 weeks and you will see more $$$ coming to eBay instead of once in while like 3 months!!

Maybe you think we would give up and list them at the fixed price auction style.  Excuse me I have many items that I prefer to list them at auctin style format, so come on.  I am not willing to pay the hefty insertion fees only to see them not being sold and also in low search exposure!

I did check on my friend's computer to search for my items and to my horror, I was unable to find them like over 50% which is unfair and demeaning by eBay!! 

Again, come on offer us the free listings promotions like this week for the auction style format and please do it like every 2 weeks. 

Thanks.

[cumos55]

This is an old discussion. reactivated with one question.

Start a new discussion..

The probability of getting a response from eBay is very, very, very low on this discussion

There are many things that will be addressed in that new discussion

[anguscoinshop]

Still zero protection for sellers. ebay has become a dangerous place to do business.

[recyclemikey]

yup.. check this out.. I got dinged $9 for ending an auction early.  I wanted to revise the listing but there were bids on it so I thought that I'd remove and relist.

Highest bid price US $212.50, auction end early fee of US $8.91 converted to C $8.69 at a rate of 0.97550 (as of 06-Oct-12).

punks

[gts_family]

ebay  pretty muck jumped to fast with enforcing these new standards for trs discounts, as I lost mine this summer. I clearly didn't understand the "fake" tracking number thing & even tho I offer 14day money back with 1 day shipping still lost my discount. Not only the discount but also the visibility that goes with it. My sales really show it. Don't know how i can afford paying the fees for a store fvfs with out the discount & comply with all the return rules if I can't get the sales. Really considering closing the store & taking advantage of the 50 free listings, oh & those by invitation only perks as of late!  I've been here since 02 selling, this past year has been rediculous to say in the least!

[Anonymous]

I  re-read the policy that eBay realeased about "ebay reward sellers for no communication with their buyers"?  What the heck does it means?  Does it means eBay will penalize us if we "communciate" with our buyers like letting them know that their items are on the way or that they just are dropped off at the post office, etc.???  I always do that so does it mean that I shouldn't "communciate" with my buyers anymore or what?   It seems so silly to have that policy in the first place.

Where is the customer service's courtesy like communicate with your customers/buyers???  Please advise.

[melissasminis]

It means, if you communicate with your buyers, you have a chance to recieve a rating for communication on your DSR's.

[chitchatsexpress]

Tracking is free on US first class mail

but if you use stamps, no tracking

print a label

free tracking

[chitchatsexpress]

Although not everyone that uses my service to ship USPS or UPS in the states changes their registration to US, most do.

Because they have become US sellers most Canadians who ship though chitchats have had to comply with the rules now being implemented here in eBay.ca for a long time. but its not hard.

The  result of complying with the new eBay.ca rules and becoming a US seller is  better search exposure, many more sales and at higher prices.

The problem for most Canadian sellers Is the Canadian  postal  system, Its slow, expensive and often not tracked. Its no wonder they are losing customers in droves.

[anguscoinshop]

I find that for a very small business, a 1 day handling just isn't possible, that needs to be revised.

[lshealshea1234]

changes to feedback policies are not worth the paper they are printed on.  buyers have no responsibility to check the details of the items they purchase and can still leave crappy feedback even when the fault lies with themselves.  ebay leaves a lot to be desired in this matter. 

[lordmorbid]

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[lordmorbid]

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