The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 161
The eBay UK Bulletin: Issue 161, 18th December 2009
Topics in this issue:
1. eBay News: eBay resolutions
2. What a year it has been
3. A couple of quick spoofs
4. Ask Molly – Where can I get more stock?
Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The eBay UK Bulletin
That’s it then, all over for another year. The Elves hardly broke into a sweat this time, but still demanded their annual office party! All that remains now is to clear out the last few stocking fillers and shut up HQ (the shed) until April.
I received a pleasant surprise twice this week when two buyers, one in China the other in the US, both emailed me to inform me of a delivery. No big news in this I hear you say, but in both cases I had refunded payment and postage as the item was deemed to be lost. It warms the heart to know that there are still some honest people out there.
This week I take a nostalgic look back at the year that was 2009.
To end what has been an eventful year, my favourite ‘Ask Molly’ question, “can you guess what it is yet?”
[For details of this newsletter, please scroll down to the end.]
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1. EBAY NEWS: EBAY RESOLUTIONS
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If you sell on eBay you may have encountered the new resolutions process, which I must admit seems to be working quite well.
eBay Resolutions is now being displayed to more and more buyers and it won’t be long until you experience the new process when dealing with a claim; probably for an item not received!
For a better understanding of the process, why not put the kettle on and settle back to watch the video; it beats playing games after Christmas lunch.
http://vzaar.com/videos/102946
I did come across something else of interest this week, not earth shattering by any means, but handy to know if you sell outside of the UK.
The new 'eBay International Markets' has launched, allowing buyers in Greece, the Czech Republic, Russia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden to search through all eBay sites in their language and compare prices in their currency.
To reach these additional customers at no additional charge, ensure you offer PayPal (which is pretty much everybody) and worldwide postage. Your listings will automatically show up on the 6 new eBay International Markets.
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2. WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN
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As the year draws to a close, just imagine it is December 31st; it is interesting to look back and see what kind of a year it was. Please allow a little discretion with the dates; it was a long time ago!
Back in January eBay started blocking sellers who are listing from a computer they don't normally use. If you're listing from a different computer (e.g. at a friend's house, at the library), you will be asked for some additional verification to make sure it's really you listing the item.
It was around this time that the eBay Rewards programme was closed – I spent my final £1.00 payment on a coffee!
eBay also advised that it is changing the feedback rules to remove negative comments left by buyers for sellers who wouldn't mark an item as 'gift' in order to sidestep customs fees.
In February eBay announced they were to ban the sale of all knives from the ebay.co.uk and ebay.ie sites. Some sellers were contacted by an independent research consultancy and asked for their views on the economy.
As of March, private sellers no longer had to pay an Insertion Fee for an item
that they listed, providing they list the item using the auction format in an eligible category and set a starting price of 99p or less. Final Value Fees for most sales went up!
eBay.com announced that the 'Dutch Auction' format was to be discontinued in mid-May. I never understood it anyway.
eBay AdCommerce arrived; a pay-per-click advertising programme that allowed eBay
sellers to promote their listings and eBay Shops via ads ('sponsored results').
'eBay Bucks' goes into 'beta' test on eBay.com and is likely to be rolled out to all users. No sign of a similar programme in the UK yet.
It became possible to list in Buy It Now format and offer all variations of one product - e.g. colour and size - in a single listing.
Free pictures in the Clothes, Shoes & Accessories categories and the requirement for free P&P in selected Clothes Shoes & Accessories and Tech categories.
Around May time the new returns process was implemented which made it easier to manage returns on all items paid for with PayPal.
May - The new eBay ‘shop front’ templates were introduced. eBay extended anonymous User IDs to winning bidders.
A slight u-turn as eBay decided to reveal the full details of members who make a ‘best offer’ having previously hidden this information.
May also saw the introduction of a real-time countdown timer on auction listings.
As of 30th June, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes were banned from
sale on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie. What is the world coming to?
June saw the introduction of a new 120-day sales view in ‘Selling Manager Pro’; it doesn’t help at all, but it looks nice. June also saw the arrival of ‘Easy Returns’ - this should tie up the cancellation process and fee refunds.
July - eBay called on the European Commission to amend EU competition law to stop unfair trade practices.
eBay introduced the idea of TRS. The ‘top-rated seller’ programme is intended to reward those sellers who have few DSR scores of 2 or lower, in theory those sellers who provide high levels or customer service. It went well didn’t it!
August – best match was introduced as the default search results option.
eBay.co.uk celebrated its tenth birthday by offering a ‘birthday promotion’ with zero insertion fees for 10 days.
September – eBay sold Skype, which is a shame as I was just getting the hang of it.
Sellers can choose a time at which a dispute case is opened, the minimum time period drops from 7 to 4 days.
During September it became possible to amend a description even if sales have already been made from the listing. In the past major changes would mean ending and re-listing, which would lose all your watchers and might impact on standing in search results.
The other, long awaited, change and one which Molly was personally involved with, is the ability to block specific countries from your listings – hooray! It may seem strange blocking potential customers, but selling to some parts of the world can be fraught with problems.
October - TRS arrives – say no more!
It becomes mandatory to include a ‘returns policy’ and ‘dispatch time’ on ‘Good ‘Til Cancelled listings’. 76 of mine slipped through the net and were ended.
As of 5th November, the word ‘cash’ could not be referenced as part of your payment instructions at all.
The new emails (Payment Reminder, Order confirmation, and Order Update) that were intended to improve buyers’ and sellers’ experiences were suspended and will be reviewed.
December - an unexpected holiday for most sellers when almost all of the eBay search functions broke down for a whole weekend.
Now we should all hold hands and sing a certain song. Roll on next year.
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3. A COUPLE OF QUICK SPOOFS
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**Many thanks for all the spoofs you sent in this year, I lost count of exactly how many, but they each have their place on my shed wall. Here are a couple of quickies to see the year out.
**If you come across anything like this, just hit the delete button.
*--------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
*eBay* sent this message
Your registered name is included to help confirm this message originated from eBay. Learn more
eBay New Unpaid Item Message from OsJop2331: #20706516412 - Response required!
Dear member,
eBay member OsJop2331 has left you a message regarding item #20706516412
*View the dispute thread to respond.***
Regards,
eBay
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If you spot a spoof, please send it in – Mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk
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4. ASK MOLLY – WHERE CAN I GET MORE STOCK?**
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“Dear Molly
I recently read your book 'The eBay Business Handbook' [Ed – great plug] and just wanted to say how much I enjoyed it. Being quite new to eBay, I found it really helpful and it has inspired me to pursue the possibility of starting an eBay business.
I've been searching for some good wholesale suppliers, particularly for health and beauty products, but haven't had much luck yet, so I wondered if you wouldn't mind pointing me in the right direction?”
I am glad the book was of interest; watch this space for details of the 2010 edition.
Stock is certainly one of the biggest problems and as you have read in the book, I find it in the most unusual places. Finding a wholesaler is tricky, as you can imagine there are loads of sellers looking for stock so supply is diluted.
Stock is a continuing theme of this bulletin and you may find a few pointers in the back editions, hopefully some will make you smile as well. All the past issues are now stored on this website (over on the right hand side). Make a large pot of coffee first, there are a lot of them!
Talking of stock; remember to check out the January sales some of which have already started. This has historically been a great time to stock up as the High Street needs cash flow. I’ll let you know how I get on next year.
If you have a question about eBay or home working in general, please send it to: mollybol@ebaybulletin.co.uk
-- END NOTE --
That's all for this year. Check out www.ebaybulletin.co.uk
It must have been a quiet Christmas as I have just realised that I didn’t miss a single bulletin; 2008 was a bit haphazard to say the least.
My New Year resolutions include:
1) Update the blog each week and sort out all my broken affiliate links. I should break this one by February.
2) Blitz the shed and list everything that remains unsold.
3) Sell my remaining Timberland boots (this was last year’s as well).
Q - What has a TRS in common with Father Christmas?
A – They are both almost impossible to find, are both extremely busy during the Christmas season and laugh hysterically from time to time.
Merry Christmas and happy eBaying!
Mollybol
Author of the bestselling title, 'The eBay Business Handbook' - available direct from the publishers: www.harriman-house.com/ebaybusiness
At age 40 and
