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    eBay Spring 2011 Update, the good bits :-)

    By DBL | March 20, 2011

    The Spring 2011 eBay Seller Update released earlier in the week has been met with outrage in the eBay community and various forums as to the amount fees are rising in some categories, I’m not going to go into that here Tamebay is the hotbed of all things eCommerce and are debating this subject as we speak.

    Fees aside and on a positive note, I think the shopping basket is a very welcome addition to the eBay platform and the fact that buyers can add to basket and then change their mind without the item coming off sale will only see the amount of unpaid items fall dramatically, so well worth the wait.

    BIN items will still remain on sale until payment is made. This will turn the transaction into ‘instant payment required’ type of transaction which until now has not been a good choice for people wanting to sell multiple items in one transaction. This will see non paying bidders become a thing of the past allowing sellers to concentrate more on other things rather than chasing NPB’s.

    Another bonus is the addition of product bundles, something I can’t wait to experiment with, the potential for cross promotion and additional impulse buys is enormous and also gives sellers the chance to give that discount on checkout that’s been talked about since the advice to give Free P&P as a boost for best match.  Hence, the problem of buyers paying P&P on each item in the order can now be addressed.

    Also a welcome change for me is the addition of Multi Variation Listings for more eBay categories.  Being the @eBayAnorak I am, I love MVL’s for suitable products, not only giving the buyer choice within the same listing they save on fees for sellers. The purchase of one size/colour variant will give a boost to the whole range as it improves the Sales/Impressions Ratio also giving a boost in Best Match. So by using MVL’s sellers may be able to save a little towards the fee rises.

    The clampdown on duplicate listings is also a bonus. You are currently allowed fifteen listings in total for the same product. This can be fifteen auctions or fourteen auctions and one Buy It Now listing, you are not allowed to list more than one BIN per product.  Use MVL’s where possible makes sense in so many ways more than one BIN for a product will dilute the Sales/Impressions ratio over the two listings so will not be as effective in best Match.

    On the fees issue, the hike for some sellers is too much I agree but, being the irritatingly positive person I am, I wanted to draw attention to some of the more positive points in the update.

    One thing not in the update that I would like to see is the clampdown on illegal seller terms or at least the ability to report. Deal of the Day listings should be vetted by eBay before release to make sure the rights of the buyer under UK & EC law are adhered to.  One day this week had one DOTD seller charging a 15% restocking fee and another not refunding original postage costs.  Although by the looks of the eBay jobs board they’re working on that one.

    All the above IMHO but apart from the fee hike, what do you see as a positive in the update?

    Topics: eBay, General Meanderings | No Comments »

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