Auctioncope Auction Blog

Printing international shipping labels is now possible with Paypal and at USPS.com.  All of the customs forms you need will print along with the label so you won’t need to fill out any forms at the Post Office.  Since it’s complicated to figure out what forms you need and how to fill them out, it is usually easier to print shipping labels online.  You also save between 5-8% when printing international shipping labels online compared to the price you would pay at the Post Office.  I prefer to print shipping labels at USPS.com because Paypal does not include the Express Mail International Flat Rate Envelope as an option, which is my most common shipping mehod.  They also don’t have First Class International as an option.  Printing international labels the first couple times may seem a bit daunting, but once you figure out how to fill out the forms you should be able to complete them quickly.  Here’s what to do:

This guide is picture heavy so click below to read the complete guide:

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One of the most frustrating aspects of selling on eBay is dealing with bidders that do not pay for the auction items they’ve won.  EBay has a process set up to coax buyers into paying for their items and for sellers to recover final value fees on items that aren’t paid for.  It’s a lengthy process that can take a minimum of 14 days if your buyer does not respond to the case.  You have to wait 7 days after the item ended to open an unpaid item dispute and an additional 7 days to close it and receive a final value fee credit.  Even then, your insertion fee will not be refunded and the cost of any additional listing upgrades will also not be refunded.  Proactively dealing with unpaid items will save you considerable money in final value fees and make you more aware of when its safe to relist an item.

You can also use the mutual agreement to cancel a transaction to recover the final value fee if the buyer returns the item.  Not a lot of sellers take advantage of this, but it can mean serious savings when the final value fee is 8-12 percent of the price of the item.

This guide is picture heavy so click below to read the entire guide:

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What Does It Mean to be Paypal Verified?

In order to become “Paypal Verified” in the United States, Paypal requires users to confirm their identity by providing their bank account number and bank routing information. Paypal will make two small deposits into the account and you have to check the bank statement and enter the two amounts into Paypal.  This proves that you have access to the account.  Bank account verification doesn’t really confirm your identity though, because Paypal can’t actually see what name is attached to the bank account in most instances.  This means you could add anyone’s bank account information and as long as you have access to the account statement by mail or online you could register it as your own.

This guide is picture heavy so click below to read the entire guide:

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What is the Paypal 21 Day Payment Hold and Why Does Paypal Have This Policy?

At the beginning of 2008, Paypal instituted a policy dubbed the “21-Day Hold.”  This policy gives Paypal the right to restrict sellers from withdrawing a buyer’s payment from their Paypal account.  In effect, this denies the seller access to their money for at least 21 days, depending on whether or not the buyer is satisfied with the item they receive.  Paypal instituted this policy when they began beefing up their “Paypal Buyer Protection Policy.“  Paypal tells buyers that they will receive a refund from Paypal if they go through dispute resolution properly and their complaint qualifies for a refund. In reality, the money for the refund comes from the seller’s account, rather than Paypal’s own pot of gold.  To guarantee that the money will be readily available should a refund be necessary, Paypal holds the payment to give the buyer ample time to report a problem.  In the past, sellers had the opportunity to sell expensive items, collect payment, withdraw the money to their checking account, and then disappear.  Paypal would try to get the money back for the buyers but they would make no guarantee.  If Paypal was unable to retrieve the funds then the buyer would be out of luck and receive nothing unless they paid with a credit card and filed a chargeback.

The major problem with this policy is that Paypal doesn’t make it clear to sellers that this is going to happen. The only warning is a little blurb on the first page of the eBay Sell Your Item form under “Decide how you’d like to be paid.”   People making their first couple of sales on eBay are generally overwhelmed by the amount of policies in place, not to mention all of the other information they have to learn to be successful on eBay.  I’ve run a seminar that lasted more than two hours on nothing but item titles.  The amount of knowledge necessary to find success on eBay is staggering.  Many new sellers that receive the email saying Paypal is holding their hard earned money panic and don’t know what to do.  The question that comes up most often is, “Do I really send a $500 item across the country to someone I don’t know when I haven’t even been paid for it?”  The obvious answer is “no way.”  Unfortunately, when selling on eBay this is what you are forced to do.  No exceptions.

How Do I Know If A Payment is Being Held by Paypal?

The email you receive from service@paypal when the buyer submits payment will have the subject, “NOTICE OF PAYMENT RECEIVED – PLEASE SHIP ITEM.”  The email will look like this:

“You’ve received a payment, detailed below. We’ve placed a temporary hold on the funds for this transaction.

PayPal and eBay are working together to make payments for eBay items even safer. Because we want both buyers and sellers to feel confident about sending and receiving payments through PayPal, we may temporarily hold payments for items sold on eBay.

Make sure to ship the item right away, so you’ll have access to the funds sooner. We’ll release the hold in 21 days unless you receive a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal on the transaction subject to the hold. We may release the hold earlier if either of the following occurs:

• The buyer leaves you positive feedback on eBay.
• We confirm that the item was delivered.* We can confirm delivery if you ship the item with USPS, FedEx, or UPS and either use PayPal shipping labels or upload tracking information from the transaction details page. This applies to transactions within the United States.

Additional hold period

If you receive a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal on the transaction subject to the hold, we may hold the payment until the problem is resolved.”

The transaction details page in your Paypal account will have this disclaimer at the top:

When the funds are released you will receive another email from service@paypal.com with the subject, “NOTICE OF FUNDS AVAILABLE” and it will state relevant information like the buyer’s name, the amount of the transaction, and the transaction ID number.

Who is Subjected to the 21 Day Payment Hold?

The Paypal 21-Day Hold only happens on eBay sales because Paypal Buyer Protection is only valid on eBay purchases.  Remember, the only reason this policy exists is to benefit Paypal.  They don’t want to refund buyers out of their own pocket.  In order to guarantee the funds are available to refund, Paypal limits the seller’s ability to withdraw the money.

According to Paypal, they hold payments for sellers who meet any of the following conditions:

• You have been an eBay member for less than 6 months, and you sell an item for more than $100, or
• You have an eBay feedback score of less than 100, and you sell an item for more than $100, or
• You have a Buyer dissatisfaction percentage^** 5% or greater than 5%, or
• You have an average Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of less than 4.5, or
• You have received fewer than 20 Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 12 months, or
• You are listing your item in a high-risk category such as gift certificates, video games, cell phones, computers or consumer electronics.

If you meet any of these critera your money will be held by Paypal.  Paypal says the amount of transactions affected by the 21 Day Hold is “usually less than 5 percent.”  If there are currently around 27 million listings on eBay that means almost 1.5 million of those transactions will potentially be held by Paypal at one time or another.  Paypal will stop holding payments if you meet these criteria:

• You have been an eBay member for 6-months or more, and
• Your total Feedback score is 100 or greater, and
• Your Buyer dissatisfaction percentage^** is less than 5%.

Or

• Your average DSR is 4.5 or greater and
• Your have received 20 or more DSRs in the last 12-months
• Your buyer dissatisfaction percentage is less than 5%

Buyer dissatisfaction percentage is measured by adding negative events as a percentage of your transactions. Negative events include negative & neutral Feedback, Detailed Seller Ratings scores of 2 or lower, and disputes for items not received or significantly not as described.

Like with Selling Limits, Paypal holds payments based on each individual UserID.  This means that if you create a new UserID you will be subjected to the Paypal 21 Day Hold as though you have no selling history with eBay.  You could have an account with a feedback score of 10,000 with 100% positive feedback, but if you open new UserID you will still have Paypal holds on that new UserID.

When Does Paypal Release The Funds?

As explained before, the purpose of the hold is to keep the buyer’s payment in the seller’s Paypal account until Paypal can confirm the buyer is satisfied with the transaction.  Paypal is then off the hook to cover the payment under “Buyer Protection” so they are willing to release the money.  Paypal will release the funds earlier than 21 days if the buyer leaves positive feedback or 3 days after Paypal confirms the item was delivered.  Paypal can only confirm delivery if you shipped the item through Paypal MultiOrder Shipping or the “Print Shipping Label” button from the Paypal transaction details page.  If you ship your items at the Post Office or print the shipping labels from USPS.com or another website and manually input tracking information, Paypal will not be able to confirm delivery and you will have to wait the full 21 days unless a buyer leaves positive feedback.  The problem with this is that Paypal does not release any part of the payment including the shipping charge.  This means you will have to pay for shipping out of your own pocket.  Also, if you don’t have any money in your Paypal account when you accept the payment that gets held, you will either have to print the shipping label elsewhere, wait to transfer funds to Paypal from a checking account, or pay with a credit card.

I don’t recommend hounding buyers begging them to leave positive feedback so your funds will be released.  If you are concerned about getting your payment as soon as possible you should check the Delivery Confirmation number or tracking information to make sure the item has been delivered.  If it has, send the buyer a message through eBay asking if they received the item and whether or not they are satisfied with it.  If they respond that they are, ask them nicely to leave positive feedback and tell them you’ll do the same.  This should also get you higher Detailed Seller Ratings as it appears that you’re concerned about the buyer’s satisfaction.  If you printed the shipping label through Paypal, they are pretty good about releasing payments automatically like they say they will.  If you check the Delivery Confirmation or tracking number and 5 or more days have passed since it shows it was delivered and the payment still has not been released, you can call Paypal at 1-888-221-1161.  Tell them that the item has been delivered and you are wondering when the payment will be released.  They should be able to release it if there’s no problem with the transaction.  You won’t get anywhere trying to email them as their email support is completely worthless.

What If A Seller Refuses to Ship the Item Unless the Buyer Leaves Positive Feedback or Refuses to Ship Until 21 Days Passes?

This is an unfortunate consequence of the 21 Day Hold.  Some sellers will see that the payment is being held by Paypal for 21 days and refuse to ship the item to the buyer.  If you purchase an item and the seller refuses to ship it you should link them to this article that explains what the 21 Day Hold is.  If they still refuse to ship the item unless you leave positive feedback or wait 21 days you should open a dispute in the Paypal Resolution Center.  Do not agree to wait 3 weeks for your item or leave positive feedback before the item is received and you are satisfied with it.  Paypal will refund your payment if the seller doesn’t.

How Can I Get Around the 21 Day Hold?

Unlike with Selling Limits or Search Delay , this is one policy that there isn’t really any way of getting around.  The only way to get around it in the future is to sell items and receive excellent Detailed Seller Ratings.  Paypal and eBay are extraordinarily good at doing one thing – making and keeping money.  It’s in Paypal’s best interest to hold as many payments as possible so they won’t have to refund buyer’s payments out of their own pocket.  If they thought they could get away with holding every payment they probably would.  As a seller, you will have to play the game eBay’s way.  Your best bet is to ship your items immediately and print the shipping labels via Paypal.  If you ship Priority Mail the day after you receive payment, you should get the funds released to you within 7 days (4 days in transit and 3 days to confirm delivery).

The 21 Day Hold isn’t necessarily a ridiculous policy.  It guarantees that the seller will not receive payment for an item and disappear into the night.  Many merchant accounts require sellers to keep money in a rolling reserve to cover chargebacks.  This is the same idea.  The problem is that Paypal doesn’t make it clear to buyers and sellers that the policy exists.  As usual, they also also don’t do an adequate job of explaining why it exists.  They’re so caught up in their happy bureaucratic hocus pocus talk that they’re entirely unable to give it to us straight.   As the seller, you aren’t in any additional danger of losing the payment if it’s held for 21 days.  Long after all of your payments are instant, you still run the risk of buyers filing bogus disputes and chargebacks.  If you don’t have the money to cover the refund in your Paypal account, Paypal will try to get it from your bank.  If that doesn’t work they send it to collections.  If you ship quickly and properly you should have no problem getting most payments released within a week.  The 21 Day Hold is another hassle that eBay has instituted in the past couple of years.  When you hear about eBay sellers being disgruntled and leaving the platform for other auction sites and payment services this is what they’re talking about.  If you’re willing to play the game, and it is ultimately worth it to do so, you can minimize the hassle if you play properly.

If you have any questions or part of this guide isn’t clear please leave a comment and I’ll try to clear it up.

What are Selling Limits and Why Does eBay Have Them?

EBay began limiting the amount of listings sellers could create at the end of 2006.  At the time, eBay was getting sued left and right for trademark infringement because of the amount of counterfeits and other fraudulent items that were readily available for sale on eBay.  The purpose of the policy is to limit how many “potentially infringing” items a seller can list in 30 days.  In eBay’s eyes, this minimizes the damage that any particular seller can do.  Plus, eBay can tell the courts that they’re proactively removing fraudulent listings and limiting the amount of potentially counterfeit items sellers are able to list.

What Items Does eBay Limit?

Sellers are only limited to the amount of listings they can create on certain items that eBay believes have a high chance of being fraudulent or counterfeit.  These items are usually brand name clothing and accessories, shoes, computer software, electronics, and similar items.  EBay has never made a list public and won’t tell you if a particular item counts towards the limit quota.  The best way to find out if an item will count towards your quota is to check to see if the item shows up immediately via keyword search.  If there is a delay between the time you submit an item and when it shows up in keyword search, then it is almost certainly an item that counts toward the limit.  If you are unfamiliar with eBay’s search delay, see my guide, My eBay Item Isn’t Showing Up in Search Results – What’s Wrong?.

How Does eBay Count Items Towards the Limit Quota?

EBay only uses the item title to identify what an item is.  For example, if you’re selling a Louis Vuitton purse, the only way eBay knows that you’re selling a Louis Vuitton is if you include the words “Louis Vuitton” in the item title.  If you do not include the brand name, eBay will allow you to list the item, even if your account is limited and even if you don’t change anything else in the listing.  I don’t recommend doing this because anyone who searches for “Louis Vuitton” will not see your listing in search results unless they include item descriptions in their search, which is rare.

How Do I Know If Seller Limits Have Been Placed on My Account?

EBay will not send you an email or contact you in any way if they have limited your account.  The only way you will find out is if you go to list an item and it shows a warning message on the “Review your listing page.”  This means that you could spend an hour creating a new listing only to have eBay tell you that you can’t list it.  If you’re concerned that you might be nearing your quota, you should edit the title of your item to how you want it and click through the Sell Your Item form to the “Review your listing” page.  If you don’t see an error message that looks like this at the top and bottom of the “review” page you will be allowed to list the item.

“Thank you for choosing eBay.

In order to maintain a safe trading environment, selling limits are occasionally placed on recently activated accounts. At this time, you are limited in the number of certain items you may list and/or revise in a 30 day period.

We sincerely value you as a member of our trading Community and look forward to a continued successful relationship with you.

Click here for a window with more information on eBay’s listing guidelines.

Click here for more information on limits that may affect your selling activity.”

You may also see a message like,

“In order to help maintain a safe trading environment, selling limits
are occasionally placed on listings. At this time, you are limited as
to the listing of certain items. Please do not attempt to relist this
item for 30 days.

Sellers who have a consistent positive selling history of such items
may be eligible to have these limits raised. If you would like eBay to
review your limits or if you have any additional questions, please
email us at Customer Support.

We sincerely value you as a member of our trading Community and look
forward to a continued successful relationship with you.”

How Many Items Can I List Before I’m Limited?

It depends on the category and how many items you list at a time.  For designer clothing, you should be able to list about 40 items before you receive the first limit.  EBay also counts items you revise as a new listing.  This means that if you make a mistake within a listing and go back to correct it, eBay will count it as a second submitted listing even if you are only selling the one item and make a minor change.  Every time you click “submit” on a listing, eBay will count it towards your seller limit as a new listing.  Because of this, you want to be certain that your listing is correct before submitting it to eBay, or you will waste precious listing credits.  Also, every second chance offer you send to a buyer counts as another item listed.  If you list one item for sale, revise it twice, and submit three best offers to buyers after it ends you would have used up 6 of your listings, even though you only listed one item.  Be careful with how you list and revise items if you’re concerned about reaching your selling limit quota. Also, consider sending a message to bidders asking them if they intend to accept before sending them a second chance offer.  This way, you won’t waste listings by sending second chance offers to buyers who don’t intend to purchase.

When Will the Selling Limit Expire?

EBay will tell you that you shouldn’t try to list the item for 30 days.  The listing limitation will not necessarily last that long though.  Once you don’t see the error message it’s safe to list the item.  If the account is newly registered, you’ll be allowed to list again 30 days from when the account was registered.  For example, if the account was registered on May 19, 2009, you’ll be able to list items again on June 18, 2009 at 12:01am Pacific time regardless of what day you received the limitation notice.  If the account is not new, you should be able to list item before the 30 days is up.  It depends on how many items you’ve listed and when the last time you submitted an item to eBay that counted towards your selling quota.

How Can I Get Around the Selling Limit?

First of all, make sure your Paypal account is verified and that it’s linked to your eBay account.  To do this, follow eBay’s instructions.  The easiest way to get around the selling limit is to take the brand name out of the title.  I don’t recommend doing this though, because your items will not show up when a buyer searches for the brand name unless they include item descriptions in their search results, which is rare.  If you have a history of selling brand name items you can email eBay Trust and Safety.  You will have to have excellent feedback from similar brand name items and ideally no negatives saying the items you’re selling are counterfeit or fraudulent.  Your account will need to be active and registered as a seller account for a minimum 90 days.  In your email, tell eBay Trust and Safety that all of your items are authentic.  Tell them where the items are purchased and if you have provided Paypal or eBay with invoices in the past, state that fact.  State your feedback score and percentage.  Tell them that you don’t sell counterfeits, never have sold counterfeits, and never will sell a counterfeit item.  Ask them nicely to lift your selling limit so you can list your authentic items.

It may also be possible to rearrange the brand name in the item title to trick eBay into thinking it’s a different item.  EBay has smartened up to this trick though, so it does not work as often.  If you’re selling a Louis Vuitton purse, you used to be able to change the item title to “Louis Purse Vuitton” or something similar and eBay wouldn’t recognize it as a brand name.  You can try to play around with your listing’s item title and see if you can figure out an arrangement of keywords that gets past eBay’s checks.  When a buyer searches for “Louis Vuitton” your item would still show up in their results because both words are included in the item title.  The problem with this technique is that item titles with random words inbetween the brand name won’t look as professional and appear to some buyers as though you’re trying to to get away with selling a counterfeit item by not including the exact name in the item title.

The best way to get around eBay selling limits is to register a new eBay UserID.  Sign up for a new eBay UserID just as you signed up for your original account.  EBay allows every member to have as many eBay UserIDs as they want.  EBay selling limits are only placed on the individual UserID, not on the account as a whole.  If your UserID is Designerclothes and you have a selling limit on that account, you can register Designerclothes2(as long as the ID is available) and list the item on that account immediately.  If you have several different UserIDs going at the same time you should always have an account that you can list on.

Why does eBay allow this loophole?  The bottom line is that eBay doesn’t really care if you list counterfeit items as long as they aren’t prosecuted for it.  Millions upon millions of counterfeit items were sold on eBay before they started doing anything about it and millions of counterfeit items have been sold on eBay since they started instituting selling limits and delaying items in search.  I could list hundreds of sellers who sell nothing but counterfeit merchandise on eBay.  EBay doesn’t care.  Every listing they deny costs them money.  The famous Louis Vuitton verdict cost eBay 63 million dollars in fines.  This year, eBay’s revenue should exceed 8 billion dollars, making the fine significantly less than 1 percent of their revenue.  The real problem is public relations and future lawsuits.  In order to ease the public’s concern and put themselves in a better position to win future lawsuits, eBay has instituted these policies; each of which is easy to get around, counterproductive, and useless in the fight against fakes.

I can’t over emphasize how important minimizing negative feedback is to sales on eBay.  Every additional negative feedback received will cause more and more potential bidders to purchase items from somewhere else.  The most careful buyers on eBay are also usually the ones willing to bid more on an item from a seller with a stellar reputation.  This is part of the reason why sellers with 100% feedback routinely receive much higher prices on the exact same item than sellers with lower feedback percentages.  A smart bidder combs through feedback, uses specialized tools and will only purchase from sellers with the best reputations.  Buying on an auction site is unique, in that it isn’t like purchasing from a reputable store where you know you’ll be taken care of and can return if unsatisfied.  Paying a stranger to provide an item they’ve never seen is always risky.  Your goal is to convince potential bidders that you are a trustworthy seller and will ultimately deliver the item as advertised.  Your seller reputation is one of the only things a potential buyer has to base their decision on whether or not they want to make a purchase.  Bidders aren’t telepathic.  They don’t know that you’re really honest, professional, and fair if it isn’t reflected in your feedback score and comments.

Even the most honest, hardworking sellers receive negative feedback.  Part of what makes a great eBay seller is how they deal with and respond to negatives.  First of all, read eBay’s polices on feedback abuse feedback extortion, feedback manipulation and instances when eBay will remove negative feedback.  It’s almost impossible to get eBay to remove negative feedback unless there’s cursing/racist comments, the buyer states real information like your name or address, the buyer purchased an item and immediately left a negative, or they clearly say that the only reason they’re leaving a negative is because of customs charges.  Nonetheless, it doesn’t hurt to try, but it’s a long shot unless it’s a cut and dry policy violation.  You can report violations to eBay at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/report_problem.html. EBay also removes feedback if the buyer did not respond to the unpaid item reminder or it was clear that the buyer had no intention of completing the transaction when they purchased it.

The only other way to get negative feedback removed by eBay is to report another violation the buyer had made.  If the buyer swore in a message or otherwise did something against eBay policy, you can report it using the link above.  If the buyer does get suspended, all of the neutral and negative feedback they left for others will be removed by eBay.

Since it’s incredibly rare for eBay to remove negative feedback, you should start on the next step immediately.  I have a guide on eBay Feedback Revision which details the process of convincing buyers to change their feedback from a negative to a positive comment.  Most buyers are willing to work out a reasonable resolution and revise their feedback if you go about doing it the right way.  Feedback Revision is the best tool available to sellers when it comes to maintaining a great seller reputation.  If you can convince buyers to revise their feedback, it’s almost as though they never left a negative at all.

With enough transactions under your belt, there will be a time when you deal with a buyer who is unwilling to revise their feedback and has not violated any eBay policy.  The best way to deal with these negative feedbacks is to reply to them with a statement about how you tried or succeeded at resolving the buyer’s problem.  To get to the reply to feedback page, go to the Sitemap and on the far right column under “Feedback,” choose “Reply to Feedback Received.”  Many sellers believe replying to a negative feedback calls more attention to it.  If a potential buyer is already searching your feedback for negatives, they’re going to notice the large red minus icon along with the comment whether there is a reply or not.  Use the reply space wisely.  Never respond to the feedback with anything inflammatory about the buyer.  Don’t say, “LIAR! BUYER STOLE ITEM AND MONEY! I HOPE YOU DIE!” or “RUDE BUYER IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE ADDED TO BLOCK LIST!”  It is highly unlikely that anyone that deals with the troublesome buyer in the future will see the reply you left to the buyer’s feedback, so there isn’t much use in trying to warn other sellers.  Venting about the buyer in your reply is counterproductive because it will make you seem like you aren’t particularly friendly and are not interested in taking care of your buyers.  You want to come across as a professional seller who did everything possible to resolve the situation and this is your only opportunity to make this clear to other potential buyers.  Say something like, “Offered Buyer Full Refund. Did Not Hear Back. Plz Contact to Resolve” or “Full Refund Issued.  I Apologize For Lost Item. Plz Contact For Replacement”  You can lie about what you did to resolve the problem, but you run the risk of the buyer following up with a comment calling you out on it.  As the seller, you get one reply to each feedback and the buyer also gets one reply.  If the buyer leaves a negative and immediately adds a follow-up reply, you can add your reply and the buyer will be unable to reply to your comment.  In other words, both the buyer and the seller only get one reply no matter what.  A carefully constructed and thoughtful reply can take some of the sting out of a negative feedback.  Bidders will be more likely to bid on your items if you reply professionally and state how you resolved the buyer’s problem.

Of course, the best way to avoid negative feedback is to proactively deal with buyers’ problems.  Unfortunately, many buyers are unaware that most sellers are willing to work with buyers to resolve differences.  You should consider adding a note in your listing description that tells buyers to contact you with any problems before leaving feedback.  This will help reduce buyers who leave negative feedback without giving the seller a chance to resolve the problem.  Finally, do not leave buyers positive feedback with negative comments.  It’s a violation of eBay policy and can lead to a suspension of your account.

The United States Postal Service’s online Track & Confirm Search was down most of yesterday, May 17, 2009 for updates.  The service is now back and appears to be better than ever.  The new tracking page includes the class of mail, extra services added, and detailed results of where the package is currently located displayed by default.

Before today, the track & confirm results looked like this:

When the shipping label is printed online, it appears that the class and extra services are available on the Track & Confirm page even if the package has not yet been scanned.  There is still a delay between when the shipping label is printed and when the Delivery Confirmation number shows up in track & confirm search.  I expect the shipping labels with Delivery Confirmation I printed this morning to be available in search this evening, as it has been in the past.

Tracking with Delivery Confirmation still seems to be hit or miss.  Some of my Delivery Confirmation numbers that are currently in transit have been updated along the way while others still show nothing but the dreaded “Electronic Shipping Info Received.”  To learn more about Delivery Confirmation, read my guide on The Limitations of USPS Delivery Confirmation.  This is a step in the right direction for USPS, but tracking with Delivery Confirmation is still lacking.  It would be beneficial if they could make Delivery Confirmation tracking more consistent or offer an added service that tracks like Express Mail on Priority Mail at a reduced cost.

When a seller submits their listing to eBay it will not necessarily be immediately searchable by keyword.  Many people assume this is because of some issue with eBay’s systems, but it’s actually so eBay can tell the courts they’re proactively removing counterfeit and fraudulent listings.  EBay instituted the search delay around March of 2007, in reaction to a number of lawsuits alleging that eBay is responsible for the illegal activities of its sellers.  The outcome of these lawsuits has been mixed, but eBay is scared of the negative press these lawsuits bring as much as the multi-million dollar verdicts.  Supposedly, the delay between when the listing is submitted and when it shows up in search results is so the listing can be checked by eBay employees to make sure it’s a legitimate listing.  In practice, I have never seen or heard of a listing being denied.  It would be impossible for a human to look at every listing that is submitted to eBay and eBay fired pretty much everyone over the last year, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about your listing getting denied unless you’re selling used needles or Xanax bars.  Usually, items that are delayed become searchable by keyword within about 12 hours, but eBay states it can take up to 24 hours and occasionally it will be even longer.

I Didn’t Agree to This!

Actually, you did. Right before you submit a listing, eBay has a little blurb that reads,

“Your listing will be posted on eBay and can be viewed in My eBay. Your listing may not be immediately searchable by keyword or category for several hours, so eBay can’t guarantee exact listing durations. Where your listing appears in search and browse results may be based on certain factors including listing format, title, bidding activity, end time, keywords, price and shipping cost, feedback, and detailed seller ratings. You can read more about where your listings appear in search and browse results in eBay’s Help Pages.

By clicking the List your item button, you agree to pay the fees above, accepting the listing conditions above, and assume full responsibility for the content of the listing and item offered.”

What Can I Do to Avoid This Delay?

The easiest way to avoid search delays is to schedule your listings in advance.  If you are not sure how to do this, see my Guide.  You should schedule your listings at least 12 hours in advance of when you want them to go live and up to 24 hours if your items still aren’t immediately searchable with a 12 hour advance.  To find out if your items are visible to bidders via a keyword search, you can either search for your exact item title or click on one of your auctions and then select “view seller’s other items.”  Your items that are searchable by keyword will be listed and the ones that aren’t yet searchable will not show up. If you just want to take a look at your listing, you can view it immediately after it’s submitted in “My eBay.”

How does eBay Decide Which Listings to Delay?

The keywords you use in your title are the most important factor of whether or not your listing will be delayed.  If you are selling a brand name item and you have the brand listed in the title, eBay will likely delay the listing. One of the only ways eBay can easily identify the item you’re selling is by the item title. That’s why the item title is the go-to when deciding if an item should be delayed.  EBay says they also delay listings based on Detailed Seller Ratings, feedback, and past selling activity.  It’s difficult to determine how much these other factors, if any, affect the search delay. If you’re concerned about losing bidders because your item isn’t visible by keyword search for the first few hours, it’s best to schedule the listing in advance.

What About A Delay Due to “Indexing?”

Prior to March 2007, eBay items were immediately searchable by keyword.  EBay may move backwards from a policy/customer relations/logic standpoint, but they don’t move backwards technologically.  The reason for the search delay is solely to appease the courts when they get sued for trademark infringement.  EBay can tell the court that they imposed a strict approval process for all new listings identified as having a high risk of fraud. 

The search delay is a definite hassle, but scheduling listings in advance is helpful for a variety of other reasons too. If you plan ahead, you can list your items joyously and never experience a keyword search delay.

Choosing the best time for your auction to end is an important part of receiving the highest price possible for your item.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell eBay what time you would like an item to end unless you also start it at that time.  Most eBay sellers prefer to have their items end at night, when statistically the most potential bidders are logged on and actively searching for items to bid on.  If you have a lot of items to list, it is nearly impossible to get them all ready to go in a short amount of time.  Plus, listing items with ending times close to each other makes bidders more likely to bid on a second or third item.  For 10 cents per listing, you can schedule eBay items in advance from the Sell Your Item form.  Third party solutions like Auctiva also allow sellers to schedule items for free.  If you want to save 10 cents, it may be worthwhile to check out Auctiva or another third-party program.

For reasons unknown to me, the “Schedule listing” option is hidden by default.  To access it, scroll down the Sell Your Item form until you come across “Choose how you’d like to sell your item.”  It’s after the item description box.  Click “Add or Remove Options.”

The following box should pop up:

Check the “Schedule start” box.  You may also want to check or uncheck other options here.  The “private listing” option makes it so that the item will not be visible on the feedback page or when someone searches for items a bidder has bid on or purchased in the past.  I don’t recommend this unless you’re selling something embarrassing or an item that the buyer would otherwise not want to be linked to.  Otherwise, it’s best to make the items you’ve sold in the past public.  Buyers tend to be wary and not bid on sellers who use private listings because it begs the question, “What are you trying to hide?”  I don’t recommend “lots” either.  They’re extremely rare on eBay.  If you have multiple items that are the same either list them in a multiple quantity fixed price listing or sell each lot individually.  If you have no intention of donating part of your sales to charity (I don’t judge) you may also want to uncheck that box.  Once you’ve made your choices, click save.

You should now have the option to schedule a listing.

That’s it. You can schedule an item up to three weeks in advance. Once you’ve checked the box, you shouldn’t have to do it again, as long as you either schedule a listing or submit a listing after completing this tutorial.

There are currently more than 27 million active listings on eBay.  That’s about 3 times the number of all the other auction sites combined.  To view a live chart of eBay listings along with other auction sites check out The Power Sellers Unite Chart.  Although the amount of listings on eBay has been increasing throughout 2009, not all of the news is good.  EBay traffic is down 5 percent year over year and page views are down almost 30%.  This means that 3 million less people are visiting eBay monthly and the ones that do are viewing fewer auctions.  In March 2009, Amazon received 54.60 million unique visitors to eBay’s 54.23.  One thing to take into consideration is that Amazon has a formidable online presence of their own which has nothing to do with how many third-party sellers are on their site selling used video games, books, etc. Amazon’s greatest asset is that they are one of the best places to shop online. Amazon’s good name helps bring business to third-party sellers, but traffic numbers don’t necessarily translate to greater sales for third-party sellers. If you’re looking for other venues to sell on, bookmark the Power Sellers Unite chart and pay attention to which platforms are gaining popularity. Ebid, Bonanzle, and eCrater are all viable sites that are increasing in popularity. Buyers, consider checking out these sites as well, as many of eBay’s best sellers have moved exclusively to these alternative venues.