I had another “oh no” eBay moment this morning while trying to create a listing. You know, when all is going well and you are suddenly hit with some new hoop to jump through or some new eBay rule you might be violating. And just when I had been starting to feel fully recovered from the shock of all of eBay’s upcoming changes. As a matter of fact, I had been just about to write about some of the joys I was finding in listing on eBay and about how my love/hate relationship with eBay was making a rare shift toward the love end of the spectrum when I had my “oh no” moment.
I had started looking at eBay’s changes as opportunities to improve my sales and revamp my listings. I had even started waxing poetic and thinking about my eBay listings, both Auction style and Fixed Price, as flowers in a beautiful garden that needs to be pruned regularly. Every time there are changes, I go in to my listings with my gardening gloves and my hoe and remove any weeds that need to be plucked and add whatever the garden needs for beautification. And then I had my “oh no” moment. To keep balance, I am still going to write about the good, but I must balance it with the bad and just for symmetry’s sake, the ugly.
The Good
- $.10 Fixed Price 30 Day Listings February 2- March 29. I am loving the $.10 Fixed Price listing special going on until March 29th. Being able to transition my Store Inventory listings to Fixed Price listings for $.10 each per month (previously $.03 and soon to be $.20 with my Basic Subscription Tier) has taken a bit of the sting out of the changes. It also puts my Store Inventory into the mainstream search engine and I have seen some slightly higher sales on items that had been sluggish in Store Inventory.
- Editing Fixed Price Listing Descriptions. The ability to revise almost all fields – including descriptions! - on multi-quantity Fixed Price and Store Inventory format listings even after these listings have had a sale has truly revolutionized the way I list on eBay. And is the best change I can remember eBay every making. (Well maybe second best, just below the free gallery picture change of February 2008.) This feature isn’t new, you would have seen the change live in your listings starting between September 22 and October 1, 2009, but it continues to be a wonderful boon as I grow my business and I add complexity and links to my listings.
- Special Auction Style Listing Promotions. The promotions are fun and offer great savings along with an opportunity to be a little more creative with auction style listings The latest one, 50% reduction on insertion fees good on February 23 and February 24 only – means I will list more auction style listings and will use them to market my Fixed Price listings through links embedded in the auctions.
The Bad
- Oops! My oh no moment this morning came when I got the following error message after trying to list an item on eBay: Oops! A listing can't include statements about the possible penalties for not paying. For example, you can't say things like, "You'll be given an unpaid item strike, restriction, or suspension if you don't pay." This kind of information is unpleasant and unprofessional and may discourage people from buying your item. Please edit your listing, making make sure there's no mention of any possible penalties. If there is, you won't be able to list your item. You could also lose your Top-rated seller status.
Have you seen this error message in your eBay travels? This error message, coming from eBay bots made me livid - especially since eBay encourages sellers to be clear about their policies to prevent miscommunications and the negative feedbacks that come from these miscommunications. As a matter of fact, I added this particular text to our listings after being encouraged to do so by an eBay representative! My listing descriptions are upbeat and positive and my goal in including this particular text was to clarify my payment expectations which are in clear alignment with eBay’s expectations and rules. Here is the text that I will now have to individually remove from all of my listings: Payment is expected within 3 days unless buyer contacts us to make other arrangements. Please notify us if there will be a delay in payment. If 7 days have passed and payment has not been received an unpaid item dispute may be filed.
It is frustrating to say the least, that I will need to remove this carefully worded, respectful and clear addition from each of my listings individually, especially since an eBay representative actually suggested I add it to my listings. The newest rule at eBay is that letting buyers know that they will actually need to pay for the things that they buy is considered unpleasant and unprofessional.
The Ugly:
- Ongoing Changes. Ebay is a powerful, powerful selling tool. There is no doubt about it. It is a great place to get started and a great place to grow a business. I know of no other site – not even Amazon - that so successfully channels buyers to your items. But to use eBay you must be prepared for frustrations as well as a lack of control over your message to your potential customers. Clearly, my eBay garden will need more pruning.
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