26th JULY: The New Ebay

[ms*patricia]

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200907241947DOWJONESDJONLINE000807_FORTUNE5.htm

[poozybear]

OMG. I can't stop laughing. Ebay just sent me an email telling me about all the rewards I'm going to reap as a Power Seller, in October. Pffft. I'm days away from being stripped of PS status because I quit selling in volume months ago. In fact, I was certain that the email was informing me that I had lost the PS status, based on the email subject title: poozybear: Fall 2009 Seller Update--changes to PowerSeller program As we announced in April, in the spirit of partnership, eBay is consolidating changes into two or three major releases a year, with at least a two-month advance notice for sellers. Here's an overview of the second and final major release of 2009. Most of these updates will launch between September 22 and October 1. Especially important for you as a PowerSeller--over the coming months we will be making some changes to the PowerSeller program requirements, and providing the highest rewards to Power Sellers of all sizes who consistently provide great service to their customers. The focus of all the updates in this release is to reward great service, bring you more sales, increase your profitability, and help you succeed. Followed by ten pages of garbage that I'm not going to read, given that I won't be a Power Seller in October (or ever again, for that matter). Yep, they're definitely rewarding the big sellers and kicking the little guy to the curb. -- Kathy

[ms*patricia]

Has anybody figured out what these 1's and 2's mean in the DSR's? I only know that my record is perfect right now and I still don't qualify for a top seller badge because I couldn't make 100 feedbacks this year. Funny but 2007 (the last year of sanity) I made over 350 feedbacks! They've destroyed our business and now upped the requirements for sellers who give good service. You just can't seem to win. Its frustrating.

[poozybear]

No, you can't win. I was selling in volume and finally quit because I was spending 10% of my time creating and shipping product, and 90% of my time doing damage control . . . sending out emails (and in the case of feedback extortion, freebies) in an attempt to keep those precious stars up. I finally quit because I was absolutely fatigued from trying to keep up with all the FB threats from newbie buyers who had been given a license to destroy someone's reputation just for kicks. So I'm now listing the occasional ACEO, which usually sell to the same handful of GOOD buyers, and when that doesn't work anymore, off to the Ponderosa. I'm just SO tired of fighting for badges and status and ratings and all these stupid things that eBay values so much. I don't get it - I don't WANT to get it. I'll just continue to do my thing, and when it becomes unbearable here, I'll do my thing elsewhere. Frustrating indeed! X-( -- Kathy

[poozybear]

I still don't qualify for a top seller badge because I couldn't make 100 feedbacks this year. If they're going to determine eligibility for these badges based on feedback, well, talk about unfair. I currently have 69 sales in which no feedback was left. A good amount of buyers just don't bother. So sellers are going to have to start sending out emails begging for feedback now? Grrrrrrrrrr . . . -- Kathy

[artistjillian]

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/07/27/ebay-unleashes-latest-changes-for-sellers -- ~Jillian artist, Jillian Crider ... google me!

[artistjillian]

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200907270812462.html ***A Message to Sellers from Stephanie Tilenius: Summer 2009 Update*** July 27, 2009 | 08:13AM PST/PT Stephanie Tilenius On behalf of all of us at eBay, I'd like to begin this update by saying thank you. Thank you for your business. Thank you for your input and ideas to help us evolve eBay for the benefit of sellers and buyers. Thank you for your great inventory and your commitment to delivering great service. We're well aware that sellers of all sizes deliver the deals and quality experiences that bring buyers to eBay and keep them coming back. That's why we're taking new steps to reward great service, bring you more sales, increase your profitability, and help you succeed. As announced in April, in the spirit of partnership, eBay is now consolidating changes that impact your business into two or three major releases a year, with two months advance notice. This post introduces the second and final major release of 2009. Most of these updates will launch between September 22 and October 1, 2009. Rewards for sellers delivering great buyer experiences New way to look at DSRs Avoid getting low DSRs-1s and 2s. Buyers have different ideas about what constitutes a high rating, but most leave a 1 or a 2 only when they experienced a significant issue with their transaction. eBay will be shifting focus from average DSRs to the number of low DSRs as a more accurate measure of customer satisfaction. Only domestic DSRs will count toward requirements for eBay.com. International transactions can be subject to factors outside a seller's control and we want to make sure sellers can expand globally without undue impact to their standing on eBay.com. PowerSeller program update: rewarding quality over quantity Starting in October, a new eBay top-rated seller status will be added to the PowerSeller program to recognize and reward sellers providing great buyer experiences based on the new way to look at DSRs (very few 1s and 2s). eBay Top-rated sellers will receive the highest PowerSeller Final Value Fee discounts (20%), increased visibility in search results for Fixed Price listings, exclusive access to purchase Featured First and a prominent Top-rated seller badge on item pages. The Top-rated seller badge will be tested in search results pages this summer. The current PowerSeller icon will no longer be displayed on buyer-facing pages including item pages. All sellers with 100 or more annual transactions and at least $3,000 annual sales who meet the requirements for Top-rated seller status will be invited into the PowerSeller program and can start receiving Top-rated seller benefits in October. Next April, the PowerSeller program will also include a requirement for sellers based on the new way to look at DSRs (very few 1s and 2s). PowerSellers that don't have Top-rated seller status will get 5% Final Value Fee discounts. Meanwhile, the current PowerSeller discount structure will continue until April 1, 2010 to give sellers 8 full months to keep their current discounts while they adjust business practices to qualify for the new Top-rated seller status. New minimum standards for all sellers: Starting in October, there will be a new minimum standard for all eBay sellers based on the number of low DSRs (1s and 2s) received. The minimum standard will be stricter in April, 2010. A new Selling Practices policy will define guidelines for professionalism and accuracy in all aspects of listings and transactions. Optional buyer charges for shipping insurance will no longer be allowed. Sellers can still buy shipping insurance and add the cost to the item or shipping price. Updates to the Seller Dashboard: You can now see a snapshot of your low DSRs (1s and 2s) and standing toward the new Top-rated seller requirements updated monthly through a link at the top of your Seller Dashboard. In September, you will be able to see daily updates. Enhanced search presents more relevant listings Best Match, eBay's default sort order, will look at listing's recent sales in relation to the number of recent impressions it received as a key factor for Fixed Price listings. An "impression" is any time a buyer sees a search results page that includes the listing. In addition, single quantity and newly listed Fixed Price items will be given exposure in Best Match even though they have no sales history. These listings will be given initial impressions based on the performance of similar listings. This change will improve the exposure of new Fixed Price listings that are relevant to buyers. Auction-style listings will still get a boost in exposure as they are about to end. To keep auctions enticing, Auction with Buy It Now listings will be required to have a BIN price at least 10% higher than the auction start price. A new Search Visibility tool will help you evaluate how your Fixed Price and auction-style listings are performing in search results. Several features will be discontinued including Featured Plus, Border, and others to save you money and keep the focus on relevance. Product pages are rolling out to more buyers, so list with product details to make sure your listings are included. Also, eBay will start selecting sellers' photos for inclusion in the eBay product catalog on September 1. If your photo is chosen, your user ID and a link to your profile page will appear on the product page. If you'd prefer not to have your pictures selected, opt out no later than August 31. Easier, more profitable selling on eBay Faster recourse for unpaid items. A streamlined process will cut the resolution time in half. We are also working on a new automated option that will make the process even more efficient, cut the time to resolution to as little as 8 days and block negative feedback when a seller opens a claim and a buyer doesn't pay. This automated option will be tested in late September and our goal is to gradually make it available to all sellers by the holidays. eBay dispute resolution for buyer claims is expanding to more buyers to make the process faster and easier for sellers and buyers. Buyer communications will be faster and easier to manage with enhancements to My Messages and streamlined post-transaction emails. Get more control over international ship-to locations. You'll have the same ship-to choices you have now, plus you'll be able to specify countries you do not want to ship to. Upload tracking and delivery confirmation numbers for more shipping carriers. Editing listings, even multi-quantity listings with a sale and listing descriptions, will be faster and easier. New Selling Manager applications boost efficiency for sellers of all sizes-try them free! Category and Item Specifics changes are now consolidated with the rest of updates. Find out if there are changes to your categories. Stores subscribers-now you can put all your Fixed Price listings on vacation. Get more details on all these updates. You're also invited to: Take part in one of several upcoming webinars on Tuesday, July 28 and Thursday July 30. Join me and other leaders from eBay and PayPal in a Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, July 29. Check the Announcement Board soon for more details. Talk with members of my staff during the next two days on a special discussion board we've set up for this purpose. Again, thank you for partnering to make eBay a thriving, successful marketplace. Sincerely, Stephanie Tilenius Senior Vice President & General Manager, eBay North America -- ~Jillian artist, Jillian Crider ... google me!

[poozybear]

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore." -- Kathy

[formwithfunction]

LOL, Kathy! :^O -- ~ Charlie imagesbycharlie

[artistjillian]

Here is a survey to complete re the changes done by AuctionBytes - go have your say. I did. DID YOU KNOW... Come fall, you will NOT know who your buyer(s) is/are until AFTER the auction is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :( Anyway - go do the survey .... http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2009/7/1248816701.html -- ~Jillian artist, Jillian Crider ... google me!

[poozybear]

Took it! It's a great survey. There's a box for write-in comments in each section. One thing I wanted to sound off about is something that has been discussed on the DSR Petition thread in forums. Under the new policy, they will start disabling the shipping cost DSR on all items with local pick-up. Ummmm . . . if they have the ability to disable the stars on local pick-up, why can't they (or WON'T they) do that on free shipping? -- Kathy

[jjohnsonlowe]

"DID YOU KNOW... Come fall, you will NOT know who your buyer(s) is/are until AFTER the auction is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I guess that we had all better make sure that our blocked bidder lists are up to date -- OR, are they getting rid of those, too??????? -- ~jana

[poozybear]

I think the blocked bidder list is staying, though can't say for sure. I honestly don't get the reason for hiding the buyer's identity from the seller until close of auction. I can't think of one possible reason for this. I like knowing who is bidding on my items . . . if it's a repeat customer, group member, whatever. Heck, if I bid on an item from someone in the group, I'll just email them and tell them it's me. Take THAT, eBay. :-p -- Kathy

[utopianvisionarystudio]

ok...i admit i'm a ditz. so please clarify what does this mean. it's from post 25/57 moving some of his inventory over to "the moon." what is "the moon"? i get aunt bEtsy. help!!! -- v. ---a wind of such violence erases all memory of my existence. http://www.vickijenkinsart.etsy.com

[poozybear]

ecrater dot bla bla ;) -- Kathy

[ms*patricia]

"DID YOU KNOW... Come fall, you will NOT know who your buyer(s) is/are until AFTER the auction is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I don't understand why they're doing that...what can the purpose be? Just when I think they can't do another thing to alienate sellers they go and prove me wrong :-( I guess the blocked bidder list will go next since it won't seem to be of much use. I was listening to the Town Hall meeting today and did everyone know that Ebay will take it upon themselves to send a reminder to your buyer 48 hours after the auction ends? They will do this without your permission and if the buyer thinks its you being pushy then they will slam your DSR's! Many sellers complained about that but, of course, the Ebay people at the meeting just kind of laughed it off.