Ep 258 || A Conversation with Rebecca Michals and Adam Ireland

[podcast_team]

Director of Seller Engagement and Community Rebecca Michals and VP and General Manager of eBay US join us to talk about the upcoming eBay Open event as well as their experience meeting with 30 sellers last week while filming the many sessions for Open. Griff and Brian answer a question about how to list, sell, and ship on the road from your RV while visiting Canadian Parks during a 3-month trip.

Episode Links:
eBay Open 2023
Recurring Links:
eBay for Business Podcast
eBay Seller Spotlight Podcast
eBay for Business Podcast Listener Survey
eBay Seller News Announcements
eBay for Business Facebook
Community Chat with eBay Staff
eBay Seller Center
eBay Help
eBay Local Seller Events
Seller Hub
eBay Events

Brian: I'm Brian.

Griff: And I'm Griff and this is the eBay for Business Podcast. Your source for the information and inspiration, all that other stuff you need to help you start and manage and grow a business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And if you keeping count, this is episode 258 for your reference. Welcome Brian.

Brian: Great to be here. Griff in the studio by myself. Not looking at your face like last week.

Griff: Or this week. 'cause I was in the studio yesterday.

Brian: Well you were doing a lot of recording. I was gonna say we, maybe we should have tried to record, but you were already, you had a full plate on Tuesday, Wednesday.

Griff: As you did too.

Brian: Yes.

Griff: So for those of you who don't know what we're talking about in preparation for eBay Open 2023 this past week or last week, if you're listening, just as this episode dropped was what we call seller week where we bring in a group of, used to be like 10 now it's like 30 sellers who assist us with recording the content for eBay, open the seller panels and the discussions, et cetera. And so while they're in one location, it's a great opportunity to take advantage of interviewing them in the studio. So I was there for one and a half days and recorded a lot of segments. Not just for our eBay For Business podcast, but also for Georgia's Seller Spotlight podcast.

Brian: That's right.

Griff: And it was great to see some old friend sellers.

Brian: Yes. And some new ones.

Griff: And some new ones as well.

Brian: And if you haven't registered for eBay live, I encourage you to do so. Given the sellers who we had in last week, there's gonna be some great content.

Griff: And I think the studio events are, some of them are already sold out I think.

Brian: Yes. The in-person ones.

Griff: Yeah, the in-person events I think are sold out. We're gonna learn more when we talk to Rebecca and Adam later on. In fact, those are our two guests.

Brian: I was gonna ask who the guests are this week and now you've spilled the beans.

Griff: I have.

Brian: Who are the guests this week?

Griff: Well, we got two of them and they're gonna join us in the San Jose studio and I'll be talking to Rebecca Michaels and Adam Ireland who is the VP and General Manager of eBay US. And they're gonna discuss in greater detail eBay Open and talk about a few other things about their relationships and engagement with sellers.

Brian: An interesting segment. I'm looking forward to hearing that.

Griff: I've got a little story to tell you, but I thought I'd wait till we got through the news. So any news this week, Brian?

Brian: Well, as it has been for a few weeks now, the news is about the weather. Last week Hurricane Idalia impacted many regions of Florida and the Southeast. Our primary concern is that you and your close ones stay safe. However, you may also be concerned about shipping delays for items already shipped or difficulties getting sold items to your carrier. If your business is impacted, eBay will automatically protect your seller performance, including your late shipment rate, your valid tracking and upload rate item, not received cases due to late delivery as long as you uploaded tracking before the case was opened and have a physical scan from the carrier and defects resulting from transactions you canceled. We're continuing to make necessary adjustments to delivery date estimates so that your buyers have accurate expectations. We'll also remove any associated negative and neutral feedback. And these cases will not impact your service metrics rating for the item not received.

Griff: Excellent. Yeah, it's getting a little scary that we have to keep, make this announcement more frequently now.

Brian: It's interesting, like this year it seems like it's been more than normal. And I think with the combination of weather and fires and all of it impacting our sellers.

Griff: It's apocalyptic. That's what it is.

Brian: It is.

Griff: Well, before we get to our segment this week, I wanted to share a little story if you're interested.

Brian: I am!

Griff: Well, you know I love fragrances, right? It's like my hobby. And I don't consider myself an expert, but I got some experience. But something that recently happened kind of shows up that experience or at least some gaps in it. So I sold a bottle of a, I'll just tell you what it is. It's a out of production woman's fragrance by Christian Dior. It's called Midnight Poison. And I had a bottle in my inventory, I don't remember where I got it, but it was a bottle in a box. And you know, I'm selling off a lot of this collection that I've acquired over the years and I listed it on eBay, sold it for a reasonable price based on others that are listed. And the buyer who bought it started a return with a message saying, you know, I've had this in the past and this just doesn't smell right to me and I think it may have gone off. And I auto accept returns. So the minute they file for a return, it's approved and they get a label from me, I pay for the return shipping. And I said, yeah, just send it back. Sorry about this. And then the bottle came back while I was in San Jose. So when I got home last night, I opened the package and I just did a little spray and I went, Hmm, she's right. It smells okay. It smells good, but Poison is strong. Even the versions of it. And this one seemed a little weak. So then I start examining the bottle and I'm looking at it and I'm thinking, wait a minute. There's something about this bottle that isn't ringing true. So I turn it over to read the batch code. 'cause all of the designer fragrances have batch codes on them. And the batch codes on the bottom of the bottle, whether it's on the label that's pasted on the bottle, or sometimes with Christian Dior products, it's engraved in the glass. Like some versions of Fahrenheit, the early ones, the batch code is actually engraved on the glass. There's no batch code. And then on the on the box there is one. And I'm thinking, Hmm, that's weird. And I keep looking at the front of the bottle and then it hits me that the lettering is not in alignment. So the word Dior should be under the Midnight Poison printing directly centered and it's way off center. So time to do a little internet research. And so I get online and I search for Fake Midnight Poison. And I find some examples and this bottle is definitely a fake. Interesting. It's definitely fake and it meets all of the criteria. It doesn't smell right being the big one. So I immediately, I'd already refunded her and I wrote back to the buyer and I said, listen, I have to thank you so much for returning this because you were right. It is off, but it's even worse than that. I said, I bought this years ago, I should have been on top of this. I should have been paying more attention. But this it turns out is a counterfeit fragrance. So I have it back. I will now destroy it. I don't even want to keep it as an example, I'll just send it off to the trash. And I really apologize for this. My fault. I should have been on top of this. I've been selling fragrance for a long time and I hope you'll consider coming back and buying from me. Of course. So you think you know something about a field you spend a lot of time in, but you can never know everything and it is possible to get taken. The lack of diligence on my part, I ended up listing a fake fragrance on eBay.

Brian: Griff!

Griff: I know.

Brian: For shame.

Griff: I feel terrible. Anyway, so it was that kind of week for me I'm afraid.

Brian: And your customer, your buyer was made whole with no trouble. And hopefully she'll see that you're an honest seller and we'll come back and purchase again.

Griff: I hope so. I always feel like the buyer isn't ever really made whole. I'll tell you why, they got their money back, but what they wanted was a 3.4 ounce bottle of a hard to find perfume, eau de perfume. This one being Midnight Poison.

Brian: That's actually a really good point. Well, do we have any questions this week?

Griff: We do. And we're gonna talk about 'em. We have a, a very interesting question about selling while you're on the road. I can't wait to get to that. And we got some good answers for that. We have a clarification about an answer we gave. It's not a correction because our answer that wasn't wrong, but we have some additional information. Which is good. And then we had a response from the seller for whom we asked on her behalf for sellers to give their advice and tips about time management and we got a response back from Lorie. So we'll talk about that as well.

Brian: Sellers helping sellers. I love it.

Griff: Yes. So before we do that, it's time to invite our next guests into the studio.

Griff: We've already talked a lot on the podcast in previous episodes about eBay Open 2023. This event takes place on September 27th and 29th. And I'm glad to be back in San Jose this week to meet with the sellers who are helping us with various things like our, we have lots of keynote speakers, we have lots of panels and lots of sessions. I thought it would be really good for us to talk to the two people that are really involved with this. And that's our Team Leader, Rebecca Michaels.

Rebecca: Hi Griff. For those who haven't met me before, I'm Rebecca Michaels and my role is Director of Seller Community and Engagement. And I get to work with Griff, which is such a pleasure.

Griff: Thanks. And Adam Ireland is our Vice President and General Manager of eBay US.

Adam: That's right, exactly. So just get to really have the privilege of representing all of our sellers here in San Jose and making sure we're doing the best we can to help them grow their businesses.

Griff: Rebecca, all the people that report directly to you are involved intimately in the operations of putting the event together. And the overall structure is similar to what we've done in last years, but I know that there's been, based on learnings from last couple years there's been some iterations and learnings and Adam I was hoping that you could talk about that.

Adam: Yeah, I mean one of the things that in general is so important to us is that we're listening to all of our users here at eBay and it's no different with eBay Open. Last year we sent out a survey after the event to say, Hey, what worked for all of you guys? And one of the things that came back really clearly was that you loved all of the seller led sessions. And so what we wanted to make sure we did this year was bring even more of that into the event. Uh, so we've actually doubled the number of sessions that we're gonna be having led by sellers. I'm really excited we've brought Anna Packer back. She actually got I think the top rated session in the whole of last year and I watched that one and listened to that one last year and I understand why. So she'll be back again talking about how to make sure you're sourcing some really high ROI or return on investments inventory.

Rebecca: And we have so many amazing sessions. There are sellers talking about international shipping, social media. I get to talk with a seller about that. How to make great listings and uh, their strategies for using eBay's marketing tools.

Adam: Yeah, I mean I always love just like the diversity of the seller base that we've got in general. And it really comes through open where you've got some of the smallest, newest sellers that are really experienced folks. And so seeing how they all are using the different tools in different ways, the different ways in which we can then improve those tools depending on where they are in their selling journey, massively important for us as as a business to get those sorts of insights.

Rebecca: And I'll add to the survey results that you mentioned, Adam, with the acknowledgement, some of our sellers mentioned that they missed the live connection with presenters in the previous in-person events. So we wanna continue to evolve the way that we approach helping sellers connect with eBay experts and having those personal connections. This year after each category training and seller led presentation, we'll have the presenters come on camera to answer some of the audience questions live.

Adam: So I'm really excited about this element actually. Like it can be so a little bit frustrating when you, you feel it's just a one-way channel when you're watching some of these sessions. So being able to have that Q and A at the end I think will be really, really cool. So would encourage you all to take part in that and make sure you're getting the chance to get some of your questions answered by the presenters. We've also got other things that in you coming this year that I'm, that I'm really excited about. Like nearly immediate replay. If you'd like to watch absolutely every session, you're gonna be able to, we're gonna have those presentations available to you for you to be able to quickly go back and check out something that you might have missed.

Rebecca: Yeah Adam, because of this new replay feature, which I think is gonna be really cool, my best advice to people who are attending eBay Open is to go to the sessions that where you're interested in posting your questions or chatting live with other sellers and then you can go back to some of those secondary sessions to watch the replay.

Griff: Adam, what's something that we did last year specifically that you're really excited about this year? Something we learned from last year that we're gonna repeat.

Adam: One of the new innovations last year was the eBay Live studio events getting together in person. Again, we had three of those last year I was in LA It was a fabulous day and I'm really excited to bring those back again this year. We're actually gonna expand those to four. So we'll be in Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and I'll be there in Phoenix. I believe we've still got a few tickets left in Atlanta and Philadelphia, if you are in that area, want to meet up with a few of the other sellers. Really encourage you to go and get one of those tickets as soon as you can.

Griff: Those tickets could be just about gone by the time you're hearing this. So don't put it off procrastinate and you're not gonna get in. Make sure that you register for those events if you're in those areas.

Rebecca: Yeah, you're right. They are a hot commodity, that's for sure. The thing about these events is that each one will have eBay leadership and eBay teams like Shipping or Promoted Listings. There onsite to answer questions and there's gonna be fun swag and giveaways and activities. And most importantly you'll be able to meet other sellers in your local area. The other thing that we'll have there is growth advisors. So those are people who can take a look at your business and the way that maybe you have your store set up and you can get account questions answered and get advice about how to grow your business.

Adam: I love just seeing last year how kind of it really was about the eBay community and you saw sellers connecting of all different types, all different sizes, all different categories of sellers coming together into the community, which really is one of those things that I always find makes eBay just so, so special.

Rebecca: And the photos that came out of those events were amazing. I loved seeing those and just hearing about all of the connections that were made. One of the things that I heard a seller say is that they like that smaller size of event because they do have a chance to talk to eBay leadership versus great big thousand person events where it's just someone talking on the stage and you don't actually get to stop and chat with them over a cup of coffee. Not everybody can make it to one of these four events. We have sellers who are going to be hosting 10 seller led kickoff parties same day and time all across the US. These are by sellers, four sellers. So if you're not near one of those locations that you mentioned, Adam, there are 10 more opportunities in locations like Portland, Oregon, Tampa, and other places all around the country. But Adam, like you said, part of eBay Open is connecting with each other, sharing your successes, learning from each other and establishing that network of small business owners that you can turn to when you have questions or or you have something great to celebrate.

Griff: So Adam, I know you watched the entire event. What sessions are you most looking forward to seeing this year?

Adam: Well, I already gave a shout out to Anna Packer. Looking forward to seeing her back again this year. But beyond that, I think I would say the category sessions in general, I realize that's a bit of a cheat, but being able to get the internal eBay experts who really know the ins and outs of their categories, able to sort of talk about what's coming on, what's happening, what are the holiday trends, whether it's in fashion or electronics or trading cards, that for me is always just so insightful and I love that we're able to open up that level of insight to our sellers.

Rebecca: Another cool thing that we're doing Adam this year, again based on that feedback that we heard about sellers, love seeing other sellers be a part of eBay Open is category managers during the category sessions are going to sit down with a real eBay business owner who sells in that category for a discussion. And like I mentioned, each of these sessions are also gonna have that live Q and A after the presentation. So make sure that if you are attending a session that you put your questions into the Q and A section.

Griff: What's gonna be the the one that you would recommend to beginning sellers for example.

Rebecca: I think the one that I would recommend the most for someone who really is just starting out is going to be Turn Your Hobby Into A Full-Time eBay Business. It's a great overview of the changes that small business owners have to do to take a side hustle into a full-time business. And then for most of your listeners who are probably more established in their business, I wanna recommend the session called Economic Forces Shaping Consumer Spending Patterns. That's a strategic session that talks about what's going on in the larger market.

Adam: That's right. We've actually brought in a company called McKinsey who are a global management consulting firm and really are sort of thought leaders. They do a lot of research, they work with a lot of big companies around the globe and so have a unique position in understanding kind of what's going on with the overall landscape of consumer spending. I'm excited we're gonna be able to bring that to all of you and I think they're gonna have some really interesting things to say about which e-commerce categories, where places are saving, where are people splurging, what's the overall state of e-commerce, what can we expect looking forward a little bit. So that one's gonna be gonna be really, really insightful.

Griff: Which seller led session are uh, you both looking forward to the most? Adam, I'll start with you.

Adam: Well I got a teaser of this in one of our seller Spotlights where we introduced the concept of the FIRE Movement and we've got a couple of sellers, Camilla and Kang that are really experts in this. So they've got a session called Learn How to Gain Financial Independence with the FIRE Movement. And it's just really incredible to me about how different entrepreneurs use their eBay business to support their life goals.

Rebecca: And for those who aren't aware, FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early as for me, there are so many to choose from. But I had a chance to spend some time with Heather Hardy and Alicia Wright and they have an amazing presentation about the steps that they took to transition one of their businesses from part-time again, you know, turning your side hustle into a full-time business and their plans to transition both businesses to full-time. They each run their own business even though they are a couple and live together. They lay out the exact steps that they're taking to get ready for this big move for the other business that they're taking to full-time. But also total shout out to Jude Lugo's presentation on how to grow your business using promoted listings, coupons and seller initiated offers. And Jude's also really inspirational story. He's a young man who has big goals for himself and for his business and that session is going to be amazing.

Adam: That's really what I love about these seller led sessions. They really do showcase the breadth of our seller, different sellers businesses, their passions, their business models and whether it's something like retiring early with the FIRE Movement or it might be about funding a charity like Laurie Wong's session. You know, you're really gonna get the chance through eBay open to see how all of these different types of eBay sellers are doing amazing things for their businesses, for their families and for the broader community.

Griff: Is there anything else for eBay Open in 2023 that you're really looking forward to seeing?

Rebecca: One new feature that we're bringing this year that I think is is a cool new innovation is one-to-one speed networking. We'll have the option for sellers to be matched with another seller for a five minute chat. Each seller will be matched based on whatever interests they added in their profile when they sign up to go to open. And we think this is a great way to have a more personal conversation in connection with another seller and remove a little bit of the awkwardness of just having to like send a DMM to someone like hi, wanna be friends? So we're trying to ease some of that and to help build community for the sellers.

Adam: I love that. I think that's gonna be a great addition to the sort of networking rooms that we already have available this year. There will be 25 of the more standard networking rooms available when we're gonna have topics from tips on selling to regional meetups to sort of guide the conversation in some of those rooms.

Rebecca: Yeah. And those networking rooms will be open before and after each of the three days. Another thing that I have to talk about before we wrap is that we are gonna be talking about how to decide what sessions you wanna go to and how to map out your days at a Sneak Peek event on September 14th from 12 to 1:00 PM Pacific Time. Adam, you and I are going to be walking through the schedule and giving more information about Open this year. This Sneak Peek event is really gonna get into the nitty gritty and give some more specifics.

Adam: I always love the Sneak Peek. It sort of warms me up and gets me really in the mood for Open. And we'll also have three sellers I think coming to talk about their eBay open experiences there as well. And so they'll be able to give some advice on, you know, what would they recommend you to do for this year's event and how best make the most of the time.

Griff: Before we sign off and get back to the busy day, we have, this is I think the last day of the seller week here. I wanted to ask you both what this event and our unique relationship with our sellers means to you? Rebecca, if you'd like to start off.

Rebecca: The thing that I love about my job, about the opportunity that I have to engage with sellers, whether it's in person or virtually, is that there is a unique story to every seller and it is a story of drive and ambition and passion and a love that they have for eBay and being in the position to help enable the goals that sellers have and to be their partner and to understand what more we can do to help them get where they want to go with their ambitions and with their businesses. It's an honor. Plus the sellers are all such wonderful, lovely, interesting, funny, delightful people and I just like getting to know lots of new and different people.

Griff: Adam?

Adam: I mean what she said really. But you and I were talking Griff a little bit earlier and it's just true that this is why we come to work every day. It's to meet with the sellers, it's to understand their stories. And you and I were both saying how we've had a little tear in our eyes on more than one occasion this week as we've just been listening to some truly, truly amazing stories about the impacts either in people's personal lives or in broader community. And that's what's so special. And then again, like seeing sellers together and connecting and the amount of fun that they have, the way they learn from each other. There is a uniqueness to this eBay community that is truly unmatched and it just makes coming to work and being a part of the eBay community just so, so special every day.

Griff: I couldn't have said it better. I want to thank you both and we'll look forward to the Sneak Peek Event, which again is happening on September 14th from 12 to 1:00 PM that's Pacific Daylight Time and Adam and Rebecca will be there to walk through the eBay Open schedule and give you more information so you can decide which things you want to focus on based on your own business needs. Rebecca, Adam, thank you so much.

Adam: Thanks for having us Griff.

Rebecca: Thanks for having us.

Griff: Rebecca Michaels is the Director of Seller Engagement and Community. Adam Ireland is our Vice President and GeneralManager of eBay US and we'll talk more about eBay Open in the next few weeks. But don't wait. Go to www.ebay.com/open and register. Now. There's only a few seats left at the Open studio events. Don't wait.

Brian: You got questions?

Griff: Oh boy, we got answers now Brian, let's start off with this one. 'cause last week we had a question about the now discontinued USPS Flat Rate game board boxes.

Brian: I remember.

Griff: It was posted by eBay seller. Kathy, I'll just repeat the question. It's a short one. Kathy said I sell a lot of board games in the past, always use the free boxes from the post office, but now I'd like to change my listings to ground advantage. But where can I purchase boxes for cheap that are close to the same size as the three post office boxes?

Brian: We said we weren't sure if USPS still accepted them as packaging.

Griff: We did say that and we also provided some other options for Kathy to consider, all of which are still valid. But as for the USPS game board boxes, it turns out USPS is still accepting them. Although with one caveat. I'd learned this by one of our regular sellers is a guy named Wes who posted this on our Facebook group. This is in reference to the Priority Flat Rate large board game boxes. When USPS announced a discontinuance in 2022 of making and providing them, they didn't actually prohibit their use because it turns out they're really popular for international and APO,FPO shipments. It also gets an existing now large Flat Rate Box label and pricing applied to it also. These details were included in their February, 2022 bulletin and announcements when it happened. And you know, we linked that in the original episode transcript. I have used them says Wes since the discontinuance and continue to use them, they work great for multiple lawnmower blades due to the length and weight. I haven't had any issues and have not seen a follow up from USPS on possible future ban of them. So there you go.

Brian: Ah, so she can continue using them to ship as long as the label is for USPS Priority Large Flat Rate Box.

Griff: Yeah, I don't remember, I think it was medium flat rate at the time but, and that could be wrong, but if you use the USPS Priority Large Flat Rate label, you can ship in that box and that's good to know. So thanks Wes for clarifying our answer. You can continue Kathy to use the USPS Flat Rate Game Board Box if you have any of them. So don't throw them away, you just won't be able to get any of them at the post-ops.

Brian: Great. Well this next question is an interesting one for sure. We are USA based eBay sellers. We are planning an extended vacation to Canada at least a month and up to three months. Lucky them! We know we can put our store in Vacation Mode, but we would rather keep our store open and continue to sell and ship what we sell from Canada. We will be traveling between provincial and national parks in our RV from Bridge Columbia to Alberta. We'll be using various post offices along the way and yes, we'll have our inventory onboard. Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated. Laura and Regine, Nomads For Hire.

Griff: Nomads For Hire, they're traveling through Nomad land just like that movie. It's a vacation, it's not a life. So Brian, I have to say I wasn't sure how this would work. I have a good idea of how it would work if they were traveling within the US. We've met people who have done this, but because they're going from the US to Canada, I know I need a little help. So I sent the question to the Shipping Team for their take. I originally thought maybe Laura and Regine would have to re-list all their inventory on the eBay.Canada site, but turns out that's not necessary. Amir on the Shipping Team sent back an answer.

Brian: What did Amir say?

Griff: It was interesting 'cause he says that these sellers can keep their listings on ebay.com so they don't have to do any of that. But as for shipping now Amir says they have two options. The first option is they can update the item location for all their listings to Canada, which would then mark their listings as cross-border trade to US buyers. They can then go on eBay Canada and follow the same process as they would on ebay.com to print a label with the origin in Canada. So I didn't know this, this is what they could do.

Brian: Oh, I didn't know that either.

Griff: Yeah, a seller's orders on.com will appear on eBay. Canada and vice versa if you log to that particular site. So even though you're a US based seller, if you log on to eBay.Canada and then go to Selling and then go to your Active Listings, you'll see them. But when you go to use that page, the Seller Hub on eBay.Canada to print your labels, you'll be presented with Canadian shipping options. The only thing you'll have to do, and I'll talk about this in a minute, is whenever you change your item location, you can change it from a US location to Canada. But depending on where you're going, you're gonna want to make those changes. Like say you're going to a particular location where there's a zip code, you want to change it in advance so your listings all change dynamically to that shipping while you're going to, or in that particular zip code. But then you have to get ready to change it to the next zip code depending on where you're going to stop. So if you're going say to a different zip code, you're going to a different province to a different park. You want to know that in advance and then you can change your item location for your listings. By the way, you can do this in the Bulk Editor and you can bulk edit up to 500 listings at a time. It's not that hard to do. Well that was the first option Brian. The second option is a little weirder for me. I don't know if this this'll work for them, but Laura and Regine could leave the item location for their listings as in the US where they are. And they could use a local carrier like ChitChats to ship the items to the US. The advantage is that virtually nothing about their sales or listings would change other than the fact they would use what's called ChitChats or Stallion is another one to ship from Canada. Now the caveat that Amir says is that these local carriers don't have as many locations in as Canada Post and apparently Canada Post is on almost every corner store. So that would be the disadvantage. And I don't know if you're gonna find these service providers like ChitChats or Stallion in Parks, national Parks. Also these carriers have partnerships with USPS and the tracking number provided to buyers can be the USPS one making it look like a domestic shipment. Isn't this fascinating? The handling time may have to increase since the first leg of the journey from candidate to the USPS location across the border will not be captured by the tracking number. For example, the first scan would would be once the item has been included by into USPS. So I'm not so sure that second option is gonna work for them based on their plans for traveling, which it doesn't sound like they'll be next to large metro or urban areas.

Brian: So this is great news for them. But I have a question.

Griff: Yeah, go ahead.

Brian: I just want to understand like the first option. In essence as they're going, let's say they start in Toronto. And they're gonna spend three days in Toronto and so they use a zip code from Toronto and that way if let's say the buyer's in the US, the buyer then looks at that and it sees that zip code and then on our site, we automatically change the length of time it's gonna take and the shipping cost to the buyer in the US because they're using that zip code from Toronto.

Griff: Right. Which is why it's easier.

Brian: Okay. Yeah. And then if they go, let's say west towards Calgary, they then change the zip code and they do that and it, and then as the buyers see their items in whatever zip code they're at, we're adjusting it for them.

Griff: Right. So Laura and Regine are gonna see if they use option number one, they're going to see a Canada Post options for shipping. And the buyer will see, depending on how they've edited all the item locations for their item based on it says Canada. And then you have to put in a postal code, it's like a zip code, but it's postal code. So you want to know the postal code of your next destination so you can be ready when you leave your current destination. That's the point where you want to change all of your listings before you get into your RV and drive away. You want to change the item location with the Bulk Edit tool of all your listings so that the item location is Canada and the next postal code that you will be shipping from.

Brian: And then this might be a good use of shipping policies too. They could create a shipping policy that uses Canada Post. I should include that as well. That's a good point. That there's no need to have to write out the shipping policy for each one. You just create a bunch of shipping policies for Canada Post. You have to do that on the eBay.CA Seller Hub. Not on the eBay.US because we don't provide options.

Brian: They could create those shipping policies even before they left.

Griff: If they log into eBay.CA, yes.

Brian: Yeah, that's true.

Griff: I still think it's a little complicated, but apparently according to Amir and what he's told us makes sense to me. It seems like this would work.

Brian: That's great news. And if you're traveling in the US it's, it's easier. You just, well actually even in the US would they have to change the zip code?

Griff: They'd still have to change the zip code to where they're going, but they wouldn't have to do anything else. So they could use the same shipping policies.

Brian: They don't have to worry about the carrier then.

Griff: And when you go to bulk edit your listings to change something like item location, you select in Seller Hub in the active view, the group of listings, if not all of them, that you want to bulk edit. You click the Edit feature, it'll take you to the Bulk Editor. And then on the side there are the options that you can use that you can edit. You click on that Bulk Edit Box and a dropdown menu appears. And under the heading of preferences, there is a entry for item location so that you can edit the item location for a large group of items. That makes it a lot easier. You can just change it to the next zip code you're going to and then you're on your way. Although I have to say that if I was going on an RV trip, the last thing that I'd want to be thinking about is my eBay listings and sales. But mazel tov, everyone's different. If this is a good solution for you, you don't mind traveling and working I think is a great way to do it.

Brian: I agree. It's relatively simple.

Griff: Relatively simple.

Brian: They just have to stay up on it during their three month vacation.

Griff: So every time you're gonna leave the zip code or the postal code national park or wherever you are, and you know where you're going to stop for your next stop, you'll wanna make those edits before you get on the road to edit all your listings for that next postal code. And you may need to edit the handling time for all of your listings because it depends on how long you plan to be on the road. Say your next destination is two days away, so you're gonna be leisurely traveling in your RV, then you wanna adjust all of your handling so that if it's one day, it should be at the very least two days to adjust for the fact that you won't be able to ship anything until you that sells, until you get to your next postal code.

Brian: I now have a request for Lauren and Regine.

Griff: Yeah? I know what it is.

Brian: You do?

Griff: I think so.

Brian: For me it would be like when you sell your first item on your trip and you're shipping it, send us a picture. I'd love to see that.

Griff: I think there's an even better suggestion for them. I don't know if you guys are interested in becoming YouTubers or content providers?

Brian: Oh yes.

Griff: But this would be an excellent subject for a YouTube video is to document your trip and what you did and what happened while you were shipping on the road from Canada as a US seller. I'd watch it.

Brian: The only thing that I can think of that they might have to think a little bit about is returns.

Griff: Yeah.

Brian: Because at three months you could probably get away with a month without, and if the return went back to their house and they're back in a month, they're probably, by the time they ship it and it gets back to them, they're well within any kind of return window. If they go for three months, then I think it becomes more of a challenge.

Griff: I have a suggestion, it's a bit risky, but if I was asked how to do this while I'm gone for three months, I'd say that you wait until you have confirmation, have all of your returns shipped to your home location and once the item shows as delivered, and hopefully you've set up for some secure delivery address or situation. So your items aren't just sitting out in the open, but once they've been shipped back to your US location and you know they've arrived, issue the refund. A little risky. 'cause you won't be examining the item.

Brian: Or you have a neighbor.

Griff: If you have a friend or a neighbor or a family member who's willing to accept these packages, then you could have them shipped to that address. You would use their physical address, you'd add it as your return address and your shipping preferences. Right. Then they could alert you and say, yes, the item arrived.

Brian: They can open the box.

Griff: I think it's a lot to ask, maybe you'd have to pay someone to do this, but on an accepted item basis.

Brian: And depending on what they sell, their return rate might be. I mean, even if it's only 1%, it only might be a few packages throughout the months.

Griff: I've never had an issue with getting a return back. I just never have. At least not for, it's been at least 10 years. I did have an issue about 10 years ago, but I don't let that color any of my experiences and all the items that have been returned back to me since that have been legitimate returns. And in most cases, except for the midnight poison, I was able to re-list them. I'm not gonna re-list the fake. And finally, Brian, remember the question from Lorie who wanted advice on time management?

Brian: I do. We asked our audience to send their tips for Lorie and they did not disappoint. We had a lot of responses from the sellers eager to provide their advice for Lorie regarding managing her time.

Griff: Yeah. And Lorie heard the segment by the way, and she sent us the following email. Why don't you read it?

Brian: Happy to. Good morning, Griff and Brian, I listened yesterday afternoon to this week's podcast and heard my question get answered about time management and discipline. I was speechless as I listened to every suggestion and was amazed at the wonderful ideas. Scott's idea about five minute meditation and being efficient was gold. Listing three to four items a day instead of 10 to 15, which was my previous goal. Seems more attainable. Like one of the other sellers suggested. I'll be listening again today in my vehicle. I might have to pull over due to excitement or just wanting to write down my thoughts because it was a turning point yesterday in my eBay career to get the support and be heard. Thank you so much for all you both do. The kids go back to school on September 6th, and my husband is off that day, so I will be implementing all of the ideas and strategies starting September 7th. If you want, I can let you know how it goes. We definitely want to hear it from you.

Griff: Absolutely.

Brian: I also want to say a huge shout out of gratitude to you both for pronouncing my name correctly. What was my mom thinking? . Have a great day, Lorie.

Griff: Well, Lorie. It's a great name and it was our pleasure. Your question and the many responses we received with advice just goes to show that the power of the eBay community is as strong and as vibrant as it was. Well back in 1996 when I first joined eBay.

Brian: I agree. Griff, the community of sellers helping other sellers is what it's kind of like what makes eBay, eBay. And to me it's also one of the reasons, one of the main reasons probably the reason why I've stayed with eBay as long as I have over 20 years.

Griff: Yeah, well you're preaching to the choir, Brian. And we know all too well that without sellers our jobs would be boring, quite frankly.

Brian: Um, I don't think they'd exist.

Griff: . Yeah, that's true too. I'm sorry.

Brian: Well, if you have a tip to share with your fellow eBay sellers or a question that needs an answer, why not call us. The number is (888) 723-4630

Griff: Oh. You know the number? Well, we'll repeat it again. It's (888) 723-4630. You can call at any time of the day, leave your tip, your bit of advice, your comment, your question, your kvetch, and we just might put it on the air.

Brian: If you're not a call on the phone person, you can always email us podcast@ebay.com. That's podcast@ebay.com.

Griff: And now your three point podcast checklist for the week. Brian.

Brian: First is check the Announcement Board at ebay.com/announcements for UpToDate Seller News every day.

Griff: But number two is have you checked out the eBay community? No? Well, you should. The 28 year old community on eBay is one of the web's earliest communities, and it's also one of the web's most valuable resources when it comes to eBay. And it's only a click away at community.ebay.com. What are you waiting for? Go right now!

Brian: And go often.

Griff: Every day.

Brian: Need to review anything in this episode. It's easy. Check the transcript for this and all episodes for follow up on what you've heard and find the links we reference during the episode.

Griff: You know, the most popular question that we get besides Griff, are you selling fake perfumes now? The most popular question we get it is about using eBay's promotional tools. And on our next episode, entrepreneur, fashion Designer and eBay Seller and Champion of Sustainable Living, Michelle Wynn will join us to share her successful strategy using eBay tools like Promotions and Send Offers.

Brian: We'd like to again thank our guests this week, Adam Ireland and Rebecca Michaels.

Griff: The eBay for Business Podcast is produced and distributed by Libsyn and podCast411.