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  April 2008 |
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***Important Shipping Update: USPS Rate Change Monday, May 12 2008*** |
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April 30, 2008 | 05:46PM PST/PT

| Kristina Klausen |
Hello...As many folks know, United States Postal Service Shipping Prices and Fees will be changing Monday, May 12. More details about the new rates are available from USPS here.
A few of the key changes are highlighted below. But first, here's how eBay's shipping solutions are affected:
- Flat rate shipping
Sellers using flat rate shipping should review any listings they expect to ship after the new prices are in effect and make any necessary changes to the shipping cost. You can edit your listings with bulk tools available from My eBay, Selling Manager, Selling Manager Pro, Turbo Lister, and eBay Stores. (For more information on editing items, please read Changing Your Listing and How Can I Revise My Listing in our Help system.)
- Calculated shipping
For listings that use the eBay Shipping Calculator, prices will automatically be updated on Friday, May 9 around midnight Pacific Time. As a result, listings with calculated shipping that are paid for via Checkout after Friday, May 9 will have the new price applied. This timing recognizes that items paid for after Friday are not likely to be shipped on or before Monday, given it can take a few days for payments to clear. For more information on Calculated Shipping, visit our Frequently Asked Questions.
The new prices will also be reflected in the Research Rates calculator starting Friday night.
- PayPal Label Printing Solution
New prices will be available in the PayPal Label Printing Solution after 9 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, May 11. Sellers are reminded that through Sunday evening they can print labels at the old prices for shipments to be posted on Monday, May 12.
- New discounts in PayPal Label Printing
Once the new prices are in effect, new Commercial Base Price reductions will be available in the PayPal Label Solution for Priority Mail and Express Mail. For Priority Mail, commercial base prices will be 1 to 11% lower than retail prices and are based on zone and weight, and 2.2% on average lower than today's Priority Mail prices. For Express Mail, the commercial base prices are 3% lower than the retail prices.
The existing 5% and 8% discounts on Priority Mail International and Express Mail International will continue.
If you are not already benefiting from the savings and convenience of PayPal Label Printing, there’s never been a better time to start!
Below are a few highlights of changes that impact some of the most common USPS services:
- Rates for Parcel Post, First Class Mail, Priority Mail and insurance are increasing slightly.
- The standard Priority Mail Flat Rate Box is increasing to $9.80 ($9.30 in the label printing solution) regardless of weight or destination. International prices for this service are increasing.
- The new Large Priority Mail Flat Rate Box will remain at $12.95 regardless of weight to domestic addresses.
- Express Mail is moving to zone-based pricing, in addition to weight. Close zones may experience a decrease in pricing, while further zones will experience an increase.
- First Class International is moving to shape-based pricing.
Sellers who ship with USPS should take time to familiarize themselves with the USPS rate changes announced and review their listings as appropriate.
While this rate change is less significant than the one last year, we realize that any changes to shipping can cause added work for our sellers. With this in mind, we're doing what we can to help sellers make a smooth transition.
Sincerely,
Kristina Klausen
Senior Director, Shipping
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***eBay Radio: Call In Today, April 29th at 11:00 AM Pacific Time*** |
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April 29, 2008 | 09:10AM PST/PT

| Jim "Griff" Griffith |
Call in to eBay Radio today, April 22nd, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay Education, live from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. Guests this week include:
- Jim Ambach, VP of eBay Seller Experience, tells you what he's hearing from sellers about DSRs, discounts on PowerSeller invoices, and the Seller Dashboard.
- April, Owner of The Toy Bakery shares her great story of success as an eBay seller.
- Andrew Sukow, CTO and Co-Founder of Terapeak.com, joins us to share his list of the hot-selling listing titles on eBay right now.
- Lynn Dralle, the "Queen of Auctions," tells you what you'd better keeps your eyes open for at those garage sales this spring.
Plus we'll have "The News" with Lee Mirabal, as well as the most important feature on eBay Radio: your calls! Call in during the show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff and his guests or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.
Remember, one lucky caller per week, selected at random, will receive an autographed copy of Griff's book, "The Official eBay Bible".
If you can't catch the live show, you can always subscribe to the podcast , or access any past broadcast from the eBay Radio Archives. To subscribe to the podcast all you need is an reader (a portable MP3 player is optional). Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.
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***New Changes Coming to My eBay Beta*** |
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April 28, 2008 | 02:47PM PST/PT

| Renee VonBergen |
Hi...This is Renée from eBay’s Product Management team. I want to thank everyone who has tried out the New My eBay since last August. We launched in Beta so members could try it out and give us feedback, and we really appreciate all the input you've sent us over the last few months. I'm here to tell you about another round of improvements, which are a direct result of your feedback, that will be coming in the next few days:
- We're going back to "grouping" items. We're bringing an idea from the "classic" version of My eBay into the beta version. Items on overview pages such as Summary and All Buying will be grouped into traditional sections of Watching, Bidding, Won, etc., instead of being lumped together and sorted by Time.
- Your favorite pages are returning. The Summary page will replace My eBay Today, and the All Selling page makes a comeback.
- It's easier to scan items. We've made some cosmetic changes to make it easier to quickly scan the status of your items. You can also sort by column if you'd like.
- More pictures. We're now showing pictures for every item across all sections, including Won and Selling.
- No more horizontal scrolling. We've changed the setup of the page so that those of you with your monitor resolution at 1024 x 768 won’t have to horizontally scroll any longer.
As you can see by the list above, the differences between the current beta and the upcoming release are visually very different. Please - keep using the "Send Comments" link within the Beta to share your feedback!
Because this is a big change, it'll take some time to roll it out across the site. It's possible some of you may see the new and older versions of the Beta interchangeably until it's fully rolled out.
Our upcoming test
I'd also like to let you know about a test we'll be running. In the next several weeks, we're going to opt a small number of members into the new My eBay. At the same time, another small number of members won't be given access to it.
By creating these two groups, we can compare what's working well and what isn't between the current version of My eBay and the Beta version. If you're already using the Beta, don't worry – you won't be part of this test, and you will be able to keep it using it as normal.
Stay updated through our discussion thread
More exciting changes will be coming to My eBay Beta. If you want to stay plugged into all the action, be sure to check out my discussion thread on the My eBay Discussion Board that I'll update whenever we have new info to share.
Sincerely,
Renée VonBergen
Product Management
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***Join the eBay Foundation Community Gives Campaign!*** |
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April 28, 2008 | 11:03AM PST/PT

| Bill Barmeier |
Hi everyone... This is Bill Barmeier, Vice President of eBay's Global Citizenship
team. In addition to my role as VP, I serve as the board chair of eBay
Foundation, the primary vehicle through which eBay makes charitable contributions
to help local communities. While the Foundation has traditionally supported charities
on its own, I'm very pleased to announce today the launch of the eBay Foundation
"Community Gives" campaign, which offers you, our Community, a way to
participate in our giving efforts.
The Community Gives campaign helps create good in the world by inspiring people
to contribute together to causes that matter. To this end, the eBay Foundation
is donating $1 million to three worthy nonprofit organizations – to be
split equally among them – and is asking the eBay Community to join in.
For each Community member who contributes to one of the nonprofits during the
campaign, the Foundation will donate an additional dollar, up to $100,000. Imagine
what we can do when we all give together!
In deciding which nonprofit organizations to support in the campaign, eBay
Foundation worked with active Community members in eBay's Voices
of the Community program to set appropriate selection criteria. After identifying
a number of nonprofits that met the criteria deemed most important by our Community
members, the Foundation evaluated them further, reviewing their history and
accomplishments, their fiscal responsibility and strength, their impact on the
causes they address, and their rankings based on public charity standards.
From this review, eBay Foundation selected the three nonprofit organizations
to be supported in the Community Gives campaign -- First
Book, Best Friends Animal Society
and Oxfam. The Foundation then worked
with these nonprofits to identify specific projects to fund, as this ensures
that our dollars will truly make a tangible difference. Through these projects,
we will help:
- First Book provide new books so that hundreds of thousands
of low-income children can discover the magic of reading,
- Best Friends Animal Society build a puppy care center so
that hundreds of abused and injured puppies can have a chance to find loving
permanent homes, and
- Oxfam supply access to clean, safe water to alleviate poverty
for tens of thousands of people in Ethiopia and Zambia.
Donate today; eBay and PayPal fees waived!
We welcome your participation in the Community Gives campaign! To participate,
or find more information about the campaign, please go to www.communitygives.org.
The Community Gives campaign runs from now through eBay
Live! in June.
There are two ways to give:
- Donate directly to the nonprofit of your choice using PayPal, or
- Buy or sell an item through eBay
Giving Works to benefit one of the charities.
eBay and PayPal are waiving all donation-related fees for transactions benefiting
the three nonprofits, so you can be assured that 100% of your donation will
go directly to the nonprofits of your choice.
On behalf of eBay and eBay Foundation, we appreciate the generosity of our
Community, and we're proud to sponsor Community Gives, so we can join together
in helping local communities around the world.
Sincerely,
Bill Barmeier,
Vice President, Global Citizenship
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***Upcoming Workshops: WorldofGood.com and How Research Can Help You Find New Items To Sell*** |
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April 25, 2008 | 01:51PM PST/PT
 We would like to invite you to attend the following workshops next week:
Hot Topics at Community.WorldofGood.com
This workshop will be held on Thursday, April 28th from 12:00
p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time.
The boards are buzzing on Community.WorldofGood.com
as members gather to discuss how everyday choices impact people and the planet.
Join us to learn more about this exciting new community and catch up on the
latest topics for social change, including Fair Trade, reducing the use of plastic
bags when shopping, ethically-sourced beauty products, and the little ways we
can reduce our ecological footprint. Share your thoughts on these topics and
learn more about how to join the conversation.
What
to sell? Research can help!
This workshop will be held on Friday, May 2nd from 11:00 a.m.
to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time.
Join Denise from Terapeak Marketplace Research to look at how research can
help you find new items to sell on eBay. Using Terapeak's new Hot Product finders,
you'll learn how to determine hot sellers in the marketplace, find niche markets,
and increase your sales on eBay.
Workshops are hosted in discussion threads on the Workshops Board. To get to the Workshops Board:
- Go to www.ebay.com
- Click on Community at the top of the page
- Click on "Workshops" in the "Events" section
- This will bring you to the threaded Workshops Board
To view archived workshops or to learn more about future workshop events, please check our Workshops Calendar.
Want timely reminders about workshops? We recommend two ways to make sure you never miss an important workshop:
- Sign up for the Workshops Information Group! By joining this group, you will receive an email notification reminding you about
upcoming eBay Workshops. (To sign up for the Workshops Information Group, please click here.)
- Subscribe to the RSS feed for the Workshop board. When a new workshop becomes active, your RSS reader will be
updated. (You can also subscribe to just the specific topic thread that interests you.) To subscribe, click on the
button at the bottom of the Workshop board or thread. Copy and
paste the feed URL into your reader to subscribe. For more information on RSS, please read our RSS Help page.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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***Don’t miss out! – eBay MasterCard Dream Kitchen Sweepstakes*** |
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April 24, 2008 | 09:54AM PST/PT

| Elisa Stern |
Hi everyone...This is Elisa Stern from eBay's marketing team. Earlier this month we kicked off the eBay MasterCard – Dream Kitchen Sweepstakes that runs through April 30th.
Five lucky new eBay MasterCard cardholders will win $10,000 worth of GE Appliances, such as refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, stoves, and more!
Entering the sweepstakes is easy. Apply for the eBay MasterCard and get approved before April 30th, and you're automatically entered. No purchase is necessary. See the official rules for full offer details.
And even if you don't win a Dream Kitchen, our new eBay MasterCard holders can still enjoy no payments for up to 6 months on your eBay purchases through May 29th. To learn more go to www.mastercard.ebay.com.
Sincerely,
Elisa Stern
eBay Marketing
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***eBay Radio: Call In Today, April 22nd at 11:00 AM Pacific Time*** |
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April 22, 2008 | 10:04AM PST/PT

| Jim "Griff" Griffith |
Call in to eBay Radio today, April 22nd, with your host Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay Education, live from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. Guests this week include:
- Wayne Schreck, owner of a PakMail store in Gaylord, Michigan, who joins us to discuss how to insure your shipments, and the procedures to file a claim if a shipment is lost or damaged either within the U.S. or internationally.
- Robert Chatwani, General Manager of WorldofGood.com, who joins us to tell us how WorldofGood.com, eBay's new platform for socially responsible shopping, will help consumers create positive social change through commerce, beginning with an online community and followed by a marketplace.
- Monroe Labouisse, Director of North America Marketplaces, who will discuss payment holds for eBay items.
- Barbara Weltman, creator of BarbaraWeltman.com, who will share what trends she sees concerning eBay businesses in today's economy.
- Janelle Elms, Visonaire of the OSI Rock Stars, who joins us to talk about some of the classes she'll offer at eBay Live! this year.
Plus we'll have "The News" with Lee Mirabal, as well as the most important feature on eBay Radio: your calls! Call in during the show at 877-474-3302 (USA) or 001-858-678-8958 (Internationally) to talk with Griff and his guests or to ask a question and share your voice with the rest of the eBay Community.
Remember, one lucky caller per week, selected at random, will receive an autographed copy of Griff's book, "The Official eBay Bible".
If you can't catch the live show, you can always subscribe to the podcast , or access any past broadcast from the eBay Radio Archives. To subscribe to the podcast all you need is an reader (a portable MP3 player is optional). Visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information about subscribing to the podcasts and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer.
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***Stores Sellers, Create “Free Shipping” Sales - Plus a New “Free Shipping” Icon for All Sellers*** |
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April 21, 2008 | 02:19PM PST/PT

| Andy Feierfeil |
Hi everyone...I'm Andy Feierfeil with eBay Stores. Free Shipping is a great marketing tool to attract buyers, as many sellers know. To make the offer of Free Shipping even more effective in attracting buyers, we're making these two changes.
"Free Shipping Sale" with Markdown Manager
The ability to create a "Free Shipping" sale will be added to Markdown Manager in the next few days. Buyers love a sale, and having a limited time Free Shipping sale is a great way to create excitement and a sense of urgency. With Markdown Manager, you can add a Free Shipping sale to any of your listings individually or in bulk, making it now possible to extend a 'Sale' to auction-style listings. When an item is part of a Free Shipping sale, buyers will see a Free Shipping icon right on the item page.
If you haven't used Markdown Manager for eBay Stores, it lets you put your items on sale. In fact, it's the most highly-adopted Stores feature! To learn more about Markdown manager, please visit http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/markdownmanager.html.
A New "Free Shipping" Icon for all Sellers
Also, to make Free Shipping even more noticeable to buyers across the site, this new "Free Shipping" icon will appear whenever any seller has selected "standard free shipping" in their listing – regardless of whether they used Markdown Manager.
Check out our FAQs for more info on how to create a Free Shipping sale today.
Sincerely,
Andy Feierfeil
eBay Stores
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***Enter to Win a 'Dream Come True' Disney Vacation in our Instant Win Game & Sweepstakes*** |
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April 18, 2008 | 11:22AM PST/PT

| Artemisa Saucedo |
Hi everyone...This is Artemisa Saucedo from eBay's Marketing team.
This week, we kicked off our latest Instant Win Game & Sweepstakes that will run through October 31, 2008. Seven lucky members will win a one-of-a-kind Dream Come True Disney Vacation!
Entering the sweepstakes is easy. Simply go to ebay.com/winyourdreams to register and play the Instant Win Game. Just by registering you will earn an automatic entry into the monthly grand prize vacation sweepstakes.
In addition, every time you make a purchase on eBay you automatically receive a FREE collectible Disney gift, plus you get another entry into the grand prize sweepstakes (up to two each day).
The gifts are perfect for the Disney lover – they range from Disney paper pals, to Mickey Mouse magnets, to exclusive Don "Ducky" Williams artwork, to Walt Disney prints, and everything in between. Redeem your gifts after each purchase – OR save up the gift credits for something bigger next month. You never know what you'll find in the Win Your Dreams gift gallery!
We’ll also name a new Grand Prize winner every month, so remember to shop often. Who knows – it could be YOU headed on a Disney Cruise Lines "Land and Sea Vacation," or taking a "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" vacation at the Disneyland® Resort. The more you buy, the more chances you have to win! For complete rules and details, please click here.
Make your dreams come true all year long by bookmarking www.ebay.com/winyourdreams!
Sincerely,
Artemisa Saucedo
eBay Marketing
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***A Message from Rob Chesney - 3 Millionth Vehicle Sold on eBay Motors!*** |
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April 17, 2008 | 01:59PM PST/PT

| Rob Chesney |
Hi everyone...this is Rob Chesney, VP of eBay Motors. A passenger vehicle sells every 56 seconds on eBay Motors so it's no surprise that we're celebrating a major milestone. We just announced that the 3 millionth vehicle was sold on eBay Motors! This is a testament not only to the site, but also to the Motors Community that has made eBay Motors the #1 automotive destination on the Web.
The landmark vehicle is a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup purchased by Patricia Weidler of Otego, NY, which will be used to help her husband Dan start his own construction business. The couple bought the car from David Pelis of Pelis Auto Sales in Northampton, Mass., who has been selling on eBay Motors since April of 2000. As part of our celebration of this momentous occasion, we've reimbursed the Weidlers' for the cost of the pickup, and have also included $3,000 in parts and accessories.
Congratulations to Patricia and Dan Weidler – and a big thank you to all our other buyers and sellers that make eBay Motors the best place to buy vehicles, parts and accessories.
Sincerely,
Rob Chesney
Vice President, eBay Motors
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***A Message from Jim Ambach – Live Auction Format Being Retired End of 20 | | |