Reminder: Safer payment requirements take effect March 17th.
Dear XXXXX,
As a valued seller, we'd like to thank you for participating in the marketplace and ask you to offer a safer payment option on all your eBay transactions. Beginning March 17, all sellers will be required to offer PayPal or a merchant credit card when listing items in the following categories:
Gift Certificates
Video games
Cell phones
Computers
Consumer electronics
While you are free to choose between PayPal or a merchant credit card please consider the benefits of using PayPal:
Lower Unpaid Item rates.
Seller Protection up to $5,000.00 USD on any eligible transaction.
Lower fees, compared to many merchant credit cards.
For more information on these changes, please see the latest announcement and Frequently Asked Questions.
posted on March 3, 2008 08:58:55 PM new
Ah, but you missed the REAL squeeze. Buried in an announcement eBay says it will "some time this week" begin using hidden bidder IDs on ALL auction listings. Ostensibly to keep eBay bidders safe from "second chance offers", the obvious solution to that would have been to get rid of SCOs.
posted on March 4, 2008 03:46:34 AM new
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I can't see myelf buying a gift card or camcorder over eBay to begin with, but certainly not from someone who did not take a credit card or PayPal type payment. Even though, as with most of life, the miscreants are a minority, I would want to have some recourse (as a buyer).
I will miss seeing bidder names, even though I can't think of a really good reason for showing them. The collecting world, even on eBay, is a small one, and I was used to seeing certain user IDs showing up (even though I did not know them personally or anything about them). Sort of like noticing people who seem to show up at the same restaurant on a regular basis.
posted on March 4, 2008 05:35:14 AM new
The SCO mention is interesting. I went to do a SCO on an item when an international buyer started complaining about shipping even though the costs were available through the shipping calculator.Rather than lose the sale, I decided to do a SCO. The second highest bidder's ID was not there to offer it to them, only the 3rd and 4th bidders. Why is that?? Does anyone know?? Can you opt out of SCOs? Thanks!!
posted on March 4, 2008 06:53:20 AM new
I like SCO and have been on both ends many times (offering and buying). What does ebay do for the seller anymore, besides traffic, which in my catagories isn't what it used to be, I used to get a few bids and now it closes with one? Oh, yes they increase fees, decrease sellers feedback and at the whim of a remorseful buyer, they take the money out of your paypal account. WOW
posted on March 4, 2008 08:09:51 AM new
>> Buried in an announcement eBay says it will "some time this week" begin using hidden bidder IDs on ALL auction listings.
posted on March 4, 2008 08:42:55 AM new
That be for "everything."
And in case you haven't noticed, the DSRs are now in place when you use "best match" and do appear to sort in some fashion. I don't really see much change in the antique categories, although a few seem ahead by a couple of hours or a day or two. I can't relate it very well to the stars shown for sellers who get ahead but I didn't spend a lot of time looking at it either.
Maybe I'll do something with bubble wrap and see what happens there.
