Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

That's gorgeous Aleta !  My dream studio would be your's too.   

I bought a dream cabinet recently.  I won it at a local antique auction and thought . . . .Boy! I can use all those shelves !  Good for displaying my larger bears and dolls too.

My crafty room has to double as a guest bedroom, so I need to try and keep things organized.  I still like a few days notice before people come to visit  .  The rest of the room is not so neat.

Hi Christine,  Even with insured packages (I realize yours was not) CanadaPost does not consider it lost until 45 days have passed.  We get told to wait 45 days by the C.P.  customer service.    I too have had Airmail packages take a month and then turn up.   

The paypal " Charge-back for item not received" is the process everyone is talking about.  Your customer would have to start that process/claim before 30 days (I think that's the number) have passed.  If she does not do that . . . then paypal will not be able to take the money out of your account to refund the buyer.

Karen.

A related funny:

Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H are the letters used to define bra sizes?

Here's the O-fficial word from the Department of the Interior... Harnessing Division

(A} Almost Boobs...

{B} Barely there.

{C} Can't Complain!

{D} Dang!

{DD} Double dang!

{E} Enormous!

{F} Fake.

{G} Get a Reduction.

{H} Help! They've fallen and they can't get up

Hey Brenda,  I'll continue with the Auction Listing graphs . . . . Today ~ Thursday February 21, 2008  ~

There were 11,872,000 ebay.com listings at 9:00am EST and 12,080,000 ebay.com listings at 10:00pm EST. 

Ohhhh Aleta . . .    :doh:  We'll have to unplug the computer for 2 days I think.  ~ Karen

:clap:   Very funny !!!!  :crackup:

source:  the powersellersunite.com site

12,407,716      Down -2,199,926    Down -17.73%     February 21, 2008 11:05 am

Hi Shane, (re post #46)

Your feedback score beside your ebay name will display the total number of feedback you have and this will not be effected by the new paypal rules.  The good news is repeat buyers will now count in your overall feedback total.   :clap:   Your loyal customers will count most of the time (1 per week is the limit).  If they buy 3 bears in 3 weeks it counts as 3 feedbacks.  If they buy 3 bears in 1 week, it counts as 1 feedback.  I think this is to stop bad sellers (scammers) from manipulating their own feedback.

The percentile of positive feedback will be based on your last 12 months of feedback and only the last 12 months will be visible.  This will make a negative hit more pronounced (your percentile of positive feedback can drop faster with only 1 year of sales being used). 

eg.  seller has 101 feedback, but only 10 are in the last year.   Your feedback stays at 101 but your percentile is based on 10.  If all 10 are positive you have 100% positive feedback.  If you have 1 negative out of 10, your % of +feedback is reduced considerably.  After a year, that negative will also disappear and your percentile will adjust.

Karen

Graph for Wednesday February 20, 2008 ~ shows total active listings on ebay.com

The total number of listings has gone down about 1.5 million since yesterday.   The "mathies" point out that the decline in listings 7 days after an ebay discount day is to be expected (not attributed to the boycott).   The more interesting results will be in the next few days.  Will the line go below the 12,300,000 listings ebay had at the beginning of the month?

Hi Brenda,

If you would like to see what is happening to the ebay stock try reuters.com .   

http://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/ove … bol=EBAY.O

On Feb 20th it went down .42 cents or 1.52% and closed at $27.24 at 4pm EST

Hi Sue,

I really think you should be able to change your personal ID to the business ID and keep your existing feedback.  I would try and pursue that option.   The new UK business rules shouldn't mean you have to start over with ebay (I would hope). 

You certainly can change the name of your user ID on ebay and keep your feedback.  I have done that before.  You just have an icon beside your name for 30 days, that represents a name change.  Karen.

Hi again,  I can't find a link . . . but this was posted by ebay staff on the eBay Power Seller Discussion Board:

The 21 day hold can be applied:

For listings in riskier categories, like computers and cell phones
If the seller has 5% or more dissatisfied customers
If the seller has less than 100 Feedback

PayPal will hold payment funds until either the buyer has left positive Feedback or 21 days have passed without a claim.

Here are similar links (with the .com details instead of the previous ebay.ca details).  I think they are the same however.  . . . just the fees will appear in US or Canadian funds.

Bill Cobb's announcement:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200801290559182.html

Jim Ambach's announcement:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200801290615092.html

Overview of Changes:
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/overview/index.html

Fees Changes:
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/basic/index.html

Fees FAQs:
http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/feefaq/index.html

Hi Laura Lynn, I found these on the ebay.ca power sellers discussion board.  It isn't always easy to find answers to policy questions on ebay.   

I think you should be OK with the 21 hold issue, because you have over 100 feedback.  I will try and find the actual ebay wording. 

You may have to cut and paste the links if they don't work directly from this posting.  Karen

Bill Cobb's announcement:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200801.shtml … 1-29085842

Jim Ambach's announcement:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200801.shtml … 1-29092134

Overview of Changes:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/overview/index.html

Fees Changes:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/basic/index.html

Fees FAQs:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/feefaq/index.html

This is neat   :dance: . . . I didn't know this site existed. This site tracks ebays listing numbers: daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.  It goes all the way back to 1999.   The information is presented in graphs.   

http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND\

The graph that is getting a lot of attention is for the week of Feb 17th (the boycott week).    As you can see, around 12 million ebay listings is the number that ebay started with at the beginning of February.  Then ebay had a promotional day mid-month, thus the big spike in listings.  Once those listings end the graph naturally starts to go down.  The real test of the listings boycott is if the numbers continue to go down (below 12 million) after the promotional listings end.    It will be interesting to watch.  Karen.

Yes I will do it . . .  a small packet to the US is only $5 and I have lots of bears.   I will PM you for your details, Karen.

Maybe we could each send her a teddy bear .  . . . doesn't have to be an Artist bear . . . just something really cute.   I bet she would be thrilled to receive a few anonymous bears : ).  What style does she like?  I'm in !   Karen.

Yes . . . post any pictures.  It is definitely worth a try.   How sad . . . . I bet that one remaining bear has a story to tell (if only he could).  Karen

Hi Helena,   

You are right. When the buyer is leaving feedback and also filling out the star rankings, a little prompt or definition pops up above each star. When you hover above the 4th star it says "Very Good" as the selection.  I think the 5th star says "Outstanding".  Most people are reluctant to be that happy with their shipping costs, so they pick 4 or lower.   

Yet as your link points out . .  . . .  on the seller's listing page, it is highlighted in red "this seller has low ratings for shipping time", even though the seller has 4/5 stars (at the time of this posting).   The buyer doesn't even know that giving a score of 4/5 is so harmful.  The terminology is all messed up.

I think there are a lot of wrinkles that need to be worked out, to say the least     ~ Karen

Hello Everyone,

I found some related ebay boycott videos on You Tube.  I hope these links work from this post.

1. This video has over 110,000 viewers so far (as of Feb 19th):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23TomS5- … re=related

2.  This one is short.  It

references CNN and has a UK perspective:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN8s-ia0QZI

3.  This message is short (only a minute) with a cute ending:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5otOPUbVoI

Also .  . .  The Power Sellers will lose their PS status for a year if their Star Rating goes below 4.5 (those rankings out of 5 stars that buyers fill out).   That is if just one ranking drops below 4.5.   

Power Sellers also lose their status if their overall feedback drops below 98%.  If there are a lot of eager neg posters with the new feedback rules . . .  this could happen quickly.

Also the feedback percentile will be based on the last 12 month period.   Your feedback score beside your ebay name will display the total number of feedback you have, but only 12 months worth will be visible for all to read.   This will make a negative hit more pronounced (your percentile of positive feedback will drop faster with only 1 year of stats being used). 

The final value fee for store items has gone up to 12%

Hi Brenda,

Yes, I support the Boycott and will let my listings run out this week (Tuesday).  The discussion boards have many interesting threads about the ebay boycott Feb 18th - 25th.   Try the Sellers-Central Discussion Board ~ open to all ebayers on ebay.com.   I don't think you can read the Power Sellers discussion boards, unless you are a Power Seller.   

The top three issues (my own summary based on the many Threads) are :

~ Sellers can no longer leave a negative feedback for a buyer (ever!).  This has many worried that buyers will abuse their new power. Perhaps not such an issue with our teddy bear collector friends, but more of an issue when you have a lot of new customers.  There is no need for a buyer to communicate, compromise or to be patient for the item to arrive. 

~ The Final Value fee for 0.01 to $25 will increase from 5.25% to 8.75%. That is a 66% increase.

~ PayPal can withhold payment funds for 21 days ~ until either the buyer has left positive Feedback or 21 days have passed without a claim.  This policy can be used on sellers with less than 100 positive feedback.

As of 3pm Monday Feb 18th, one of the threads claimed that there was a 12% reduction in listings, which is equivalent to 1.2 million listings.  That could be because today is a stat holiday in the US and Canada.    Time will tell.    Karen

Hello, I am lucky if I complete two bears in a month (so I am not very fast).   My current strategy is to try making several bears at a time.  Maybe that will make things move along faster.   Any theories on the "sewing in bulk" approach ? Is it faster overall?

Yes, perhaps ebay does hope to baffle us with the details.  The "overview of the changes"  is the best summary.

Karen

Hi, Have you tried a local thrift shop ~ Good Will, Salvation Army etc.   You can find old worn out gloves and leather skirts.  You may just find the shine you want and the leather will already be broken in for that vintage look.   No shipping costs and you get to see it up close (check the color, shine etc).   I have had good luck with worn out leather gloves.    Nice on the pocket book too : ).  Karen

Hi there, I found this on the ebay.ca power sellers discussion board.  I thought it might be helpful . . . it isn't always easy to find answers to policy questions on ebay.   

You may have to cut and paste the links if they don't work directly from this posting.   

The links provide information about the changes that were announced on 1/29/2008.

Bill Cobb's announcement:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200801.shtml … 1-29085842

Jim Ambach's announcement:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200801.shtml … 1-29092134

Overview of Changes:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/overview/index.html

Fees Changes:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/basic/index.html

Fees FAQs:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/feefaq/index.html

Rewards & Standards:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/rewards/index.html

Rewards & Standards FAQs:
http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/update08/rewa … index.html

eBay eCommerce Forum Keynote Archive:
http://www.iian.ibeam.com/events/pmtv001/25201/

eBay eCommerce Forum Q&A Session Archive:
http://www.iian.ibeam.com/events/pmtv001/25431/

eBay Seller Webinar Archive:
https://www110.livemeeting.com/cc/vcc-i … nd&pw=view

PowerSeller Changes:
http://pages.ebay.ca/services/buyandsel … llers.html

PowerSeller Fee Discounts:
http://pages.ebay.ca/services/buyandsel … ounts.html

PowerSeller Fee Discounts FAQ:
http://pages.ebay.ca/services/buyandsel … s_faq.html

Yes . .  . just bought several lots from cabin_creek_ design on ebay.com.  A US seller with very fair combined shipping rates.  Very friendly lady too . . . . Highly recommend her!   Karen.