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May 2008
***The Seller Dashboard is here!***

30 May, 2008 | 09:30 PM IST

Hi everyone,

I’m Indraneel from the eBay Seller Tools team. I’m pleased to let you know that the Seller Dashboard is now available for all sellers with at least ten Detailed Seller Ratings. The Dashboard gives you an at-a-glance look at your selling account status so you can track what’s going well in your eBay business and identify areas for improvement.

The Seller Dashboard consists of the following modules:

Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) – Here you can track your average ratings from buyers for shipping costs, shipping time, communication, and item as described. eBay is using these ratings to set key performance standards and eligibility for seller rewards. This section will enable you to keep track of where you stand and monitor the effectiveness of changes in your selling strategy. You'll see:

  1. Your rolling 30-day DSR average, as well as your 12-month DSR scores. To maintain buyer anonymity, if you have less than ten sales in a rolling 30-day period, you'll just see your 12-month scores.
  2. Your DSR scores displayed to the hundredth of a point. For example, you may see 4.83 as opposed to the rounded 4.8 displayed on your Member Profile. This will be available next week.
  3. How your DSRs compare with an average seller on the site.

PowerSeller status – See a summary of your PowerSeller status, and what you need to reach the next level. If you're not a PowerSeller, you'll see how close you are to qualifying for the program.

Account status – Here you can easily find billing information related to your account, including your balance and payment status.

Policy compliance – You'll see alerts about policy violations, as well as existing, pending or potential eBay sanctions—and in some cases, what you need to do to remedy the situation. We've also included links to the specific My Messages that include more information about any violations you may have. Note - information about some policy violations won't be included here initially, but will be added over the next few weeks.

Buyer satisfaction – Your buyer satisfaction rating is a composite measure of the experience you're providing for your buyers. It's based on your DSR scores, negative and neutral feedback received, and Buyer Protection claims filed by your buyers. The rating system is based on four levels and the vast majority of sellers will be at the "Good" level. If you have a low buyer satisfaction rating, you'll see suggestions on how to remedy the situation.

You can find links to the Seller Dashboard within the My Account section of My eBay, and on the Summary Page of our Selling Manager Products. (If you've customized the display of your Selling Manager Summary page, you'll simply need to add the Dashboard to see it). If you have at least 10 DSRs in the last 12 months, you can check out your Seller Dashboard from your ‘My ebay’ and the link is placed on the left-hand side Menu bar under the ‘My Account’ head. To read more on the Seller Dashboard please click here.

Hope you all would benefit to a great extent from this tool!!

Regards,
The eBay Team
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***Upcoming International Selling Requirements: Safe Payments with PayPal***

30 May, 2008 | 03:43 PM IST


Making eBay Safer and Easier with PayPal

Buyer and sellers rank security as a primary concern when doing business online, which is why eBay and PayPal are committed to your security.

In an effort to continue to improve trust & safety for both buyers and sellers in the marketplace, we would like to update you on a number of changes that will be happening internationally.

What changes are being made?

Many of our eBay international sites will require sellers listing items for sale overseas to offer PayPal on their listings as one of their safe modes of payment:

  1. In mid March, eBay.com began requiring seller to offer PayPal or a merchant credit card as one of the safe payment options to buyers for:
    • Items listed in categories with higher rates of buyer complaints
    • New sellers with less than 100 feedback
    • For sellers with higher than 5% buyer dissatisfaction rates

    Learn more about eBay safe payment options.

  2. In late March, eBay UK also began requiring items listed on eBay.co.uk to offer PayPal on listings for all sellers who have a feedback score of less than 100 (regardless of feedback percentage) and for items in specific categories. Learn more.
  3. Starting 23rd May in Australia, all items sold on eBay.com.au will require sellers to offer PayPal as one of the safe payment options. Learn more.
  4. On 3rd June, eBay.co.uk will require PayPal to be offered on all listings for all sellers. Learn more.
  5. On June 17th, all items sold on eBay.com.au will require all sellers to only offer PayPal on their listings. No other payment methods will be permitted*. Learn more.

How does this improve the buyer and selling experience?

Currently, with PayPal offered on around 95% of items for sale on eBay, our data shows that buyers are less likely to have a bad experience when they pay with PayPal, which results in building trust and driving more trade.

PayPal keeps transactions secure, especially behind the scenes with industry leading fraud prevention tools, over 2,000 fraud experts 24/7, and proven results with industry-leading loss rates of <0.5%. Plus, for added security, PayPal has the highest industry encryption available, credit card and bank verification, and offers protections programmes for buyers and sellers.

Why is this important to you?

With PayPal offered as a payment option, buyers can shop with more confidence and protection across eBay’s international websites and sellers can benefit from being more likely to sell their items while reducing their loses.

For buyers, PayPal means:

  • More security: No sharing financial details with sellers, reducing possibilities of identity theft.
  • More protection: free purchase protection for eligible items bought on international sites and paid with PayPal
  • More confidence: 80% of US buyers said they would be more likely to buy again if PayPal is offered

For sellers, offering PayPal means:

  • More security: No sharing of financial details with buyers or worries about storing their financial information
  • More reliability: lowers unpaid item rates by nearly half
  • More Sales: Increases repeat purchases by 80% and successful sales by 20%
  • Less Disputes: four times less likely to have a buyer complaint – Saving you money!

For more information, check the Accepted Payments Policy page for the site you are listing on to be sure you know the Safe Payment Requirements.

Happy and Safe Trading!
The eBay and PayPal teams

* A small number of exclusions will apply to these changes

Disclaimer: PayPal does not offer any services in India. Sellers are responsible for ensuring that they comply with all the applicable laws in the countries in which they transact
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***Updated: A Message from Vidmay Naini – Upcoming Feedback Changes***

23 May, 2008 | 03:45 PM IST


Hi everyone,

As you may have probably seen, we introduced a number of changes to the Feedback system on eBay.in this week. We would like to address some of the most common questions that some of our community members have raised over the past few days.

Including Neutral Feedback when calculating Positive Feedback percentage

Some sellers have seen their positive Feedback percentage drop since we introduced the changes. Though we mentioned that we would include neutral Feedback in the Positive Feedback percentage calculation, it seems that most sellers didn't realize this would impact their Feedback percentage.

We know that seeing your positive Feedback percentage drop is hard. But I want to be clear about why we did this. By not including neutral Feedback in our calculation, we were actually doing a disservice to our best sellers. Let me explain with an example. Two sellers have equal 1% negative rates. Under the old calculation – both sellers would have a 99% Positive Feedback percentage. Under the new (current) calculation – we count neutrals. If one seller has a neutral rate of 0.5% (roughly the site average), and the other has a neutral rate of 2%, under today’s calculation, their Feedback percentages are 98.5% and 97%, respectively. By including the neutral Feedback we are advantaging a seller who is providing a better overall customer experience (the one who now has a 98.5%), which is the right thing to do to create great buying experiences on eBay.

When looking at your percentage, I encourage you not to focus on the drop in your Feedback percentage as a raw number, but rather to think of it in context with other sellers' percentages on eBay.

Feedback Percentage Calculation

We've also received questions around how we now calculate the Positive Feedback percentage.

It's based on Feedback left for your transactions that ended in the past 12 months, including Feedback that qualifies for the repeat credit.

On your Feedback Profile page (found by clicking on your Feedback score), the "How is Feedback Percentage calculated?"link gives a numerical explanation. Here are the details in a nutshell:

The percentage is based on the last 12 months of transactions

The total number of positive Feedbacks for the period is divided by the total number of Feedbacks (including positive, negative and neutral). This includes repeat Feedback from members that have left Feedback for transactions that ended in different weeks. Multiple Feedbacks left by the same member for transactions that occurred within the same week is not included in the calculation. For example, if a buyer purchased two items from you today and left you two positive Feedbacks seven days from now, only one Feedback is counted towards your Feedback score and Feedback percentage. This is to prevent Feedback manipulation.

Impact on PowerSeller Status

With the changes, some sellers may find that their overall Feedback percentage has fallen below the 98% threshold to maintain PowerSeller status. To help those who have fallen below the minimum 98% threshold get back above 98%, we will provide a 60-day grace period in which these accounts will retain PowerSeller status. After the 60-day period (ending on July 20), any PowerSeller who no longer meets the 98% threshold will no longer be eligible for PowerSeller status and benefits.

Other changes to your Feedback Percentage

Some sellers may notice a discrepancy between their Feedback percentage on the item page and on their Feedback Profile page – this is a temporary condition as we complete the system changes, and this information will be in sync again within a few days.

One last note: we have not yet removed negative and neutral Feedback left by members who are currently suspended. We'll begin doing so in late May, and it will take us a few weeks to complete. So, if you have negative or neutral Feedback from a suspended member, it should be removed by early June, at which point it will no longer affect your Feedback score and percentage.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions. You can also read the FAQs for more details.

Best Regards,

Vidmay Naini
Manager, Trust and Safety
eBay India
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***Original: A Message from Vidmay Naini – Upcoming Feedback Changes***

08 May, 2008 | 01:10 PM IST


Hello Everyone,

As we announced back in January, we're making some bold changes to how Feedback on eBay works. As we get closer to our launch, I wanted to review the changes we've discussed and provide some additional detail and updates.

As a recap, here's what we announced in January that is scheduled to launch the week of May 19th

  • Sellers may only leave positive feedback for buyers
  • We will remove negative and neutral Feedback if a member becomes suspended
  • Members can leave Feedback up to 60 days after a transaction (down from 90)
  • We will remove Feedback when a buyer fails to respond to the unpaid item process.
  • Members will receive credit for weekly repeat Feedback ( since eBay India inception)
  • We will base the Positive Feedback Percentage on the past 12 months of activity (and include neutral Feedback in the calculation)
  • The PowerSeller Program will use the same calculation method described above to determine eligibility for the PS Program for the Positive Feedback percentage requirement of 98% positive.

Next I'd like to share some additional detail beyond what we discussed in the original post:

  • In January we mentioned that we'd block buyers from leaving negative or neutral Feedback for 3 days for sellers "with a track record." Since January, we've made the decision to increase the wait period to 7 days and define "track record" as active PowerSellers who have been on eBay for at least 12 months.
  • We studied the factors that increased risk to buyers the most and found there are three: a) a seller's Feedback percentage b) the volume of a seller's Feedback – both in total and on an ongoing basis and c) length of time a seller has been on site.
  • We selected PowerSellers who have been on eBay at least 12 months in order to minimize risk to buyers, because all three factors prove important to predicting the risk to buyers – removing any one of them would increase risk to a level we are not currently comfortable with at this time.
  • We will watch all aspects of the new Feedback system very carefully, studying how the marketplace responds and we will make changes as we see appropriate.
  • We mentioned that we'd be aligning the Mutual Feedback Withdrawal process with the new system. After much consideration, we've made the decision to remove the Mutual Feedback Withdrawal process. The reason is that – under the new rules - it opens sellers up to extortion. As part of this decision, Mutual Agreement from third-party Feedback mediation services, such as ODR India SquareTrade, will also no longer be accepted.

Over the last several months, we've had many conversations with our community – both buyers and sellers – and we've had the opportunity to consider ways we can address some of the top concerns we've heard. Based on the input we've received from you, I want to share some additional modifications we're making:

  • We are adding language in the leave Feedback flow for buyers who are in a cross-border transaction that reminds them that international transactions usually take longer to complete.
  • We've improved the interstitial page that all buyers see before leaving negative or neutral Feedback; the updated page offers a stronger message to buyers about the need to communicate with the seller, to allow enough time for the transaction to complete, and to keep Feedback factual.

    And later this month...

  • In addition to expanding the 3-day block to 7 days, we are introducing a new Buyer Requirement that will allow sellers to block buyers who have been reported by other sellers for eBay buying policy violations (such as Feedback abuse, or email threats).
  • We're expanding the scope of the existing Buyer Requirement for unpaid items, so that it supports more comprehensive blocking of buyers who have a history of non-payment.
  • We've improved the process that sellers use to report buyers for policy violations including Feedback Abuse / Extortion policy violations.

As you can see, these changes represent a huge investment in transforming the way Feedback works, so that it better serves today's marketplace. Ultimately, the goal is to restore trust and transparency and improve the buying experience, while offering needed checks and balances that ensure our sellers who provide excellent service benefit.

If you have any questions, you can visit the FAQs or Contact Us.

Sincerely,

Vidmay Naini
Manager, Trust and Safety
eBay India


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***Trusted Selling with Identity Confirmation!***

21 May, 2008 | 03:42 PM IST

Hi everyone,

We are glad to inform all our sellers on our efforts to keep the site safe through our Trusted Selling with Identity Confirmation initiative. With the latest Turbo Lister Update, we're bringing a similar measure of safety to Turbo Lister, called 'Authentication and Authorization.' In simple words, it provides more effective security against unauthorized use of your Turbo Lister account.

How 'Authentication and Authorization' works?

The first time you connect to the eBay site with Turbo Lister 6.5 or higher, you'll be asked to sign in and verify your User ID and password (authentication). In the next step (authorization), you'll get the appropriate privileges to perform your Turbo Lister activities. During this process, we'll give your computer an encrypted security code that only eBay can read, which will be valid for 18 months.

You won't have to go through this process again for 18 months, unless you add a new user to your Turbo Lister subscription, or you uninstall and reinstall Turbo Lister on your computer. This update is optional, as always, but in the interest of making the overall eBay marketplace safer, this process will become mandatory later this year (we'll keep you posted).

For more information about authentication and authorization, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions.

Regards,
The eBay Team
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***Exciting news for sellers listing in Jewellery Category!***

16 May, 2008 | 05:14 PM IST


Dear Sellers,

We are happy to announce an exciting Insertion fees promotion for our sellers listing in ‘Jewellery’ category.

Enjoy the freedom to list as many items as you want at a FLAT fee of Re. 1 per listing. There is no limit to the number of listings you can list by paying a flat Re.1/listing under this promotion. The promotion starts on Friday, 16th May, 2008 at 00:00:01 IST (12:00 AM plus 1 second) and ends on Saturday, 31st May 2008 at 23:59:59 IST (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds). For example: Insertion fees for listing an item worth Rs. 10,000 without the promotion would be Rs. 5/- per listing but within this promotion you will be charged a flat fee of Re. 1.

Terms & Conditions:

  1. Sellers listing on eBay.in & residing in India (with registered address of India) are eligible for the promotion.
  2. Listings start date should be between 16th May, 2008 (00:00:01 IST) & 31st May 2008 (23:59:59 IST). No schedule listings going live after 31st May 2008 (23:59:59 IST) will be eligible for the promotion.
  3. Credits for the above promotion will be issued in the month of June’08.
Please feel free to contact your Account Manager or the Category Manager here for any clarifications/guidance.

Regards,
The eBay Team
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***Update: Greater benefits for eBay.in PowerSellers!***

15 May, 2008 | 01:27 PM IST

Hello Everyone,

As mentioned earlier, we are happy to provide you more details on the key benefits to our PowerSellers such as ‘The eBay Visits Program’, ‘Account Management Service’ & Feedback Protection.


  1. The eBay Visits Program

    The value of Community is at the very centre of what eBay stands for. And eBay regards its PowerSellers as a very valuable and important part of this Community. As recognition of their contribution, we are pleased to launch the “eBay Visits” program starting June 2008.

    The team at eBay is always keen to get to know members and to learn from them. Many of them already personally interact with the Community, and everyone is always interested in the views and suggestions that the Community offers. And that’s why the entire eBay team is so thrilled by the idea of getting to personally meet and build relationships with PowerSellers.

    As part of this program, PowerSellers will be invited to visit the eBay India office. This will be a great opportunity for eBay teams such as Category Management, Product Management, Marketing, Trust & Safety, PaisaPay and Customer Support to get to know the most prominent sellers on eBay, as well as learn from their experience and have their feedback on the site.

    We will personally invite 4 to 5 PowerSellers every month, so you can look forward to your invitation soon!


  2. Account Management Service

    All PowerSellers are now entitled to special ‘Account Management Services’. This facility is useful to resolve your account specific issues and provide business insights to grow your eBay business.

    We are happy to state that you can contact on the below Toll free number and you will be redirected to one of our Account Managers at eBay. PowerSellers who currently have account managers will continue to have the same facility.

    Toll free Number to access Account Management Service: 1800 22 3229.


  3. More protection to your Feedback

    PowerSellers who have been on eBay for at least 12 months will be eligible to have a 7 day waiting period to receive negative/neutral feedback from buyers. This ensures that PowerSellers get enough time to deliver the items purchased by the buyers and hence reduce even the remotest chances of impulsive feedback from buyers.

    As mentioned in the announcement on Feedback changes, we studied the factors that increased risk to buyers the most and found there are three: a) a seller's Feedback percentage b) the volume of a seller's Feedback – both in total and on an ongoing basis and c) length of time a seller has been on site and hence we selected PowerSellers who have been on eBay for at least 12 months.


We would encourage you to write to us at powersellerindia@eBay.com should you need any clarifications on the above benefits.


Regards,
The PowerSeller Team
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***Increase in the list of NEFT branches supported by PaisaPay!***

15 May, 2008 | 12:35 PM IST


Dear Sellers,

We are glad inform that we have increased our NEFT branches list by around 2,000 branches. Sellers who have not yet registered with New PaisaPay because their bank branch was not available, can now register here if their bank branch falls within the 2,000 new branches. All HSBC Bank account holders can now register for PaisaPay as we have included HSBC in this list.

To see the complete list of bank branches now available on PaisaPay, please click here. We will continue to put efforts to add more braches so that you can offer PaisaPay on your listings. If your branch is not in the list yet, please send us the IFSC code of your bank branch and we will get it updated in the next update.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call PaisaPay Phone Support or contact our Live Help Team.

Regards,
The eBay Team
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***Online Workshop with Category Managers!***

05 May, 2008 | 10:22 AM IST



Hi everyone,

In our conscious effort to understand the business needs of our community members at eBay, Rajasekaran & Navin have taken on new roles to build and grow Technology & Lifestyle categories respectively & they are really looking forward to address the various challenges and to grow the overall business in these respective categories. We understand that there are a lot of areas where our sellers might seek guidance/insights and hence they would like to synergise our knowledge on business data trends with your expertise knowledge of the market.

It is very important that we understand your views and expectations from them while they move forward in their new roles. Raj will be here for an hour from 4 – 5 PM on Tuesday, 6th May to answer your questions regarding Selling in Technology categories* and Navin will be on the here for an hour from 4 – 5 PM on Wednesday, 7th May to answer your questions regarding Selling in Lifestyle categories*.

Please feel free to ask any questions regarding selling on eBay.

See you on –

Tuesday, 6th May, 4 – 5 PM with Raj for Technology Categories. To post your message on Raj's workshop for Technology categories click here. &

Wednesday, 7th May, 4 – 5 PM with Navin for Lifestyle Categories. To post your message on Navin's workshop for Lifestyle categories click here.

Regards,
The eBay Team

P.S.
*Technology Categories – Cameras & Optics, Computers & Peripherals, Consumer Electronics, Mobiles & Accessories, Video & Computer Games.
Lifestyle categories – Apparels & Accessories, Books & Magazines, Fitness & Sports, Health & Beauty, Home, Decor & Furnishings, Jewellery, Kitchen & Home Appliances, Musical Instruments, Tools & Hardware, Toys, Games & Baby, Watches, Everything Else.
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