As of 28th June 2023, eBay have announced a series of updates for sellers on the platform. Sellers were made aware of these changes via an email and further details can be found via links to their specific updates.
The areas which have been updated include:
- The return of eBay Open UK 23
- EU and UK regulations compliance
- Reporting inappropriate messages
- Improvements to their payment disputes process
- Royal Mail QR codes
- Updates to Promoted Listings Standard
- Changes to international eBay sites
eBay Open UK 23
“eBay Open UK is back and bigger than ever for 2023!” according to eBay’s announcement. eBay Open UK is eBay’s free, flagship event for experienced sellers. This year the event will be held in two locations: Manchester and London. The registration for both Manchester and London is currently full, but you can join the waiting list and eBay will contact you as soon as a space becomes available. You can register your interest here.
Keeping Listings Compliant with EU and UK Regulations (EPR)
Staying up to date with local, regional and international regulations can be a challenge but eBy have provided the changes that can help you to get, and stay, compliant.
Sellers to French or German markets should take onboard the following information out how to stay on top of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations. These apply to all sellers and are part of a Europe-wide initiative to protect the environment by improving waste management and stimulating innovation in recycling.
EPR in Germany:
eBay outlines that “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations are EPR laws that apply to electronics and electrical goods sold to customers in Germany.
The German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) regulates the environmentally responsible disposal of electrical equipment. If you manufacture or import items that are subject to these regulations, you’ll need to add your WEEE number to your Account Settings under Business Information when you offer an item for sale to Germany.
The German Packaging Act (VerpackG) regulates packaging materials for items sold to customers in Germany. If you’re selling items subject to these regulations, you’ll need to add your Lucid number to your Account Settings under Business Information when you offer an item for sale to Germany.”
You can find more information and examples of products that are affected on eBay’s Help page.
EPR in France:
Sellers are required to add certain information to their account and listings of items sold in or into France, which are subject to EPR regulations. Specifically, you need to add your Unique Identification Number (UIN) to your Account Settings page, under Business Information.
All sellers should update their information as soon as possible to ensure that listings covered by EPR regulations remain visible on eBay.fr, eBay will also have to cover any recycling fees if this is not done.
You can find more information about EPR in France on the Help page.
Items containing hazardous materials:
You are legally required to include hazardous characteristics as part of your listing if you are selling certain items that contain hazardous materials to buyers in the EU or UK. This information can be found on the item’s label or the accompanying documentation.
You’ll also need to add this information to the ‘item disclosures module’ when creating or revising a listing for any item containing hazardous materials. You can find more information on the Help page.
Entering your information:
The new ‘item disclosure module’ will appear automatically when you’re listing in categories that are potentially impacted, and will prompt you to add this information when creating your listing.
eBay have updated their listing systems, which means that the new ‘Item Disclosure Module’ will automatically prompt you for hazardous material information when you are listing an item in a category that is potentially impacted.
Reporting Inappropriate Messages
eBay now allows you to report inappropriate messages and/or block members directly from conversations, aiming to prevent abusive behaviour and empower sellers to act on and report any message or block a member who may be violating their policies.
How to Report inappropriate messages and/or block members:
- Select ‘Report message’ from your message menu and indicate the category the inappropriate message applies to – offensive, scam, threatening, unwanted, or other, and provide details.
- Your report will be sent directly to eBay to review and take action if the member has violated their policies. These actions may include sending warnings, blocking members from sending further messages, or suspending the member’s account.
- Select ‘Block this member’ directly from your message menu to easily block that member from your conversation. This will prevent them from sending you messages, bidding, or buying your items. ‘Block this member’ doesn’t report the buyer to eBay.
Improvements to the Payments Dispute Process
A payment dispute is when a buyer requests reimbursement for the amount paid for an eBay transaction directly from their payment institution (e.g., bank, credit card company, PayPal etc.).
eBay have made the following Improvements to the experience:
- Sellers can provide up to 1000 characters of text to explain their reasoning for challenging a payment dispute.
- Sellers can now upload up to 5 separate files of information, e.g. tracking details, postage labels, messages, and photos. Rather than the previous single file limit.
The information you provide will be shared with the buyer’s payment institution so that they can challenge the payment dispute.
Royal Mail QR Codes
Royal Mail labels purchased via eBay will now be automatically emailed to you as a QR code to be redeemed at the Post Office, reducing the need to print them at home. A Post Office cashier will scan your QR code and print the label, or you can do it yourself at one of their self-service kiosks.
How posting with QR codes works:
- After the sale, visit your sold listings on ‘My eBay’ or ‘Seller Hub’ to generate the delivery label from your preferred carrier service.
- Under ‘Service’, choose a QR code-enabled postage service. You can download your QR code from the label summary page and the code will also be emailed to you.
- Take your item to the Post Office and show the QR code on your smartphone or tablet to the cashier. They’ll print the label and attach it to your item. Alternatively you can use a Post Office self-service kiosk.
Updates to Promoted Listings Standard
Promoted Listings Standard now offers a dynamic ad rate strategy for both simple and automated campaigns
eBay will soon be introducing a new ad rate forecasting feature which will offer you insights into the performance of your Promoted Listings Standard campaigns
Updates to Promoted Listings Standard.
The two new features for Promoted Listings Standard are:
- Dynamic ad rates: choose between a fixed or dynamic ad rate strategy where your ad rates can automatically be adjusted based on eBay’s daily suggestions.
- Ad rate forecasting: a performance indicator appears when creating or editing a campaign that predicts how well your campaign could do (called your estimated impression share) based on the current ad rate you’ve set.
More details on these new features can be found here.
Changes affecting international eBay sites can be found by following the links to your specific region here.
