Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a specific topic this week, so feel free to share any general buying or selling questions you may have.
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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
A couple questions about yesterday's Announcement from the Stores team:
The "9 top categories" which will be featured in the new module (replacing the old listing frame)---will the seller choose the top nine, or will an ebay algo determine that?
I see no mention of the long promised About page feature that will make it easy for buyers to sign up for our newsletter. Can we get an update on that?
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - both 'wait and see' answers for you today I'm afraid. The (relatively) good news on this is that the Stores team has been fairly responsive so I'll update you as I hear back!
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Edit to add -
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques - I heard back on these:
For the first phase of the category module, the 9 categories will simply be the first 9 categories as displayed on the Storefront today. Not very smart to start, but it will evolve!
At this time there are no plans to add a “follow” link (which would add a buyers to a seller’s newsletter subscriber base) to the About tab on Storefront, as we are focusing on other features to deploy.
Second Edit to add - There was a clarification from the team @my-cottage-books-and-antiques:
Sellers are now able to send newsletter to not only subscribers but also past customers. (Local Legal and Privacy restrictions apply.)
- last edited on by
kh-cathy
@ducks2k wrote:
Hi - I'm not clear on the protocol for this Weekly Chat, but I see posts by a couple of the RockStars I've been conversing with this week. My topic is primarily about item sorts within the eBay Store context. I've written up some thoughts and will paste them here:
Ebay STORE Item default sort
One of the fundamental aspects of a real-world (non-digital) store is the store item organization – how the items are presented to the buyer walking in the door and down the aisles.
The current eBay store implementation has a few glitches and bugs, but fundamentally, the structure of 300 StoreCategories in 3 levels should work well for organizing and presenting multi-thousand item stores.
The primary deficiency at present is that, within each store category, the items are displayed to the buyer in what appears to be a random order. The actual sort term being applied seems to be “best match”, which may be a wonderful algorithm for filtering a few billion items from a few million sellers, but it is wrong in the context of a store.
Although a buyer should be allowed to choose a search/re-sort, the initial sort order should be determined by the seller. My personal preference would be ”alphabetical by item title”, or “SKU” but other stores/items might not work well with that, but, I think either would be preferable to random in all cases. A more difficult implementation might be to add a seller data field (similar to SKU) to control presentation order.
Additionally, within the context of a store, the other drop-down sorts available to the buyer are mostly relevant to the non-store filtering. In a fixed-price item store (which eBay seems to prefer), initial listing date is somewhat useful, but all fixed price items are GTC, so ending date is meaningless. Price and distance sorts are pretty much irrelevant within a store – they mostly apply to competing sellers offering similar items.
I am assuming that an eBay store is intended to be something other than a click on “see other items”.
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In more detail, here is why I think “best match” is a sort filter that is not useful for stores. I can’t find a clear description within eBay, but a Google search on [eBay “best match” algorithm] returns:
What factors does best match consider on eBay?
How Best Match works
- How closely the listing matches the buyer's search terms.
- How popular the item is.
- The price of the item.
- The quality of your listing (description, photos, and so on)
- How complete the listing is.
- The listing terms of service, such as your return policy and handling time.
- Your track record as a seller.
All of these factors are relevant in the non-store context, but, actually, none of them seriously apply within a single store. The “StoreCategory” is essentially the buyer’s search terms. At most, the search terms that the buyer used to get to the item that linked to the store might be relevant, but that seems doubtful to me.
Popularity, price and the rest are not particularly relevant once a store is entered (they are not relevant as individual item search filters, but pretty much apply to the store/seller as a whole). A “Best Match” algorithm like that might be useful to suggest a store for a buyer to visit, but becomes irrelevant once the store is entered.
The net result is that a “best match” filter is not particularly useful within a seller-organized store. To the extent that it is useful, it is better applied from a “seller’s other items” link, not a “visit store” link.
Current store “glitches and bugs” include inconsistent display of left column navigation tree. It does not actually appear until the buyer clicks on “shop by category”, selects one of the categories, goes to the end of the page and clicks on “see all” – very odd behavior. If the buyer tries to view the store as a whole again, the tree disappears again.
On my “wish list” for store functions (once default display order and navigation are solved) would be an item display mode that can suppress images. When browsing a well-organized store catalog, the buyer’s eye is capable of detecting items of interest much more easily without the images interfering with the scanning of item text, also allowing more items to be listed on each screen. In a store context, the primary goal is to make it easy for the buyer to locate items he wants to purchase, rather than to capture his click with a flashy image.
I am not expecting, or even hoping for, immediate addressing of these issues, but I am investing serious effort in converting my offerings from random monthly auctions to a 4,000+ item eBay store. The current Store implementation is barely worth the effort. Competing sellers in my area of interest are NOT creating organized stores. I can see the potential, but it is difficult to guess what the sales impact will be, until I try it.
I would be happy to discuss this with anyone.
Thank you for listening
Howard
My qualifications to have an opinion:
- Ebay seller 20 years or so, 100% positive, +9,500 feedback, 40k items sold
- Collector, Dealer(non-professional) in collector stamps (duck,hunting,fishing specialty)
- Retired software engineer 50 years experience, micro to mainframe
- Ebay API developer, TurboLister, File Exchange, Seller Hub -- user
- Ducks2k.com website
Thanks so much for all the feedback and great insight @ducks2k! I'll make sure to get it in the right hands!
@saturdaystoys wrote:
In attempting to ship a coin using the eBay Standard Envelope option… I am finding the following:
- Category: Coins & Paper Money: Works fine; no issues as long as the envelope requirements are met.
- Collectibles>Disneyana>Contemporary>Coins: shipping not allowed for eBay Standard Envelope.
If I offer to provide shipping when listing in the Disneyana / Coins category… the system allows the buyer to select the eBay Standard Envelope option during check-out, as stated in the listing… but then when I try to print the postage… it blocks my use of that shipping option via eBay Standard Envelope. I'm then forced to select First-Class Mail or another more expensive option.
Not sure I get it… What makes one coin category (with many coin sub-categories) acceptable for using the eBay Standard Envelope… but not acceptable for another coin category. I don’t see anything in the online guidelines for eBay Standard Envelope that speaks to a different policy for select coin categories.
Can you shed any light on this situation? Thanks much...
Hi @saturdaystoys! Are you certain the dimensions meet what is seen below when you try to print the label? If you're not within these dimensions then the option will be greyed out.
@divwido wrote:
Two things.
Yesterday afternoon a message flashed on my screen that I had an offer. Know when that offer actually came to me? Just now, about 20 hours later. after the item was sold. Are we having issues?
And I'm begging for someone to fix the item specifics. Not every piece of jewelry is a diamond, they don't have all those specifics.
And if I don't know who made it, why ask me four times when it was made? I"m resorted to lying, just to fill something in. Then we get, "you have too many item specifics".
The absolute lack of any understanding of what we sell on item specifics needs to be fixed. The questions are repeated over and over and many have nothing to do with anything we are selling. I am being driven crazy by the "improvements".
Hi @divwido - I'm not seeing anything internally about a delay in notifications, but I'm happy to get something filed, I'll reach out for more details and screenshots!
When it comes to item specifics, if you are running into an issue with required specifics not being applicable for your category please report them to sdsupport@ebay.com. If you are seeing recommended or optional specifics that do not apply you do not need to fill them out in order for your item to be visible in search.
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Questions for the Shipping Team regarding this change coming from the USPS on April 3rd (Please try to provide answers as quickly as possible, as this is now only a few weeks away😞
"NEW: Starting in April 2022, there will be a new “nonstandard fee” for packages that must be sorted manually by the USPS when the dimensions of the package exceed sortation requirements. Rates will be adjusted based on box dimensions. Packages with length over 22 inches will have a $4.00 surcharge, packages with length over 30 inches will have $15.00 surcharge and packages over 2 cubic feet will have a $15.00 surcharge. This will apply to Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and Parcel Select Ground."
Assume I use ebay shipping labels, and I only use USPS.
This ONLY applies to Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, and Parcel Select Ground.
Which means it does NOT apply to USPS Retail Ground. I generally use USPS Parcel Select via ebay labels. To use Retail Ground, I must either buy my label at the USPS Counter or online directly through the USPS "Click n' Ship. Normally, there can be a substantial savings for using Parcel Select.
However, if my package meets the size criteria for these surcharges, would it be LESS expensive to use Retail Ground in those situations, since I could avoid the new Nonstandard fee?
This ONLY applies to packages with a length over 22", and over 30", and over 2 cubic feet. Do those measurements AUTOMATICALLY mean the package "must be sorted manually", and do they AUTOMATICALLY "exceed sortation requirements"? No exceptions? In other words, does this new nonstandard fee apply to any and all PME, PM, and USPS Parcel Select Ground packages where length exceeds 22" or which exceeds 2 cubic feet?
Assuming the answer is "yes" to that question--- when using ebay calculated shipping, will ebay automatically include this in its calculation for my packages that exceed the 22" length or 2 cubic foot criteria? (Just as it does now for dim weight)
If I use ebay and Flat Rate shipping, I will need to consider adding these fees to my existing flat rate items, correct?
And if I am using Free Shipping, I will need to consider increasing my item price, or perhaps adding the nonstandard fee as a shipping charge, and eliminate my free shipping entirely?
If my Priority Mail package exceeds 30" in length AND exceeds 2 cubic feet, will I be assessed TWO nonstandard fees of $15.00 each (total of $30.00)? Or will I be assessed just one $15.00 fee?
Has ebay negotiated any discount for ebay sellers for these new nonstandard fees? If not, Is ebay working on that?
These new nonstandard fees will hit some sellers pretty hard, and in some cases will likely mean that some sellers will stop offering certain merchandise. (Keep in mind that not only does this increase the shipping cost, but also increases how much we pay ebay in FVF, because the FVF is calculated on the total payment price, including shipping.)
What is ebay doing to help?
If ebay cannot negotiate a substantial discount of some sort for the new nonstandard fee, would the Shipping Team consider putting together a Resource Page with information on how best to ship items that trigger these criteria?
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques! I'll be sure to pass this on to the shipping team as well. I'll follow-up with anything they provide me.
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Edit: Follow-up can be found here.
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
jasmen@ebay Thanks for getting back to me. Very disappointing that the break outs won't be shared. Please let the Team know....I know I'm not the only one who would prefer to be able to see ALL the sessions. Even if I attend the event live, I can only watch one live break out event....
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques I will absolutely pass it along!
