“Bonus for whoever can list over 50 items today! If everyone collectively lists over 300 items, I’ll get pizza tonight!”

I know the money that I’m saving on insertion fees I can spend on my listers and give them a little bit of a kickback for working hard. But what about when we receive the emails from eBay Bucks that is targeted towards the consumer? There is a special today (May 17, 2012) for all eBay buyers to receive double eBay Bucks with Electronics purchases of $50 or more. Generally I would ignore these messages because I’m not buying anything today.

“But what if I want my Electronic items to be found higher on the Best Match through eBay?” This is where you might consider offering Free Shipping on your electronic items that are over $50. Once you do this, that will raise your items 1 more notch towards the top of the Best Match. Obviously the lower the starting price the better, but I have to make sure the profit margin is there and my consignors will be happy with the sale price. Would this be worth the time and effort to go through? Can I potentially change the buyers of these single electronic products into buyers of multiple products in my store?

What are your thoughts or experiences on this? Have you tried changing your items prices and shipping based on the eBay Bucks emails you receive?

eBay Changes :: Return Policy

eBay is retiring some Return Options on Wednesday, May 2nd that may affect your listings. 3 and 7-day Return will no longer be accepted as well as “Merchandise Credit” and “Exchange”.

AuctionSound has a way to modify your Return Policy options in bulk. Go to Admin > Defaults, scroll down to eBay Returns and you will now notice an Update button to change all item’s Return Policies.

eBay Changes :: Categories

On Tuesday, May 1st, eBay will be modifying quite a few categories which may affect your relisting process. If you are trying to relist in any of these categories and the listing will not launch, you will have to reselect the category you are listing in as it may have changed when you previously listed the items.
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/classificationspring2012.html

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What is new in AuctionSound?

Amazon Integration

We are in the Alpha stage of testing Amazon selling and shipping this week but we should be ready for Beta testing towards the end of this week. Currently, everyone has access to activate Amazon and Craigslist to their account by going to Admin > Location.

Interested in selling your products on Amazon? Create an Amazon Professional Sellers Account and begin cross-selling your products today!

Auto Relist

Auto Relist will be reactivated on Tuesday, May 1st. Therefore, if you had listings that had Auto-Relist on, they will resume relisting starting Tuesday. If you have items currently in Unsold, those items will not automatically be relisted and you will have to schedule those items to be relisted. But if they were to go Unsold again, the Auto Relist will resume working on those items.

Orders Page

Launching Tuesday, May 1st, we have replaced Sold and Paid with Orders. The Orders page will separate your items that are ready to ship by channel (eBay, Craigslist, Amazon, In-Store). In addition, buyers that purchased multiple items will be combined so you can produce a single Packing Slip as well as mark all items as shipped. If you ship with an outside solution, we added a simple Copy button to copy the buyers address.

Craigslist Posting Requires Java Update

If you are trying to post to Craigslist but the Preview page will not launch, you need to check the version of Java that your computer has installed. Click this link to find out if you need to update your current version: http://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp
If you do have the most up-to-date version, then the Java Plugin may be disabled on your browser. To check and see if your browser has been deactivated or blocked, please visit http://java.com/en/download/help/enable_browser.xml

eBay Changes

Return Policy

Starting the first week of May, eBay will retire 3-day and 7-day return windows and “Merchandise credit” and “Exchange” refund. This can be changed in AuctionSound today if you go to Admin > Defaults and scroll down to eBay Returns. You can still offer No Returns but to land your item higher in the Best Match search, your best bet would be to select 14-day return or later, 1 day handling and a money back return option.

If you have a lot of Good Till Cancelled items that would need to be revised, AuctionSound now has a way to modify your Return Policy options in bulk. Go to Admin > Defaults, scroll down to eBay Returns and you will now notice an Update button to change all item’s Return Policies.

eBay Changes :: Photo Requirement

Starting this fall, eBay will require at least one 500px photo in every listing. Stock photos for used items will no longer be allowed. Borders will no longer be allowed either.

eBay Changes :: Reducing Duplicates

Starting May 28th, sellers with Fixed Price listings will no longer be allowed to list the same item as an Auction-Style listing with a Buy It Now price and vice versa. Feel free to read eBay’s full guidelines on this policy.

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What is new in AuctionSound?

Upgraded Hardware and Software

As the internet changes its complexity, AuctionSound is keeping up to make your selling experience as smooth as possible. We have upgraded our hardware and the software we use to be able to process information faster.

Orders Page

Initially we announced this would be available in late February but we want it perfect for you so the new launch date will be right around the corner. We have had a group of stores beta testing it prior to launching it live for everyone.

We have been working on a new page that will replace the current Sold and Paid page. The Orders page will separate your items that are ready to ship by channel (eBay, Craigslist, Amazon, In-Store). In addition, buyers that purchased multiple items will be combined so you can produce a single Packing Slip as well as mark all items as shipped. If you ship with an outside solution, we added a simple Copy button to copy the buyers address. This Orders page had to be implemented before we continue working on Amazon Full.

International Shipping

When shipping Flat Rate internationally, we modified the shipping method to be able to specify separate amounts per country/continent the way that eBay offers. We also included the ability to modify your Exclusion list. Meaning, if you do not want to offer shipping to a certain country, you can exclude that country when offering “worldwide” shipping. Set defaults to both under Admin > Defaults.
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Is Amazon right for my store?

If you are interested in taking a look at Amazon and you’ve never sold on that channel before, search Amazon for some of the products you are currently selling. If you find the selling prices to be higher than you would get on eBay, you might want to try this alternate selling channel. Some of our clients have been selling on both eBay and Amazon for awhile because they know certain products do much better on Amazon than eBay.

To add the current Amazon Lite integration in your AuctionSound account, go to Admin > Location and you will see a checkbox where you can activate Amazon in your account. You do have to have the Amazon Store subscription which is $39.99 per month. Amazon Lite will give you the ability to post to Amazon but currently not receive the selling information.
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What is new in AuctionSound?

Orders Page :: We have been working on a new page that will replace the current Sold and Paid page. The Orders page will separate your items that are ready to ship by channel (eBay, Craigslist, Amazon, In-Store). In addition, buyers that purchased multiple items will be combined so you can produce a single Packing Slip as well as mark all items as shipped. If you ship with an outside solution, we added a simple Copy button to copy the buyers address. This Orders page had to be implemented before we continue working on Amazon Full.

International Shipping :: When shipping Flat Rate internationally, we modified the shipping method to be able to specify separate amounts per country/continent the way that eBay offers. We also included the ability to modify your Exclusion list. Meaning, if you do not want to offer shipping to a certain country, you can exclude that country when offering “worldwide” shipping. Set defaults to both under Admin > Defaults.
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For more updates, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook

• Craigslist added more categories, AuctionSound reflects these additions
• eBay changed their Catalog information, AuctionSound reflects these changes
• Building on our Full version of the Amazon integration (no live changes yet)
• Generating checks allows more items per check
• When generating checks, mass change Commission Plans on all items
• Reports > Commission Plans now displays full breakdown of all sold items in each Plan
• Default the markets auto selected when taking items In Queue
• Email History per consignor now available (see what automatic emails or mass emails have been sent to each consignor)
• Get It Fast eBay option available
• From eBay Overview > Paid and Shipped, mass move items to Completed

eBay’s Closed Listing duration extended
Before, eBay allowed you to look at Completed listings for the past 15 days. Most people would get a Terapeak subscription so they could take a longer look back to help evaluate certain products. Now eBay has made a change where you can look back 60 days in the Art, Antiques, Coins & Paper Money, Dolls & Bears, Entertainment Memorabilia, Sports Memorabilia, Stamps, and Toys categories. Collectible categories has increased to 90 days for sold items and 45 for unsold items.

USPS Rates increased January 22, 2012
The price of mailing a standard letter (or check) went up 1 cent to 45 cents. The overall price change for all USPS services is 4.6%.  Priority Mail Flat Rate is as follows: Small Box – $5.35, Medium Box – $11.35, Large Box – $15.45, Large APO – $13.45, Priority Envelope – $5.15, Large/Padded Envelope – $5.30. There are other changes besides Priority Flat such as shipping First Class Services has increased 3.7%.

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For more updates, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook

• Auto-relisting for Consignment items :: While adding consignment items into AuctionSound, you can set rules for relisting the products. Therefore, if you and the consignor have discussed relisting their product up to 2 additional times if it does not sell, you will not see it in your Unsold section until after the third time it has been listed.
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• Catalog Specifics display on the Item Specifics page :: Since eBay launched the new Catalog, you have to choose the correct catalog specific. Sometimes there are bundled games in a cataloged Wii that you do not offer in your listing. Now, you can view the exact specifics eBay wants to add in the listing and choose to not display them in your listing.
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• On-the-go Wizard for new signups to easily start using AuctionSound :: When a new client signs up to use AuctionSound, we walk them through a step-by-step process to edit their Admin section so they can start using AuctionSound as soon as possible.
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• Larger images uploaded to eBay :: eBay allows images to be uploaded that are approximately 1000 pixels wide. While this image is still less than 1MB each, it allows for potential buyers to click the Enlarge button in the eBay images to see higher detail.
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• Inventory Import .csv modification :: While we have added more functions to AuctionSound, we needed to update what all can be imported into AuctionSound via the Inventory Import function. To view the newest example file, go to the Inventory tab and click Import Bulk Inventory.
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• Consignor Export displays consignor’s Added Date :: When downloading your Consignor Database under the Consignors tab, now there is a column in the .csv file with the date the consignor was added into your AuctionSound account. Therefore, you can sort your consignors by chronological order after running your reports.
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• Commission Plan assigned to the Consignor :: When you have a special commission plan for John Doe besides your Standard Plan, now you can set that commission plan to be John Doe’s default plan. You can also go back and change their default by: Search their name in the Search Bar, go to their Consignor Summary and click Edit Consignor.

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Portals sold with AuctionSound:
100% sell on eBay
65% sell on Craigslist

Actions used within AuctionSound:
73% generate checks
38% send mass emails to consignors
23% eBay Storefront
30% sell retail products in the Inventory section
43% use the Reports section

Clients using Windows, Macs or both:
93% Windows
23% Macs

Browser used while on AuctionSound:
69% FireFox
55% Internet Explorer
15% Safari
13% Chrome

Mobile Devices used while viewing AuctionSound:
23% iPhone or iPad
15% Android
3% Blackberry
2% Windows 7

The next addition clients want AuctionSound to add:
45% Amazon
53% of these people have sold on Amazon
35% eCommerce
40% of these people have sold on a storefront
20% nothing

Favorite newest feature to AuctionSound:
background tasks

Most desired feature to AuctionSound:
combined shipping

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• We have increased the memory in all of our servers to provide a faster software- with an increase in clientele, we realized it was time to build up even more after we built up last month. We are cruising now but we are already working on a scalable platform so our clients will not feel any adjustments made in AuctionSound.
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• Added the ability to update the template information on all active listings currently on eBay – with eBay’s newest change in policy, you cannot have your email address nor web address in your templates. In addition, you may just want to change what your policies are and what your store represents. Go to Admin > Ad Templates and you will see a box at the bottom right that states, Schedule update of current eBay listings. This will change the Payment, Shipping, Returns, About, Legal information in all listings without bids or offers. It will schedule out an hour after checking the box and clicking Update. It’s a heavy process.
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• Added 5 additional Craigslist templates to choose from – while you are listing to Craigslist, you can choose a template on the Preview screen or you can set a default template so you do not have to continually select the template you like.
• Select a default Craigslist template – if you post to Craigslist with the same template, now you can default that template to always be selected. Go to Admin > Ad Templates and you will now see that option at the top to select.
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• Post to Craigslist and stay within AuctionSound when posting – AuctionSound has built in a streamline process so you can post to Craigslist. Without leaving the software, you can log into your Craigslist account and type in the Captcha code which creates a simple process for you to post your items.
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• Numerous processes now run in the background so you can continue listing – the main process that was time consuming was listing the item up to eBay. Now, after you click Send Listing to eBay, you do not have to wait for the photos and text to be loaded to eBay. It is finished in the background. When you relist a bulk amount of items from Unsold, this finishes up in the background while you can continue working. You will see the yellow task bar at the bottom to show the progress as well as a small gear on the top navigation bar next to the Help question mark. The gear will show what is currently being processed and how many background processes are currently running.
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• Reports via .csv files are available under many sections of AuctionSound – I recently spoke with a veteran AuctionSound client that has been keeping track of all sales manually through Microsoft Excel. AuctionSound has quite a few downloadable reports that calculate everything for you. These reports can be found under every subtab of Reports and under every Consignor Summary page.
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• Upload up to 12 photos into eBay in addition to displaying them within the listing – if you have used an eBay app on a smartphone or a tablet (not browsing ebay.com), you’ve noticed eBay only displays text only in the description. AuctionSound now uploads all photos to eBay (up to 12 that they allow) but we still host all images so they are displayed in the description of your listings.
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• Resync your items in AuctionSound with the items you have on eBay – ever realized that an employee went to your unsold section directly on eBay and relisted a days worth of items? Whether it is 3 items or hundreds, you can bring all listings that are not currently in AuctionSound into the software so you can manage everything within our platform. In addition, after importing your items you can assign the consignor to the items so it is like the item was always there. You can find this link on the Dashboard at the bottom of the Active eBay Listings column.
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• The Shipping address on Sold and Paid is editable – when the buyer wants you to send the item to another location, your staff can easily change the address on the Sold and Paid page by going to Edit Buyer / Shipment. Here, they can change the address, the shipping service and even apply these changes to other items purchased by the same buyer.
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April 24 is Easter Sunday which means bunnies, decorations, Easter plates, cups and tablecloths.  If you want to jump in early, buy some unique Easter items and have them listed around April 1st because Palm Sunday is April 17th.