For new newsgroup readers, these are not our forum posts. Any comments to the posters below should be made on the applicable thread, marked in bold below.
Be aware that in an unusual move, eBay removed some posts while Brown Bag was in progress.
//
From eBay Stores Forum
Join us: May Brown Bag Lunch on 5/30 @12noon PT
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=21
[email protected] May-22-07 09:58 PDT
Host: eBay Stores Staff
Date: Wednesday, May 30th
Time: 12-1:30PM PT
Location: Stores Discussion Board
Hello,
Please join us for our monthly discussion on the eBay Stores board.
We look forward to your participation and will attempt to answer all of your eBay Stores questions as quickly as possible. Based on your questions, we'll also offer tips to ensure that you're using Stores to maximize your business. We are committed to answering your questions as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this equitably, we ask for your cooperation -- please limit your questions to two (2) per user.
We look forward to seeing you here at 12 noon PT on Wednesday, 5/30.
Sincerely, eBay Stores Team
91 replies Date posted Reply #
[email protected] May-30-07 11:58 PDT 1 of 91
Hello,
Thank you for joining us for the May Brown Bag Lunch discussion. This is your opportunity to ask questions, and post your comments about Stores.
We're committed to answering all of your questions as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this equitably, we ask for your cooperation -- please limit your questions to 2 per user.
All questions posted prior to 1:00 PDT will be addressed by one of the staff. Our responses to questions near the 1:30 mark will appear after the thread has been locked.
If this is your first time using the discussion boards, please see the following tutorial on how to post messages and view updates. http://forums.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=200066500&tstart=0
We will be joined today by the regular members from the eBay Stores Product and Marketing Teams.
We will be unlocking the thread shortly; we look forward to speaking with you!
Regards, eBay Stores Team.
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:05 PDT 2 of 91
Hi,
I closed my store earlier this month due to sales just stopping on May 3rd and nothing through May 17th.
But, I still lurk and have hopes of things improving at some point.
Can you please explain the cryptic message about changes in the search that was posted yesterday? The changes regarding the stores search and auction being mixed in or what?
wjkski (133 ) May-30-07 12:06 PDT 3 of 91
My question is regarding the increase of the minimum header size. Why?
onepreciousplace (1766 ) May-30-07 12:06 PDT 4 of 91
Stores team - I used to have, and still consider reopening - a store on eBay. However, I do have a huge question which may have been addressed before, but since I haven't been to this discussion in a long time, I am unaware if it's been asked or not, and what the answer was.
My question is this: eBay frequently now runs a 20 cent auction day - there was just one a week ago. As a former eBay seller, I NEVER receive notices of this at all - I find out about it from the stores board. Even with a bit of advanced notice, I don't take advantage of it, because of the huge amount of additional inventory loaded into the system. My question is two-fold - one, why are all people who sell on ebay not notified of this, and two - why on EARTH does eBay not notify the entire database of the "sale" going on during that week? It's fine to let people know that they can list for a cheaper price, but along with it, it would make sense if eBay got their act together and notified every living person on the site that there was additional inventory during this time to woo people in to purchase items. It would be a big win not only for the sellers, who would actually see some traffic, but for eBay as well, because they would reap much more in profits if there were customers here actually buying all this "stuff-junk" we are being enticed to list.
How about it - notify ALL selling accounts, and then notify every eBay user of any kind that there is more merchandise to be purchased!
~ Sheryl ~
kingst (2560 ) May-30-07 12:07 PDT 5 of 91
Please Remove other seller listings from my store!
Why do i have "other items" from other sellers in my store!!!! i have 1200 items listed in my store. do not redirect the buyer from my store to someone elses! i am paying for the space! if i was lucky enuff for a buyer to find me then why send them somewhere else? now if i had only 2 other items fine throw in one more. then the items that are related are not even close to what the buyer is searching. this is coming thru when i search on ebay express. Much like a Walmart cashier telling me to go to K-mart to buy the same thing! ohhh the humanity!
Oh and guess what, all the items from other sellers are below my listing price! All 1200 items i have qualify for express. I dont care how Ebay relates items, just do it with items in my store! This simply is not right! The search engine for my store is to erratic that when a buyer finally finds it, they are told to go somewhere else!
stuff-4-me (29 ) May-30-07 12:09 PDT 6 of 91
OK... I have no idea why my post suddenly attached itself to another post... here it is again:
------------
StoresTeam posted an announcement late last night about some finding changes. I found the announcement to be quite unclear… and certainly not clear about what this means for Store sellers.
Can you:
1) Be more clear about the changes (in basic english... what do you hope to accomplish and what will this mean for the average search by an average buyer)
and
2) How do you see this affecting a stores search or Store sellers? What does it mean Stores specific?
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:09 PDT 7 of 91
My second question of the day pertains to the eBay Stores Product and Marketing Teams.
I didn't know there was one...and how many people comprise these teams?
Maybe they can share some ideas on what they are working on that might convince me and others that stores are still a viable venue for us here on Ebay?
At this point, stores marketing seems to be working on marketing stores to everyone and anyone who cares to open rather than marketing the stores that exist to the buying public. (and that may be the case...so I thought I would check to see).
chopsueysisters (2046 ) May-30-07 12:10 PDT 8 of 91
Where is the majority of our traffic coming from if it's not coming from core search.
CSS
Glitch, Glitch!!
It's a wonderful day in the neighbor'hood
wjkski (133 ) May-30-07 12:11 PDT 9 of 91
Can you imagine. Three of the first five posts are concerned with the lack of communication. This is really the problem. No one at the stores board or ebay truly communicates with us. Oh, we can go to ebay live and hear how important we are, then sit the rest of the year ignored by staff, while changes are introduced without communicating them to us.
[email protected] May-30-07 12:12 PDT 10 of 91
Thank you for your patience as we work to answer your questions.
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:13 PDT 11 of 91
The post by stuff-4-me is asking the question I was trying to ask in my first post.
i found that whole post by the pink to be extremely confusing.
Is it a store positive or negative?
What exactly is being done and how will it impact store items?
[email protected] May-30-07 12:15 PDT 12 of 91
Dear wjkski (re: 3),
Hi. The header redesign was an eBay-wide project. There are several different versions of the header on the site. The overall goals for the header redesign project were to update it visually (it looked very dated)and to make it more effective for buyers.
The smaller version of the eBay header now used for Featured and Anchor store sellers is larger than it is before, although that wasn't a goal. It's still significanly smaller than the standard eBay header, and it's a good way for sellers to highlight their brand. The new minimized design was just a smaller version of the standard header that was being used in a few other places on the site; we wanted to reduce the number of different designs, so the site would be cleaner for buyers.
Thanks.
Gene
(aka Jake Jake)
stuff-4-me (29 ) May-30-07 12:15 PDT 13 of 91
StoresTeam: Can you address, since the last Pink on the board totally ignored my multiple requests for information, the fact that eE items are appearing above core in searches - and with a clickable link directly to eE and that list of items on eE. I am sure you know what is going on... but for others, Do a search for Glass Ball and look for the yellow highlighted box, light bulb icon and the clickable link directly to eE for that product.
How does that NOT take traffic away from my core and/or BIN listings?
Why is it acceptable to ignore disuccsions/concerns/questions from users about this?
(My two questions for the day are out there... I will await my replies.)
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:16 PDT 14 of 91
One more question...please. And, I promise I won't ask anymore today.
If the "new search test" becomes the way it is what will happen to stores?
I see two things that impact store listings with the new search.
1. Store links are just gone! There is no way to get to stores other than through the under 30 rule.
2. The under 30 rule will be seen much less than normal (maybe even rarely) due to search returning items Ebay thinks the buyer is searching for outside the key words the buyer has entered. This will result in many many more items returned for every single search.
So, items won't show in the under 30 rule because there won't be any under 30 returns, and they won't show elsewhere because all the search links are gone.
Help!
[email protected] May-30-07 12:18 PDT 15 of 91
Postcardsandmore (re: #3) and kingst (re: #5),
Thanks for joining us today. So others know what we’re talking about, please see the post here: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000377216&tstart=0&mod=1180490539525
The main change has to do with the way buyers select the listing format in the Search Options area. We wanted to make the controls more intuitive so that buyers can more easily select a blend of Auction-style and Buy It Now formats, either including or excluding Store Inventory items. The net result should be fewer cases that result in zero returned results, so this should only have a positive impact overall. We posted the message to give you advance notice of this change and to be transparent about the before and after views of the user interface. Again, users should only see a positive impact from this change.
Regards,
Darlene
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:20 PDT 16 of 91
Darlene, I'm still confused.
If the purpose was to return less null results wouldn't including stores automatically do that instead?
And, replacing the word search with buy seems rather odd to me.
replacementsltd (48120 ) May-30-07 12:21 PDT 17 of 91
Darlene,
Do those changes mean if a buyer chooses to see both auction-style and BIN formats there is no longer a less than 30 auction limit before store items are shown? IE does this change bring store listings back to the core search?
Chuck
chopsueysisters (2046 ) May-30-07 12:22 PDT 18 of 91
Why are megatores and high volume sellers getting special accommodation and exemption from policies which small sellers are noosed for?
Like putting their website name on their gallery pictures
Or having links to joining their external mailing lists
Or having headers with the websites
Do you think this is acceptable to do nothing about? If they are allowed to use the marketplace to generate leads to their external websites to sell elsewhere...where is the balance. How much of that behavior is flooding this marketplace and when are you going to do something about this. you are sending a strong message to sellers. That the rules are NOT for everyone. If you pay up the wazoo you get a get-out-of-jail card.
CSS
Glitch, Glitch!!
It's a wonderful day in the neighbor'hood
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:22 PDT 19 of 91
Maybe what the purpose is is actually a way for buyers to select buy-it-now without store items?
Since Ebay wouldn't give stores a tab and the current BIN includes store items you are wanting a way for buyers to EXCLUDE them from the BIN results?
Or am I still confused? I don't think that will decrease the null results that are coming up so I must be confused.
[email protected] May-30-07 12:23 PDT 20 of 91
Dear kingst (re: 6),
Hi. Other sellers items should definitely not be appearing in your Store. If they are, then this is a bug that we need to fix quickly.
Could you please send the URL (address) to a page in your Store that includes other sellers items and a couple URLs of those items to [email protected]? We'll ask customer support to work with you to make sure this is corrected.
Thanks.
Gene
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:24 PDT 21 of 91
And, I really do want to understand. I would love to reopen my store.
[email protected] May-30-07 12:24 PDT 22 of 91
onepreciousplaceonepreciousplace (re: #4),
Thanks for joining today and for providing feedback on how we communicate listings promotions. I will send your comments to the team that manages these promotions – in the past, I have received emails that pre-announce some promotions (e.g. discounted Bold), but you are correct, that I we haven’t sent this type of communication out for all promotions.
My recommendation is to bookmark the General Announcements page (see http://www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing.shtml) and/or subscribe to the RSS feed that’s highlighted in the left nav of the page – this feed will provide you with automatic updates once an announcement has been posted.
Regards,
Darlene
[email protected] May-30-07 12:30 PDT 23 of 91
Dear chopsueysisters (re: 9),
Hi. There are a number of key places that drive traffic to your Stores. I'll focus on ones that drive traffic to your Store Inventory items, as obviously Store sellers' Auction and regular Fixed Price items regularly show up in core search.
- Item pages for Auction and regular Fixed Price items--one of the most powerful ways for sellers to market their Stores and Store Inventory items is through the Listing Frame feature on View item. The standard Stores placements at the top of the page and in the merchandising at the bottom of the page are also very powerful.
- A number of buyers come to the page where you can search for listings across all Store sellers.
- Store Inventory in core search--even though exposure is limited--is powerful.
- Outside search engines. eBay does a lot to improve the surfacing of listings automatically in popular search engines, and eBay also spends significant money on advertising in these engines.
- There are other placements on the site into which Stores are integrated, but these are some of the key sources of traffic.
Thanks. Take care.
Gene
golfingaddict (11313 ) May-30-07 12:33 PDT 24 of 91
Are any of the best match searches going to return store items? I don't exactly understand how the new search checkmarks are going to affect store listings? First there were too many listings being returned, now are you saying that buyers can't find what they are looking for and you need to help them expand their searches if they are looking in the stores?
What exactly is going on with the new searches?
[email protected] May-30-07 12:34 PDT 25 of 91
postcardsandmore (re: #8),
Below is some information on the eBay Stores team that I posted to the boards last week:
===============
Lori Goler, the Sr. Director of eBay Stores, who took over Chris T’s role is currently on maternity leave for a few months. In the interim, Jake Jake (a.k.a. Gene) and I are leading the team. I continue to manage Stores Marketing and Planning along with my team which consists of Artemisa, Rilla and Stinson, while Jake Jake continues to manage Product Management with his team member, Andy, who just officially joined the team last week (welcome Andy!).
===============
We’ve actually considered posting a photo of the team on the board – just let us know if you think that would be a good idea :)
Regarding your question about what we’re working on right now…just about everything we do falls into two areas: 1) delivering increased product value to both the Stores subscription product and the Store Inventory listing format and 2) driving buyer activity, which means working to drive increased bids and purchases to our eBay Stores sellers across all listing formats, including Auction-style, Fixed Price and Store Inventory formats. While I don’t have anything specific to announce to you today, we are working on some new things that we hope to communicate in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
Regards,
Darlene
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:36 PDT 26 of 91
Thank you Darlene. I was sincerely afraid the marketing team was just dedicated to marketing a new store to unsuspecting new ebay sellers. There seems to be a whole crop of them who seem to think they can just list 12 items in a store and do nothing more and they will get rich.
I would love to see a photo of the stores team. I think that would be a nice personal touch:)
I will stay tuned. I Miss my store.
jtrothaars (680 ) May-30-07 12:38 PDT 27 of 91
You really, REALLY need to clear up the confusion and dispel the myriad of rumors regarding FB 2.0.
There are sellers who believe that if buyers do not leave star ratings, or if they do not leave them for a particular category, it is the equivalent of leaving the seller a zero.
There are sellers who believe that any score less than a five is equivalent to a negative feedback, and that all sellers with less than five stars will have their listings hidden.
There are sellers who spend their entire days watching their star ratings so they can figure out which buyers left them "bad" ratings, or did not leave any.
There are sellers who are attacking buyers via email, and leaving negative feedback for them, because of these kinds of rumors.
I cannot stress how out of control this situation really is. You need to do something about this, because Ebay is becoming not only a bad place to sell, but a bad place to buy as well. Why would anyone want to buy here if they feared retaliation from sellers who don't understand how FB 2.0 works?
jtrothaars (680 ) May-30-07 12:39 PDT 28 of 91
You want honesty? I don't like photos. I think they're cheesy and cheap. They smack of used-car salesmen and "Have you been injured in an accident?" shyster attorneys.
I want good service, not photographs.
[email protected] May-30-07 12:39 PDT 29 of 91
Postcardsandmore (re: #15),
I am not sure I understand your question. There are numerous finding test environments live right now – which one in particular or what specific elements are you referencing?
Thanks,
Darlene
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:41 PDT 30 of 91
Sorry Darlene, maybe you can just email me one. I would still like to see it. It helps me to better know the person I am communicating with and the people who hold my future earnings potential in their hands.
I can't imagine a business meeting where we all hid behind cubicles.
I think the photo is a great idea!
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 12:42 PDT 31 of 91
Darlene - Why is the "description" box unchecked in the store search box? We used to be able to elect to have this box checked when we set up store display - now there seems to be no way to check it?
jtrothaars (680 ) May-30-07 12:42 PDT 32 of 91
BTW, if you don't believe me regarding the FB 2.0 rumors, just do a search on FB 2.0, star ratings, etc., and you will see the dozens, if not HUNDREDS of posts regarding FB 2.0 and the hurricane of rumors swirling around it.
I must add, not only do sellers have no idea how it works, but buyers don't, either. Most of the problems appear to be related to misunderstandings that could be cleared up, IF there were Ebay employees here doing that.
You really REALLY need to have Pinks on these boards, dispelling these rumors and explaining how this system works...BEFORE it drives every buyer off this site.
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 12:43 PDT 33 of 91
Many of us depended on that check being there when we set up our stores and chose our item titles....now it isn't there. I think it adversely effects buyer experience AND our sales!!
[email protected] May-30-07 12:44 PDT 34 of 91
Dear stuff-4-me (re: 14),
Hi. In some cases (in some categories and for some types of items), we're finding that buyers are more likely to buy something on eBay Express. So that team is experimenting with the placement you're mentioning. Most buyers still just stay on the same page, especially if they're not familiar with eBay Express. The good news for Store sellers is that the VAST majority of items on eBay Express are Store Inventory items. So, in this way, this is additional exposure at the top of search, even if it would lead buyers to a different way of shopping.
That's what's going on a high level across all sellers. It will impact different indiviual sellers differently, depending on whether they appear in Express. In general, I don't believe that we're seeing that this is a significant driver of traffic; we're trying to get smarter about only displaying it in cases that would be beneficial overall.
Thanks.
Gene
[email protected] May-30-07 12:44 PDT 35 of 91
Dear jtrothaars (post #27)
I will have Brian from the Trust and Safety team pop into the Stores board (after the BBL) to post a response to your FB 2.0 question.
Regards, eBay Stores Team
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:45 PDT 36 of 91
Darlene, I am referring to the test that is going on where items outside the key word are included.
It goes through June and started early May. It definitely had an impact on my sales as they died when it started and so have several other sellers.
The example given by the findings team had to do with a search for a size 12 red shoe of some brand and the explanation was that all red shoes and all of that brand would be returned in the sample search. Or something like that. The gist of it is a way to expand search results to offer MORE items on every search.
I thought they had already determined that MORE was confusing for the buyers but apparently now they are deciding LESS makes for unhappy buyers.
AT any rate, more search results means less stores showing due to less under 30 results.
And, the side links and other links have been removed. There is no way to enter stores for the new search test subjects. (other than the few times under 30 results are displayed).
It's the one that is discussed on the search board with several additional threads about the lack of stores visibility through it.
chopsueysisters (2046 ) May-30-07 12:45 PDT 37 of 91
I'm still waiting for a response to Question 18. website addresses being inserted into gallery images, headers & listings and why they are getting away with it
CSS
Glitch, Glitch!!
It's a wonderful day in the neighbor'hood
kingst (2560 ) May-30-07 12:45 PDT 38 of 91
why is there not the slightest due process for the seller?
Ebay removes items "poof" and they disappear for ever. when asked Ebay, responds that due to "security" concerns they can not tell the sellers why. does this seem right? would you expect this for your child at school if he/she received an F, and then when you asked the teacher she simply said " i cant tell you!"
chopsueysisters (2046 ) May-30-07 12:47 PDT 39 of 91
Postcards, any test is ongoing. As soon as that test ends in June, on June 19th there is another search "test" that will bring in UK listings
CSS
Glitch, Glitch!!
It's a wonderful day in the neighbor'hood
Page 1 of 3
91 replies Date posted Reply #
jtrothaars (680 ) May-30-07 12:47 PDT 40 of 91
You don't need to post one reply to ME. You need Pinks to go into all those individual threads where these rumors are being traded, and put out this fire while you still can.
If there were Pinks manning these boards, helping dispel the rumors, and answering the many questions both buyers and sellers have, A LOT of grief on all sides could be prevented.
replacementsltd (48120 ) May-30-07 12:48 PDT 41 of 91
I would like an answer to # 17 as well.
I don't agree that eBay is a "level playing field" when ALL categories are not supported in EE. If that were the case I would have no problem with EE items being shown ahead of Store items in core search.
Chuck
golfingaddict (11313 ) May-30-07 12:48 PDT 42 of 91
I'm not sure that you will answer this but I want to know how the new punitive fee increase is working for you? (stores team/eBay)
Since you gave us some "story" that buyers were overwhelmed with too many results and we were "stashing" high priced junk in our stores, we had to endure a punitive fee increase and you reduced store listings exposure.
So how is that working for you? Are you satisfied that you did the right thing? Are you seeing success? Are you happy with what you have done to store listings and exposure? Are we listing enough in core to satisfy the accountants?
And why the heck are there so many auction listing sales? During the week of listing sales, I see a massive decrease in sales and hits.. what I think is that the site is overwhelmed with listings.. sort of like STORES IN CORE? Why is it ok to have numerous listing sales that flood the site, but store items are evil? Can you admit that you just want us to pay more fees? Do FVF mean less than listing fees (and relisting fees?)
Are the accountants happy yet or are we getting set up for another massive and punitive increase?
[email protected] May-30-07 12:48 PDT 43 of 91
postcardsandmore (re: 16), replacementsltd (re: 17) and postcardsandmore (re: 19),
Thanks for the additional questions on the changes to the Search Options selection box. We were hoping to have someone from the Finding team here as our special guest, but we weren’t able to confirm that in time. What I’d like to do is ask a representative from that team to come back and answer your specific questions on the Search Box functionality. I want to make sure you get all of the correct information you are looking for.
Regards,
Darlene
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:49 PDT 44 of 91
I also agree with Neglus.
I feel taking the check mark off of title and desciption in the stores search box added to my lack of sales this month.
We should be able to leave it checked and it does help sales.
55 charecters is just not enough space to properly describe an item. I am moving store items elsewhere and am amazed at the ease of making a description when I have a whole 88 character title limit.
If we had 88 characters we might not need the description checked.
jtrothaars (680 ) May-30-07 12:49 PDT 45 of 91
Three of the first five posts are concerned with the lack of communication. This is really the problem. No one at the stores board or ebay truly communicates with us. Oh, we can go to ebay live and hear how important we are, then sit the rest of the year ignored by staff, while changes are introduced without communicating them to us.
That's exactly the problem with FB 2.0. If Ebay employees monitored these boards, responded to all the posts about it, answered the questions and addressed the concerns of both buyers and sellers, then this thing wouldn't have gotten as out of control as it is.
You put out a fire when it's still small. You don't wait until it's covered thousands of acres.
stuff-4-me (29 ) May-30-07 12:50 PDT 46 of 91
Gene,
Re: your #34. I appreciate the answer. For the record, I think it stinks that we pay top dollar for Core exposure and buyers - at the top of that search - see eE listings advertised. I have opted out of eE - the search there would not pick up my items and I was told by a pink that the 'secret' search method used by eE would not display my items to buyers because my items were not popular enough. I opted out.
And... how about an answer, in detail, to my #7. I do not feel this finding change has been explained - and I am sure it has not been explained by you folks on how it will affect STORE owners.
All I can see is that searches for store items will now have the otpion of also including auctions. Does that further dilute the ability for buyers to find store items? What DOES it do for Store owners?
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:50 PDT 47 of 91
Thank you Darlene.
I really appreciate that as I am totally confused by what I am seeing and not sure what impact it will have on sales.
I'm also considering adding some Fixed price listings to my core listings and how that will work will affect my choices there as well.
[email protected] May-30-07 12:51 PDT 48 of 91
Stores Sellers,
There are a lot of great questions here about Finding, Feedback and Trust and Safety.
Lets try to keep the question specific to the eBay Stores product which is our area of expertise.
We will do our best to have someone from those respective teams come in to clarify your questions.
Regards, eBay Stores
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 12:51 PDT 49 of 91
Another comment about EE (since they never have BBL and are apparently without a leader) - every effort is made to strip to seller identity - there is no way for buyers to combine shipping from individual sellers. While buyers can see "my other items", there is no way to search them and there is no way ANYONE would want to browse through 8000 listings to find ones that would interest them.
[email protected] May-30-07 12:52 PDT 50 of 91
Dear neglus (re: 31),
Hi. You asked for Darlene, but you get me, instead. Sorry. :)
As you mention, the "title and description" box used to always be checked automatically within Storefronts, which is different than in main eBay search. One of the downsides of this was that it often brought back listings that didn't match what the buyer was looking for, plus it was somewhat confusing, since it was a different experience. So we made the change to be more consistent with what buyers are experiencing in main eBay search. Buyers can still easily check the box to expand their search if they wish, just like on main eBay search.
In the coming weeks, we'll be announcing some improvements that we think are going to make it even more likely than ever before that a buyer is going to be able to find things they are looking for within a seller's store--helping them see matching items in other categories, for example. Stay tuned for more details.
Thanks.
Gene
kingst (2560 ) May-30-07 12:54 PDT 51 of 91
#38
the due process is about store product. thank you
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 12:54 PDT 52 of 91
My question #32, while it had the word "search" in it referenced the STORE search (not site wide search) and the unchecked "description" box. For example, when I use the store header and frame in my listings, a buyer could type the word "Florida" in the search box and would ONLY see the listings that had this spelled out. MOst sellers use postal abbreviations but that doesn't mean BUYERS use them!
chopsueysisters (2046 ) May-30-07 12:54 PDT 53 of 91
OK, I want to know why 150 + searches of Hawaii hair clip did not show up on the 'shop ebay stores' link at all when I was a basic store seller. Despite the fact that I had more in core that matched, double & triple the amount. You guys are saying nothing has changed but there is something wrong when you have a search result of 29 and you have half of them and you show up no where on that shop ebay stores box at the general search point
CSS
Glitch, Glitch!!
It's a wonderful day in the neighbor'hood
stuff-4-me (29 ) May-30-07 12:55 PDT 54 of 91
Re: 48
The 'finding' announcement was posted by STORESTEAM on the STORES BOARD... and the question is HOW DOES IT AFFECT STORE INVENTORY.
I think it is, therefore, a valid stores question.
chopsueysisters (2046 ) May-30-07 12:55 PDT 55 of 91
It didn't kick in until I paid the $50 bucks and upgraded to featured. THEN it showed up
CSS
Glitch, Glitch!!
It's a wonderful day in the neighbor'hood
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 12:56 PDT 56 of 91
I agree with stuff on the light bulb above core listings as well.
I closed my store due to lack of sales.
I don't appreciate Ebay trying to whisk my potential buyers away to EE where I now have no option to appear.
That little light bulb and the ads at the bottom of the listing pages that take people off ebay to Amazon and other sites is the reason behind my opening an elsewhere site.
And, it was 100% of the reason why I decided NOT to go with Pro-stores. My trust of Ebay and anything tied to them is fading fast. That is a fact but one that continues to make me very sad as I once loved Ebay and thought it was the best solution for all.
[email protected] May-30-07 12:58 PDT 57 of 91
Dear jtrothaarsjtrothaars (post 45)
I apologize for the frustration you appear to be having with FB 2.0. As I mentioned before, I will have the Trust and Safety team review all the comments made today and provide more clarity.
I also wanted to address your comment about “This is really the problem. No one at the stores board or ebay truly communicates with us. Oh, we can go to ebay live and hear how important we are, then sit the rest of the year ignored by staff, while changes are introduced without communicating them to us.“ Communication with you is a big part of our the Stores Team’s job, and we acknowledge that it is an essential ingredient to any successful business. While we spend a good part of our week on communication, this is admittedly a smaller part of our job than say members of eBay’s Community team or the Stores Customer Support team. We try to contribute as much as we can to board discussions and emails sent directly to us daily. We do read the threads on the boards each day, but don’t always have the time to respond to the threads because we are working on activities such as improving the product, developing educational resources, fixing bugs, conducting research with users, etc.
A key purpose of the discussion boards is to provide users with a vehicle to network and socialize with other eBay users, in this case, eBay Stores sellers. If there is a particular comment or question that needs to be addressed by the Stores team, please send an email to [email protected] and a team member will respond in a timely manner.
Regards, eBay Stores Team
onepreciousplace (1766 ) May-30-07 12:58 PDT 58 of 91
Regarding the new feedback, as a buyer, I give everyone all stars because I don't have time to keep track of how long it took to get my stuff, and because as I know as a seller I'd like to get four stars. The whole thing is really worthless. I will say, however, that in considering going back to selling again, this new feedback option has really put me off of even trying it. I live out in the sticks, and am now dealing with a handicap to boot, so as much as I try, sometimes it would be tough for me to meet the customer's demands on an item. I also absolutely HATE the fact that anyone without making an effort at all, where they used to at least have to click on the auction number, can now see what I buy under my buying ID, and already it is giving me a hassle, because people are e-mailing thru ebay if they have things in the category I buy a lot in, trying to get me to buy both on and off-auction from them - and that also really stinks! I get enough e-mail as it is without eBay making it easier for sellers to find my niche and get to me quickly - at least before, if they wanted me, they had to open the auction to see what I bought. Someone didn't have their head screwed on straight when they came up with that idea - UGH!!!
~ Sheryl ~
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 13:00 PDT 59 of 91
Gene - and the Stores Team - Maybe you should ask US if these gadgets you are developing are indeed USEFUL and not just bells and whistles? I want to be able to have the t&D box checked.
wjkski (133 ) May-30-07 13:00 PDT 60 of 91
Gene - re:your post #50
Your post caught my attention in that I would like to be able to link category items. For example, when I list an envelope with a specific postmark, I would also like to link the stamp, and a sheet of that stamp, and similar items to the postmark. Is that what you are considering?
golfingaddict (11313 ) May-30-07 13:04 PDT 61 of 91
Well I am a store seller and I want buyers to be able to find my items. The way search works really can help or hurt sales.. I don't understand how the best match or new checkboxes affect store listings. I'm sorry I asked such a hard question or a question that doesn't pertain to stores.
And to add to the problems, eBay express was pretty highly advertised and announced as a big deal last year. But the problem is, not ALL categories are eligible for express.. Since express rolled, they got a tab on the header and stores got the shaft. The store items are suppose to show up in express, but if our category is not supported, we don't get exposure there either.
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 13:07 PDT 62 of 91
Postings are disappearing.
What's going on?
kingst (2560 ) May-30-07 13:08 PDT 63 of 91
they are removing what they dont like
[email protected] May-30-07 13:08 PDT 64 of 91
golfingaddict (re: 42),
Looking back at our decision to remove Store Inventory from the main search results in April 2006, we do believe it was the right move; however, we do regret that it created churn for our sellers – and Bill Cobb acknowledged this several times at eBay Live and other forums.
It’s important to understand that the number of incremental auction listings that result from a promotion pales in comparison to the number of Store Inventory items that became discoverable in search in early 2006, by a magnitude of about 20x.
Our goal at eBay is to enable our sellers to achieve as much success as possible. This is why you see us focus so much on the buyer experience because that’s what drives buyer discovery, purchases, and ultimately sales to our sellers. We are not motivated to punish any subset of users, so you shouldn’t expect any punitive fee increase targeted at Store Inventory users. Any decision we make is for the overall health of the marketplace.
Regards,
Darlene
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 13:08 PDT 65 of 91
I wanted to thank the Stores team and look forward to the answers we will be seeing from other areas.
I'll be watching for them.
[email protected] May-30-07 13:08 PDT 66 of 91
Dear neglus (re: 59),
Hi. The improvments we'll be making to the finding features within Stores are in direct response to feedback we've consistently getting from Store sellers over the past couple of years. They're pretty straightforward but powerful ways to make sure that buyers see everything within your Stores that match what they're looking for. We hope everyone will be very pleased and will see changes they've requested.
And I take your point on preferring to have that Description box checked by default. We definitely want you to be selling as much as you can, so we'll be looking at the impact this has on buyers' behavior overall.
Thanks. Take care.
Gene
kingst (2560 ) May-30-07 13:09 PDT 67 of 91
since we have time # 38 has not been addressed
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 13:10 PDT 68 of 91
Darlene, then please pass on to whoever is doing everything here that the buyer experience is suffering due to:
1. Loss of lower priced items due to high Ebay fees.
2. Search becoming so complicated you can no longer find what you want (and only what you want).
[email protected] May-30-07 13:13 PDT 69 of 91
Dear wjkski (re: 60),
Hi. In post 50, I was talking about ways for buyers to find what they were originally looking for within a Store. It sounds like you're talking about merchandidising within a Store (helping them find things that they weren't necessarily looking for). The best way to do that within a Store is through Promotion Boxes, through which you can choose either specific items or items within a specific category to merchandise when a buyer is looking within a certain category within your store. Please let me know if you have suggestions of ways we can make that more useful for you.
Thanks. Take care.
Gene
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 13:14 PDT 70 of 91
And, where are you getting the input from store sellers that are impacting the changes?
I need to know a better way to get my ideas across to Ebay and if you are listening to some sellers requests maybe we could all chime in and be heard.
[email protected] May-30-07 13:15 PDT 71 of 91
golfingaddict (re: #61),
I know the eBay Express team is always looking at what categories are included, so there may be some additions in the future.
There have been many questions about the new header, so I also want to address that. A decision was made to include eBay Express and eBay Motors because they represent standalone marketplaces that both have a distinct buyer experience (e.g. different search engine, site layout, etc.).
Regards,
Darlene
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 13:16 PDT 72 of 91
What about the "Seller other items" at the bottom of each listing page (the one that features 4-12 items?) The items often have no relevance. At one time we could just say that we wanted to use ebay categories to promote but that seems to be gone now and items are going to top level of our categories only. There is a limit to the number of categories we can set up to select cross promotions - any thought to expanding that function?
postcardsandmore (4260 ) May-30-07 13:16 PDT 73 of 91
Gene, call me simple minded but wouldn't a check mark in title and description at the top of the page allow people to actually search the entire store and see what they are searching for (if it exists).
I don't see anything that could work better than a plain jane search box that actually worked (meaning all items returned and not some missing here and there the way they continually turn up MIA).
golfingaddict (11313 ) May-30-07 13:16 PDT 74 of 91
so you shouldn’t expect any punitive fee increase targeted at Store Inventory users. Any decision we make is for the overall health of the marketplace.
Oh I see, a punitive fee increase that will help the health of the marketplace.. Not aimed at us, but to help everyone. Thanks
chopsueysisters (2046 ) May-30-07 13:18 PDT 75 of 91
Is there a reason why you wont respond to the Shop Ebay Stores box question or are you trying to figure out how to tell me nothing has changed. I've upgraded off and on 3x in a year. I know a bit about how things impact my ability to sell
CSS
Glitch, Glitch!!
It's a wonderful day in the neighbor'hood
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 13:18 PDT 76 of 91
Ebay Express is NOT a stand alone marketplace - without STORES there would only be very limited number of listings in EE - mostly media from Half.com
kingst (2560 ) May-30-07 13:20 PDT 77 of 91
really, lets get back to #38 or WHY THE SELLER IS ALWAYS WRONG
we sellers are your customers plain and simple....not the buyers
[email protected] May-30-07 13:21 PDT 78 of 91
Dear postcardsandmore (post 70)
eBay does extensive outreach to the Community with programs such as: Home Visits, Focus Groups, Usability Testing, The Voices Program and much much more. If you have any specific suggestions/comments regarding the eBay Stores product, please feel free to send us an email directly at [email protected].
eBay Stores Team
[email protected] May-30-07 13:21 PDT 79 of 91
postcardsandmore (re: 62) and kingstkingst (re: 63),
Just to confirm, we haven’t removed any posts. Some of us are seeing issues with our margins and we are working with Liveworld to correct that – this could be the problem you are noticing.
Darlene
Page 2 of 3
91 replies Date posted Reply #
stuff-4-me (29 ) May-30-07 13:22 PDT 80 of 91
How about an answer to #7... or do you maintain that an announcement posted by StoresTeam, on the Stores board about finding Store inventory is NOT a Store issue?
My particular question is: How will this new finding change affect the finding of store inventory?
Are you indded, as it seems to me, opening up the stores inventory search to auctions and Core BIN? Does this dilute or take away a store inventory only search?
How will this affect the finding of STORE inventory?
kingst (2560 ) May-30-07 13:25 PDT 81 of 91
on feedback they said it was tested in europe, how can this be? when we search any bidders in europe we are told that due to laws of their country we cant see what the bought or bid on! yet under my seller feedback plain and simple it is listed on the front page what i sold and how much. granted it was there before but one had to do a little digging!
katiyana (3869 ) May-30-07 13:25 PDT 82 of 91
Greetings to the eBay Stores Team!
Sorry I got in too late to participate in the BBL this month - I just wanted to say that traffic is WAY down in MY store compared to last year, and the combination of higher fees & less traffic is having a major negative impact on the eBay segment of my business.
I'm doing all the right things to draw traffic into my store and it's not working any more... give us some new ideas, could you please???
Katiyana's Collectibles
stuff-4-me (29 ) May-30-07 13:25 PDT 83 of 91
Uh... POSTS ARE BEING PULLED. My post #7 has been pulled! Could it be that you do not want to answer it as you have ignored that question and my subsequent questions relating to it?
POST HAVE INDEED BEEN PULLED.
[email protected] May-30-07 13:26 PDT 84 of 91
Dear chopsueysisters,
Hi. There are three main factors that go into determining which Stores show up in the Shop eBay Stores box to the left of search results:
1) Number of items in the matching search results from a particular Store (Store inventory is only counted in this total if the original search included them--this is a technical limitation, not our preference)
2) The subscription tier of the seller (higher tier sellers get higher placement as a part of their subscription fees)
3) A preference for domestic over international items
So subscription is definitely a consideration, but number of items is most important. Could you please send the URL of a page that seems to be performing strangely to you to [email protected], and we'll ask our engineering team to make sure there's not a problem?
Thanks. Take care.
Gene
stuff-4-me (29 ) May-30-07 13:27 PDT 85 of 91
StoresTeam - you had 90 minutes to answer the question abotu YOUR OWN announcement... and not only failed to answer the question - BUT YOU PULLED THE QUESTION FROM THE THREAD!
This is the typical, shameful, way Store sellers are treated regaridng any kind of communication on issues.
[email protected] May-30-07 13:28 PDT 86 of 91
kingst (re: 38 and 77),
I apologize that your experience has shown that there is no due process for sellers. Our Trust and Safety team works to evaluate each violation and take the appropriate course of action based on the situation. More broadly, eBay is a marketplace comprised of buyers AND sellers – if it were “just about the buyers” or “just about the sellers” then we’d have a severe imbalance and would’ve limited the marketplace’s success long ago.
Regards,
Darlene
neglus (16005 ) May-30-07 13:29 PDT 87 of 91
I would like to know how the "Change to Search Options Selection Criteria" announcement will affect our businesses too!
[email protected] May-30-07 13:30 PDT 88 of 91
Stores Community,
Thank you for participating in this Month’s discussion. The thread is now locked to new posts.
We will be going through the entire thread to make sure all questions are answered. Please check back for the completed thread.
Thank you again for joining us today. Stay tuned for details about the June Stores Brown Bag Lunch event.
We look forward to seeing many of you at eBay Live! in Boston. You still have time to register. For details go to: www.ebay.com/ebaylive.
Regards, eBay Stores Team
wjkski (133 ) May-30-07 13:31 PDT 89 of 91
Thanks for an informative BBL. I did learn something today. Just try a bit more communication with us in the future.
[email protected] May-30-07 13:31 PDT 90 of 91
Dear CSS:
In response to your post #53. I cannot give you a detailed explanation in regards to your actual numbers of listings available vs. total number of listings based on the search criteria you have provided, but I can explain at a high level how exposure in the Shop eBay Stores Search Box operates. The Shop eBay Stores Search Box has a ranking algorithm that takes into account relevancy, subscriber Store tier and number of listings in determining what results to display. In your particular scenario, it could very well be possible that your Store was not returned because the results that did surface were more relevant and came from subscribers of higher Store tiers. I hope that helps explain the behavior. We appreciate your questions.
Thanks,
Raj
[email protected] May-30-07 13:34 PDT 91 of 91
Dear katiyana (post 82)
To maximize the success of your Store, take advantage of all the powerful tools and features offered with your eBay Stores subscription and by eBay. We encourage you to print off the Checklist For Success and cross off each step as you progress.
Go to: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/checklist.html to download.
Regards, eBay Stores
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