The industry is abuzz with rumors about possible impending eBay fee changes. (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m01/i18/s01) Historically, January is the month that eBay makes adjustments to their fee structure, and with the company reporting earnings on Wednesday, it wouldn't be surprising to see an announcement this week. We'll report them in Newsflash if and when they're announced.
eBay made significant changes to its Trading Assistant program for consignment sellers. "Trading Posts" will now be called "Registered eBay Drop Off Locations," and eBay is requiring "REDOLs" to obtain insurance, a $25,000 bond, and adhere to strict customer-service practices.
eBay will also prohibit Trading Assistants and REDOLs from using the term "auction" or "auctioneer" in their business names, signage and marketing materials, unless they are licensed auctioneers. If you are a TA or drop-off store, this is must-reading: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m01/i17/s01.
Also newsworthy, USPS announced a larger flat-rate Priority Mail box that can used for domestic and international shipments, you can read all about it on the AuctionBytes blog: http://blog.auctionbytes.com.
And speaking of the blog, I'm going to be using it more regularly to report glitches. It's a good system for getting reports out quickly. Since it's difficult to confirm a glitch, this will allow people to respond if they are also having problems and allow people to suggest possible workarounds. So "send 'em if you find 'em" - I'm battening down the hatches for your emails!
On the Podcast schedule for January is an interview with Tom Conrad about an escorted buying tour to Europe in mid-February for antique hunters. The February 2008 itinerary features Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and several stops along the antiques trail in Germany and the Czech Republic. Participants benefit from group purchasing, tax breaks and dealer discounts, and transatlantic container shipping is included. Sounds like fun!
Finally, I want to remind readers you can place an ad in the AuctionBytes Classifieds for $25 for the entire year, and change the ad at any time. Check out the current advertisements here: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/index.pl
Thanks for reading.
About the author:
Ina Steiner is Editor of AuctionBytes.com and author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). She has a background in marketing and research in the high-tech and publishing fields. If you have story ideas, comments or questions, send them to ina@auctionbytes.com.
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