If you are selling on eBay, be sure to educate yourself on changes taking effect this fall and into 2017. While some features will be available to you as early as October, others are in the works and expected to roll out next year. Here’s a quick look at what’s new.
Structured Data helps refine product searches. This change enables your products to appear on merchandising pages, and makes searches on eBay and via external search engines more targeted. In addition, eBay intends to expand its list of categories requiring product identifiers and, early next year, will begin accepting a larger range of identifiers, including Google and Amazon numbers.
Phasing out Active Content will streamline your site experience. Expect faster loading speeds and better security, as well as an improved mobile shopping experience, once Active Content disappears in late spring 2017.
More control for sellers. eBay will do more to help sellers understand the ramifications of not meeting minimum performance standards plus provide additional time for resolving issues. In addition, in response to seller feedback, starting in October eBay will give buyers increased shipping and returns options, including exchanges or replacement items vs. refunds, and an update to the Return Preferences page, which will allow sellers to more easily set their individual preferences about returns.
More tools in Seller Hub. Effective spring 2017, eBay intends to stop supporting older tools, such as Selling Manager, in favor Seller Hub. Seller Hub already features the older tools you know and like, and will roll out new tools as well. Turbo Lister access will cease after next June, but all of its key functionality is already incorporated into Seller Hub. If you haven’t already shifted your operations to Seller Hub, now’s the time.
The Bottom Line
eBay continued to listen to its sellers and offer enhancements and new tools to improve your experience as a seller. For more information, visit eBay’s 2016 Fall Seller Update page and I Love to Be Selling’s handy tip sheet explaining the changes.
