New policies go into effect for eBay Affiliates, eBay Listing templates and what's happening at the Web Sellers Circle - all in this edition.

The eBay Partner Network Has A Few New Guidelines Starting July 20th

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

You may only put the EPN affiliate links on your own websites and blogs (and newsletters if you have been approved) – no affiliate links on pages like Facebook, Twitter or MySpace. What I didn’t read was whether the EPN considers a ‘Blogger’ (google) blog your property or not. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. I know many people consider Blogger an easy to use platform and have one or more blogs using the Google service.

No hiding the URL – you may not use Tiny URL or a similar service. You may not use redirected URLs.

That means, if you are like me and have set-up an affiliate URL that redirects the user from a place like YouTube - they must be changed to have that URL send the viewer first to a landing page that secondly redirects them to eBay.

That may sound confusing - but here's a sample - one I have to fix today!

In the video description below, I use a clickable URL with an affiliate code to direct users to the LoungAir product on eBay.



To make this legal, I must set up a new website, or blog where the user lands on a page before being directed to eBay.

Here's a YouTube URL sample of one that is legal:

 In the sample above the viewer can click on the link and is directed to my WordPress blog that has the eBay Partner Network links.

For more information about the eBay Partner Network including how to set-up websites using EPN widgets watch the eBay Partner Network video.

eBay Sellers Challenge - Your Chance to Win $25,000

The submission period has passed - but on Monday July 20th head on over and cast your votes at http://sellerschallenge.ebay.com

eBay Continues To Amazonatize.... will eBay adopt a one size fits all listing template?

During our panel discussion at the Amazon Conference Monsoon’s CEO, Kanth Gopalpur made an interesting observation about eBay. He told the group that one of the problems eBay faces (still) is the Trust & Safety issue. One comparison he made was that buyers feel reassured by Amazon's consistent look. It doesn't matter if it's being sold by Amazon directly or a third party seller, the listing format remains uniformly the same. It doesn't matter if it's groceries or iPods, the listing is uniform. Kanth's observation was that eBay must do the same. It is the only way to make new users feel comfortable purchasing from eBay sellers.

Well, I got his point, but instantly thought - that would never happen..... eBay is like the street fair in the middle of main street. Users love the bright colors, unique sellers and sometimes wild looks - that's what makes the site unique and built its popularity.

It felt a little too déjà vu when I read the AuctionBytes post that eBay is testing uniform listing templates. The standardization of the view item page would mean that custom designed templates would no longer work; sellers would be allowed limited formatting capabilities, but things like font type and unique styling would disappear.

I'm not happy about uniform templates. If I get a vote - I'd say no. I like selling on Amazon but find the complete lack of customization frustrating. However, for an eBay seller, succeeding on the site means playing the cards that are dealt. If that means uniform templates, I'll adjust. There's nothing yet that indicates uniform listing templates will happen on eBay but.....

Going forward as sellers we need to keep an eye on this development. I only hope it's not rolled out in November and that we'll all be given enough time to comply if this new feature is adapted. 

It's Official - The eBay Marketing Bible Is Shipping

The eBay Marketing Bible is shipping just in time for the eBay Radio Party. 


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 

What's Happening At The Web Sellers' Circle

Want Your Own Affiliate Website Set-up for you?

One of our goals at the Web Sellers' Circle is to help our members find additional sources of income. Affiliate sales can provide a small but steady boost to your bottom line, if you have the right niche and the right web sites.

Next month - we'll help one member of WSC find a profitable niche and then we'll build the affiliate income generating site. If you are curious about what I mean, this is the sort of revenue generating site that I talked about in the Making Money with the eBay Partner Network DVD. (It's not an ecommerce site per se.)

You can see a site I put together the other day - Spy Camera Collector in almost no time, with no programming or design skills required. 

This site is just one of many. Each contributes a bit of cash every month, with minimal or no extra work. It's a Set It & Forget It project that you can complete in an afternoon.

If this is something you might be interested in - join the Web Sellers Circle to become eligible. For less than $28.00 a month (depending on which plan you choose) you'll have access to all the videos, articles and forum information, and now a chance to have a income generating website set up for you. (This offer in itself is worth the price of the membership - I've seen these sites sell for $800 or more). 

The How To Set-up Your Business Books Series Starts This Week

Sheryl Schuff, MBA/CPA, and I have been putting together a step-by-step guide to setting up your business accounting. Sheryl's doing all the hard accounting information, and Dany's doing the technical recording part. I get to do the graphics (so don't worry I won't be answering your tax questions - LOL).

Each week Sheryl will walk you through the steps needed to understand, and get your business book set-up correctly. Sheryl is going to walk us through step-by-step how to install and set-up your QuickBooks software as well. 

This is important business information every seller needs to understand to keep their finances in order.

Video Tutorials & Webinars

Dany Byrne has produced a step by step guide to Camtasia - an important tool for education specialists and product developers.

Our first teleconference is recorded and available to review - about S.M.A.R.T. goal setting for business.

I just taught the class about eBay and using heatmaps to get the most out of your product photography.

And, we recorded the panel discussion with Skip McGrath, Kanth Gopalpur, Alice Ruldoph and myself about transitioning from eBay to Amazon that we presented at the Amazon conference a couple of weeks ago.

Free Articles About Doing Business Online:

Parallel Imports are something you need to know about if you sell internationally - read more about it here.

The Amazon Conference Round-up one take-away from this years conference may surprise you if you are used to selling on eBay where you can build a premium brand by setting yourself apart.

One Last Word

Don't forget our dollar offer!

Dany and I have a simple offer - please give The Web Sellers Circle a try for 21 days for $1.00. We're confident you'll find value with the material, the networking opportunities, and the forum discussions.

Here's the link to check it out: http://www.websellerscircle.com/public/10.cfm

That's it for now,

Cindy Shebley
eBay Certified Business Consultant
author eBay Marketing Bible
www.websellerscircle.com

Copyright 2009 Cindy L. Shebley Enterprises