Online workshop on eBay Diwali plans, 4 PM - 6 PM on 8 Oct

[sapana@ebay.com]

Exciting New Diwali – This Diwali shop and sell the new eBay way!!!

Dear Members,

In the spirit of effecting quantum jump improvements to our members’ experience – in the next few days/weeks we are launching a slew of initiatives that will turbo-charge our marketplace. With Diwali - round the corner, we are extremely thrilled about these initiatives – and are confident they will drive more buyers to the eBay.in site and improve the overall experience of selling and buying on this platform.

The key initiatives are as follows:

• High profile marketing campaign - Diwali Dealights: The eBay Way
• Payments Options Expansion - Now eBay users can pay on PaisaPay with 30+ banks (including SBI), more Debit cards, cash cards, and get more EMI options!
• Making Search on eBay more relevant for buyers – Launch of Best Match on eBay India
• Improving range and selection for buyers - Global EasyBuy now available in regular eBay India search
• Making good to buyers whose money has been refunded
• 5 Star DSRs for Free Shipping (when buyer does not pay for shipping)
• Live Chat support to most Trust and Safety questions for sellers


Diwali Dealights: The eBay Way

We are launching an Integrated media blitzkrieg coupled with high-octane promotions on eBay.in site with the aim of making eBay the numero uno shopping destination this Diwali.

We have a new TV campaign which will prominently advertise eBay.in as THE One Stop Destination for Diwali shopping. The media plan covers popular channels across Music, Movies, Entertainment, Sports and Infotainment genres. In addition, this would be reinforced by real-time on the ground activation/BTL activities to get new users to shop on eBay.in. We are excited at the buzz this would generate amongst shoppers this Diwali.

On site, as part of the Diwali Dhamaka, we will run a Mega Free gift Promotion that will give buyers a chance to get assured free gifts basis the value of their purchase. We will also be running a Diwali contest for everyone to participate in and win exciting prizes. That is not all, to reward our regular shoppers, we have a reward points program, ‘eBay edge’ for the festive season. With eBay edge, buyers can earn reward points on every purchase and redeem them against eBay discount vouchers.

These special initiatives will be supported by great offers such as discount vouchers, additional supply of great deals on Diwali-specific product lines etc

Payments Options Expansion - Now eBay users can pay on PaisaPay with 30+ banks (including SBI), more Debit cards, cash cards, and get more EMI options!

We are glad to announce that very soon buyers on eBay India will have option to pay with:

• Online Bank Transfer (OBT) of 30+ banks including popular banks like SBI, Axis Bank etc in addition to ICICI, Citibank and HDFC bank.
• Cash cards like ITZ and Done Cards
• Maestro Debit Card (aka ATM pin based) in addition to current Visa & Master Debit Cards
• Interest Free 3/6* month EMI options on Citibank and HDFC bank in addition to current ICICI bank

*eBay.in would levy a one-time 2.5% Convenience charge for 6-month EMI option (including service tax) of the order value on the buyers. This will be charged to the buyer while they make payment for their items during the checkout process and will be paid by the buyer in 6 easy installments.

There will be no change in PaisaPay fees for the sellers and the existing arrangement, will continue for the new payment options. As we come closer to the launch we will share the exact launch date with you.

Making Search on eBay more relevant for buyers – Launch of Best Match on eBay India

To provide improved relevance in the Search experience for buyers, we are rolling out the ‘Best Match’ sort logic as the default sort option in select categories (as compared to Time end soon sort logic that exists as the default today). These categories are -
Consumer Electronics [293]
Mobile Phones [15032]
Laptops & Computer Peripherals [160]

Over the next few weeks we will expand it to other categories as well.

In the last few months we have tested Best Match across few categories and are encouraged by the positive uplift in transactions. With the launch of Best Match, search algorithm that computes the priority for display of listings will be influenced by multiple parameters some of which are:
• Title & Category relevance: The system will assess how relevant Item Title is to the search query; basis past search & purchase history and more relevant listings will be given greater priority. For example, for search query “iPod Shuffle”, iPOD shuffle listings will be given more priority compared to accessories
• Buyer Experience provided by the seller: The Seller’s past performance in delivering to buyer expectations (measured through DSRs)

What do sellers need to do to benefit from Best Match:

To ensure sellers on eBay India are able to fully leverage the benefits offered by Best Match, we would advise you to follow the below guidelines:
• Deliver high quality service to buyers and maintain high DSR’s through accurate listing descriptions, prompt & proactive communication with buyers, and reasonable shipping costs and time
• Ensure that you list your items in the right category with the most appropriate item title to attract the right buyers
• Create detailed, accurate & attractive listing descriptions which can increase your quantity sold and classify your listing as more popular than others
• List multiple quantities of an item in the same listing. Item popularity as determined by quantity sold and a few other factors influences the sort order. Do not create duplicate / multiple listings of the same item

Note: Best Match as a sort option is already available for Technology categories (Mobile Phones, Consumer Electronics, Cameras & Optics, Memory Cards, Pen Drives & HDD and Video & Computer Games). You can go ahead and view how Best Match sort behaves (and any impact it might have on your listings) by selecting it from the “Sort by:” drop-down menu for the above Technology categories.

How can I know how well my listings are performing in Best Match?

The Best Match Visibility Tool, which will soon be accessible to sellers in their ‘My eBay’ page, will help sellers review the performance of their listings against the Best Match sort order. We will be enabling this for all our sellers in the coming weeks.


Improving range and selection for buyers - Global EasyBuy listings now available in regular eBay India search

As members are aware, we launched the ‘Global EasyBuy’ service last year to improve the range and selection of products available on eBay.in for our buyers

Global EasyBuy fulfills a demand for products that are not easily available on eBay.in directly. In order to more effectively fulfill this demand – we will be providing listings from Global EasyBuy, on the eBay.in search results page (SRP) when enough listings are not available through search directly on eBay.in. This will help improve the ease/efficiency with which our users can find products that they always wanted.

Making good to buyers whose money has been refunded

Many buyers have complained that getting their money refunded is an irritating experience for them, as they wanted the product and not the money. Such experience makes it less likely for them to buy from other eBay sellers.

From November 1st onwards, eBay will levy a penalty to all sellers whose PaisaPay refund rate (Auto refund + Seller initiated refund) is greater than 2% of PaisaPay transaction. This penalty will be up to Rs. 250 or 4% of PaisaPay amount whichever is higher for all refunds greater than 2%. This amount will be then sent to the buyer in form of a coupon.


5 Star DSRs for Free Shipping (When buyer does not pay for shipping)

We are introducing a change in the shipping charges DSR. As of October 28th when sellers offer free shipping and buyers choose the free shipping, eBay will automatically rate the transaction with 5 Stars for Shipping Cost DSR.

Live Chat support to most Trust and Safety questions for sellers

We are happy to announce that now sellers can get faster answers to most of their Trust and Safety questions via Live Chat support. This support covers few of the most commonly asked questions by sellers like Feedback removal, listing violation, reactivating accounts, etc. The support will be available from Monday to Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM IST. Just click on Live Chat link anywhere on eBay site to use the same.

We will share exact date on roll out of ‘expanded payment options’ and ‘Best Match’ in subsequent AB posts. To understand better about these changes, please contact our Customer Support Team or post your question on this thread. Please join us on this Online Workshop on this topic between 4 PM - 6 PM on 8 October 2010 for further clarifications.

Regards,
eBay Team

[linusstudios]

🙂

All good news. Thanks eBay. We were waiting for these from long.

[rhtdm.6624]

Dear linusstudios,

Mee too agree with you. But some points will create trouble to sellers such as refunds & penalty to seller. As seller is always on eBay to sell. But in certain conditions we can't able to ship such as in some buyers address reputed courier company's not have service. In such cases seller not take risk of damage or parcel lost by sending through local couriers. Then why seller will be punished for the same???? Also for free shipping items only seller will get 5 star ratings But what those who not offer free shipping ?? They are mentioning those charges as per eBay guideline which they issued recently. If we are following there rules then also we will not get DSR??

Regards
rhtdm.6624

[linusstudios]

@ rhtdm.6624-

eBay has many times taken steps which have fired back. ebay guarantee is one of them. Sellers started using eBay guarantee to get their buyers even the return shipping charges. And so now eBay is implementing this.

But again this is a short sighted decission. Let me show all how.

As soon as this step is implemented we are going to withdraw free refunds, Under no circumstances we will be offering a buyer refund. He will be only offered merchandise credit. So no penalty as no refunds, only buyer instead of getting money back will get some other product. May be his satisfaction level will come down a bit, but we have eBay's announcement to quote in our listing.

And why has eBay implemented this step. I have real doubts on- "Buyer Satisfaction" as a factor. Any buyer if is offered a money back guarantee it is a big thumbs up for him to go ahead with the deal. So I dont buy this theory.

Real reason may be the payment gateway charges which banks are levying on the two way transactions done in case of refunds.

Promotion of free shipping was, is and will be done only to generate more FVF. I have elaborated in a previous post how Free Shipping items are actually more expensive for buyers than items with separate shipping charge. But it will take a while for Indian mindset to understand that every free thing is not free.

Whatever the intentions may be, We are welcoming all the steps announced with open arms. Thank you eBay for these wonderful Diwali Gifts.

[rhtdm.6624]

Dear linusstudios,

You are absolutely right. But I want to say that's fine if we offer merchandise credit to the buyer. But what if buyer wants only refunds and sometimes non availability of courier in buyer's location & its not possible to us to write locations where we not ship. So in that cases refund is only the solution. For that also seller will gets punished which as per me wrong. As its our responsibility to send product in good condition to the buyer. If buyer get damaged product then also seller will be punished for that. Which is absolutely wrong.

Regards
rhtdm.6624

[rajelectroniks]

Good Move ebay, Hope you are fully prepared this time!!!

Wish you all the best.
**************************

[brand.deal]

Hello,

I would like to say that all the steps taken by eBay are very good and will increase sales. Especially the addition of other banks and cards is the best of all.

Making good to buyers whose money has been refunded is a good move. Buyers really get frustrated when they do not get item and money is refunded.

But penalty and charges for sellers is not a good move.

There are many instances where a seller has to refund the money to the buyer due to various reasons. It is not always out of stock. There are numerous other reasons… some of them are given below.

• Listing clearly says WE DO NOT SHIP TO WEST BENGAL, UP, KASHMIR etc. Still buyers from these locations buy and make the payment.

• Listing clearly says that WE CANNOT CHANGE THE SHIPPING ADDRESS FOR PAISAPAY PAYMENTS AS IT IS AGAINST EBAY POLICY TO CHANGE ADDRESS. PLEASE CHANGE YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS AND THEN MAKE THE PAYMENT. Still buyers buy it with their old address and then email us that they want to change the address. This leads to seller initiated refunds as we may loose money if we ship to some other location.

• Buyer buys a product and sends email that I do not want this item and please give me refund.

• Buyer buys an item and then PaisaPay people call us and ask us not to ship the item and initiate a refund.

• Buyer makes paisapay payment and says he wants hand delivery only.

• Listing clearly says that item is Without Warranty. Buyer orders and then calls the seller and says that send my item with proper bill and warranty card. Seller says it is without warranty and is mentioned in listing. Buyer says I did see that, refund my money.

• Listing clearly says This Blackberry mobile will not work with Reliance OR Tata. Buyer still buys it and says that blackberry website says that it will work with CDMA. Seller has to refund money as mobile is CDMA compatible but will not work with Reliance or TATA.

• Refunds done to buyers due to no service.

• Listing clearly says mobile is USED at 2 to 3 different places. Still buyer buys it and calls seller to send a packed product. When seller says that it is USED buyer says ok refund my money.

• Buyer buys a mobile and asks for a particular color which is not available anywhere. Seller has to refund.

• Buyers orders and says that he wants it within a day as he is going of out India. Otherwise he will not be able to take delivery and it will be of no use if he does not get within a day. Seller has to refund.

There are many such reasons.

Sellers should not be punished and penalized for refunds as it is not always sellers fault.

Regards
Shuaib

[linusstudios]

This is what I call a good research.

I would suggest implemet something likethis-
buyer intitiated refund where buyer can intiate a refund request and seller can approve it. And for obvious reasons seller is not penalised.

[rhtdm.6624]

brand.deal,

You have given best explanation....Mee to agree with you. Why seller should punished if he is not done anything wrong. Even on many websites except eBay they too not have such rules where seller gets punished.

Thanks
rhtdm.6624

[brand.deal]

Hello,

If I take my ID brand.deal in consideration then I have 3 refund initiated.

Case 1 - Auto refund initiated by the system. Item Worth 17000/-
Here the buyers location does not have service. I tried to email the buyer but there was no response. Buyer does not pick up the phone. So I had to leave it for auto INR.

Case 2 - Seller Initiated refund. Item worth 51000/-
Buyer purchased the item and wants delivery immediately as he is travelling abroad. So i initiated a refund as delivery was not possible before he leaves.

Case 3 - Seller initiated Refund - Item worth 19600/- (I HAVE TO GIVE REFUND TODDAY)
Item is listed in Mobile Phones > GSM Phones Category. Buyer purchased it thinking it will work with his CDMA connection.

So this means that with this new policy I will be fined and charged 3504/- without any fault of mine.

But this will bring my limit above 2% and penalty charged to me will be 4% of 17000 + 51000 + 19600 = 3504/-

Why should I pay 3504/-

In future months to come there will be other refunds as well and these types of transactions will bring the level easily above 2% limit.

If eBay wants to give something to the buyer then you can. But why are you putting burden on sellers shoulder and giving benefits to buyers.

Regards
Shuaib