eBay announced its monthly seller update for October on Wednesday, and it includes a policy that levels the playing field a bit for US sellers. eBay now requires a US-based return address for items sold on eBay.com that are shipped from the US, it informed foreign sellers. Domestic sellers are often critical of perceived favoritism provided by online marketplaces to overseas sellers, especially sellers from China.
eBay also referenced “Auto Price Reduction” in passing (possibly by mistake), a feature that began appearing for some sellers over the summer but one eBay has yet to announce.
In the US, the October announcement included three updates:
Starting Oct 20, eBay will automatically enroll sellers in fitment-enabled categories to Fitment Plus Auto (FPA). “This new feature automatically updates your P&A listings with the latest fitment data. This lets buyers find the right parts for their vehicle, helping you boost your sales and maintain your listings more efficiently.”
eBay said FPA will add “missing or updated information” to listings that already include fitment data, and it will automatically add fitment data to listings without any fitment data.
eBay also announced that sellers could use a feature called Team Access “to share eBay account tasks with multiple team members safely and efficiently from a single dashboard.” The feature had previously been called Multi-User Account Access.
And it mentioned the eBay Ambassador Program, previously announced in August. eBay advised sellers that the program could help them “grow your brand and earn a commission for sharing your eBay listings across social channels.”
On the US Announcement Board post announcing this month’s Seller Update, eBay announced: “Our Auto Price Reduction feature automatically reduces prices for unsold listings to reach more buyers and help them sell.” However, there was no mention of the feature when clicking through to “read more.”
Numerous sellers had discussed the Auto Price Reduction feature over the summer when it appeared the unannounced feature was available to some but not all sellers, such as this post on the eBay discussion boards that included screenshots of the feature.
Also noteworthy, the eBay UK October Seller Update included information about a change to feedback called Refined protection against mixed feedback, explaining, “Feedback containing unfair comments will be hidden and sent back to the buyer to review.”