Postal Strike in Canada
There are currently ongoing strikes by Canada Post, causing inevitable disruption to the postal service in some major Canadian cities. If you sell on eBay, you may wish to temporarily set your preferences to prevent Canadian buyers from purchasing from you. I’ve already seen one eBay seller with an abusive message from someone in Canada who doesn’t think the strike is a good enough reason for not getting his item.
At the very least you should be managing buyer expectations by keeping them informed of possible delays.
Has it really been that long?
Sigh. With the best of intentions I wanted to update this blog every day, but despite several comebacks I’ve failed. Probably because hardly anybody (or nobody) reads it. But then they won’t read it if I don’t write it.
So I’m back again, eager and willing to waffle about eBay and e-commerce in general. Let’s see how long it lasts this time.
Changes to eBay Message System
The promised update to the eBay UK messaging system has now gone live. Users can now send an automatic out-of-office reply for when they’re unavailable and signatures can be added to all messages sent. The changes can be made by going to ‘My Messages’ and clicking on ‘change settings’ at the top right.
New eBay UK Community Live
eBay have today updated their community pages with a new look and new features. It’s a major change with many old message boards such as Q&A being retired and the Powerseller board being split into two. Community groups have also been changed to the new format, with none of the content from the old groups being moved across.
New features include user profiles with avatars, a quote function, an ignore button and a host of other new things to play with. So far, many users are complaining that it’s too complicated, too narrow etc and the majority don’t seem to like it much, but as with many new things, only time will tell.
Message for Buyers Leaving Negative Feedback Restored
In a welcome move for sellers, eBay UK have announced that from October 2010, buyers who want to leave negative or neutral feedback for a seller will be met with a message asking if they have contacted the seller and a pop-up box asking if they’re really sure they want to leave this feedback.
Since the screen asking if they’d contacted the seller was removed, the eBay boards have been full of complaints from sellers that buyers have been leaving negative feedback with positive comments which is obviously a mistake by the buyer. Although eBay have been quick to remove such feedback, it still requires time to contact them to get it removed.
Common sense has prevailed for once it would seem.
eBay UK Automatic 5 Star Rating for Free P&P
From September 6th, buyers leaving Detailed Sellers Ratings for items with free P&P will automatically leave a five star rating for the P&P charge, providing they paid with PayPal and went through eBay checkout.
It’s what some sellers have asked for, and by offering ‘free’ P&P you can get a search boost. It also means higher fees for eBay if you add the postage price on to the price of the item.
Full announcement here.
Royal Mail Last Posting Dates for Christmas 2010
Royal Mail have already announced the cut-off dates for posting items in time for Christmas 2010. The last day for UK 1st class is Tue 21 Dec 2010 and for 2nd class Sat 18 Dec 2010.
Read the the full announcement here.
Alibaba Acquire Auctiva
Alibaba, the international trade directory have recently purchased Auctiva. Auctiva are well known amongst eBay sellers for their free listing templates and other eBay related tools. Auctiva have posted a Q&A on the buy-out on their website.
eBay UK To Ditch 3rd Party Checkouts
eBay have just announced that they will be preventing sellers from using 3rd party checkouts from June next year. From June 30th 2011 the eBay checkout will be the only one that can used to complete purchases.
Let’s hope it works.
eBay Testing New Shopping Basket
A new e-commerce style shopping basket is currently being trialled on eBay UK. Buyers need to opt in to try it out, and can opt out at any time should they wish to. Early reports are mixed with some buyers saying they love it, but as with most new eBay implementations, there are reports of glitches and problems. It’s still in development but can be used for auction and Buy It Now purchases on eBay.
Full announcement here
