eBay Changes to Return and Exchange Policies

Starting May 2nd eBay will be retiring some of the return options.  You will no longer be able to offer 3 and 7 day returns, instead you must offer 14, 30, or 60 day return options.  This is to allow what eBay feels is a more reasonable timeframe for exchanges.  You can also no longer offer “merchandise credit” or “exchange only” options for refunds.  You must choose “Money back,” “Money back or exchange,” or “No returns accepted.”

eBay is offering a few new ways for you to manage your returns.

Beginning the week of May 28th, eBay will be introducing a new way to manage returns.  It will be optional for all sellers, and is intended to be the long-term return solution for all transactions on eBay. The new process will virtually automate all returns for you and for the buyer—even refunding your final value fees automatically.

How it will work:

  • To initiate a return, the buyer will click “Return this item” next to the transaction in My eBay, choose a reason for the return, and then print a return shipping label and packing slip. The seller will be notified automatically.
  • eBay will pay for the return shipping upfront and then either charge the buyer’s PayPal account or add it to the seller’s next invoice, depending on who is specified to pay for return shipping.
  • Once the seller receives the returned item, the seller then clicks a button to issue a refund. Your final value fee for that transaction will show as a credit on the next seller invoice and a portion of the PayPal fees for that transaction will also be refunded.

You will be able to set up your return policies easily for all listings, groups of listings, or individual listings via the new business policies section of your seller central.  The new functions will be introduced starting the week of May 28. When it becomes available, you simply opt in from your All Selling or Site Preferences page in My eBay.

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Mother’s Day is Coming

Mother’s Day will be here soon. You should already be listing items you could sell to make special memories for moms everywhere.

Currently hot selling items on eBay include:

Don’t forget free listing specials are still running, so list your items today.

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Top-Rated Seller Program Changes Coming in June

eBay announced recently that they will be making some updates to the Top-rated seller program starting in June. Beginning June 1, only those Top-rated sellers listings that include 1-day or same day handling and a 14-day or longer return policy with a money-back option will qualify for the greatest average boost in Best Match and 20% final value fee discount. And beginning with the June 20 evaluation cycle, to be able to maintain your Top-rated seller status, a Delivery Confirmation number or tracking information must be uploaded to eBay on at least 90% of your shipments to US buyers within your stated handling time.

I suggest you begin uploading your tracking by May 1 to make sure you qualify on June 20, and be sure to keep track of your Top-rated seller status in your Seller Dashboard. This includes the new requirement to upload tracking on 90% of your US transactions.

Tools eBay is implementing to help you be successful:

  • Track your Top-rated seller progress using your Seller Dashboard.
  • At the end of April if you are a current Top-rated seller you will be able to easily identify your listings that don’t include 1-day handling and a minimum 14-day return policy with a money-back option, and then edit those listings in bulk. This information will be available by going to My eBay click Selling, Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro.
  • Starting the first week of May, sellers will begin getting access to business policies. This is a new way to manage your own custom settings for shipping, payments and returns all from one place, you will no longer have to specify the information separately on each listing.
  • By the end of May, Top-rated sellers will be invited to opt in to an easy new way to manage returns right from My eBay. Read more about this here.
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Top-Rated Seller Limited Time Offer

From March 1st through May 31st, eBay has a special offer for top-rated sellers.  You could be saving an extra 5% off your final value fees along with the 20% savings you get as a top-rated seller.  So now you are probably wondering how you could be saving the extra money.  Just follow these rules when creating your listings.

In order for a listing to qualify for a Promotional Rate, the listing must include the following:
  • Auction must be Fixed Price or Auction-style
  • You must be a Top-rated seller (current US Top-rated seller criteria)*
  • You must include a 14-day (or greater) return policy with a money-back option and 1-day handling time in your listing

Item listing must end within the promotional period to qualify for the extra 5% savings on final value fee.  Enjoy the extra savings!

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eBay’s Duplicate Listing Policy

Overview of the policy

Buyers need to be able to compare different items to make a smart and informed decision about purchases. The duplicate listings policy is designed to make sure that sellers don’t list in a way that will clutter up the buying experience and in turn hurt the overall marketplace.

Duplicate listings are?

Listings are considered duplicates if they are for items that have no significant difference between them. The best way to avoid having your listings treated as duplicates is to make sure you show the differences between items.  Different titles, prices, photos, subtitles, product IDs, etc.

Follow these guidelines to make sure that your listings follow eBay’s listing policies and have the best possible position in eBay’s Best Match sort order:

  • List identical items in one multi-quantity fixed price listing.
  • List items with variations such as size and color in one fixed price listing with variations.
  • List items that fit multiple vehicles in parts compatibility listings. Don’t include the compatible vehicles in the title.

Read the complete guidelines for eBay’s Duplicate Listing Policy here.

Make sure you are following the guidelines. If your listings don’t follow the guidelines, they may be removed, and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including limits to your buying and selling privileges and even suspension of your account.

 

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eBay Seller Checklist

Need help keeping track of eBay’s recent and upcoming changes for selling.  Check out the Seller Checklist, downloadable in PDF.  The checklist includes monthly items to be aware of now through July.

The items for March are:

  • eBay Top-rated sellers: From March 1 through May 31, get a bonus 5% final value fee discount for all transactions with 1-day handling and a 14-day or longer return window with a money-back option.
  • Act now to ensure you get an automatic 5-star DSR for Communications starting in April. Simply specify same-day or 1-day handling time and upload tracking information by the end of the next business day. Then, starting in April, on these transactions where there is no communication between you and your buyer, you’ll receive an automatic 5-star DSR for Communications.
  • Specify eBay Checkout and eBay approved electronic payment methods as a requirement in your listings to ensure that, starting at the end of April, Feedback for transactions where buyers have an unpaid item recorded is automatically removed.
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Get Selling Tips From the eBay Community

Visit the eBay community and see what it can offer you. Share your knowledge with a new seller, or learn from experienced sellers who have figured it out. Check out the Discussion Forums, meet other members and chat about almost anything. Have a question about buying or selling? Go to the Answer Center and get the answer to your question. eBay Radio or Town Hall broadcasts are also a great resource.

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List on eBay for FREE!

If you are an eBay Stores subscriber, you can list Auction-style from March 8 through March 31, 2012 for free. This means you will pay no Insertion Fees for each item listed (“Promotion”). You can list up to 50,000 listings in the Auction-style format with this promotion.

However, this offer only applies to sellers who have a registered eBay Stores subscription. You will automatically receive the Promotional Rate when you list your items Auction-style by using the Sell Your Item Form, eBay Seller Tools, and most third-party tools.

Read more about this great promotion on eBay.

New to eBay or don’t have an eBay Stores subscription?  You can still list Auction-style FREE too.   Good for any start price at any time.   The first 50 items you list per month are FREE to list auction-style.  Check out eBay to get the details.

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Pictures on eBay Listings Will Soon Be Free

One of the best ways to get buyers to pick your listing over the rest, is by including lots of great pictures of your item. By providing lots of quality pictures you are reinforcing to buyers that eBay is a great place to shop.   To help you provide those pictures, starting July 2, pictures will be FREE for all sellers on eBay.  eBay is doing this to help you sell and to encourage you to provide more pictures with your listings.  The best part is that more pictures means that you will get more sales, and save money doing so.  Think about it this way, if you’re paying for pictures now, this change can mean significant savings. For example, on Auction-style listings with 8 pictures, free pictures can mean a savings of 16% on an item that sells for $60.

So start getting ready to upload more pictures to showcase your item and show it from all angles. Buyers make faster purchase decisions when listings have more photos. Later this year, all eBay listings will be required to have at least one picture.  Just remember the more quality pictures of an item the better chance it has to sell well.

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eBay Category and Other Seller Updates

Here is a heads up about some of eBay’s 2012 updates to categories and other important seller updates.
  • Standard Auction-style listing have a new maximum fee. Taking effect May 1, the maximum final value fee for Standard Auction-style listings will be $250. Note – this will only impact transactions of more than $1,111 for sellers who don’t have an eBay Stores subscription.
  • Electronics & Technology: This update is to help make sure your listings get found by interested buyers, by listing with the eBay catalog.  This will be required in more of the consumer electronics categories including DVD & Blu-ray Players, Home Theater Systems, Home Theater Receivers, Home Theater Projectors,  and Home Speakers & Subwoofers.
  • Category and Item Specific updatesconsolidated with the rest of the seller updates to save you time and effort:
    • Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
    • Coins
    • Computers & Networking
    • Consumer Electronics
    • eBay Motors
    • Jewelry & Watches
    • Home & Garden
    • Tickets
    • Toys

Check out the links in this post to get more information on eBay’s updates.  Keep yourself up to date on eBay’s features and know the best and most effective ways to sell on eBay.

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