• Welcome from Brian McGregor
• 1. Thought for the Day
• 2. Don't be a bad eBayer - Or Else!
• 3. 10% Discount on Shipping for your eBay Auction Items
• 4. News & Views:
  New eBay Home Page
  eBay Checkout/PayPal Glitch
  Thin End of the Wedge?
  Final Hours of eBay Promotion
  Fancy Yourself as an Airline Pilot?
  Money for Nothing? And I've Proved It.
• 5. Someone's Auctioning What???
• Back to Newsletter Archive

On analysing their databases, eBay has discovered that 1% of sellers generate 35% of buyers' bad experiences!

eBay has decided to introduce sanctions targeted at the few bad apples responsible for most of the buyer complaints.

To identify these "bad" sellers, eBay has started calculating a seller's buyer dissatisfaction rate. Anyone whose dissatisfaction rate is over 5% in a 90-day period will face sanctions.

There are several components to the dissatisfaction rating. These elements include Item Not Received complaints and seller's feedback rating.

This is what will happen to sellers with high buyer dissatisfaction rates:

"Sellers who have demonstrated buyer dissatisfaction rates greater than 5% within a 90-day window are now subject to temporary 14-day restrictions in the form of selling sanctions or reduced listing volume. Sellers with dissatisfaction rates that are 10% or greater are now subject to indefinite restrictions until they improve their buyer dissatisfaction rates to less than 5%."

eBay doesn't want to lose these sellers entirely. So as well as punishing them, they're going to show them how to improve their procedures so they don't generate bad feedback in the first place.

So, if your negatives and neutrals are adding up, here are some ideas thoughts on how you can prevent buyers from having a bad experience with you:

Make sure your auction listings accurately represent the item you're selling — warts and all

Clearly state your shipping and return policies and make them highly visible in your listing

Honour all the terms of your agreement

Pack your items carefully and ship promptly

Communicate in a timely and friendly way

Include a thank-you note with your item and ask for feedback

Give good, quick feedback to your buyers once they've left positive feedback for you

Deal quickly with problems

With regard to eBay's new policy about targeting errant sellers, here is the complete announcement:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200708131050072.html

Would you like to save 10% on your shipping costs?

If so, you should check out Parcel2Go, a UK-based delivery company that offers worldwide delivery through couriers like FedEx and DHL.

eBay sellers worldwide can get a 10% discount on shipping fees simply by adding the Parcel2Go logo to their auction listings.

All you have to do is visit http://www.parcel2go.com/ebay.aspx and click the "Display Instructions" button.

You then copy and paste the provided HTML code into your auction listing description. (Note, make sure your auction listing is set up in HTML, not text.)

This will insert a Parcel2Go logo into your auction description.

Then you simply submit your email address and up to five auction item numbers in the form provided.

You receive a promotion code for each auction item you submitted. When you schedule your package delivery through Parcel2Go, enter your promotion code and get your 10% discount.

Be aware, the promotion codes expire after 28 days, so don't wait too long to use them!

Parcel2Go offers comprehensive shipping tools and services on their website — package tracking, postal code lookup, and preferential rates and pick-up services for sellers making five or more deliveries per day.

If you currently send your eBay packages by courier, it could be worthwhile for you to check out Parcel2Go.

New eBay Home Page

eBay has been working on a new version of their homepage since early June, testing a number of concepts with the goal of personalizing the eBay buying experience.

eBay likens the new homepage to a "front door that's welcoming, informative, and fun."

Take a look, and see what YOU think...

http://pages.ebay.com/newhomepage


eBay Checkout/PayPal Glitch

You may have seen a story about a glitch which is causing problems for a small number of eBay members.

It seems there is a software problem which is causing a very small number of purchases to appear to sellers with the wrong ship-to information.

If buyers notice this while they are completing checkout, they can contact the seller to let them know.

As I write, PayPal is still working on the problem. Get the latest information here:


Thin End of the Wedge?

One of the rules about listing on eBay is that you cannot place a link within your auction listing to take your visitor to another website to buy something.

That's probably fair enough.

However, did you know that eBay themselves are now showing adverts on search return which invite the visitor to go off eBay to make purchases.

Try it yourself. Go to www.ebay.com and do a search for anything you like. At the bottom of the search returns you will see some "Sponsored Links". These are adverts which take the viewer off eBay.

The problem I have with this is that if my auction is on page two of the search results, the visitor may never see it as they click away from eBay and onto the paid for ad.


Final Hours of eBay Promotion

If you're interested in getting eBay selling tuition from 12 top eBay experts, there is only hours to go before this unique opportunity disappears.

http://www.workwinners.com/boe/


Fancy Yourself as an Airline Pilot?

See how far you can throw this paper aircraft. It's great fun.

http://flightsimx.archive.amnesia.com.au/

My advice is keep it low, and move your mouse as fast as you can.

See if you can beat me. My Global Rank currently is 18,608.


Money for Nothing? And I've Proved It.

Here's something I've never seen before in all my years on the internet.

If you have a blog or website, here's a way in which you make money from EVERY visitor to your page. They don't have to buy anything, or click anywhere.

You get paid every single time you get a visitor to your website or blog. It's extremely easy to use.

And here's a neat twist. I've installed this on some of my eBay auctions which get high numbers of viewers. This means I get paid for every visitor to my auction page, whether or not they buy or bid!

Like I said, Money for Nothing.

http://www.workwinners.com/moneyfornothing/

Nothing surprises me when it comes to internet auctions. Amuse yourself with some of these beauties in our monthly trawl through eBay's auctions.

"I don't know what I'm selling, but will you buy it anyway?"

If you're in the middle of building a house, this could be for you.

This could be the most bizarre eBay ad I've seen to date ...

Getting married in the near future?

Well, it might just grow on you!

Disclaimer - I have no association with any of the sellers of the above items.