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Running your business

Reducing unpaid items for accepted offers

When: February 2022

Where: All sites

eBay is continuing work it started in 2021 to reduce unpaid items on eBay, which we know has been a long-standing challenge for many of you. 

In October 2021, eBay piloted a new process for collecting payment from a buyer automatically following acceptance of their offer. To do this eBay asked the buyer for payment and shipping details in the Best Offer flows. In the coming weeks, eBay plans to expand its coverage and include more buyers, which should further reduce unpaid items from buyer offers.

By mid-year eBay will also start collecting payment details in other Best Offer scenarios, including counter offers and Offers to buyers. These changes will be applied automatically for buyers, so you don't need to update or make changes to your listings.

eBay is listening to the seller community, and it’s on a journey to make things better for you. Managing payments for users places eBay in a better position to collect payment for buyer commitments.

FAQs

What is an unpaid item?

After an offer is accepted, it’s usually a smooth process to complete the transaction with the buyer, but sometimes the buyer may not pay for the item they offered to buy. These are called unpaid items

Does this program mean I won’t have any more unpaid items for offers?

This is the goal. eBay is trying to tackle unpaid items wherever possible and prevent the challenges they bring. You may expect fewer unpaid items from offers as eBay scales this program; however, they may continue to happen from time to time in some specific scenarios, such as offers with very high offer price. Please note these changes do not apply to auction listings.

Do I still need to cancel unpaid items if they happen?

If an item is unpaid, you should continue to cancel the order just as you do today. eBay recently streamlined its unpaid item process and moved it to the cancel flow, where you can specify your preference and whether you want unpaid items to be cancelled after four days.

Can I control whether eligible buyers are asked for payment and shipping information for my Best Offer listings?

Yes. You can opt out of this feature in Buyer Payment Requirements. If you opt out, eligible buyers will not be asked for payment and shipping information upfront when they submit offers for your listings. eBay encourages you to remain opted in so your items are paid for and orders are created quickly.

Updates to how feedback is displayed and collected

When: February 2022

Where: ebay.com

eBay is evolving how it encourages buyers to leave feedback, as well as how it displays feedback and other information about your business, to help buyers get to know your brand and feel confident buying from you:

  • eBay is launching an updated and simplified way to help you get ahead of negative feedback in the eBay app before you’ve had a chance to resolve the issue with the buyer.
  • It’s getting easier to collect and leave feedback, with automated reminders for buyers in some categories, and new ways to automate leaving feedback for your buyers.
  • Important information about your brand and business will now be more visible to buyers, no matter what platform they’re shopping on.
  • Your Store will be getting a new Feedback tab to showcase customer feedback about your business.
  • You may see new information about your business displayed on your Store and View Item pages, as eBay continues to test and refine what’s most effective at driving sales for you.

Helping you get ahead of negative feedback in the eBay app

With increased visibility on your feedback, it’s important that your buyers see an accurate picture of your business — not one that’s marred by an unfair negative review. 

That’s why, starting in late spring, eBay will be rolling out a simplified way to help you avoid negative feedback. If a buyer starts to leave negative feedback on the eBay app before they’ve contacted you on the eBay platform, it will automatically encourage them to reach out to you and give you a chance to resolve the issue first. 

eBay is also making sure that buyers see a streamlined and friction-free way to contact you before they leave negative feedback on the eBay app, to make it easy for them to reach out to you first. 

As eBay rolls this out, it’s a great opportunity to win buyers over and turn a negative experience into a potentially positive review.

Making it easier to collect and leave feedback

Collecting and leaving feedback not only helps build your brand reputation, it also inspires trust as you build relationships with your buyers. To help you do that, eBay is launching in-line notifications for buyers on the eBay app to proactively remind them to leave feedback and help shine a light on great buying experiences. 

After an item’s estimated delivery, some buyers using the eBay app will start seeing a notification to leave feedback. This will be rolled out for refurbished inventory over the coming weeks and gradually expanded to more categories throughout the spring and early summer.

eBay is also announcing in this Seller Update that all sellers will have access to previously subscription-only features free of charge. This includes a new way to quickly automate leaving positive feedback for your buyers. Streamline how you leave feedback for your buyers, and make it even easier to keep them coming back because of your great customer service.

Your brand and feedback will be more visible across all platforms

eBay recently announced updates to the View Item experience on mobile web, with important information about your business getting a more prominent display. These updates have continued to show an overall positive impact on sales and conversion and will be expanding to the eBay app and desktop. 

Your seller name, logo, and feedback rating already appear directly under your listing’s title on mobile web and on desktop — now, you’ll start seeing the same experience on the eBay app. With more than 60% of eBay transactions having a mobile touchpoint,* and with the eBay app one of the most popular shopping apps in the US,** these updates will help give your brand and business as much visibility as possible.

Your overall seller feedback and most recent feedback comments will also be displayed more prominently in the “About this seller” section across all platforms, not only on mobile web. 

Buyers will start seeing these updates on the eBay app over the next few weeks, and on desktop over the coming months. 

*eBay Fast Facts, February 2021
**Leading shopping apps in the United States in 2021 (Statista)

Updates to Stores to help you grow your customer base

As Stores continue to evolve into a world-class tool to showcase your products, brand, and business, eBay is making it easier for buyers to find your Store; and giving them an at-a-glance view of your feedback, to build confidence buying from you.

In 2021, eBay added a new way for buyers on mobile web to find your Store, with an easy-to-find link on your View Item page. This will be expanding to desktop and the eBay app — helping buyers on any platform quickly and easily navigate to your Store.  

Once buyers are in your Store, they’ll start to see a more complete picture of your business with a new Feedback tab. 

This new tab will showcase your customer service and the quality of your products by displaying your seller rating and your most recent feedback comments. From here, buyers will also be able to click into all of your feedback.

The new Feedback tab has already been rolled out for buyers on the eBay app, and will expand to all buyers across desktop and mobile web by early summer.

More ways to build trust with your buyers

Displaying the right information about your business in the right place can build trust and entice buyers to make a purchase — and drive sales.

eBay research shows that buyers want more information about your business to help them make purchasing decisions. As a result, over the coming months, eBay will test displaying new information such as sales volume on Stores and View Item pages. 

This research into what drives buyers’ decisions helps refine how eBay displays feedback and other important information — and hone in on what helps you sell more.  

Next steps

You don’t need to take any action — just continue to provide great customer service and grow your brand across eBay, and eBay will continue to evolve new ways to help you see the benefits of your hard work. 

Updates to fee credits and Below Standard final value fees

When: May 2022

Where: ebay.com

To better support your business, eBay is prorating final value fee credits for partial refunds that you provide to the buyer. In addition, when you approve a buyer’s cancellation request, the entire final value fee, including the $0.30 per-order fee, will be refunded to you. eBay is also adjusting our additional final value fees for Below Standard sellers.

Prorated final value fee credits for partial refunds

Starting May 2022, when you issue a partial refund to a buyer, eBay will automatically credit a prorated portion of your final value fee based on the adjusted total amount of the sale. Along with this, eBay will automatically credit prorated portions of other applicable fees including Promoted Listings Standard and international fees. Fees such as the $0.30 per-order fee, Promoted Listings Express fee, and Promoted Listings Advanced fee will not be refunded. eBay wants to support your efforts to make things right for your buyers and adjust your fees accordingly.

Per-order fee credit for cancelled transactions

Currently, eBay keeps a $0.30 per-order fee when an order is cancelled due to a buyer request. This is in line with fees that other marketplaces and third-party payment processors apply in similar buyer cancellation cases. We're excited to announce that starting March 1, 2022, eBay will refund the entire final value fee, including the $0.30 per-order fee, when you approve a buyer’s cancellation request. We recognize that buyers may cancel transactions for various reasons at no fault of the seller and we want to support you by refunding 100% of the final value fee.

Below Standard additional final value fee increase

In continuing effort to mitigate behavior that does not support good buyer experiences and negatively impacts sellers on our platform, eBay will increase additional final value fees for sellers who do not meet minimum seller performance standards for the US. Starting March 1, 2022, eBay will increase additional final value fees from 5% to 6% for Below Standard sellers. This fee does not apply to Above Standard and eBay Top Rated Sellers. You can check your current seller level on your Seller Dashboard.

New messaging experience in the mobile app

When: February 2022

Where: All sites

Over the coming weeks, eBay will be introducing a new, up-to-date messaging experience in the eBay mobile app that will better connect you to your buyers, improve the way you communicate with each other, and make it easier for you to manage your messages. For now, the updated experience will only be accessible on your mobile app and the messaging experience on your desktop won’t change.

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Over the next few weeks, you’ll be able to opt in to the beta version of the new experience when you receive a prompt in your mobile app. This is not the full version of the new messaging experience, and you will see some additional features, such as the ability to create auto-responses and sending offers to buyers, when we launch the full version.

While eBay is rolling out the beta version for your mobile, you’ll still be able to opt out again and continue to use the old messaging format, but starting in the coming months, we’ll begin to move all sellers over to the full experience. When the migration starts, you'll receive a prompt and won't be able to use the old experience in the eBay app.

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This new messaging experience means you’ll be able to keep a closer track of all your communications. Your inbox will also be easier to manage as all messages can be grouped together by buyer or by listing.

Messages to and from your buyers will now be displayed in a more modern, user-friendly format. As with other messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp and text messaging, all messages from the same person, for a specific item, will be grouped together in a threaded conversation. With threaded messaging, you’ll see both sides of a message conversation with a buyer in chronological order on one screen, giving you the full conversation history and context of each message.

What’s changing?

  • eBay has refreshed the look and feel of how you and your buyers can view and send messages in your mobile app. 
  • This new experience makes messaging much clearer and more straightforward to use, as individual conversations with buyers will be simpler to follow and keep track of.
  • Messages in your inbox will be grouped by buyer and listing so it will be easier to stay on top of all your communications.
  • The full version will include features such as auto-responses and offers to buyers, and you'll be able to flag and delete a message conversation.
  • The full version of the new messaging experience will be compatible with iOS, Android and later with desktop.

What isn’t changing?

  • For now, the desktop messaging experience is not changing.
  • While your messaging format and experience is changing on the eBay app, this does not mean we expect you to change the way you communicate with your buyers or to reply more quickly to your buyer messages.
  • You’ll still be able to contact your buyers whenever you need to - nothing is changing in that respect.
  • Your old messages will still be available in the new format, as will any folders you’ve created. You won’t lose any of your messages. As with the old format, messages in the new experience will be kept for one year and then automatically deleted.

Next steps

  • Look out for a prompt in your message inbox in your mobile app to opt in to the new beta experience on your mobile. You can opt in to the new beta experience at any time, but starting in the coming months we will begin to move all sellers over to the full version. 
  • Be one of the first sellers to try out the new messaging experience before it’s rolled out to all sellers over the next few months.
  • Let us know what you think about it! You can find a button in your inbox to leave us your feedback.

FAQs

When is this change taking place?

You will shortly receive a prompt in your app to try the new messaging experience on mobile. You can opt in and opt out at any time in this beta version. This version will not contain all of the new features. Starting in the coming months, we will begin to roll out the full mobile version of the new messaging experience to sellers. 

Will any formatting in the old messages break when they are imported?

No, formatting won’t break when importing messages to the new experience. However, HTML won’t be supported and messages will be shown as plain text.

Will sellers and buyers see a different experience?

No, not if you use the eBay messaging system. All buyers will be able to use the beta version of the new experience until they are moved over to the full version. If you use a service provider, your experience won’t change, but the buyer will experience the new interface.

Will I still be able to send buyers a private offer?

Yes.

I reply to sellers using a service provider. What does this mean for me?

Your experience will vary by platform, but messages will come to you in the standard format for your service provider.

What happens to the desktop messaging experience?

The beta version and the full launch of the new experience refer only to the messaging in your eBay App. On desktop, you will still see the old experience for the time being. We are working on bringing the new, updated messaging experience to desktop and will notify you in your desktop inbox once it is ready for you.

eBay Academy

When: 2022

Where: ebay.co.uk

Whether you’re new to eBay or have been selling for years, eBay Academy offers a wide range of free interactive courses.

You’ll have access to courses designed by eBay experts to teach you how to grow your business and succeed on eBay. Learn at your own pace wherever you are as part of an interactive, self-learning experience.

Choose from a range of free online courses such as how to open an eBay Store, master our tools and features, build and grow your brand with valuable insights and much more! They’re all designed to help you build your brand and take your business one step further. 

Join eBay Academy today and start applying your knowledge right away! Selling on eBay is easier than you realize.