Spring 2017 eBay UK Seller Release

eBay UK’s first seller release for 2017 is bringing in changes to seller performance standards, new benefits when you offer a 30-day free returns policy, and restrictions on where you can display contact information.

We’ve put together a summary of the changes that will be coming in the next few months and how they might affect you as an eBay seller.

New benefits for offering extended returns policies

When: Autumn 2017

What’s changing: If you offer a free 30-day return policy or better you will benefit from improved search filters and free returns will be highlighted on listings to increase their visibility.

eBay will also be bringing in some changes to protect sellers:

• Sellers that offer free returns will be able to decide for themselves if they want to offer less than a full refund when the item is not returned in the same condition that it was sent (damaged or not in its original packaging etc).
  
• Better detection of buyers misusing returns to prevent them from starting a return, and more preventative measures against buyers misusing returns.
  

What do you need to do: If you want to update your returns policy to offer at least 30-day free returns you can change it in the listing form fields or under business policies.

Seller performance standards changes for international sales

When: May 2017

What’s changing: Late deliveries will no longer count against your late delivery metrics for ‘emerging markets’, as long as you tell eBay that the item was dispatched on time and make it right with the buyer if any problems occur. Any negative or neutral feedback caused by late deliveries to these countries will be removed. Find out which countries are classified as ‘emerging markets’ here.

What do you need to do: For deliveries to ‘emerging markets’ you can manually mark items as dispatched and add tracking details when they’re available - buyers will also be able to let eBay know if the item arrived on time.

When: August 2017

What’s changing: Currently your Global seller performance standard is calculated from your transactions within the UK and Ireland, representing your selling activity even on international eBay sites. From August, each transaction will only count towards either your Global or your UK & Ireland seller performance standards’, based on where the item is sent to rather than where the buyer is registered. This means that if you sell on international eBay sites that are part of the Global region and you become a Top-rated seller, your listings will stand out much more on these sites.

What do you need to do: Once the changes come into effect your Global seller level will be protected for 6 months if you’re an eBay Top-rated Seller, and if you’re an Above Standard Seller your account will be protected from falling Below Standard for 3 months.

Late delivery rate

When: August 2017

What’s changing: The late delivery rate requirement will change for UK & Ireland eBay Top-rated sellers from 4% to 3%.

What do you need to do: You’ll be able to view your Seller Standards dashboard status preview reflecting the new threshold from 20 July 2017.

Seller hub updates

When: June 2017

What’s changing: eBay will no longer offer technical support, feature updates or bug fixes for Turbo lister and Active Content will be blocked.

Seller Hub now also offers insights on improving your listings, which products you should be sourcing, and price suggestions for products that have product identifiers.

What do you need to do: You will need to find a replacement for Turbo Lister or start using eBay’s Seller Hub, and remove all active content before 7 June - find out more about replacing Active Content here.

Contact information and links policy change

When: September 2017

What’s changing: You’ll no longer be allowed to share your contact information in item descriptions, images, or your eBay Shop or seller profile. The only place your contact details will be available to buyers is in the business seller information sections. This change won’t apply to Classified Ads.

eBay’s links policy will also be updated - links that take customers outside of eBay are only allowed from approved domains as long as they link to information on delivery services, product videos or other legally required information. This won’t affect externally hosted pictures and CSS media files.

What do you need to do: Remove contact details such as your phone number, email address, and social media profiles from all item descriptions, images, eBay Shop pages and your seller profile. eBay will let you know if your listings include contact information that’s not allowed, and offer advice about how to change your listings. From September 2017, you won’t be able to relist items that contain contact information, and any attempt to work around this will be considered a policy breach by eBay.

You’ll also need to remove links that are no longer allowed, and any remaining links will need to use the target=”_blank” attribute in your HTML item description. Until the end of 2017 eBay will automatically correct any links that don’t contain that attribute.

VAT charges on eBay fees

When: 1 August 2017

What’s changing: UK based eBay sellers will now have a contract with eBay (UK) Limited instead of eBay Europe S.a.r.l. - net fees won’t be affected, there’ll be no change to eBay’s service and you won’t need to update any listings.

If you don’t already pay VAT on your eBay fees you’ll start being charged VAT from 1 August.

Image opt-out

When: 31 July

What’s changing: You’ll no longer be able to opt your images out of eBay’s catalogue. After the end of July eBay will be able to use any image provided in a listing that’s created, relisted or renewed (including automatically renewed listings). Images will be available to other sellers to use when they are listings the same products.

What do you need to do: If you’re happy for your images to be used in the catalogue you don’t need to do anything. If you don’t want your images to be part of eBay’s catalogue you need to remove them before 10 July and use a different image. For images with restricted image licences or from a third-party provider, you’ll need to obtain a licence that allows the image to be shared.

Category and item specifics

When: June 2017

What’s changing: More categories will now offer parts compatibility, some categories will be combined and new subcategories are being added.

See all category changes here.  

What do you need to do: If the categories that you list in are being changed they will be automatically moved to the most relevant category/subcategory - you’ll need to check affected listings to make sure they are moved to the correct category. Listings for items with parts compatibility should include all necessary item specifics so they appear in search results.

Summary: eBay UK Seller Release Spring 2017

• May: Late deliveries won’t count against late delivery metric for ‘emerging’ markets
  
• June: Turbo lister will no longer be supported and Active Content will be banned.
  
• June: Category changes and parts compatibility.
  
• July: No longer able to opt images out of eBay’s catalogue
  
• August: each transaction will only count towards either your UK & Ireland or Global seller performance standard
  
• August: late delivery rate requirement for UK & Ireland Top-rated sellers will change from 4% to 3%.
  
• August: VAT will be charged on all eBay seller fees.
  
• September: Can no longer share your contact information in item descriptions, images, or your eBay Shop or seller profile.
  
• Autumn: Improved search filters if you offer 30-day free returns or better