I just got back from San Jose, CA where I had the chance to celebrate ebay’s 20th anniversary!
It was amazing to sit among at least a thousand other ebay sellers and about the same amount of ebay employees…the energy was out of this world! And it was resoundingly clear…We Are ebay!
With new leadership at the helm, it really feels like a new day for ebay–you could feel a palpable excitement, energy and freshness! And what is really refreshing is that us sellers are really being embraced and celebrated. It was very clear to me that the ebay leadership team understands that us sellers are crucial partners–just like our buyers–to the success of the platform.
It is also clear that we are being listened to…that was made abundantly clear in the changes that were announced just a few days ago. In a nutshell, here are the changes:
- creation of the ebay seller hub
- changes to seller standards and the defect system
- a new, streamlined return process
The ebay seller hub
The ebay seller hub will be officially debuted in October and will consolidate all selling tools into one location. From the hub you’ll be able to manage orders, do listings, handle store marketing, review store performance and health, and plan for store growth. I’m particularly excited about the performance tool which will give us access to store traffic data including click through rates, key search terms and referring domains. It will be so cool and useful to see if people are visiting our store as a result of social media marketing efforts and what key words really drive traffic.
Changes to seller standards and the defect system
In terms of seller standards, ebay is making changes which will make the seller standards requirements be simpler, fairer, and more predictable.
Starting in February 2016, the following will no longer impact your defect rate:
- negative or neutral feedback
- return request that are successfully resolved
- items not received requests that are successfully resolved
What will impact your defect rate:
- if ebay steps in and closes a case on behalf of a buyer
- late shipping (you can avoid late shipping by getting your packages scanned into the system within your specified handling time, scanned confirmation of package delivery within estimated delivery time, and/or confirmation by the buyer that they received the package in time if scanning does not take place)
A new, streamlined return process
The new, streamlined return process will put us sellers in control and the driver’s seat–we will have greater flexibility in how we customize our return process, we will save more time with automation rules. In addition, if a buyer opens a return, it will not be held against us as a defect, as long as we handle the return promptly and according to the terms we set out.
Happy sellers=happy buyers
This is all great news! I’m on board with everything…the changes are all great ones and maybe even more importantly, they reflect ebay’s commitment to creating the best and most trusted platform for buying and selling online. I have to say that I left San Jose totally excited and pumped. I really feel like ebay is coming back stronger and that great things are store for all of us! And, when sellers are feeling supported and inspired, that positively impacts buyers as well. Positivity begets positivity!