Any Recent Updates from Harry Temkin, VP of Seller Experience on Good ‘Til Cancelled Update

[rocketman79]

Has eBay responded to all the negative feedback they received?  It is clear they made a poor business decision and have alienated many long-time Sellers.  

You would think if they really cared, they would at least post a message saying that they are reviewing their decision.

This is really sad and poor business.

[goodluckselling]

I am pretty sure an update from this eBay staff member will be done in the dedicated thread he started?

Here is a link you can use and then use the options drop down (top right area) to subscribe and that should help you keep up with any changes.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/2019-Early-Seller-Update/Update-on-Good-Til-Cancelled/m-p/29556571#M18...

Good Luck Selling!

[gracieallen01]

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@rocketman79 wrote:

Has eBay responded to all the negative feedback they received?  It is clear they made a poor business decision and have alienated many long-time Sellers.  

You would think if they really cared, they would at least post a message saying that they are reviewing their decision.

This is really sad and poor business.

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Yes, one could consider that ebay has responded.  Brian Burke posted (post 2) in the Harry Temkin thread:

"Harry Temkin, VP Seller Experience and his team thank you for all of your feedback, especially on the 30 day renewal for GTC. The 30 day auto-renewal period was one of the main concerns raised by sellers due to it not syncing with monthly billing cycles. We are addressing this issue and will announce details by May."

Personally, I believe that might give one the idea that things will continue on the present course ebay has set.

[dhbookds]

yep there is an update at the top of the page under his locked thread.

A quick update. As you are aware, starting March 18th the Good ‘till Cancelled (GTC) format is now the only duration available for fixed price listings.   If you have shorter duration listings that were listed before March 18th, they will end as scheduled and then when you relist you will see GTC as the only option.

Harry Temkin, VP Seller Experience and his team thank you for all of your feedback, especially on the 30 day renewal for GTC. The 30 day auto-renewal period was one of the main concerns raised by sellers due to it not syncing with monthly billing cycles. We are addressing this issue and will announce details by May.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

As I think you know, ebay has said they are working on a solution for the out of sync billing, which right now is monthly for free listings and stores, and 30 days for GTC. They are also going to be adding a column to Seller Hub to make it easy to track how many days a listing has been live. In Weekly Chat, they said there are no plans to provide an in house tool to automatically end GTC listings before their rollover period. (I believe some third party tools are already available for those who want that functionality. So far, I have heard of Ink Frog and I believe maybe Wonder Lister? SixBit is working on one.)

As far as reversing course on the basic decision, I believe it is safe to say that won't be happening.

[nkpina2014]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
As I think you know, ebay has said they are working on a solution for the out of sync billing, which right now is monthly for free listings and stores, and 30 days for GTC. They are also going to be adding a column to Seller Hub to make it easy to track how many days a listing has been live. In Weekly Chat, they said there are no plans to provide an in house tool to automatically end GTC listings before their rollover period. (I believe some third party tools are already available for those who want that functionality. So far, I have heard of Ink Frog and I believe maybe Wonder Lister? SixBit is working on one.)

As far as reversing course on the basic decision, I believe it is safe to say that won't be happening.

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The problem is sellers shouldn't be reliant upon 3rd party tools to keep functionality within the Ebay system. That's the entire point of why Ebay provided tools like Seller Hub, sorting, bulk editing, etc., etc.

The decision should be reversed. Removal of an option is never a good idea - especially with a large majority of sellers are exclaiming they LIKE the Fixed Duration Listings. Ebay simply has it wrong here. If you like GTC, it was always there.

[rocketman79]

This response did not address the concerns of most the Sellers - this is a response of no value

[gracieallen01]

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@rocketman79 wrote:

This response did not address the concerns of most the Sellers - this is a response of no value

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Perhaps it is a response to the only part of the seller concerns that ebay considers a valid subject to consider.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I've been here for 20 years or more. My experience is that when eBay announces tweaks to a change, as they have done here, that's a pretty strong indication that they will NOT be reversing course. The tweaks are as far as they are likely to go.

I realize that is unsatisfactory to you, and you don't want to accept it, but there it is.

[dustycaron]

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@rocketman79 wrote:

This response did not address the concerns of most the Sellers - this is a response of no value

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I agree the concerns have not been addressed, I don't care if it matches the billing cycle, I don't want it period.  It should be our choice on how many days we want an item to relist.  A seasonal item needs more visibility, a lot of shoppers don't go to your store so your item may only be viewed when it is listed and just before it ends.  If I move my items to Auction style I am charged listing fees I don't have under the Fixed price and if I add a buy it now under Auction there is another fee added again.  Other selling sites are looking better all the time but I hate to lose my regular customers.  I want a choice on the duration of the listing and I like to mix up when they get listed not forced automation.  I am angry that no one is listening to what we want.  The old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

[albany_sellers]

The recent update was a non response. The actual concerns were ignored and they cherry picked the one and only thing they could even respond to.

They need to take a long hard look at when the majority of us are saying and actually listen to the ones who are bringing them their profits. This is such a poor example of how to run a business that they have no room at all to tell us how we should be running a business.

Get your own house in order before telling someone else to clean theirs.

[textile_rescue]

I read all of Brian's responses and found them demeaning and belittling to the concerns presented. He has set the tone. I see that I am not a valued partner of eBay and I will be moving to another site. eBay only values the "80%". I am part of the 20 % that will dwindle to 0% with this new policy. That  is what ebay wants- to get rid of all of the "hobby " sellers. So here is my wave good bye. 

[castlemagicmemories]

I agree the concerns have not been addressed, I don't care if it matches the billing cycle, I don't want it period.  

I know many don't like this, but you are conflating addressing the concerns with rescinding the GTC requirement.  They have addressed the concerns in the response by Harry Temkin; not liking the response does not mean they did not address it.  What you mean by saying the concerns have not been addressed is that they haven't changed their minds and rescinded it~and they may never do that.

[password9019]

Harry Temkin said: As a reminder, this change does not apply to auctions. We’re making this change because we have seen that GTC listings offer more sales opportunities than any other fixed price duration. Over time, GTC listings keep and grow watchers, sales history, and SEO authority as they maintain the same item ID and URL for the life of the listing. We believe all of the above improves the ability for buyers to discover items on eBay, which thereby improves the likelihood of a sale.

_________________

Folks, it's so simple. Harry is a liar. The real reason for shifting GTC to exclusivity for FP format is because rather than spend a lotta money on IT improvements, allowing greater visibility in search results for ALL sellers, GTC is now another way politely telling small sellers of FP items that their items will remain throttled until it's cancelled. Nobody will see them until cancelled.

How many people on here with under 1000 feedback are seeing views and watchers on GTC items? I bet less than 5% of ALL low fb sellers are seeing more than 5-10 views per item, over 30 days.

It's a weed-out tactic. There's not enough room left for small sellers in the search engine dynamics. Your GTS listings are 'good in the dark'...until cancelled.

[nkpina2014]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
I've been here for 20 years or more. My experience is that when eBay announces tweaks to a change, as they have done here, that's a pretty strong indication that they will NOT be reversing course. The tweaks are as far as they are likely to go.

I realize that is unsatisfactory to you, and you don't want to accept it, but there it is.

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Oh, I know. I'm fully aware. I've been here about 20 years as well. I can count on one hand the number of times Ebay has reversed something that they've implemented.

I'm saying it SHOULD be reversed. This is just a terrible change - and I hope it affects Ebay's bottom line and they do reverse it.