The changes to eBay’s fee structure which we first reported on back in July takes place today. As of now, the same final value fees apply whether you’re selling an item via auction or at a fixed price.
As part of a general update to its messaging system for buyers and sellers, from today eBay will begin deleting any messages older than six months in user ‘My Messages’ inboxes. If you have messages stored on eBay itself that you want to keep, forward them to your personal email account now or it’s likely they’ll be gone within a few days.[eBay]
eBay Australia has been promising and then delaying plans to make all sellers include a returns policy and detailed shipping information when they list items for much of this year, but it’s now definitely happening. From September 15, all listings will need to specify a returns policy, how the goods will be delivered and how much handling time will be expected.
Latest odd change from the world of eBay: from August 22, it will be cutting back on its categories to “make it easier for international buyers to find items”. The three big areas where this might potentially impact Lifehacker readers are in mobile phones, modems and games. However, while the changes appear to offer less choices, there’s not really any need to panic.
eBay Australia has made no secret of its desire to encourage new goods over second-hand ones, but this is the strongest evidence yet: from September 22, fees for auctions will be raised to match those charged for Buy It Now options. In other words: eBay doesn’t really want to run your stinking auctions no more.
eBay has been promising cheaper postage options for heavy users as part of its partnership with Australia Post for quite a while now, and it has finally delivered with three flat-rate postage boxes which can be used to send items weighing up to 15kg.
eBay is keen for you to buy goods, but rather less keen for you to get in touch when things go wrong. However, a recent revamp to its customer service portal does make it a little easier to go through that process.
eBay is continuing its push towards emphasising fixed-price goods from professional sellers, but that doesn’t mean the process always goes smoothly. Back in February it announced plans to make it compulsory for all sellers to specify handling times and return policies. That was supposed to happen in May, but has now been delayed until August.
Since launching in Australia, eBay has always had a policy of placing local listings ahead and separately from those originating overseas. From today, that approach will change somewhat, with listings from the US and UK sites intermingled with those offered by Australians in a “variety of categories”.
There’s still no official launch date for the BlackBerry Playbook in Australia beyond this quarter. If you want one earlier and don’t want import it from an overseas site, one enterprising local has it for sale on eBay for $637.
