Episode 29 || 2019 Early Seller Update

[doug@ebay]

This week on the Selling on eBay Podcast we discuss the 2019 Early Seller Update with Jesse Kiefer, our Senior Director of Seller Engagement, and Kristi Diemoz, Senior Manager of Seller Operations.

Selling On eBay - Episode 29 – 2019 Early Seller Update

This week on the Selling on eBay Podcast we discuss the 2019 Early Seller Update with Jesse Kiefer, our Senior Director of Seller Engagement, and Kristi Diemoz, Senior Manager of Seller Operations.

Links
ebay.com/sellingonebay
ebay.com/meetups
ebay.com/community
ebay.com/sellerupdate

Hosts
Griff, Audrey Tracy

Guests
Jesse Kiefer (eBay Staff), Kristi Diemoz (eBay Staff)

Transcript

I'm Audrey Tracy.

And I'm Griff and this is Selling On eBay. Your weekly source for the information and inspiration you need to start run and grow a business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And this week Audrey and I have a very special episode all about the 2019 Early Seller Update which we announced on February 26th. You can read about the Early Seller Update at ebay.com/sellerupdate. By the way, as we go through this episode, we'll assume you've already read this information on the Early Seller Update pages and you're pretty familiar with the changes we announced. So if you haven't, we really recommend you head over to ebay.com/sellerupdate and read the update before you listen to this episode. We can wait.

Today we're talking with Jesse Kiefer, Senior Director of Seller Engagement about the early Seller Update. Welcome Jesse.

Thanks a lot. Happy to be here.

Okay, great. Before we get into the discussion, tell us what you do and how it relates to sellers, how long you've been here at eBay.

Cool. I've been at eBay for about seven years and I've done a variety of things. I used to work in our Electronics Vertical Team and then a lot with deals and promotions. Now I get to do a few things. One is I'm a responsible for our community programs, our message boards and supporting seller events. That's a lot of fun. I also get to help activate selling tools, things in Seller Hub for example, and I get to help sellers accelerate their velocity through exports and various promotional efforts. And so it's been a, been a great ride.

So Jesse, how do today's changes help build a marketplace where sellers can be successful. Yeah, I'm happy to provide a bit of a big picture view for 2019. As we think about the coming year, we're really focused on three areas that will help eBay improve the seller experience. The first is partnership, the second is velocity, helping our sellers sell as much as possible.

And then three is maintaining and enhancing a simple and stable platform. So on the topic of partnership, eBay is somewhat unique in that we don't compete with our sellers. We won't compete with our sellers. And so we want to make sure that our sellers can be as successful on eBay as possible. The Internet sales tax landscape has been changing dramatically in the last year or so as more states rollout their policies. eBay has started to collect and remit taxes on behalf of sellers as that's been required. So starting with this update, we will be making it easier for sellers to access that information. Another way we are partnering with sellers is that we're doing more in person seller events. These events are great ways for sellers to hear the latest eBay News and learn about tools and features and programs all with an idea of making them more successful on eBay. And I've been told that I can't announce all the details now but Audrey and Griff, I'm sure we'll be sharing those details as they emerge.

Oh, you can be sure. We will be blurting it out on the air someday.

Yeah and cheap plug. Keep an eye on our eBay for business Facebook page. We'll announce it there.

Exactly.

And speaking of those events, sellers really love them. So sellers, I hope we will all see you there. So Jesse, let's talk about number two, sales velocity.

So it goes without saying that velocity is, is hugely important for our sellers. Perhaps the most important thing. And so we're going to be making a number of changes this year to improve our seller's ability to drive velocity. One of them, which you've heard us talk a lot about is Promoted Listings and we'll be making some enhancements to Promoted Listings throughout the year that you'll hear about. We're also going to be making it easier for sellers to give offers to buyers on items that they are watching. And so we're very pleased to be rolling out some enhanced functionality there. And also part of velocity is the insights and pricing intelligence that we provide sellers so that they can price their listings and source inventory as best as possible. Included in most store subscriptions we're pleased to announce will be Terapeak information. And that of course is on top of the already robust set of tools we have like Promotions Manager, Volume Pricing, and Best Offer.

Okay, Jesse, that's great. We have one and two. What about number three?

Number three, simple and stable platform. In this area for 2019 we're focused on a few things. One is Managed Payments and you've heard a lot about Managed Payments from us. Uh, we really want to make sure we get payments right. So we're trying to add more sellers to the program and we're also going to be enhancing the feature set offered with Managed Payments. That's not part of today's update, but it will be a key focus for us in 2019 so stay tuned for more there.

Yeah.

Another key focus for us in 2019 is product based shopping and the underlying catalog to support it. And so stay tuned for more information on that as we go through the year.

So to recap, the three areas are partnership, sales velocity and simple and stable platform. So sellers, you can look for news on those three areas throughout 2019.

That's right. And we'll continue to support all these throughout the year. So as you say, there'll be a lot more news coming this year.

That's great. Thanks for the big picture. Jessie.

Thank you, Jessie. We really appreciate you sharing this with us.

Thanks for having me.

Okay. Coming up next Inside eBay.

Welcome to Inside eBay. Today, Griff and I will chat with Kristi Diemoz our Senior Manager of Seller Operations about the Early Seller Update. Kristi is here to walk us through some of the highlights of the update.

Welcome Kristi.

Hello, Audrey and Griff and Hello eBay sellers.

Hi Kristi. You know, we announced some exciting changes in the Early Seller Update.

We sure did Griff. Let me start by saying that the Early Seller Update is not meant to be like a full on update like our typical Seller Updates. In our very first Early Seller Update, we announced a handful of changes that were ready to go. Rather than hold on to them and announce them later in the year we thought, let's release them now so that sellers can start taking advantage of them sooner rather than later.

That's a great idea, Kristi.

Thanks Griff.. We're especially excited about a number of changes that we believe will positively impact sellers sales velocity and help them manage their business better.

That's great to know. Kristi. Let's jump right into the details. Tell us more about the new Offer To Buyers Feature.

Of course. So starting in March, a new Offers To Buyers feature in Seller Hub will allow sellers to send offers directly to buyers for their eligible listings. We think the Offers To Buyers feature help improve conversion by enabling sellers to target buyers who have already shown interest in their items with special offers.

So if I'm a seller, how do I send an offer to buyers?

So you'll be able to send offers to buyers directly from the active listing page in Seller Hub Audrey.

So what exactly will a buyer like me see on my end?

So if a buyer is watching a listing and a seller sends an offer, the buyer will receive an email from the seller with a special offer such as a discount, which will automatically expire after 48 hours. The buyer will also be informed that other buyers will still be able to purchase the item at the listed price during that 48 hour period. So they should take advantage of it while they still can.

What if buyers don't want to receive offers? Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Of course. Buyers can opt out of receiving offers simply by changing their communication preferences. And if they do that then they won't receive those offers.

So Kristi, when can sellers get started? Non-hypothetically speaking.

So we're rolling out offers to buyers feature in phases. We expect the offers to buyer feature will be available to most sellers by the end of March. If sellers don't see any listings that are eligible to use the offer to buyer feature in Seller Hub, we encourage them to check back.

And what determines a listings eligibility?

So eligibility is determined by a number of factors, including the age of the listing, the listing format, and then rules that manage the number of offers buyers receive. We're constantly evaluating listing eligibility and may expand the eligibility criteria over time. Like I said, we're relentless and we want these sellers to have these tools.

So Kristi, do my listings as a seller need best offer in order to send an offer to buyers?

Nope.

Sounds like the offer to buyers feature will really help drive sellers velocity.

Yep. Definitely offers to buyers is just one more tool in the sellers marketing tools. Don't forget, we have many tools to help drive sales velocity including this new Offers To Buyers and Volume Pricing, Promoted Listings, Best Offer format, and all the tools in Promotions Manager.

Hey Kristi, I know a lot of sellers have been asking us to give them the ability to edit their listings directly from the active listing page in Seller Hub. When will that be available?

Very soon Griff. Most sellers can now edit their listing price, quantity, and custom labels directly from the active listings page in Seller Hub. We should have this available to all sellers in the next couple of weeks, so if you don't see it, just keep checking back and it'll be there soon.

What do they have to do to edit their active listings?

It's so easy. A seller just has to hover their cursor over the listing price, quantity or custom label field and then click the pencil icon to either add to or edit their listing. The listings will be immediately updated when they click submit.

Wow. Just like that.

Yeah. Just like that. Sellers would also be able to add best offer to multiple listings in the active listings tab. They just need to select the listing they'd like to add best offer to and then select best offer and add it to the action. So more features and fewer steps. I love it. Yay. That's always our goal at eBay.

Great. Fantastic. I love it!

Speaking of Seller Hub, I read that sellers will be able to access and download the Orders Report directly to their computers from Seller Hub. This is something new.

Yep. Starting in March, sellers will be able to easily access and quickly download an Orders Report directly to their computer from the manage orders page in Seller Hub. The Orders Report will help sellers manage their business more effectively by allowing them to efficiently fulfill their orders and maintain accurate records.

So what exactly is an Orders Report, Kristi? So the Orders Report is a CSV comma separated file, you know like an Excel file that contains all the data that appears in the Seller Hub manage all orders page and more. For each order the Orders Report includes the name and address of the buyer, their shipping address, the price and quantity, the items purchase dates and other details about the order.

Oh Man, this is gonna make my life as a seller so much easier. It's so great to have that Info right on hand, especially during the end of the year at tax time.

Exactly. And it'll be easier to download the Orders Report than ever. Sellers will be able to download all the orders in their current results with just one click. They'll also be able to select and download individual orders if they want to do it that way.

So Kristi, how far back does the orders report go?

So today orders reports are available for the previous 90 days only. Some sellers will like to download an archive, the order reports for future reference. So every 90 days you can download it and save it to your computer if you want.

So is there anything new in the orders report?

Yes. So the orders report will include a new column that will show how much tax eBay has collected and remitted for each transaction in those marketplace responsibility states that require it. We will also add columns for eBay programs such as the Global Shipping program and Click and Collect.

Market responsibility states. Hmm, I don't know what that means? That sounds awful official.

As our sellers may already know, last fall we announced that several states passed laws requiring eBay and other online marketplaces to collect sales tax on taxable items that are mailed to addresses in those states. We call those officially the marketplace responsibility states. eBay calculates, collects and remits the sales tax for those states on our seller's behalf. We don't charge a fee or anything for this function.

And how many marketplace responsibility states are there?

Yeah, great question. So right now there are three, Minnesota, Washington and Iowa. Five more states will require sales tax on taxable items mailed to their states by July 1st. And we will apply state sales tax to item sold on eBay based on each state's unique tax requirements. As I mentioned, there's a new column in the Orders Report that details the tax that we collect and remit for each transaction in the marketplace responsibilities states. So if you need to know, you can always check that. We're trying to make it as painless as possible for our sellers and if you want to know what other states are going to collect and remit for over the coming months, you can check the links and FAQ is on the Seller Update page.

I see that we're going to offer Terapeak, our eBay insights tool free to basic and above eBay store subscribers. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, this is great. Starting in March we'll offer Terapeak free of charge as you mentioned, to basic premium anchor and enterprise store subscribers to help sellers improve their sales velocity. Terapeak uses supply and demand and pricing data to help sellers determine what to sell, when to sell it and what price. Terapeak also integrates recent eBay sales data and price trends to help sellers optimize their listings and improve their sales velocity.

Can starter store subscribers and non-store sellers also use Terapeak?

Yeah, definitely. Starter store subscribers and non store sellers can subscribe to Terapeak on a monthly or yearly basis.

So explain to us how do sellers use Terapeak?

Yeah, great. So sellers can use Terapeak to access millions of transactions and billions of dollars of ecommerce activity on eBay. They can search by a keyword or a product to get data on those parts of the market that matter to them.

What kinds of data, Kristi?

Well, really simple direct figures for average price, sales totals, number sold, typical shipping costs, top sales regions and more for each search. Sellers can also study detailed breakdowns that show which product sold when and where. Plus what strategies were used to encourage shoppers to buy.

So by using Terapeak sellers can find out what's sold on eBay. Now can Terapeak predict the future too?

I hope so. No I wish. Terapeak can't predict the future per se, but Terapeak can help sell our spot and analyze market trends. They can do trend charts for recent and previous selling seasons and use the knowledge to help them understand how to stay ahead of the changes in supply and demand. Sellers can also find out which products are driving sales and study top performers in each selling category and not just domestically, but in 22 marketplaces around the world. Sellers can use Terapeak data to identify opportunities for arbitrage selling, buying low in one region and selling high in another to zero in on global demands that others miss.

That's amazing. That's a ton of eBay insight. I imagine sellers could use that insight for their SEO too?

Absolutely Audrey. So sellers can use Terapeak SEO to find top keywords for any product and improve their Google and eBay search rankings.

Now, how will sellers find out when they can start using Terapeak?

Yeah, so don't sign up yet, but starting in March we'll start sending email notifications to basic and above store subscribers that the free Terapeak insights tool will be available. If you haven't tried it, I bet you're excited to try it now, but to get the free version, please be sure to wait until you get the email from us with more information.

If a basic or above store subscriber already paid for Terapeak subscription, will they get a refund?

Yeah, so yes, a prorated refund effective from March, 2019 will be applied to their account. So starter store subscribers and non store sellers who paid for a Terapeak subscription will be charged their Terapeak subscription on their monthly seller invoice and the new published rate. And if a seller already paid for a yearly Terapeak subscription, a prorated refund effective from February, 2019 will be applied to their original payment method.

That's all great information about Terapeak Kristi. I can wait as a seller, but moving to another topic. Starting in mid March, the listing duration for all fixed price listings is going to change. It's going to change to good till cancelled my favorite duration. What's the thinking behind the change?

Yeah. Great. So we're changing the listing duration for all a new fixed price listings to good till cancelled because longer duration listings potentially have greater exposure to buyers and really may be more likely to sell.

That makes sense.

Yeah. Good till cancelled listings can also help improve SEO, simplify the selling flow, keep their interested buyers and retain their sales history for multi quantity listings. Which helps improve search rankings also, so sellers can also take advantage of the out-of-stock feature with good till cancelled listings too. Now can you explain why sellers might want to take advantage of a feature called out- of -stock?

Yeah, definitely. When a seller uses the out-of-stock stock feature and their listing reaches a quantity of zero, we show the listing is out of stock to buyers. By using out-of-stock, the seller retains the purchase in search history and that's important because when the replenishes their stock, buyers can easily find the listings.

Do sellers have to do anything to change their listings from fixed price to good till cancelled?

No. Nothing at all. Audrey, the good till cancelled listings renew automatically every 30 days unless the seller cancels their listing. eBay ends the listing as a result of a policy violation or if the item sells before the specified duration. With the exception of listings that use the out-of-stock feature and we charge an insertion fee in every 30 day period.

When we make the change in mid March, what will happen to existing fixed price listings that are not good till cancelled?

Oh, good one. Existing fixed price listings will continue until they sell or at their specified duration. So if a short duration fixed price item is relisted, the duration will be automatically set to good till cancelled upon realist.

Do good till cancelled listings count towards sellers monthly zero insertion fee listings?

Ah. Great question Audrey, very important. Fee amounts are based on whatever terms are in effect when the listing goes live and when it renews.

Some sellers of collectible items, you shorter durations to generate buyer interest when they list. Is there another way to generate that same interest?

Yeah. We recommend that sellers of collectible items test the auction format as a way to generate some interest.

Well, that makes sense. Thank you, Kristi. Thanks for coming on the show and taking us through all of this information from the Early Update. We're can sellers find out more?

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Thanks so much for having me. I always love being on the podcast. So sellers can learn more and sellers can read all the details that ebay.com/sellerupdate.

All right. Thank you Kristi. Thanks for being here.

Awesome. Thanks guys.

And that's our special Seller Update Edition. Thanks for joining us and please do us a favor if you like the show, give this podcast to review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you don't like our show, don't tell anyone that! And send us a private email to sellingonebay@ebay.com. We're always open to feedback. Let us know we can improve or what topics you'd like us to cover.

Roll the credits. Audrey.

The eBay podcast team, Director of Community, Brian Burke, Community Manager, Alan Aisbitt. Hey, how's it going Alan? Give that baby a kiss for me Alan. Community Manager and Technology and News Editor. Doug Smith. Marketing Strategist, Liz Austin, Editor and chief and Cohost. That's you, Griff. Script Writer and Cohost and Top girl Audrey Tracy. I'll take it. Thank you. You're welcome.

Selling On eBay is produced and distributed by Libsyn and podCast411.

All right. Good job.

This is the week we don't ad Lib.

I know, but here I am. Ad libbing.

We just go. We just cut it.

I just can't stop myself.

I know. Okay. Shut it off.

Update, update, update.

[cool224]

I like this one.

[myvintagegaragesale]

All we get is an error when trying to get to the seller update page. And we shouldn't be forced to keep auctions going "good till cancelled. It's just another way for eBay to collect higher fees. And the new policy of not accepting PayPal payments from some sellers is causing me to now buy less products through eBay.

[az_tech]

Typical example of how eBay management is absolutely disconnected from their wide sellers base.  Do you know why and how I and other sellers use 30-days listings with their business? Of course not, because on eBay those that do not earn their living selling on eBay know more than those that do. Getting rid on 30-day listings will make things more difficult for me as a seller, which will cost me time and money in the end. Thanks eBay!!!

[zippy451]

said by eautionmagement & i couldn't say it better myself:

"This new policy is one of the stupidest ideas that ebay has come up with. My main seller acct. has almost 500 price listings. No way will I let them restart. As they end, I will save them for the next listing promo and I will start them. In my description, I will announce that they will end in 29 days. I will explain that I need to do this to avoid eBay stealing fees from me. By keeping my fees low, my prices are lower. No way will I let ebay triumph and steal fees from me.

Even if all of the listings were free, I don’t want them to restart at the time that they end. If an item doesn’t sell at 7 pm , i will relist it to end at 8:30 the next time.

Also at least if an item ends in 30 days, a buyer might feel an urge to bid. With good till cancelled, the urgency is gone because they know that the auction will restart right away. This is nothing but a money grab move by eBay . It has me so ticked off that I am not going to be buying here for a while.

This is very wrong for eBay to do this. To me, it’s a breach of contract. Another option that I was thinking about was treating my 7 day relisted auctions as Fixed priced. I will write in the description asking buyers to email me immediately after they bid and I will close the auction and they win. I won’t even put a buy it now price because I don’t want ebay to earn a higher commission."

[mycollegefund2028]

Thanks for sticking it to the little guy , this is the straw that broke the camels back , ETSY here I come GOOD BY EBAY had a great run , But like all things EBAY it is about to implode .

[tool-time-4u]

Fixed Price now GTC! Bad idea eBay. What gives you the authority to tell us how to run our business?   

[div_style]

"Read the early update here"  LINK"  BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!!!

Even the new eBay message sent this afternoon yields the same result "We looked everywhere..."   Prolly some laid off programmer inserted a bug in the software and no one left at eBay has any idea how to find or disable it.

[paris-france1]

i cannot believe what I am reading in the 2019 Early Seller Update Announcement. What planet is EBay's leadership team living on?  Why would EBay force sellers to only have the GOOD TIL CANCELLED option for FIXED PRICE LISTINGS with EBay automatically renewing the listing every 30 days and charging Sellers a listing fee.  I refuse to pay EBay more than the 10% they already receive on an item that I sell in addition to 10% on the shipping fees.  And by the way the USPS just had an 11.9% increase in shipping charges plus first class shipping is now based on regions. IT IS INSANE. Today I sold an item for $10 and the calculated shipping for 1-2 pounds was $14.35. So EBay will charge me $2.50 to sell a $10 item. And PayPal will charge me 2.9% plus 30 cents. And I have to package the item with expensive bubble wrap, print a label with expensive ink and paper and drive my SUV with premium gas to the post office and get a receipt to have proof that I mailed it just in case it gets lost.  What a waste of my time to make a few dollars. I think it is time to rethink selling on EBay 

In today's world you would think EBay would reduce their fees to attract more sellers since there are so many more options to sell items. But EBay's GREEDINESS is making these poor decisions. 

I will use my 50 free listings each month AND start selling my vintage items on ETSY and start selling more on Craigslist, FACEBOOK Marketplace and Amazon. 

Greediness puts companies out of business. 

[hubcapjoes]

Guys chill out. There is nothing bad in this announcement. GTC is a very good method to help you sell items with a minimum of effort. I have been selling on eBay for 20 years and I have been using GTC exclusively the last 8 years. It works for me, and it will work for you too. Just give it a chance 🙂

[mangafanatic2013]

Nope, forcing sellers to use GTC is asinine.  I HATE GTC and do NOT use it.  This was not what I signed up for when I did my store subscription.  Since you insist on implementing this disastrous  policy, who do I contact to cancel my store subscription early with out getting an early termination fee?  I do expect to be allowed to cancel the subscription without penalties because ebay has drastically changed the terms of my subscription. 

[honeybeez-15]

Thanks eBay for just another nail in the coffin.  Look, if your aim is to rid this platform of small sellers, than just say so.

Over the past three years, eBay has made it nearly impossible for the small seller to survive.

I will be so glad when my subscription is up and I can end this nonsense.

[topofthestackcomics]

Ebay Management .... please listen 

Most of us use 30 Day listings not to try and go around paying fees to you but because buyers use the filter ENDING SOON when buying things so they can get the item with limited time remaining the cheapest they can  ... I always stagger my 6000+ listings so and try to have some end everyday and I get a nice bump of income when things end that day. If they never end I loose out on all the impulse buys that ever person does in life. Listings must end for us all to get the profits from this scenario ... it’s for all things not just my business model ... reconsider this practice change ... I been doing Ebay since 2009 and it seems like every update that is announced is NOT helping me but hurting my bottom line and frustrating me more , not here to complain but just can’t continue to loose profits with every new update and feel good about sticking it out, I fill out every survey and participate every time there is a request to better Ebay, so where do I see where sellers were saying this is what they wanted ? I pay you guys good money every month for my store , so please stop hurting my ability to make a living. ... deaf ears I hope you are listening .

[4stringfiddle]

What Ebay class clown is running things now??? Listen buddy YOU have no clue what us small Ebay sellers do for your wallet!! I've been selling on Ebay for 20 years and now this takes the cake of your dysfunctional rules!! We pay good money to have a store, and what right do you have to take away our right to run our listings how we want? WE PAY FOR OUR STORES SO WE DO NOT GET FREE LISTINGS!!!.. and since we are paying we should be able to list them when we want, not be dictated by Ebay!!! Maybe we don't want to relist everything "good till cancelled". I like the choice of being able to 5, 10 and 30 days... I have a Premium store at 59.99 a month and I have more inventory than what I can list and you offer no middle store so unless we pay 299.99 a month to upgrade to an Anchor which for most of us small guys can't afford. So this is how you do it Ebay?? ETSY is looking better and better all the time!!

[cabinfeverantiquesandmarketplace1]

Do we have to pay back the sales tax collected from other states?

[div_style]

You KNOW, that every time there is a free listing promotion for 100 or more, that zillions of sellers that use them will fail to end them before they rollover and generate millions of $$$ for eBay to the utter dismay of those sellers that got stung by it.    Those sellers will not only quit selling, they will quit buying, and make sure that everyone they know, and everyone who reads their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts, learns how badly they were treated by eBay. 

I suggest that listings created via a free listing promotion be active for a max of 30 days so as to avoid the above mentioned potential disaster.  For eBay NOT to do this suggests nefarious purposes by eBay.

[the_serendipity_lady]

I cannot get the update to even read it, it seems the link is gone? 

[kerriskollectibles]

That was good stuff.

[muche-56]

I just need to say being new to Ebay. I have sold 64 items in 33 days and I have tried selling on other places never sold a thing. So I love ebay.

[birdloner]

I have always listed Good till Canceled. For folks saying they are going to Etsy, your listing will roll over automatically there, too -- just sayin'. And there aren't nearly so many ways to search. I use Etsy for some things but eBay is best for others.

[gofastdiecast]

Hello Everyone,

I too am furious over this good til cancelled change. Someone mentioned that buyers will no longer see ending soonest search results, in addition to that that your listings will not get newly listed views once a month either. I also believe the longer your item sits in the haystack of listings, the further down best match you will slide. Someone mentioned the last 3 years, oh the rotten changes here is right. Selling manager pro I loved, GONE ! Power Seller discussion board I loved, GONE ! I made friends here when this was a community, Member search to reach out, GONE ! Final value fees on shipping, fixed price doubled from a nickel to a dime, and my personal favorite: YOUR COMPETITORS ADS on YOUR LISTINGS. Fabulous ! Its hard enough to attract buyers and at the bottom of your listing they are sending the customer to your competition. Ebay simply does what they want, does no one regulate this company ? Seriously, I am asking, who regulates this company and their practices ?  Sadly, they know as long as sellers need the money, we will continue to just sit there and take it. And for everyone of us that leaves, another eagerly comes in, that is the reality. Ad money is HUGE with Ebay now. Have you been on a site like MSN and off to the side there are your Ebay ads of things you actually looked trying to entice you to go spend your money on Ebay. And the emails from this company, ugh. Watched item ending this, relisted that, you are annoying people to the point of leaving. I personally used to love it here, the joy has been sucked out completely.

[housecampbell]

So now that eBay is collecting and remitting sales tax in our behalf in the states that require it, are we required to report the tax to each state like we do our own state, or will eBay also be reporting the sales tax collected? Also, will eBay also be collecting and remitting sales tax for our own states if they're on the list &/or is there anything we need to do differently?

[aeromom128]

The worse idea I have heard yet is making fixed priced listings Good til Cancelled.    Sellers are not going to want to deal with this one.  Does ebay have some kind of wish to go down the tubes?  Wouldn’t it be better to maybe listen to your sellers, maybe ask the Sellers what they would like and dislike?  I am sure if you even sent out some type of questionaire you would see making  fixed price listings GTC would be extremely unpopular..........

[junior2047]

excellent

[junior2047]

love ebay just the best

[aeromom128]

Birdloner.........No your listings on Etsy will not just roll over unless you click the option for them to when making the listing.  They have a manual relist option you can choose so when the listing expires you will have to renew it yourself, it will sit in your expired listings forever until you renew.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an expired listings list here that will never get deleted, all we would have to do is click the button and renew...........This type of update is the kind Sellers would appreciate.........

[wellesleyma]

THE ANNOUNCEMENT READS - "Starting in mid-March 2019, the listing duration for all new fixed price listings on eBay will be Good 'Til Cancelled. Existing fixed price listings that are not Good 'Til Cancelled will continue until they sell or end at their specified duration. If a short-duration fixed price item is relisted, the duration will be set to Good 'Til Cancelled upon relist.
Good 'Til Cancelled listings renew automatically every 30 days unless your item sells before that timeframe. We charge an insertion fee every 30-day period. Good 'Til Cancelled listings count toward your monthly zero insertion fee listings. Fee amounts are based on the terms in effect when the listing goes live and when it renews.
With Good 'Til Cancelled listings you can take advantage of the out-of-stock feature. If your listing reaches a quantity of zero, we will show it as out-of-stock to buyers. By using out-of-stock, your listing will retain its purchase and search history, so that when you replenish your stock, buyers can easily find your listing. Learn more about the out-of-stock feature."

[lloydsteventaylor]

ok wednesday am the link to announcement 2019 seller update is broken. please fix this so i can read the seller update. thank you.

[iboughtit]

Two cents regarding cancelling the GTC:  I generally relist a 30 day listing after giving item a rest for a day to 30 days.  Then if it doesn't sell, it is auctioned or donated.  This keeps the listings fresh, new, varied and sales worthy.  What good is having widget A on a GTC for a year, when I could rotate it out and sell widget b, c and d. That benefits both ebay, buyers and sellers. Buyers who purchase certain items WILL notice the same item listed month after month, and lose interest in the search for that item at a better price. 

 I do not use more than the free listings ebay gives, (inc. the promos), so this new policy is dumb.  Also, no last minute offers at end of month, no way to search for an ending soonest deal, or impulse buy.  

Ebay frequently makes decisions based on what they think is best for them.  They may be right that sellers would pay extra on insertion fees, but they will lose out on commissions.  We'll have to see how this new GTC policy plays out.

[dareyouwait]

C'MON EBAY BE FAIR TO US!!  ...the "good till canceled" idea stinks!!  If you are going to do that you need to at least double or triple our monthly allotments to list. I don't always want my listings running constantly, I like to give them a break.

PS... taking away PayPal in the near future is also a bad idea.

Your slowly squeezing the small guy out and ebay will no longer be what it was. It isn't now anyways. Every time we turn around you dig that knife into us little deeper. Remember all of us small people made you Ebay!!!

[zikaatlaw]

I will not use Good Til Cancelled.  Bring back 30 day listings.

[theshackon98]

Who else is for a Class Action Suit ? - This is awful & will ultimately kill off all small business / collectible sellers.  The change in Policy to strip away short duration buy it now listings and then automatically relist and automatically charge for those relisting's without notice prior to when the item auto relists violates the terms in which we agreed to list on eBay & our eBay Store Terms. 

This policy change is easy to see that it does not benefit sellers in the least - Sellers already have the option to list "Til Ended" - The ONLY reason for this policy change is to allow eBay to Automatically charge EVERYONE to increase Revenue. BUT this is not some subscription that we signed up to or any kind of Licensing Fee that is auto-billed - Make no mistake that is what eBay is doing here - They are going to an Auto-Billed / Invoiced system & FORCING Users to either Cancel each and every listing prior to being Auto Billed (which most will not) OR quit using their service all together (Which I fear many will). 

Just Wait til the 1st Billing Cycle when eBay has Auto Billed Millions of Dollars for Insertion Fees on unsuspecting Sellers who either were complacent in reading through or understanding the impact of this policy change. 

There has got to be a Legal Remedy to this as it is not what eBay ever represented to Sellers & especially for those of us who own eBay Stores. We NEVER signed up for auto-billing listings. 

We cannot list everything as Auctions because eBay provides half buy it now and half auction listings - We Can NOT use the Buy It Now Option in Auction Listings WITHOUT being charged ANOTHER insertion FEE - eBay's policy change is a Auto-Billing Licensing or Subscription model now & that's NOT what we as sellers agreed to. 

Please write / call eBay on your objections to this change as the more we protest and publicize this the more attention it will receive and just maybe eBay will finally realize the effect they are having on their customers. 

[sunsync]

I sell collectibles, the forced GTC will force me to end listings before they are finished and since I make many of my sales as their listing time is expiring, this will cost both eBay and me these type of sales. Also, I cannot take advantage of the out- of -stock feature because as a seller of collectibles, I typically list item with a quantity of 1 be they listed for $30 or for $500. My thought is eBay no longer wants to cater to the collectible market because their policies are making progressively less worthwhile to sell on the site. Since my store automatically renews on March 1, I might have to close it. 

[jmscd]

LISTEN  UP!!!    E-BAY WILL DO WHAT EVER THEY WANT  -- WHEN EVER THEY WANT !!!  SO GET USE TO IT....YOU WILL MAKE LESS EACH AND EVERY  MONTH....THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT THEIR BOTTOM LINE...THEY ARE  THE 800 POUND GORILLA IN THE ROOM ..THEY ONLY CARE FOR THEMSELVES....THIS GOES ON EVERY FEW MONTHS CHANGING THINGS AROUND TO BETTER THEMSELVES..WE ARE SELLING DVD`S  @ $2.00  TO $3.00 EACH  + SHIPPING WHAT THE HELL ARE WE MAKING ON THIS AFTER ALL THE FEES ..... AND THEY WANT MORE $$$    !!!!!!

[annettefunicello]

Mind-boggling... that in a nano-second... we're told that sellers of "collectibles" are told to "test the auction format" to improve sales... now that fixed-price listings are being entirely converted to "Good 'till Cancelled."  If auction format listings were so much more effective... why didn't they tell us that long ago!!  grrrr....  Hate this roll-out.

[pauvro]

How do we officially notify eBay that we're unhappy with the GTC change? Let's all make sure they know how bad a change that is.  If enough people speak up they may end up changing that back. 

[gofastdiecast]

Every spring and fall Ebay rolls out new ridiculous changes that are allegedly to make this a "better marketplace". 3 years running now views decline, sales decline. You are making this format no better with this change either. You are sucking the heart and soul of the small seller out through their wallet. You seem to be able to get away with whatever you like, but mark my words: when the small seller is gone, you are gone Ebay.  The small seller built this place and the small seller will tear it down. You might want to think about treating them a little better.

[pauvro]

For now let's all go to the "Tell us what you think" option on the My eBay page and write our displeasure about the new update there, unless anyone has a better idea?

[golferscorner]

SPOKE WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE LAST NIGHT ON THE SUBJECT OF GTC. WAS TOLD WONT TAKE EFFECT UNTIL 3/18 HOWEVER THEY HAVE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF CALLS ON THIS SUBJECT AND IF ENOUGH OF US COMPLAIN PRIOR TO THE 18TH THIS WILL NOT TAKE EFFECT.

EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER NEEDS TO CALL AND COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS NOT BEING AN OPTION FOR US ANYMORE. CALL  EVERYONE  EMAIL EVERYONE AND HAVE THEM CALL. WE CANNOT STAND BY AND LET EBAY ROLL OVER US WE HAVE A VOICE AND IT NEEDS TO BE    LOUD

[paytala_6]

I liked it better when there was a choice. Then those that want to not have to deal with things could just do GTC. I don't like that option. I have a starter store and so get 100 listings and use the promo listings when they come up. They do them at different times every month. So that means if I don't manually end them now I will get hit with fees on up to 300 listings due to taking advantage of the promos.

Will they at least show when it will relist? Or do I need to keep an excel sheet with the days I listed the items so I don't miss it by a day? 

Why change something that wasn't broken?

[theshackon98]

Forced GTC. Only Benefits Ebay !!!!

[bookartist49]

Once more eBay is screwing the little guy! GTC does not universally work for everyone. I sell clothing, with each item being unique. My sales generate mostly on the day that the listing will end because most people search by the default sorting option of ending soonest. My items are sure to be buried and sales will plummet with GTC. I agree what we need to do is MAKE NOISE! Call, write, complain. We did manage to get them to reverse their policy on markdown items. The solution to list as an auction is not viable. You have to mark up the item by at least 30%. My buyers will not be interested if I do that, and auctions have not been very successful for me in the past. My buyers want to buy something now or they move on to the next one. And, of course, there is also a fee to add BIN. I keep very good records of my sales, and I have have seen a major decline in the last two years as eBay has been implementing more, and more policies that only benefi their bottom line, the large sellers and screws the little guy that had made FeeBay great.

[wnyafvet]

It's obvious these GTC changes to force sellers to automatically renew every listing, is for the sole purpose of increased monetary generation for EBAY, PERIOD!  Automatically forced renewed listings will include forced Insertion charges for each forced listing.  That likely gets EBAY execs excited about the possibility of more for their bottom line, but in reality, it has an opportunity to cost them dearly.

This is bad, especially for us small part time sellers; it eliminates our ability to manage our listings as we desire and see fit.  Sellers decide how to list items and manage their listings based upon their individual selling philosophies, their own financial limitations, resources, etc, and then we pay subsequent fees, accordingly.  But not any longer?  Really?  All this will do is alienate many of us whom disapprove of EBAYs increased mentality to micromanage our selling fundamentals, for the reality of greed.

I feel sorry for those whom rely on EBAY sales to survive.  In the end, I'll continue to sell my items by implementing methods to avoid any/all forced listings.  That means fewer listings which equals fewer sales which equals less monetary generation for me AND for EBAY.  Well done, EBAY!  Well done!

[themonadnocktraders]

I cannot believe that Ebay is forcing us to turn our 30 day listings into GTC.

I remember a few years ago, Ebay did not want us to relist our items.

I had tuned into Ebay Radio to listen in on this very hot topic. I remember Griff saying that they did not want us to relist because they did not want our leftover junk clogging their platform.

Wow, how things of changed.

This also takes away our control & flexibility of our store, items & the way we live.

If I was going on vacation, I would make sure that all of my 500 items ended well before going away & then scheduled them to relist when I got back. This was a more convenient & cheaper way of doing it than using the vacation settings that just hide the listings.

Also, I like to sell my stale merchandise at flea markets, yard sales & antique shops. 

With this new format, if I want to do this, I will need to end my listing early & then will get penalized for having too many ended early items.

My store subscription is up for renewal today. Seriously thinking I will either cancel it or downgrade it. Looks like I will be listing more on Etsy, opening a store on Poshmark & expanding my booth at the shop.

Thanks Ebay for making things too difficult to do business with you.

[mikeysantiq]

Ebay Management .... please listen GTC update is bad.
I and many small business or vintage sellers use 30 Day listings for many reasons.  At the end of the 30 days I look at why the item did not sell, lower the price or give free shipping or take it off sell and donation it.  The store I have is 250 items fixed and 250 auctions.  I do not want to pay for a more expensive store so I try and stay in those limits. This will be very hard to manage. Also buyers watch first day and ending soon when buying things so they can get the item with limited time remaining the cheapest they can.  I've been doing Ebay since 1994 and it seems like every update that is announced is NOT helping me but hurting my bottom line and frustrating me more.  I can not afford to pay you 25 cents for every listing you force in over my limit.  You need to find ways to help small business not hurt it.  I hold unsold items and relist them closer to the end of the month when I know I will have listing spots left that I might not use.  There are going to be a lot of upset ebayers when they get their bill/charges from you the month after this starts.  You might want to hire more employees to answers the phones.  I really like listing on Ebay and want this company to succeed.  I've even thought about buying stock and then you do another update and I change my mine.   

[brswan79]

Now that forced GTC listings are upon us, I will be eliminating my sales here, not ramping up as planned. Enjoy $20-30 less in fees from me, as I won't be falling for the scam. I also was denied when I tried to join the Venmo trial. PayPal had given me nothing but headaches, with my PayPal debit throwing fraud alerts on routine transactions and almost leaving me stranded overseas, unable to remedy the fraud alert. PayPal and eBay have finally broke me after selling here for over 10 years (longer if you count the account that I was locked out of).

I also used to spend a good deal of money shopping here, but with this new policy there won't be many good deals left. Sellers like myself will up prices and reduce listings until a suitable replacement website is found to sell profitably.

[the_traders_bay]

Ok, read the subscription agreement. We get 'X" amount of listings per month, that is what we agreed to. Not 30 day period!! Now look at a calendar, there are more months with 31 days than 30!!

[sunsync]

I was told by an eBay staffer that the Good Til Cancel was a default but there was an option to uncheck it, this goes counter to everything being posted in this thread. She also said that if we opted for GTC, we could choose how many times an item would be automatically relisted before the listing would end, again not mentioned in this early update. Not only is the policy counterproductive for the small seller, but eBay does not have their information straight - this is the most chaotic roll-out ever on eBay - did they just get new management or what? Seriously, an educated consumer wants to know.

[threadsforkicks]

Ebay has evolved into a greedy operation.  Sellers have been nickled and dimed to death.  With the increasing freight cost and ebay fees, it is no longer an attractive way to spend my time as the profit margin has been reduced to a point where I asked myself... What is my time worth?  As a result  I have spent the last several months trying to deplete my inventory.  Slowly but surely I am reducing the volume.  This new Good Until Cancelled policy provides confirmation that the choice I made was indeed the wise one.  I have previously promoted selling on ebay...  not anymore. 

Ebay, your run is slowing.  I would advise stock holders to sell now as I truly believe, without malice, that ebay is not a good investment.  High end listings may keep the company going however, the face of ebay will change and their sales volume will plummet.  What a shame.

[snows_stash]

I am very disappointed with the decision eBay has made because the Fixed Price for 30 days works very well for me, and I don't think Good Until Cancelled is a model that works well for the kind of sales I experience. It appears this is eBay's way to force out sellers like me, and perhaps this is actually their goal. 

[ebetsy]

Good lord, what a flap over very little. So your Fixed Price listings will now be listed as Good 'Til Canceled -- so what? You can still end and restart them whenever you want. If you prefer to end them every 30 days, you are certainly free (and able) to do so; if you want to end them after 3, 5, 7, or 10 days, ditto. But I highly recommend testing GTC by leaving a few of your listings in that mode. You might be pleasantly surprised  by how well it works for you!

I have been listing as GTC for years under 2 selling IDs, and I like it. It gives Google a chance to index my listings, thereby gaining more exposure for them, whereas since it can take up to 30 days to be picked up by the major search engines, listings of shorter durations may end before they're even indexed. 

In addition, my social media marketing links stay live.

So the sky is not falling here. And whence cometh this pervasive and pejorative view of eBay Inc. as some evil entity that has it in for small sellers? Au contraire, our success is their success. Let's try to remember [eBay founder] Pierre Omidyar's #1 guiding principle when he first conceived up and coded eBay: People are basically good. So is eBay.