The Selling on eBay Radio Show

10/02/2025

UK is the "test bed" for US feedback policy changes, so this is of interest. Sometimes you can get bad feedback removed just because the buyer says something that's outside policy. For example referencing the *result* of an eBay case they may have opened - as that information is considered confidential. Now rather than just deleting the offending feedback, eBay will coach the buyer how to make it policy-compliant so that it posts against your account. Not good for sellers? Coming to the USA soon I predict. -P

We’re refining how mixed feedback affects your profile. When a buyer’s comment contains policy-violating content, we’ll ask them to edit it while keeping valid feedback. This helps preserve genuine comments and maintain credibility and trust with future customers. We’re making this policy ch...

10/02/2025

We were talking last time about an expected crack down on sellers who 'end and relist' routinely to try and game the algorithm. This is something of a burning issue within eBay at the moment, so is unlikely to go away. This video suggests that eBay is trying to make it much harder to access your ended listings - I assume to kill off this practice. I agree with Don's recommendation to use a third party app to archive your listings (and sales data maybe) for as long as you want. PersonalIy I like Wonderlister ($5/month for me) as it creates a SQL database on your own computer with all your data. So it's in a non-proprietary format that you can access even if you decide to close your WL account, or if they shut down the product at short notice (which does happen). Keeping a backup is easy as taking a copy of a SQL database is very easy. Anything stored "in the cloud" would not be acceptable to me. In the event of a shut down, it might take a few hours of book-work to master the SQL query language (or a few $ to hire a freelancer to write some queries) but you own the data and can keep it forever. I imported all my old Turbolister stuff so I can still use listings from 15+ years ago as templates if I want. - P

Here's a link to the video I mention and show the clip from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_AyyKpZE9IYou can check out our YouTube Membership info here: ht...

09/30/2025

Latest Show now available below. Previous Episodes are at https://SellSellSell.online

09/26/2025

We talked about this as an issue which was soft-briefed at eBay Open for an October launch. eBay is trying to support "as-is" selling of items that are listed for parts/repair and for which no returns are accepted. The buyer only has 3 days from receipt to initiate a SNAD and we were told the burden of proof would be on them to justify any such claim (I haven't seen that part of the flow yet). I think this is a good step forward as it limits the likelihood that the buyer will have a go at repairing the item and then decide to return a hacked-apart unit once they discover that their technical skills aren't adequate for the task at hand. I used to offer paid returns even on P/R items but now that the feedback protection is gone I see little point in doing that and instead will use this approach. I'm also happy buying on these terms as it will w**d out some of competing bidders without the stomach for the added risk. What do you think? -P

09/25/2025

Cyberstalking update: Looks like efforts to mediate a mutually acceptable settlement yesterday weren't successful. So the matter may end up going to public trial on 5th January. eBay and several leadership team members at that time are the defendants. It's a civil trial so it's about whether the Steiners are entitled to financial compensation (and and potentially significant punitive damages). Plaintiffs are seeking an 8 figure settlement. I guess eBay doesn't agree with their number. - P

09/22/2025

eBay threw me off this morning with an ad in my awaiting shipment. That’s a little confusing 🫤

09/21/2025

Did eBay just change the best offer flow? In this counter offer response I can no longer see the offer history - I just see their counter. It was always annoying that I had to click on 'Offer History' to see what it was that I had offered the seller, and that wasn't simply shown as a visible communications thread on the screen. Now I have to go and search my emails to see what my valuation was on the item. Seems really dumb, right? How is this helping me make the purchase? Just another time consuming step has been imposed. - P

09/19/2025

Here is the picture of us on the capital steps for eBay advocacy day 

09/18/2025

This may be a great deal for cardboard boxes as their flat rate shipping deal can end up being a lot less than what most suppliers charge. I've used this company before for cartons. They're drop shipped by someone else. - P

09/14/2025

So a seller does a crappy job packaging my order and I want to leave appropriate feedback. This is what I'm offered. The traditional DSRs are now hidden behind a drop down arrow. They try and "force" me to leave a product review by not allowing me to leave just the normal DSRs (assuming that I take the time to figure out how to access them) - as the 'Leave Feedback' button is grayed out until I enter some characters in the 'Tell Us More About The Item' box, even though it says that rating the item is Optional. It clearly isn't. This I think is all about SEO and for Google's benefit - trying to game their algorithm. I think the FB flow could be structured better than this. I would start with collecting views on the product (which would be filed in the Product Review database) and after you've given them the chance to vent there, offer them the opportunity to review the buying process. Part of me says it might be an improvement on past iterations where a great seller got dinged in FB because a buyer just didn't like the product and entered their gripes under the Description Accuracy DSR. What do you think? -P