After hearing from some sellers who thought they were qualified as an eBay Top Rated Seller (TRS) but hadn't been invited into the new program, we were able to get some clarification from eBay last week. All existing PowerSellers who qualify for the program should now see the TRS badge in search results and on their View Item pages, and eBay began sending invitations to join the PowerSeller program last week for non-PowerSellers who otherwise meet Top-rated standards and who sold at least 100 items to U.S. buyers with a GMV of at least $3k in the past 12 months.

If you are an eBay seller, we would love to know what you think about eBay's new TRS program. Please take five minutes to complete a survey we are conducting. We'll be closing it at the end of the day Monday and will publish the results this week (link to survey).

If you have questions about the new TRS program, be sure and read the full article from Thursday's AuctionBytes newsletter, where you'll find a link to the AuctionBytes Blog to leave comments.

In other eBay news, the company revealed on Thursday evening it is conducting a test of Stores in Search. It was particularly surprising to sellers who remember the Stores in Search fiasco of 2006. Listings in some categories tripled according to some who were exposed to the test, you can read all about it in Friday's news article (link).

A recent AuctionBytes letter to the editor about USPS tracking problems proved useful to some frustrated online sellers. When a reader who uses USPS Click N Ship found she could not track packages sent to customers, another seller was able to provide a useful tip - check it out on the Letters to the Editor blog (link).

Online sellers of all size cringe at the thought of any disruption in mailing services, and next week's strike in the UK has many people and businesses worried. The Communication Workers Union voted to strike Royal Mail on October 22 and 23 (link). eBay UK has put together a page of resources for sellers who may be affected (link). The timing of the strikes couldn't be worse, with retailers already worried about the effects of the economy on the holiday shopping season.

It's earnings week, and eBay, Amazon.com and Overstock.com will reveal sales revenue for the third quarter of 2009. With the holiday shopping season upon us, many are wondering if Q3 numbers (July, August and September) will show positive signs for fourth quarter sales. AuctionBytes will also be taking a look at traffic numbers this week to see if eBay and Amazon.com are getting eyeballs to their respective websites.

We have some other interesting stories coming up in AuctionBytes, including an article on Bonanzle's forthcoming API program; an interview with an expert on Google Base (now Google Merchant Center for Retailers); news from Woot.com; and an article on the trend of states charging sales tax on affiliate revenue.

In today's issue, columnist Greg Holden talks with Artfire cofounder and CEO John Jacobs to learn more about his fee-free marketplace for arts and crafts, and I interview SquareTrade cofounder and CEO Steve Abernethy about his company's warranties for consumer electronics and appliance purchases. We also have our usual features, including First Item Sold Online, Collector's Corner, This & That and of course, Letters from Readers.

Thanks for reading.