From eBay.com – January 4, 2018

The Good News: eBay Has Negotiated Lower Rates for Sellers

eBay has been able to negotiate with the USPS on behalf of sellers and secure a significant discount for eBay labels. While this still means a slight increase in the average cost of shipping an item using USPS, sellers who use eBay labels can save up to 25% on First Class Package Service and up to 24% on Priority Mail*. Plus, tracking is automatically uploaded, so you can print a shipping label from anywhere.  You can even schedule free pick-ups.

*Compared to USPS retail rates. Negotiated Commercial Plus pricing is available via eBay Labels to all eBay Top-rated sellers and sellers with an average of 300 or more transactions per month.

Read the entire announcement here:  https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/USPS-Shipping-Rates-are-Changing-and-eBay-Has-Negotiated/ba-p/27939005

Great to see everyone at the Online and eBay Sellers Meetup tonight!  Here are my edited notes about EBAY OPEN that we discussed.  Post any comments, additions or questions.

Minnesota Online and eBay Sellers Meetup
Agenda and Information
August 17, 2017

eBay Open 2017

The 2017 eBay Open was a MAJOR CELEBRATION of sellers!  Here are some interesting links with information discussed at the conference.

• eBay Open 2017 Web Site
  • We now know that the event workshop videos are all available for viewing by eBay sellers.  Similar to last year, these are probably available for a limited amount of time.
  • http://www.ebayopen2017.com/workshops/
  • http://www.ebayopen2017.com/

• Thrifty Business with Jay and Nay
  • Thrifty Business Season 4 #16 #ebayOpen2017 Recap With Special Co-Host Katy Zilverberg
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kng8lESK0Ec

• eBay Authenticate
  • New service to be offered later in 2017. Sellers and buyers will be able to subscribe to this service and, on some items such as expensive handbags, can have the item shipped to eBay for authentication. Once deemed authentic, eBay sends the item on to the buyer.
  • http://pages.ebay.com/authentication/index.html

• eBay Guaranteed Delivery
  • http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/guaranteed-delivery.html
  • This was the hot customer service topic of the conference. Note that there are 2 types that you can opt into.
  • eBay Guaranteed: You must ship on time, eBay covers the cost of the item if it does not get delivered by the date set by USPS.
  • Door to Door guarantee – SELLER takes the risk and covers cost if it is not delivered on time. The rules and benefits to sellers are still unclear to me.
  • http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/guaranteed-delivery.html
  • eBay has also started a thread to answer questions about it: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Hot-topic-eBay-Guaranteed-Delivery/m-p/26769287

• Promoted Listings
  • They announced that promoted listings will be available for SINGLE ITEMS very soon.  I’m hearing reports that they are available for some now.

• Facebook Messenger and Shopbot
  • Open up your mobile phone and go to Facebook Messenger.  Right now you can address a message to “eBay Shopbot” and ask it to find items for sale!  It gives buyers a new way to find our items just as fast as they can think of them.  I wonder if this will catch on with millennials (those born between 1981 and 1997) or even younger users?  If you are younger than 36, tell us your opinion!  Of course, I welcome comments on it from everyone!

• Other Interesting Items
  • A handbag is sold every 13 seconds on eBay (no wonder they are sort of focusing on fashion right now!)
  • The advertising campaign is ON (Fill Your Cart with Color – more fashion emphasis!) and will continue to be ON from now ON.
  • 17,000 items a week sell to users on a mobile platform.
  • Retail stores are getting in on selling their OWN resale items. For example, Eileen Fisher: https://www.eileenfisher.com/repair-and-care/why-you-should-recycle-everything-in-your-closet/
  • $725 Million has been raised for charity through sellers on eBay.

So much happened those three days and I’ll write more if I have time.  I’d love to hear more from those who attended eBay OPEN 2017.  Can’t wait for next year, they have already announced it for the end of July 2018! Don’t miss it…you will NOT regret it.

If you are thinking of adding an independent web store to your business, this sounds like a terrific new addition by Shopify!

https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/13/shopify-adding-ebay-as-a-sales-channel-for-merchants/

If you’d like to have your own online store but aren’t sure how to get it done, contact me.  My web development rates are low and I can get you set up in just a few weeks!

A new initiative from eBay to make their/our marketplace more competitive – Guaranteed Delivery.

Guaranteed delivery dates on eBay.

Coming later this summer, eBay buyers will see a guaranteed delivery date of 3 days or less on millions of eligible listings. Sellers who qualify will have the tools they need to guarantee delivery by a specified date. And buyers will love that their item arrives when they want it to.

No subscription fees. No complicated processes. It just delivers. Guaranteed.

In the March 20, 2017 article published on cnbc.com, they quote eBay’s announcement and how eBay is trying to compete with Amazon Prime and Wal-Mart**. “Today’s shoppers expect fast delivery and want to know exactly when their purchases will arrive,” the company wrote in Monday’s press release. (Source: EBay is taking on Amazon Prime and Wal-Mart in guaranteed delivery, free shipping)

Panic generally ensues after something is posted regarding “free” shipping or more stringent shipping rules.  It’s easy to see why, too.  Margins are thin for sellers who list brand new items on eBay and Amazon.  Sellers of one-of-a-kind or rarer items have less of a problem as they can set their prices to cover shipping, but competition is getting tougher for all of us.

I’d like to offer my perspective on this announcement:  it’s probably NOT going to change anything for most of us.

USPS Priority Mail already offers 2-day shipping with delivery confirmation and many of us already use it when we print our labels directly from eBay/Paypal. Continue or start shipping within one day and you’ll be meeting the 3-day guaranteed expectation.

I reserve the right to revisit this after the actual particulars of guaranteed delivery program are announced, but for now I don’t see this as a deal-breaker for sellers.

Sign up for eBay’s updates on offering guaranteed delivery at http://cc.ebay.com/guaranteed-delivery/

*Retail Arbitrage: the method of sourcing inventory from retail stores in order to sell it through eBay or Amazon at a higher price.

**Read more about Wal-Mart’s recent merchant platform expansion here: https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2016/04/14/walmartcom-invites-more-merchants-sell-its-marketplace/

The eBay Seller Hub is a BIG improvement and I urge you to opt-in now that is available to all U.S. sellers.  It will take a little while to get used to it but you will love it.  Here is a link to the eBay announcement and video:

Great News: eBay Seller Hub Now Available to All U.S. Sellers

http://ebay.yourbrandlive.com/c/sellerhub-june-2016/

eBay OPEN also had some terrific workshops on using Seller Hub – I learned a lot! Go to the eBay OPEN event page at http://www.ebayopen2016.com/. You’ll need to sign-in to see the workshops.

From the eBay website today:

Sellers: Higher USPS First-Class Rates Coming August 28

USPS First Class Postage Increases – August 28 2016

Ok, eBay sellers! It’s time to pull out all the stops, list like crazy and pay for your tickets to eBay Live!

Event dates:  July 26-29, 2016

Venue: The Venetian Hotel in Fabulous Las Vegas!  Right on the strip and a very nice place to stay.

NEW DETAILS JUST RELEASED
• Choose from over 20 WORKSHOPS that will help grow your business
• EXPO FLOOR with your favorite listing tools, shipping providers, and other key eBay partners
• Have fun in the COMMUNITY VILLAGE where you can mingle with and hear from your peers on successful selling
• Customer Service pavilion dedicated to answering YOUR questions
• Meet eBay experts, employees, executives and GRIFF!
• And one great PARTY

Who is going?  I know I am!

Four stores in Minnesota:

Minnesota

Maplewood: Maplewood Mall

Blaine: Northtown Mall

Woodbury: Woodbury Lakes

Coon Rapids: Riverdale Village

From USATODAY.com:

Aeropostale Bankruptcy

This past Wednesday, perennial teen fashion retailer, Aeropostale filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Challenged by more diverse and cheaper fast-fashion competitors such as H&M and Forever 21, Aeropostale has struggled to redefine itself for the 21st century. Indeed, its most recent attempt to remake itself as “fashion brand” failed completely as many consumers cannot divorce their name from their 1990s-fueled image of a cheap, mall-based retailer.

In an attempt to cut costs and extend operations for the short term, Aeropostale has decided to close a total of 113 of its flagship retail stores in the United States along with all of its 41 locations in Canada and all of its 25 P.S. from Aeropostale stores. This move and the subsequent liquidation of these stores’ merchandise is projected to earn the company about $21 million, enough to keep the remainder of its stores operating for 6-8 weeks while it pursues a sale. <read more at usatoday.com>