eBay.com have published the eBay 2018 Fall Seller Release. Many of the updates mirror the eBay UK Autumn Seller Release but there are also some differences worth highlighting.
There are also some eBay.com fee changes announced in the eBay 2018 Fall Seller Release which you can check here.
Full details are available in the eBay.com Seller Centre.
eBay Payments
eBay reminded sellers that payments are changing to offer buyers more payment choices and better checkout experiences. eBay will take payments inhouse with Adyen, doubtless make a margin on them and hopefully offer sellers lower rates than they could access through PayPal.
Managed payments will be phased in gradually. When you receive your invitation to participate, eBay strongly encourage you to join. eBay expects to transition the majority of sellers to the new payment experience by 2021. For an early overview of the beta see more here.
Service metrics and peer benchmarks are now available in Seller Hub
In the 2018 Summer Seller Update, eBay announced new competitive insights with service metrics and peer benchmarks that give you additional visibility into the status of your buyers’ “item not as described” and “item not received” requests. eBay say that the service metrics dashboard is now live in the Performance tab in Seller Hub. Guidance is available to help you improve your metrics if needed and you can see your specific listings that may need to be updated.
As a reminder, starting October 1, 2018, if you have very high rates of “item not as described” returns you may be subject to additional 4% final value fee in affected categories based on the Service Metrics policy. Maximum fee caps do not apply to the additional 4% final value fees. See our selling fees article for more information on how final value fees are calculated.
Starting November 1, 2018, if you have very high rates of “item not received” requests, you may be subject to extended delivery estimates in affected categories.
Importantly, and missing from the UK Seller Release, eBay say that sellers will not be evaluated on a time period prior to June 1, 2018.
New eBay Shop by Product experience
Current categories that will be impacted by the eBay Shop by Product experience have already been announced in line with the UK.
From mid-October 2018, eBay will enable you to associate your eBay.com listings for the following categories with the cataloge. You will have until February 2019 to associate your listings in these categories with the cataloge before the visibility of your listings will be affected.
- 3D Printers & Supplies
- CPUs/Processors
- Desktops & All-In-Ones
- DJ Equipment
- Electrical Equipment & Supplies
- Heating, Cooling & Air
- Home Telephones & Accessories
- Karaoke Entertainment
- Laptops & Netbooks
- Memory (RAM)
- Motherboards
- Multipurpose Batteries & Power
- Portable Audio & Headphones (except Parts & Accessories)
- Printers
- Pro Audio Equipment
- Scanners
- Surveillance & Smart Home Electronics (except Parts & Accessories)
- Test, Measurement & Inspection
- Tools & Workshop Equipment (except Parts & Accessories)
- TV, Video & Home Audio (except Parts & Accessories)
- Video Games & Consoles (except Video Games)
- Virtual Reality (except Parts & Accessories)
“New other” item condition label and definition updates
Starting October 15, 2018, eBay will begin automatically updating existing listings in the Electronics, Home & Garden, Health & Beauty, and Musical Instruments categories with a “New other” item label to a new “Open box” label and definition. An “Open box” label will apply to items that are in excellent, like new condition with no wear. The item may be missing the original packaging or protective wrapping, or may be in the original packaging but not sealed. The item includes original accessories and may be a factory second.
Also starting October 15, 2018, eBay will begin automatically updating existing listings in the Business & Industrial category with a “New other” label to a “Like new” label and definition. A “Like new” label will apply to items that are in excellent condition with no functional defects. The item may have been used for testing or demo purposes, and may be missing the original packaging. It may include warranty and accessories found with the original product.
New item specific requirement for Heavy Equipment
Starting in September 2018, you will be required to provide the “Make” of the heavy equipment you list so that buyers will be able to find exactly what they’re looking for. The requirement will apply to all heavy equipment categories.
Select from existing heavy equipment brands in the pulldown menu in the “Make” field when you list. If your brand does not appear on the list, you can add your brand using the “Enter your own” field.
Include the wheel quantity in your wheel listings
Starting in September 2018, add the wheel quantity as a required item specific for newly listed, relisted, and revised item listings. By adding the quantity of wheels, buyers will be able to more easily determine if your listing is for a set or single wheels. If you do not include the wheel quantity for newly listed, relisted, and revised item listings, your item may have minimal or no visibility to buyers.
Customer support phone numbers for buyers
Customer support phone numbers for buyers
Similar to the UK, eBay.com will enable sellers to provide a pre-sales customer support number. On eBay.com it will be available on desktop devices on the FAQ page, the Ask Seller Question page, and the Reply To Question page.
HTTPS
There is no surprise that eBay are reminding sellers about HTTPS and importantly sellers will need to change self-hosted image URLs from HTTP to HTTPS (and of course upgrade their hosting to HTTPS if it’s not already). Starting September 15, 2018, you will be required to use secure HTTPS content when you list items on eBay.
