$300 is significantly cheaper than the $600 people had to shell out for the 60 GB when Sony first released the PS3. The Slim also comes with a hard drive that is twice as big and will be lighter on your electric bill. However, there now is a very big secondary PS3 market. In particular, the 40 GB version of the PS3 is still sold actively on eBay. It will play all the same games, DVDs, and Blu-rays as the Slim, so no core functionality is missing.

More importantly, its price has been affected dramatically by the announcement and release of the new 120 GB version. On August 18, Sony announced the new version. Since that date, a 40 GB PS3 has been selling for $132 on average, which is down from $177 pre-announcement. That’s $168 less than the new 120 GB Slim. If those extra gigs aren’t needed, which for many people they won’t be, those saving can equate to quite a few extra games or controllers and then some. So is Slim really better? Based on the eBay market research, fatter is sometimes better.

If you would like to learn more about eBay transaction data concerning PS3s or anything else, check out Vendio Research. It was used to populate the graph above by analyzing millions of eBay transactions and can provide strategic recommendations on when and how selling on eBay can be profitable along with the saved time from Vendio’s auction listing software.

Some members may receive errors when trying to complete checkout with PayPal. We are aware of this issue and are actively working to resolve this as quickly as possible. We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

There are numerous reports on twitter from buyers unable to pay their sellers. Vendio customers are also reporting this to us.

While some buyers are able to pay without problem or after multiple attempts, we are unsure how long this outage will last, how many buyers or sellers are affected.

Hopefully the buyers will not blame the sellers or rate sellers poorly because of this outage!

• Unpaid items: Streamlined process, faster recourse, auto-option with no negative Feedback

• eBay dispute resolution for buyer claims: Seller update

• My Messages and post-transaction emails streamline buyer communication

• More control over ship-to locations; upload tracking for more carriers

• Faster ways to edit listings, even multi-quantity listings with a sale and listing descriptions

• Selling Manager Applications boost efficiency for sellers of all sizes—try them free!

• Category and Item Specifics changes now consolidated with the rest of updates

• Stores subscribers—now you can put all your listings on vacation.

Unpaid items: Streamlined process, faster recourse, auto-option with no negative Feedback

What does it mean?

“Streamlined process cuts time in half. If a buyer doesn’t pay, you can open an “unpaid item” case through the eBay Resolution Center. Changes to this process, coming in September, will make it faster and more efficient to get resolution—either getting paid, or getting your Final Value Fees refunded and your inventory “back on the shelf.”

What does it REALLY mean?

• · Buyers cannot leave feedback when an Unpaid Item Dispute is filed (EXCELLENT)
• · In September, Unpaid items can be automated
• · eBay will control the email
• · Shorter time to resolution
• · Less cumbersome Unpaid Item form

eBay dispute resolution for buyer claims: Seller update

What does it mean?

eBay Resolutions. We are introducing a new dispute resolution process for when buyers claim an item was not received or the item they received was different than described in the listing. The goals of the new process are to keep buyers on eBay by giving them a more familiar ecommerce resolution experience, and to reduce the amount of time buyers and sellers spend working out issues.

What does it REALLY mean?

• · eBay will be taking a more active role in Unpaid Item disputes
• · This changeover should occur before the selling season

My Messages and post-transaction emails streamline buyer communication

What does it mean?

Managing buyer emails made easy: Email updates will make it faster and easier to respond to buyer questions and manage your email with buyers.

What does it REALLY mean?

• · Buyer information is kept anonymous until after the sale is complete
• · Allowing some customization of automatic emails

More control over ship-to locations; upload tracking for more carriers

What does it mean?

You’ll also have more control over where you want to ship. You’ll have the same ship-to choices you have now, plus you’ll be able to specify countries you do not want to ship to. For example you can indicate you ship to Europe, but specifically exclude Russia and Italy.

Tracking for more carriers: Starting in late September, you’ll be able to upload tracking and delivery confirmation numbers for more carriers

What does it REALLY mean?

• · Only US transactions will count toward your DSR ratings
• · You can more easily specify countries to exclude

Faster ways to edit listings, even multi-quantity listings with a sale and listing descriptions

What does it mean?

Starting in late September, you’ll be able to make changes to most fields of your multi-quantity Fixed Price and Store Inventory format listings—even when those listings have already had a sale. For any sales prior to your updates, you and your buyer will have access to a record of the listing as it appeared at the time of the sale.

What does it REALLY mean?

• · You can edit items even if they have a sale; eBay will maintain a copy of the original ad (before edits).
• · You will need to remove any references to insurance in your listings (this is a pretty hidden requirements, so we’ll bring this up again in a later blog post.

Selling Manager Applications boost efficiency for sellers of all sizes—try them free!

What does it mean?

eBay has been working closely with a number of third-party providers to bring you powerful new tools and applications to make all aspects of selling on eBay easier and more efficient.

What does it REALLY mean?

• · This is the Project Echo, which allows third parties to offer applications within Selling Manager

Category and Item Specifics changes now consolidated with the rest of updates

What does it mean?

Category and Item Specifics changes: Changes to categories and Item Specifics that were previously announced monthly are now included with other major changes that may impact your listings. Category and Item Specifics updates are coming the week of September 22 in the many categories

What does it REALLY mean?

• · These are the typical category and item specific updates

Stores subscribers—now you can put all your listings on vacation

What does it mean?

With the launch of the Good ‘Til Cancelled (GTC) duration on Fixed Price listings last year, many Stores sellers now have GTC Fixed Priced listings. Today, you can put your Store Inventory format listings on vacation; this change will allow you to put your Fixed Price listings on vacation as well

What does it REALLY mean?

• · You can now put your fixed price items on hold

Bottom Line

• · Buyers cannot leave feedback when an Unpaid Item Dispute is filed (EXCELLENT)
• · In September, Unpaid items can be automated
• · eBay will control the email
• · Shorter time to resolution
• · Less cumbersome Unpaid Item form
• · eBay will be taking a more active role in Unpaid Item disputes
• · This changeover should occur before the selling season
• · Buyer information is kept anonymous until after the sale is complete
• · Allowing some customization of automatic emails
• · Only US transactions will count toward your DSR ratings
• · You can more easily specify countries to exclude
• · You can edit items even if they have a sale; eBay will maintain a copy of the original ad (before edits).
• · You will need to remove any references to insurance in your listings
• · Allowing third parties to offer applications within Selling Manager
• · You can now put your fixed price items on hold

So this concludes the four parts of Upcoming eBay Changes.  There are a lot of changes and a ton of information to absorb. Tomorrow, we’ll look at some of the concerns sellers are expressing about these changes.

Happy Selling!

Previous:

eBay Announces Upcoming Changes (Part 1 of 4)

eBay Announces Changes – DSR and other Ratings changes (Part 2 of 4)

eBay Announces Changes – Enhanced Search and Listings (Part 3 of 4)

This week, we’ll be looking at each section of the changes and providing the details as well as providing some info on how these changes impact you, the seller.

Coming this week:

Part II: DSR and other ratings changes

Part III: Search and Listings

Part IV: Disputes and Resolutions and other Changes

Announcement:

On behalf of all of us at eBay, I’d like to begin this update by saying thank you. Thank you for your business. Thank you for your input and ideas to help us evolve eBay for the benefit of sellers and buyers. Thank you for your great inventory and your commitment to delivering great service.

We’re well aware that sellers of all sizes deliver the deals and quality experiences that bring buyers to eBay and keep them coming back. That’s why we’re taking new steps to reward great service, bring you more sales, increase your profitability, and help you succeed.

As announced in April, in the spirit of partnership, eBay is now consolidating changes that impact your business into two or three major releases a year, with two months advance notice. This post introduces the second and final major release of 2009. Most of these updates will launch between September 22 and October 1, 2009.

1. Rewards for sellers delivering great buyer experiences
   • New way to look at DSRs
     • Avoid getting low DSRs-1s and 2s. Buyers have different ideas about what constitutes a high rating, but most leave a 1 or a 2 only when they experienced a significant issue with their transaction. eBay will be shifting focus from average DSRs to the number of low DSRs as a more accurate measure of customer satisfaction.
     • Only domestic DSRs will count toward requirements for eBay.com. International transactions can be subject to factors outside a seller’s control and we want to make sure sellers can expand globally without undue impact to their standing on eBay.com.
   • PowerSeller program update: rewarding quality over quantity
     • Starting in October, a new eBay top-rated seller status will be added to the PowerSeller program to recognize and reward sellers providing great buyer experiences based on the new way to look at DSRs (very few 1s and 2s). eBay Top-rated sellers will receive the highest PowerSeller Final Value Fee discounts (20%), increased visibility in search results for Fixed Price listings, exclusive access to purchase Featured First and a prominent Top-rated seller badge on item pages. The Top-rated seller badge will be tested in search results pages this summer. The current PowerSeller icon will no longer be displayed on buyer-facing pages including item pages.
     • All sellers with 100 or more annual transactions and at least $3,000 annual sales who meet the requirements for Top-rated seller status will be invited into the PowerSeller program and can start receiving Top-rated seller benefits in October.
     • Next April, the PowerSeller program will also include a requirement for sellers based on the new way to look at DSRs (very few 1s and 2s). PowerSellers that don’t have Top-rated seller status will get 5% Final Value Fee discounts.
     • Meanwhile, the current PowerSeller discount structure will continue until April 1, 2010 to give sellers 8 full months to keep their current discounts while they adjust business practices to qualify for the new Top-rated seller status.
   • New minimum standards for all sellers:
     • Starting in October, there will be a new minimum standard for all eBay sellers based on the number of low DSRs (1s and 2s) received. The minimum standard will be stricter in April, 2010.
     • A new Selling Practices policy will define guidelines for professionalism and accuracy in all aspects of listings and transactions.
     • Optional buyer charges for shipping insurance will no longer be allowed. Sellers can still buy shipping insurance and add the cost to the item or shipping price.
   • Updates to the Seller Dashboard: You can now see a snapshot of your low DSRs (1s and 2s) and standing toward the new Top-rated seller requirements updated monthly through a link at the top of your Seller Dashboard. In September, you will be able to see daily updates.
2. Enhanced search presents more relevant listings
   • Best Match, eBay’s default sort order, will look at listing’s recent sales in relation to the number of recent impressions it received as a key factor for Fixed Price listings. An “impression” is any time a buyer sees a search results page that includes the listing.
   • In addition, single quantity and newly listed Fixed Price items will be given exposure in Best Match even though they have no sales history. These listings will be given initial impressions based on the performance of similar listings. This change will improve the exposure of new Fixed Price listings that are relevant to buyers.
   • Auction-style listings will still get a boost in exposure as they are about to end. To keep auctions enticing, Auction with Buy It Now listings will be required to have a BIN price at least 10% higher than the auction start price.
   • A new Search Visibility tool will help you evaluate how your Fixed Price and auction-style listings are performing in search results.
   • Several features will be discontinued including Featured Plus, Border, and others to save you money and keep the focus on relevance.
   • Product pages are rolling out to more buyers, so list with product details to make sure your listings are included. Also, eBay will start selecting sellers’ photos for inclusion in the eBay product catalog on September 1. If your photo is chosen, your user ID and a link to your profile page will appear on the product page. If you’d prefer not to have your pictures selected, opt out no later than August 31.
3. Easier, more profitable selling on eBay
   • Faster recourse for unpaid items. A streamlined process will cut the resolution time in half. We are also working on a new automated option that will make the process even more efficient, cut the time to resolution to as little as 8 days and block negative feedback when a seller opens a claim and a buyer doesn’t pay. This automated option will be tested in late September and our goal is to gradually make it available to all sellers by the holidays.
   • eBay dispute resolution for buyer claims is expanding to more buyers to make the process faster and easier for sellers and buyers.
   • Buyer communications will be faster and easier to manage with enhancements to My Messages and streamlined post-transaction emails.
   • Get more control over international ship-to locations. You’ll have the same ship-to choices you have now, plus you’ll be able to specify countries you do not want to ship to.
   • Upload tracking and delivery confirmation numbers for more shipping carriers.
   • Editing listings, even multi-quantity listings with a sale and listing descriptions, will be faster and easier.
   • New Selling Manager applications boost efficiency for sellers of all sizes-try them free!
   • Category and Item Specifics changes are now consolidated with the rest of updates. Find out if there are changes to your categories.
   • Stores subscribers-now you can put all your Fixed Price listings on vacation.

Get more details on all these updates.

You’re also invited to:

• Take part in one of several upcoming webinars on Tuesday, July 28 and Thursday July 30.
• Join me and other leaders from eBay and PayPal in a Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, July 29. Check the Announcement Board soon for more details.
• Talk with members of my staff during the next two days on a special discussion board we’ve set up for this purpose.

Again, thank you for partnering to make eBay a thriving, successful marketplace.

Sincerely,
Stephanie Tilenius
Senior Vice President & General Manager, eBay North America

Merchants are speculating over the upcoming eBay Announcement. Here are a few interesting speculations (and some are definitely wishful thinking):

Whatever the changes, it will sure be interesting to read the merchant reaction and see how many of these predictions come true.

Feel free to add your predictions!!

I spent a quite a bit of time this weekend perusing the various sites and various products and I have a few takeaways to share about descriptions.

There were a few items which were show stoppers for me.

• 15 pages of disclaimers for a $2.00 item
• Negativity and Threats
• One sentence barely-there descriptions
• Never ending descriptions

With that said,  let me tell you what I think the perfect description contain..

1. Make sure you mention what the product is. Users search by keyword and if they type in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and you are selling a Video Game..you should probably mention it’s a Video Game somewhere in the description.  This is really important when selling items where keywords can bring up multiple categories of products.
2. Type out abbreviations. If you use abbreviations, type it out in the description so a user understands what you mean. Not everyone knows NWT means New With Tags.
3. Make sure your listing is readable. Don’t use a black background with yellow text or so many flashing animations that a user is unable to read the description. You do want your buyers to be able to read your listing so keep it clean.
4. Keep on topic.  Answer the question, how much information does a buyer need in order to purchase this product. If you are selling a coffee cup, detailing the history of the coffee bean may be interesting, but does it sell your product?
5. Include multiple images when needed to show additional details. A book may not need more than one image. However, a china set may need multiple images (always include an additional image of makers marks).
6. Use the appropriate font. I ran into both ends of the spectrum here. Very large font and very small font (sometimes in the same listing), both made the listings difficult to read.
7. Don’t hide the flaws. When selling an item with a flaw, include it as one of the first points. It will save you unhappy buyers.
8. Eliminate negativity. Remember you are trying to gain a customer – be nice. Don’t use the words DO NOT BID anywhere in your auctions.
9. Format your description so that it is readable. Bullet points are helpful. Again, remember, you are trying to sell this one product and only have eyeballs for a short duration.
10. Re-examine disclaimers. How much do you really need?  I’m still seeing descriptions that have “I will leave negative feedback if xx” descriptions.
All in all, I quickly backed out of listings that were hard to read or had pages and pages worth of description. Keep it simple, but complete.