Thursday, January 8th, 2009

eBay Updates for Sellers: Feedback Removal, Paperless Payments, & Listing reminders

VP of Seller Experience, Dinesh Lathi, has provided a number of selling-related updates and reminders for folks over on the eBay AB.

Update to Feedback Removal Policy – Customs Fees
Many of our cross-border sellers have asked for help when they receive a negative/neutral Feedback rating because they wouldn’t mark an item as “gift” in order to sidestep customs fees. eBay will now remove Feedback if a) the listing meets the Customs Requirements below and b) the seller receives a negative or neutral Feedback comment which references customs delays or customs fees.

The following text, or very similar wording, must be included in the listing and be:
• In the format below
• In a font size no smaller than the majority of the other text in the item description
• Prominently displayed (in the upper half of the description, free-standing, etc.)

“International Buyers – Please Note:
• Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility.
• Please check with your country’s customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.”

New Approved Payment Methods — Moneybookers and Paymate
In February, we’ll be adding two new electronic payment methods to the permitted payments list in the Accepted Payments Policy: Moneybookers and Paymate. These are established payment methods that increase the safe choices available to our buyers and sellers, which currently include PayPal, credit and debit card payment to a seller’s merchant account, Propay or Pay on Pick-up. To learn more about these new payment methods, visit www.moneybookers.com/partners/us/ebay and www.paymate.com/eBay. Please note, Propay also plans to open up its payment service to all levels of Powersellers starting January 22. For more information about Propay, go to www.Propay.com/eBay.

Better integration for Internet Merchant Accounts
For sellers who currently accept payments to an Internet merchant account, we‘re improving the checkout experience to make payments more convenient and secure for you and your buyers. Buyers will be able to pay sellers directly to their Internet merchant account by entering their credit card information in eBay’s secure checkout instead of sending information via phone or email. You will need to sign up for a Payflow Gateway account in March to connect your Internet merchant account to eBay.

Seller Checklist – Listing update reminders
Finally, be sure to review our Seller Checklist at www.ebay.com/checklists for details on these important updates you’ll want to make to your listings:

1) Book, Music, DVDs & Movies and Video Game listings with shipping charges over the maximums in the item descriptions should now be removed.

2) References to checks and/or money orders, or any other payment method not permitted on eBay.com, should be removed from item descriptions by January 15.

3) If you are shipping globally, add customs “disclaimer” text to your description to protect your Feedback.

4) A return policy and handling time must be specified in your listings by mid-March.

Again, the full AB post can be found HERE.

Granted, it’s a lot of info for folks and Dinesh has indicated that the team will use the above updates as the basis for discussion in the next Townhall meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 14 (3 - 5pm PT).

Cheers,
RBH

Tagged: Dinesh Lathi, ebay, eBay sellers, ecommerce, feedback, feedback removal, Marketplace, moneybookers, online marketplace, paperless payments, paymate, propay

(6) Comments

6 Responses on this post. Click to add yours.

HenriettaOn January 10, 2009 at 4:31 pm Said:

Would Mr Lathi care to comment on the fact that Moneybookers.com will not accept account registrations from US based users, buyers or sellers?

NYM ArtsOn January 11, 2009 at 5:22 am Said:

Paperless payments aren’t worth the hassle.
My business only accepts Money Orders and Checks.
It’s The ONLY Fraud - Proof way to do business.
And with the Economy going into a Tail Spin, Credit Cards are no good.
As a Patriot, I won’t allow my fellow American to dig their Credit trench Deeper.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
BONANZLE.

ozzie3On January 12, 2009 at 3:27 pm Said:

Now why should so much emphasis be placed on “return policies” , when PayPal does not pay any attention to the return policy when a dispute is filed?

Or do you think that they do, or that they will in the future?

ozzie3

DaveyOn January 14, 2009 at 2:46 pm Said:

The announcement on feedback relief for international sellers is completely empty of meaning. While I think the Customs disclaimers required are wise anyway, a bit of common sense will say that the customer will not usually mention Customs delays explicitly enough to qualify a seller for relief! A buyer in Italy, about the worst destination on the face of the earth, won’t necessarily know the package spent 3 or its 4 weeks moldering in Customs, but will simply note it was slow to arrive, or kick the heck out of our DSR whipping, oops, I meant shipping, stars.

What we need is for ebay to finally do the right thing here. That is, give automatic 5 star shipping cost ratings for FREE or capped shipping (almost like half.com), and base the Shipping Time DSR star on the time between payment and proof of dispatch (Customs or tracking number active). That’s all the seller can control. Unless ebay’s motives for the DSR stars is somethig else entirely, like winnowing small sellers out. While management denies this motive, their actions speak louder.

Concha CastanedaOn January 15, 2009 at 7:34 am Said:

It looks to me like eBay is throwing all their eggs in the paypal basket. People are taking their money out of banks! People trust their government less and less with each bailout and no disclosure or transparency. In these uncertain times it is ridiculous to go to paperless payments.
This whole “disruptive innovation” being imposed on eBay is perhaps the stupidest move I have ever seen.