posted on February 11, 2005 12:54:46 PM new
Just got this email...I guess Bill got tired of getting all of the negative email from the sellers and wants to share the joy with Chris (Chris has included his email address)
***New eBay Stores Benefits – Message from Chris Tsakalakis***
Date: 02/10/05 Time: 11:01:27 AM PST
As senior director of eBay Stores, I’m pleased to tell you more about the new benefits to eBay Stores that Bill Cobb mentioned in his letter to the Community on Sunday.
Toll-Free Phone Support for All Store Sellers - Beginning April 1, all Store sellers will receive access to toll-free phone support during business hours (6:00am to 6:00pm Pacific Time, Monday through Friday).
$15.95 Credit on Stores Subscription in the Month of April - We’ll be crediting $15.95 – a month's Basic Stores subscription – in May to all sellers who operated an eBay Store for the month of April as a “thank you” for your business.
Over the last year, the Stores team has worked hard to listen to your needs and improve eBay Stores with new features and flexibility that help you be more successful with your business on eBay. Today, in addition to the benefits mentioned above, we’re introducing more important features and benefits for Store sellers:
Store Referral Credit Increased to 75% of Final Value Fees - Starting next week, we will be increasing the Store Referral Credit on eligible sales from 50% to 75%. Store Referral Credits are discounts on Final Value Fees as a reward for driving buyers to your eBay Store.
More Exposure for Store Inventory Items - Also starting next week, we will be increasing the exposure that Store Inventory format listings get in eBay’s main Search. Currently, when a buyer searches on eBay and finds fewer than 10 Auction-style or Fixed Priced listings available, they see up to 20 additional Store Inventory listings that match that search. Beginning next week, we will start displaying 30 additional Store Inventory listings when there are 20 or less listings found in Auction-style or Fixed Price formats.
Free Selling Manager with all Basic Store Subscriptions - Coming this spring, we will be adding Selling Manager (regularly $4.99 per month) to the Basic Store Subscription at no additional charge. Selling Manager is eBay’s online sales management tool for medium to high volume sellers. It’s a valuable addition to the Basic Store subscription, making it easier and faster for you to manage your eBay listings.
The Stores team and I have been reading your posts on the boards and the emails you’ve sent to Bill Cobb regarding Stores issues. We understand and respect your thoughts and concerns about eBay Stores, and we acknowledge that the recent fee increase requires many of you to re-evaluate how eBay Stores can best fit into your selling strategies. Our goal is to make sure we’re delivering the quality you need and expect for your money. I invite you to email me at [email protected] with your thoughts about how we can deliver on that goal.
We are holding our monthly Brown Bag Discussion on the Stores Discussion Board next Wednesday, February 16 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm Pacific time. I hope you will bring your questions and join me and the Stores team in a lively Q&A session. Let’s keep the conversation going.
Regards,
Chris Tsakalakis
Senior Director, eBay Stores
posted on February 11, 2005 12:58:38 PM new
The 75% rebate on FVF really is quite good. I took a look through my January invoice, and had over 100 sales that were FVF referred. Under the new rate, the total FVF will be 2% if referred instead of the 2.625% now, so that will go down. That, along with increased exposure in ebay searches have me feeling a little better about the increase. I am going to work on increasing traffic through me and my website to get that FVF rebate.
"It is better to have none than to have some, but if you must have some, it is better to have few than to have many" - Ronald Reagan
posted on February 11, 2005 03:32:59 PM new
I've got a "bag" I could give him for his lunch discussion...
...where the heck did dat hoser get to?
"Who could have possibly envisioned an erection — an election in Iraq at this point in history?" Prez.Jim Beam, at the White House, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2005
posted on February 11, 2005 04:56:26 PM new
Now Tom,you and Ralphie are very happy with your store...you are suppose to be Meg's cheerleader.
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Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
posted on February 12, 2005 07:36:58 AM new
Since I don't have a store, I have no idea what the specifics are regarding store referral credits.
Promoting through auctions? Promoting through websites? Promoting through Vendio "signature profile"? How would Ebay know how many referrals were made to a person's store?
Maybe someone who has a store could please explain to us "non store" Ebayers...
posted on February 12, 2005 08:11:59 AM new
There are a couple of ways to "drive" buyers to your store.
1) Froogle/Google feed. This sends buyers to your store from a non-ebay site.
2) You can redirect your own website url to the eBay store. This is probably the most common way to do it. For example, my link below goes to my website, but if I wanted, I could fix it so that link went straight to my store on eBay. Then anyone who clicked on my website and bought something from the ebay store would qualify.
I don't know for sure, but I suspect linking from your "About me" page would not qualify, since those people are already on the eBay site.
the whole "scheme" behind this from eBay's point of view is to get more *buyers* to try eBay for the first time. People will advertise their store URLs on business cards, people will redirect their wesbites to eBay, and so forth. All of these generate new shoppers for eBay.
It ain't a gift from the kindness of their hearts. Amazon has done the same thing with their Associates program for years and years.
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Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web! http://www.replaymedia.com
posted on February 12, 2005 08:24:09 AM new
When I add new inventory, I send out an email message to my list with link to my store. That would qualify. I also link from my website.
As far as getting new business, it is true it is a way for ebay to get more customers. Putting into place policies that drive store owners away though won't help. I suppose for me the ironic thing is that many of the people that get me FVF credit are those I found on ebay in the first place, who have become regular customers!
posted on February 12, 2005 12:22:06 PM new
Actually, there are plenty of complaints on the eBay boards that they DON'T actually work as promised.
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Replay Media - The best source for board games, card games and miniatures on the web! http://www.replaymedia.com
