toke
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posted on October 21, 2001 09:40:33 AM new
Date: 10/21/2001
Time: 07:31:37 PDT
***Checkout to Launch on Monday***
eBay's new feature, Checkout, will begin appearing on
the site as soon as Monday. Despite our best efforts to
ensure a smooth release of this feature, it does
represent a substantial change to our infrastructure and
the release may affect systems in other areas of the
site. We will be monitoring the eBay system carefully
throughout the day, and will attempt to minimize any
inconvenience to your trading during that day.
Also, please note that the feature itself may not be
fully functional for all users for 24-48 hours after the
release begins.
We appreciate your patience as we bring you this
exciting new enhancement to the eBay experience.
Regards,
eBay
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kiawok
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posted on October 21, 2001 10:05:03 AM new
Thanks for the heads up Toke!
Seems like lately folks on AW are more interested in tampon boxes & other fascinating threads, than they are with what's really going on at eBay Inc.
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toke
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posted on October 21, 2001 10:17:23 AM new
Yeah, kiawok. Wait until we all try listing tomorrow.  Reality is really going to bite.
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paintpower
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posted on October 21, 2001 01:31:03 PM new
Guess I'll be taking an unscheduled EBAY HOLIDAY as I know I won't be able to list for a few days. Drats! I had some stuff all ready to go too.
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franko122
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posted on October 21, 2001 01:44:09 PM new
where did you find this? I cant see it on the announcement boards.
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keziak
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posted on October 21, 2001 01:53:37 PM new
Not looking forward to this at all, especially when ebay predicts it will cause problems. I am not even sure if Channelfusion will have this feature.
keziak
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kiawok
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posted on October 21, 2001 01:56:39 PM new
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml
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kept2much-07
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posted on October 21, 2001 02:12:07 PM new
Why oh why must they change everything? As soon as we get used to something, there's another evil on the way!
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paintpower
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posted on October 21, 2001 02:13:16 PM new
They didn't even post it where people would see it. They posted it on the System Status Board where people only go when there's trouble. What does THAT tell you??!!
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toke
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posted on October 21, 2001 02:21:36 PM new
Funny...I knewthat's where they'd put it...that's why I kept checking there. I'm sorry to say they've become quite predictable. Not to mention the 1 day notice. Jerks.
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kiawok
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posted on October 21, 2001 02:39:39 PM new
Yes, and make sure to read the TWO previous posts on that board.
***Contact Another User***
Some users may have experienced intermittent difficulty contacting another user through the eBay email system. The situation is now
resolved and all email should be properly routed.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Regards,
eBay
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CAgrrl
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posted on October 21, 2001 02:46:53 PM new
I'll be YAHOOOOOOOOing this week!!! 
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smw
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posted on October 21, 2001 03:17:40 PM new
Well....email not working is a pretty good indication of the priorities on the To Do list to get Checkout up and running.
Problems?? Please, spare us the BS. They probably took it off line to put the code in for Checkout. All communication goes through ebay servers. Another step to stop leakage and keep everything on site.
I wonder why ebay claims this is a major change in its infrastructure? I thought it was a single feature.
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kiawok
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posted on October 21, 2001 03:24:07 PM new
Good catch SMW.
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yeager
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posted on October 21, 2001 04:58:59 PM new
Is checkout mandatory for everyone?
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capotasto
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posted on October 21, 2001 05:14:51 PM new
"Despite our best efforts to ensure a smooth release of this feature, it does represent a substantial change to our infrastructure and the release may affect systems in other areas of the
site. "
In other words, our HS dropout programmers don't know WTF they're doing, as usual.
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toke
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posted on October 21, 2001 05:25:31 PM new
yeager...
No, it's (pseudo) optional. The catch is, even if you opt OUT...the checkout form will still appear in your auction...thus hopelessly confusing buyers. That really stinks.
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smw
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posted on October 21, 2001 05:30:26 PM new
Thanks. But a suspicious mind is not always a blessing.
If ebay has major changes in store for the way business is transacted on ebay I would prefer that ebay make an announcement saying this is the goal and the projected date. These are the incremental steps and target dates of each new "feature" to get to the goal.
This would be the proper thing to do for the "community". We all need to know the grand plan so we can review our options, consider the consequences and make plans. There is no way that Checkout is a stand alone feature.
Actually I just wish they would do whatever it is that they are going to do en toto. This spoon feeding of adding this and that in an attempt to make it palatable is lessening any trust, if that is possible, in ebay's motives. But considering they can't add a new gif to a page without screwing something up, I suppose it is better to have them do it piece by piece so they can redo it 3 or 4 times so it each change will sort of work.
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ibuypaper
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posted on October 21, 2001 05:31:50 PM new
yeager... Checkout is optional.
HOWEVER... It will appear in all listings, period.
If you choose NOT to use it, the fill in fields of Shipping cost and such will be left blank.
When the auction ends, a big CHECKOUT button will appear, and the buyer will be encouraged to use it. However, you can set Checkout to basically tell your buyer to email you for the details.
All in all, I think it is another step towards ebay removing seller-buyer direct contact, and to encourage the use of Billpoint as the only electronic payment method. Paypal and other payment services are still useable, but are listed as "other" payment options.
The funny part is that ebay is touting this as a way to STREAMLINE the buying process and make it easier for sellers.... as long as you play by their rules.
If you have variable shipping costs based on location and weight, or variable insirance costs based on value, then you can not use the Checkout WITHOUT extra emails back and forth, which makes it redundant.
These are all issues that ebay has failed to address directly in light of "making the buying process easier."
I predict that eventually Checkout will cost sellers..... UNLESS they use Billpoint.
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mballai
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posted on October 21, 2001 05:34:55 PM new
In practice, anytime something new is added, its impact on other systems may not be fully known until it is in production. I worked on one development enhancement that brought down a whole app until the "problem"--very minor--was fixed and brought back up.
This is reality and eBay is professional enough to give people advance notice. For amateur eBay users, however, anything that changes brings out whiney wet diaper complaints even if nothing has yet proven wrong.
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kerrigirl
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posted on October 21, 2001 05:51:38 PM new
Another unused feature. Gee, keep adding them, and I won't be able to see where to put the start price.
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stacyp
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posted on October 21, 2001 07:52:33 PM new
how will this affect our auctions and with auction watch.?
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goldpanner3
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posted on October 21, 2001 08:00:20 PM new
It'll make the pages load even slower.
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kept2much-07
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posted on October 21, 2001 08:08:00 PM new
And I'm wondering how this will affect my auctions going off tomorrow(Monday).
I'm predicting ebay will go down, down, down...
And the system status will say available.
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kiawok
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posted on October 21, 2001 09:44:46 PM new
"For amateur eBay users, however, anything that changes brings out whiney wet diaper complaints even if nothing has yet proven wrong."
Hmmmmmmm
Perhaps you should post your definition of an amateur?
Unlike yourself, I use eBay to pay a fair whack of my monthly bills, and for myself this is strictly business. I could certainly see how someone like yourself, who's sold just over $75 worth of merchandise in the past 30 days, and has zero items up for sale at the moment, might not be too concerned with how this is going to affect their biz.
[ edited by kiawok on Oct 21, 2001 09:45 PM ]
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kathleenrock
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posted on October 21, 2001 09:53:43 PM new
Hi, ibuypaper,
I LIKE your idea of "setting" checkout to say what we want to say. But, how do we do that?
And, any ideas of the best thing to say? How many "characters" do we have to say it?
Rather than say what you suggested (which was something like, "please contact me directly for shipping information", I'm thinking something with EVEN MORE positive spin:
"You will receive all pertinent payment options and shipping costs directly from me within the next 24 hours. No action is necessary on your part until then. I want to provide you with ALL options, directly."
Any other thoughts on how to STAMP our directions directly into checkout? Otherwise, the default is "seller didn't fill out shipping and cost fields". Which makes us look stupid to our winning bidder!
**************************
"Sweetfulfillment" - from my FAVE song, "When You Wish Upon A Star" - dedicated to FULFILLING your ebay dream needs
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putzi
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posted on October 22, 2001 05:54:39 AM new
Does anybody know, whether the auction watch format, which I have been using is still compatible with this checkout feature, or will auction watch have to modify and adjust their format first. I think this is an important question for many of us. May be somebody at auction watch could anwser?????
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sadie999
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posted on October 22, 2001 06:00:30 AM new
There's that word whine/whiney again. For those of you who don't know this yet, it has another whole definition here on the EO board, lately.
Whine: 1. What anyone who doesn't agree with me (i.e. the poster) is doing. 2. The act of disagreeing w/anything the eBay gods hand out.
[ edited by sadie999 on Oct 22, 2001 06:01 AM ]
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ibuypaper
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posted on October 22, 2001 06:18:28 AM new
Here is a link to ebay's Checkout Seller Tutorial. A quick overview...
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed205f
A little more detail here:
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed2072
Frequently asked Seller Questions Here:
(From a billpoint view, mostly)
http://www.billpoint.com/help/sellerguide/checkout.html
Some specific questions addressed by a Pink here:
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed925b
Ebay's Checkout Discussion here:
(See "Checkout Not Selected" thread for a little info and a lot of ranting)
http://forums.ebay.com/[email protected]^[email protected]
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jacqueg
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posted on October 22, 2001 08:35:32 AM new
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed205f
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed2072
http://www.billpoint.com/help/sellerguide/checkout.html
http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@@.eed925b
http://forums.ebay.com/[email protected]^[email protected]
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