Stop for a minute, put yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask yourself: “What do I value most as a buyer?” If you’re like most modern consumers, it comes down to several important things: getting a product quickly, returning it free of charge and easily evaluating all of your buying options at one time.
eBay announced its 2018 Spring Seller Update last week, and many of the updates speak to today’s consumer mentality and offer plenty of improvements for sellers. Highlights of the update include streamlined return policies, a continual movement towards product-based listings and opening up eBay Guaranteed Delivery to more sellers.
While releases are designed to improve site function, usability and ensure both sellers and buyers can make the most of the site, they can also derail your plans and cause you to make changes to how you do things today. But, we’ve got you covered!
Here are the top 10 things you need to know about eBay’s 2018 Spring Seller Update:
1. Product-Based Shopping Experience — eBay is transitioning more categories to its new product-based shopping experience, and all listings for the same product will now be grouped together.
- Phase I items that require the adoption of the eBay catalog before the end of April are:
2. Improved Reporting for Promoted Listings — Enhancements are coming for Promoted Listings reporting within the campaign management dashboard, as well as increased exposure of those listings through new placements on the homepage.
3. Expanded eBay Guaranteed Delivery — The popular fulfillment program will now be available to more sellers by lowering the qualification threshold to an average of 100 transactions within the previous 12 months.
4. New Rules for eBay Shipping Labels — Sellers are no longer required to use eBay shipping labels to participate in eBay Guaranteed Delivery when using the handling time option.
5. New Category Changes — The latest changes to product categories will go into effect April 10, 2018. You should review your listings and confirm they are in the “best fit” category. The changes will impact the following categories:
- Antiques
- Business & Industrial
- Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
- Crafts
- Dolls & Bears
- Health & Beauty
- Home & Garden
- Motors
- Sporting Goods
- Toys & Hobbies
6. Listing in Two Categories — Starting May 1, 2018, when listing a product in more than one category, if there is a difference in final value fees across the categories, you will be charged based on the category with the highest final value fee when the item sells.
7. More Store Subscription Options — eBay is introducing two new store subscriptions on May 1: Starter and Enterprise. These options will be added to their current store subscriptions: Basic, Premium and Anchor.
8. Updated eBay Stores — eBay Stores will be updated in May 2018. The revised experience will be built to improve search engine optimization (SEO), strengthen the mobile experience and provide new merchandising opportunities for eBay Stores subscribers.
9. Updated Return Policies — Return policies are being reduced to the following five options and restocking fees will no longer be an option:
- No returns accepted
- 30-day buyer-paid returns
- 30-day free returns
- 60-day buyer-paid returns
- 60-day free returns
10. New Return Requirements — Top Rated sellers will be required to offer 30-day free returns to qualify for the Top Rated Plus discount and badge.
Ready to take advantage of some of these new updates and start selling on one of the biggest marketplaces in the world? The Rithum platform makes it easy – get started on eBay today!
