eBay Fall 2021 Update
UPDATE: 9-8-21: The Fall Update is here! I'll be updating this post with my thoughts throughout the day.
Category Changes & Item Specifics Updates
Starting in October 2021, if you listed an item in an affected category and your listing is impacted by the changes, eBay will automatically move your listing to the most relevant category. As a result of the changes to the category structure, if your listing is moved to a different category, you may experience a change in the fees (either an increase or decrease). See new category changes.
Make sure to check this section carefully to see what categories will be affected by category name and/or item specifics requirement changes. After the Spring 2021 update, many sellers were caught off guard when category changes went into effect and there was a lot of frustration and glitches as item specifics had to be re-entered for items moved to new categories.
Send Coded Coupons To Buyer Groups
eBay is adding the ability to send coded coupons to targeted buyer groups.
The following coded coupons options will be available starting in October.
Launching in October:
Send a coded coupon to your previous buyers to encourage repeat business
Launching in the next few months:
Send a coded coupon to your followers on eBay
Send a coded coupon to eligible buyers who have expressed an interest in the type of inventory you sell
They're also adding in reporting functionality to track the performance of coupon campaigns.
Measuring the impact of coded coupons
Within the new segmentation section in the Seller Hub Marketing tab, you’ll have access to data to monitor your campaign activity. In the future, you’ll see additional reporting capabilities that you’ll be able to use to measure the success of your campaigns.
Promoted Listings Expansion & Rebrand
eBay is rolling out the beta version of Promoted Listings Advanced (CPC) and officially rebranding the cost per sale ad model as Promoted Listings Standard.
There's an important note about changes to ad attribution as well -
In addition, the way your sales are attributed has switched from what's called "first-click attribution" to "last-click attribution" for both Promoted Listings Standard and Advanced. This means:
If you participate in both types of campaigns, a sale will be attributed only to the campaign that the listing was in when the last paid click occurred.
For example:
If your listing is clicked in a Promoted Listings Standard ad and then clicked and purchased through an Advanced ad, the sale will be attributed to the Advanced ad. This means you will only pay for the click on the Advanced ad.
If a buyer clicks on an Advanced ad, and then later purchases your item through a Standard ad, the sale will be attributed to the Standard ad, and you will pay the Standard ad fee. Please note: you will still be charged for every click on an Advanced ad.
If you only run a Standard campaign, you will be charged the ad rate that is in effect at the time of the buyer’s last click.For example:
If a buyer clicks on your Promoted Listings Standard ad when the ad rate is 5%, then later clicks the ad again when you’ve changed the ad rate to 4%, and then makes a purchase within the 30-day attribution window, you will pay the 4% ad rate in effect at the time of that last click.
Eligible sellers will be able to opt in to Promoted Listings advanced later this month, though the announcement doesn't give any ideas as to what might make a seller eligible to participate.
The new stores experience was launched during eBay Open Online and it looks like there will be a few new features added "in the coming weeks"
Over the coming weeks, you’ll also see new features to improve how you engage buyers on your Store, including:
- Manage your Store from a dedicated tab in Seller Hub—It will be easier than ever to manage your Store, with a dedicated Stores tab in Seller Hub. Add your logo and customize your Store—all from one easy access point
- Showcase featured products—Choose what products you want to showcase. Buyers will see them in a dedicated module at the top of your Store.
- Highlight your categories for easy, visual navigation—Choose which categories to draw attention to, and give your buyers a quick, visual way to navigate what you offer
- Marketing banners—Create clickable marketing banners to grab buyers’ attention and showcase products, sales, or promotions
- Set expectations with customized policy blocks—Let buyers know what to expect when it comes to things like shipping, returns, or warranty services
- Newsletter sign-up from your About tab—In the coming weeks, a new button will appear in your Store’s About tab to encourage buyers to sign up for your newsletters
I'm interested to test out the marketing banners and policy blocks in particular - giving sellers more flexibility in design and the ability to draw attention to important information could be a really great step!
New Research & Performance Resources
It looks like eBay has finally made some improvements to the Listing Quality Report that was launched earlier this year.
This month, the Listing Quality Report will be available to download in three formats:
- A PDF “one-page summary”
- An Excel “full report” with one tab per category
- A CSV “raw data” file, to be exported for further analysis
In the past, you could see the analysis of your 10 categories with the most live listings. You’ll now be in control of which categories will show up in the report. You’ll also have the option to keep the existing analysis, using the top 10 categories with the most live listings.
Also updates to the Sales Report and Terapeak:
There are new enhancements to the Sales report in the Performance tab. You can now filter sales by “Year to Date,” look back at sales data for up to 1 year, and filter by sales via Promoted Listings or offers.
You’ll soon also be able to see:
Sales insights. Sales by category and by listing format (auction vs. fixed price).
Buyer insights. You’ll be able to see new vs. repeat buyers and total buyers,
New search functions. You’ll be able to search by item ID or title.
Terapeak Sourcing Insights
You can use Terapeak Sourcing Insights to see the top 20 searched categories on eBay, based on sales from the previous 30 days. Find this under a new tab called “Top Categories.”Terapeak Product Research
You’ll notice that Terapeak Product Research has a new look and feel. The search box and data range options make it easier for you to look for the research you need. You can also filter the details.
Side Note: Terapeak Sourcing Insights still isn't working for some sellers in the Motors Categories.
Multi User Account Access & Two Step Verification
Add additional permissions for multi-user account access to give staff access to manage refunds, requests, and disputes, scheduled listings, unsold listings, and ended listings pages, and take other actions based on their permissions.
Two step verification now has an option to designate "trusted devices".
There are a lot of sections here and legalese to get through. I'll be doing a deeper dive in the next few days, but for now it looks like eBay has specifically called attention to cancellation policies and required seller information for Managed Payments.
Many sellers were confused and frustrated by eBay's lack of plain language and transparency on this one - especially since the community staff couldn't give any real clear answer as to what exactly had changed.
9-7-21:
Sellers have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of a Fall update from eBay, which usually happens around the first or second week in September.
I noticed today they announced tomorrow's weekly community chat with eBay staff has been canceled - which they usually do when updates are released to allow the community staff to be available to answer questions.
It also looks like eBay has already created a URL in the community for it, there's just nothing posted yet.
Could tomorrow be the day? I'll update when more information becomes available.
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