New policies go into effect for eBay sellers, Bonanzle Batch Editor class and what's happening at the Web Sellers Circle - all in this edition.

The eBay Lawyers Roll Out New Site Changes...

Here's a quick summary to keep you out of trouble 

I used to think selling on eBay was simple. You take a few pictures, write a description and post your item for sale. And, if you did your job well – you could receive a fair return on the effort. With these new rounds of changes, which had to be written by lawyers for other lawyers, I'm reminded how complex it is to sell online. Retailing is hard! (I know you don't want to hear that - but it's true).

Here’s a quick summary of some the changes you need to be aware of over. To read all the new eBay policies and procedures I recommend you grab a cup of strong coffee (or a pot full) and read through the official 30+/- page document. 

You can find it here:

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/July2009Update/Details/index.html

But, in the meantime… here's a quick reference guide

DSR (Detailed Seller Ratings) performance scores emphasized - part of the new eBay Seller Responsibility Policy. 

(Starts Oct 1, 2009).

EBay is factoring in low DSR scores as part of its new 'Top Seller' rollout. EBay will de-emphasize the 'PowerSeller' program to favor higher DSR scores. Sellers who have 1 or 2 ratings (one star) in the Detailed Seller Ratings will be penalized while sellers with high scores (five stars) will be rewarded with a 'Top Seller' icon.

Rewards include:

• higher search rankings

• up to 20% off final value fees

• the ability to purchase the new 'featured first' listing upgrade

• the Top Seller badge displayed on buyer facing pages ie: listing and profile pages

To receive these perks you must have no more than 1% (of one and two star ratings) for item as described, no more than 2% for communication, shipping time and shipping/handling charges. For what eBay considers 'high volume sellers' these averages are calculated every 3 calendar months - for the rest of us it's 12 calendar months. So, from what I’m reading a bad DSR score will haunt you, especially when it comes to receiving final value rebates, for a very long time.

My suggestions - keep an open door policy and respond to customer emails quickly and courteously. The buyer is in the driver seat, not you! If a customer has a problem go above and beyond to make sure they're happy at the end of the transaction. 

EBay is offering sellers a few bones here - that will help to keep your ratings up, they are:

1) DSR scores are only calculated on domestic orders (low DSR scores from International buyers will not be included)

here's an eBay cheat sheet: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/July2009Update/LowDSRexamples/index.html

and

2) If you are a low volume seller (under 400 transactions in three months) you'll have a grace allowance of four low marks - a year. 

At a glance chart of requirements and rewards can be found here:

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/July2009Update/chart/index.html

Sellers are no longer allowed to charge buyers for shipping insurance (starts Oct 1,2009).

This doesn't mean sellers are off the hook for making sure that the item arrives safely. In fact, in any venue, you the seller are responsible for the carrier you pick, when the package arrives and in what condition. Be sure to factor in your carriers' reliability when choosing USPS, UPS or FedEX.  And this means you have to figure the cost of insurance into your starting price.

I know it's tricky to figure out how to roll insurance costs into an auction. 

Here's my suggestion - use tools like Terapeak and Hammertap to research item selling values before you purchase to resell. If you can't make enough on the auction to cover the shipping, handling and insurance, while maintaining your desired mark-up - don't purchase the item to resell.

Best Match (Starts around Sept 22, 2009)

EBay is adding another factor into search ranking; it's referred to as 'most relevant' (not most sold). EBay is now matching impressions and number of purchases as a way to surface the items with the highest number of sales to impressions. Example: a listing which sells 10 items - but only had 100 shoppers look at the listing will rank higher in best match than an item that had 1,000 browsers look but only 10 sales.

EBay suggests honing your titles to pinpoint your buyers exactly.

Here's my suggestion - think about where your potential shopper is in the 'buy cycle' and focus your title keywords to match. Simply put - look for the keywords that a potential buyer will type in over someone who is in 'information gathering mode' and is only looking for information about the product. The difference is subtle, but generally people who are prepared to purchase will use longer keyword phrases - perhaps the whole make and model number of the item - over someone who might be gathering information and may only put in the generic product name.

There will be a new tool available on eBay called the 'Search Visibility Tool' to help you evaluate your listings. I found no word on exact launch date for the tool.

Other factors still included in the best match algorithm are:

• best performance (rated as a top seller with great feedback and stellar Detailed Seller Ratings).

• best shipping costs - of course, free is the best

• auction style listings still receive a boost over fixed price.

Buy-It-Now - changes (starts OCT 1, 2009)

If you use an auction style listing and choose to offer a 'Buy It Now' listing be aware of the difference between the prices. The 'Buy it Now' price must be at least 10% over the action starting price.

Here's my suggestion - Only use Buy It Now if you know the value of the item. Don't use it on collectibles where the bidding could bring the value up. Generally, I use a fixed price listing instead of auction style with a buy it now if I know the price I want for an item. 

Listing Upgrade Features that are being discontinued (starts Oct 1, 2009)

• gift services

• border

• highlight

• featured plus

• home page featured

• pro pack

More policy and procedure changes for returns, not as described items and disputes.

New Resolutions process for buyers. This will make it easier and quicker for the buyer to file claims against bad sellers.

For the sellers, it looks like there will be a new suite of automated emails that are sent when a buyer doesn't pay and after the third automated email (sent 96 hours after the buyer purchased) an automatic unpaid item claim will be triggered on your behalf.

EBay isn’t the warm fuzzy place many of us experienced in its early days – it is changing into a site focused on professional sellers who offer products at lower than retail prices. While eBay will continue to consider the small merchant and the collectible sellers as part of their user base they’re raising the bar for their inclusion in the search algorithms. You can still do well on the site, but much of the early excitement is gone, replaced by 'policies and procedures'.... I miss the 'old days'

for more information:

Seller Checklist:
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/July2009Update/Checklist/index.html

FAQ Page:
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/July2009Update/faq/index.html

My Favorite New Change - photos and a chance to market your business on eBay

Starting in September eBay will start selecting product photos taken by eBay sellers and adding them to their catalog of photos. To compensate sellers for this 'borrowing of photos' eBay will give the photographer attribution including user ID and a link to their profile. 

I'm sure many photographers will be annoyed with this 'lifting' of their photographs - I'm jumping with joy over this! To me, it's a simple way to get links into my listings.

You can opt out of this if you choose. For those who don't - you'll have no control over what photos are chosen or even receive notice that they've been used. Which is sad, but that's eBay.

There are no guidelines as to which types of photos will be selected - but I can give you a few tips based on the Internet industry standards.

1. My guess (even though we know they're not the best for capturing attention) for most chosen type of photo is the all white, floating on air shots.

2. EBay will be focused on new products. They'll want items that sell in large quantity, but with no manufacture provided photo. 

3. The photo will have to be in sharp focus - remember to use your tripod when photographing

4. The photo will have to be properly exposed - if you have trouble nailing your exposures, use your camera's 'bracketing function' to shoot one shot at what the camera considers normal, one over exposed and one under exposed. Chances are, one of these will be "just right" - as Goldilocks' would say.

5. No watermarks on the photographs

You don't have to do anything to be included in this program. EBay will start selecting photos automatically sometime in September.

Bonanzle - Moved your items over from eBay, but need to tweak them all to fit the site?

Did you know you can save a lot of time and worry using the Bonanzle batch editor feature? 

From replacing text to attributes and traits, The Batch Edit Queen will walk you through the entire Bonanzle Batch editor step-by-step - including the new syndicated seller program commission setting.

Phadera Stockstill - Bonanzle expert and lovingly called the 'Batch Edit Queen' on the boards is offering a new online class on how to use this tool to save time and headaches.

Called "From Dreaded Fiend to New Best Friend" 

August 11th 2009 at 7:00pm Central Time, 8:00pm Eastern Time

Cost: $14.99

To sign up for this online class visit Phaderas booth and purchase your ticket.

Class size is limited, there are only 12 spots available, and they're selling fast!

*Web Sellers' Circle Members - please note the replay will be up on the site and viewable for free as part of your membership subscription.

It's Official - The eBay Marketing Bible Is Shipping 

After months of seeing only the Word documents and photos plus countless Skype calls to Cliff -I'm relieved and delighted that this project is now a real live bound book. 

The books are for sale here

What's in the book:

• build a successful marketing plan 

• brand your eBay business 

• develop strategies for individual auction listings and eBay stores 

• combine online and offline strategies to build your businesses 

• use email marketing, search engine listings, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, and more 

Copyright 2009 Cindy L. Shebley Enterprises