eBay certainly has a busy few months ahead of it. Next week is the auction giant's "United State of eBay" Small Business Summit, and CEO Meg Whitman will speak on eBay's work with small businesses at the National Press Club. And much-awaited eBay Live! 2004 is on deck for late in June.
But the site has also been making a number of modifications under the hood -- designed to enhance the buying and selling process. But at least one of the changes could raise questions.
Shipping Changes
eBay introduced several enhancements to the way it handles shipping for bulk sales, making it easier for sellers to configure shipping discounts for buyers who purchase multiple items from them. That, in turn, makes it more compelling for buyers to peruse sellers' other auctions -- in turn making eBay a better value for businesses to sell more items.
Through the update, sellers can specify a combined shipping cost -- based on the total order from the buyer. For instance, a seller could set a shipping discount to provide free shipping for orders of more than $50.
Discounts will be highlighted on the Item information page.
Sellers also gain more flexibility in providing sellers with shipping method options. Previously, when listing an item, sellers were limited to selecting either a flat shipping rate or distance-based rates for cases where the shipping amount depends on the buyer's location.
Now, sellers can let buyers choose from up to three shipping services and methods. Buyers will be able to select from the available services (such as USPS Priority Mail or UPS Ground) and see either a flat rate or calculated shipping costs for each. Sellers specify available services and rates beforehand.
eBay said selling tools like Turbo Lister and Seller's Assistant Pro will support the change beginning in mid-May.
Item Specifics
Slightly less straightforward are changes in the way that items are listed and how buyers can search for them.
Recently, some eBay categories have been graced with a new search tool -- dubbed Product Finder. A related enhancement, Item Specifics, enables sellers to provide detailed information for inclusion in their auctions. So far, the addition of Item Specifics has taken place in eBay's media and electronics categories, although wider rollout is expected in coming weeks.
Item Specifics works like this: Sellers provide additional item details during the selling process. Buyers can then search using these details -- in addition to normal Title and Description searches. Ideally, the added searchable information makes finding desired items easier for buyers.
For instance, in the Televisions category, sellers will be able to enter Item Specifics such as TV Type, Display Technology, Screen Size, Brand, Condition, and whether an item is high-definition or wide-screen.
For most categories, Item Specifics are optional -- it's up to sellers whether to include Specifics in their listing. However, eBay has said it believes that the feature provides value to both buyers and sellers, and that listings with Item Specifics are more likely to sell and reap prices 10 percent higher than others, on average.
Yet by participating in Item Specifics, sellers could be limiting the subcategories in which their items appear -- sellers are automatically restricted from entering their product in certain subcategories, based on their Item Specifics.
On the flip side, adding Item Specific enables a seller's items to be located in Product Finder, which appears when viewing listings from categories. eBay has also said that listing in some categories will require Item Specifics participation -- those categories likely include media and tickets.
Changes for My eBay 2.0 and eBay Developers
eBay also began beta-testing My eBay 2.0. For sellers, enhancements include the ability to add a note to an item listing, records of the number of auction "watchers," built-in selling reminders, calculations of total costs of selling. It also features simpler, graphical indicators of where auctions are in the process.
Users of eBay Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro will be able to use the new My eBay next month.
On the developer front, eBay is requiring its developers to adhere to its new Authentication and Authorization Program by next week -- lest they run afoul of the site's certified development agreement.
The new system uses a tokening method of authorization. The system ensures that eBay members don't have to give their passwords to third-party vendors -- rather, the auction site itself handles authentication. Essentially, tokening means that eBay permits members to use of third-party applications and services -- by providing the services with a digital "token" -- by certifying that members have been successfully authenticated by eBay. According to the program, tokens are set to expire after 18 months.
The news means that sellers need to ensure that they're using the latest version of any third-party services they use, and that the service correctly supports eBay authorization tokens.
Christopher Saunders is managing editor of eCommerce-Guide.com.
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