ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
Regards,
@Anonymous
GTC scheduled end
Can we toss around the idea of a "scheduled end" feature similar to a "scheduled start"? The hardest aspect of ending listings under GTC format is being online at the right moment to end the listings when a short duration is an important strategy. I think a large number of sellers will do just fine switching to GTC, but there are still sellers who want to manage their listings differently, and who will have difficulty catching or missing the rollover times when managing fees.
Free or Fee?
A "scheduled start" used to cost ten cents and is now free. If a fee were attached to a "scheduled end", I doubt that it would solve the problem for sellers who are trying to avoid fees by staying under their free insertion limits. Would a small fee be tolerable in lieu of babysitting rollover dates?
Of course, if the fee structure were different for rollovers, maybe those sellers wouldn't care when their listings ended.
Promo Issues:
All sellers get 50 free insertions. When eBay offers 100 free as a promo, small sellers may now be reluctant to take advantage of the promo if they know they have to watch the end date to avoid fees after the free period expires. But of course, that is how all "free trials" work. If you forget to cancel, charges begin, and that is the marketing strategy behind offering them.
Problems with a Scheduled End:
Would an "ending soonest" search show the original rollover date or the "scheduled end" date? Would the feature be abused by revising the end date often? Instead of allowing a calendar, would allowing the end to occur only at a 30-day cycle resolve that issue?
Automation Rule:
What about an "automation rule" that says "run once and then end", or that says "run to end of this cycle", as an override on GTC? Would that address the concerns of most sellers who have complained of losing control?
@shipscript Good post great topic, one correction as was pointed out is Store Owners pay 10 cents per item to use the Scheduler ... if that were free I would use it more on Auctions then GTCs.
One thing I would add to your list of good suggestions is this. When a Buyer opens an item from someone who has a store they have 2 choices to see what else the Seller has. "See more items" and "Visit Store". You are correct that prior the GTC mandate many Sellers manipulated the 7, 10 & 30 days FP durations ... I did it so I could "group" like items so when "See more items" is clicked the Seller's items come up on a list with the selected item at the top and ALL the other items in Ending soonest format ... GTC would eliminate the ability to group like items because everything will Relist when it Relists and new items will be listed when they are listed ... too much to juggle. If eBay would DELETE the "See other items" choice FOR STORE OWNERS and simply have the Visit Store link and dump the Buyer in the Store Cat the item is in that they are looking at then that would solve part of the problem of losing the 7, 10 & 30 day listing durations ...
@femmefan1946 wrote:
A store subscription GETS CHARGED 10 CENTS to schedule a start time.
Why would a seller care when Fixed Price listings start? That is a problem/feature for Auctions where the ending time can be important.
And even that overlooks the snipers who use electronic sniping services.
DH does that with Australian auctions. He is bidding in the last few nano-seconds of the auction, while sleeping tucked up in his Canadian bed.
Most transactions are Fixed Price these days.
The buyer finds it, likes the deal and buys.
No need to wait seven days to learn she lost out to a sniper (who set his bid days earlier).
When you find an item on eBay from Store owner and open it there are two choices to see what else the Seller has ... "Visit Store" and "See more items". if you click "See more items" the item you are on goes to the top of the list and then all the other items the Seller has for sale are listed in Ending soonest format ... I have used the 7, 10 & 30 day durations to work towards like items being grouped together so when a Buyer hits See more item the list that comes up has more like items that they may be interested in ... it "enhances the Buying experience". If they were to eliminate the See more items for store owners and instead offer Visit Store and drop the Buyer in to the Store category the item was in that would be a help, then you would not have to worry about when to list new inventory that is like other items you have.
