Question
Coming in May, anyone who uses SYI 2.0 as their listing form of choice, will need to use the new SYI 3.0 form. For those not familiar with the abbreviation, SYI means "Sell Your Item" - and is the listing form that you use on Ebay's site.
When SYI 3 was introduced, I could not change categories. I have since upgraded my computer and the category selector works very well for me (The SYI 2 category selector had problems on this new computer - I suspect caused by a setting of the person who built it for me, because his family's computers are the only other ones I have seen with the same problem).
Firstly, as mentioned elsewhere in this forum, if you are having problems with the New SYI 3 form someone called Terry (ID Biz.r on the Ebay boards) has created a useful primer which is available for free on the Ebay boards, here.
Your problems and experiences may vary from Terry's, but it is worth perusing anyway.
Ebay has promoted the SYI 3 form as being much easier for the seller to create listings in, and that is why experienced sellers are making print-outs of Terry's instructions - they really do need instruction to use this form "efficiently".
Ebay's dictionary does not include the word "Intuitive", and it is an unreasonable expectation of Ebay users that the site would actually be a better place to trade if it was intuitive for both sellers and buyers.
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Ebay has marketed this form as being an easier way to list, and in aspects it is. I no longer have to use an extra page to adjust the postage charges for varying sized lots when listing, and the category selector works well once you get the hang of which link to use when using a second category (they both get selected in the same box, unlike SYI 2 which had two boxes).
However I am struck that the new SYI form has nothing to do with making listing easier for the victim, ooops, seller, but is actually designed to make it easier for the seller to select additional services and pay more money to Ebay for their listings. The whole way through you have recommendations and requests to add additional services to your listing, thrust at you. If you select a single category, a pop-up suggests three or four catgeories that can be used as second categories (usually with absolutely no relevance to what you are listing) and you MUST respond to this pop-up before you can actually select your category. There is a box in the lower left corner that can be clicked to say "Do not show this again for 30 days" (and no option to "never show this piece of crap again" ), which, if I click that box, I will get the same annoying pop-up within a couple of lots.
I do basic listings, my main addition to Ebay's coffers is second category on items which may have two markets, and gallery for items which may be different to the normal thing found on the search. So, I naively thought that the "Hide/Show Options" option would clean up the listing page, and allow me to just have what I will use. the "Hide/Show" links on the previous Ebay SYI and on the auction pages work properly on my computer - the Hide/Show options on the SYI 3 form may last for a full session, or may last for no more than 2 listings, depending on the position of the moon. Either way, it is rare that I can unclutter the listing form, and of course most the crap I am trying to get rid of generates fees for Ebay - so I should have to wade through it on the off chance I will click something for THEIR benefit.
On SYI 2 you could HIDE Ebay's recommendations (the ones that suggest ways you can spend more money to make your listing more desirable), on SYI 3 it does not appear that you can. Instead, the whole second page is dedicated NOT to making listing easier, but making sure that you know that by ticking any number of boxes you can spend even more money with Ebay.
Maybe if enough people are psychologically brow-beaten into spending lots more on their listings, we won't get fee increases next year.
Cynically, Kevin
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Aspects where the form may CHANGE YOUR settings and affect your actual listing terms:
For some reason the Australian form regularly adds COD to my payment options (I have never offered that option) - so watch your own payment options as you do your first listing in case something has been changed.
Three friends have had their default changed from International to "Ship to Home [ site ] Country Only" without realising it. None have ever changed from shipping Internationally in their entire Ebay career, and this has happened on both the Australian and US sites (including an Australian seller who, according to their listings, would now "Ship to US only")
Terry's instructions also refer to a "Local Pickup Only" bug - so check over your shipping details on your first listing every session.
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Other little things:
Pictures: Rightly or wrongly, I have always used the confirmation page to review my pictures. I self host - The picture now loads when you insert the URL but instantly becomes a thumb nail. Selling old paper, some faults will show up on a scan which are not obvious when holding the item (sounds illogical, but it means that the scan can be a confirmation that I have described the condition of the item properly - or point out that the scan has made an item look much more yellowed than it really is). For my purposes, I now have another window open as I list, and load the pictures on that window so that I can check them. I find the "Preview Your Item" as a pop-up to not be an effective way of actually reviewing the listing, but that is probably just a personal quirk on my part.
Any other tips and comments from others that are using the SYI 3 form?
Has anyone worked out any way of making the Hide/Show options actually "stick" when using this form? I suppose there is no longer any way of getting rid of the recommendations on every listing, other than by taking up every service offered.
Kind Regards, Kevin
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Oh, wonderful. We basically use the same listings over and over as we don't sell unique one off items we sell tshirts. Some in auction; some in our store. The auction items just get relisted when sold or end. The store lists automatically. When priority mail went to 4.05 I got to edit all of our listings although I confess I never got it done (we are still eating 20 cents on some listings). I guess this year we'll get to do it all again. If we have to edit for ebay's stupid new form we'll definitely change shipping to go by weight. I hate to do that because I think people like to see 4.05 period in the listing but I can't be doing this year after year. I don't know why ebay has to change every single thing continually and over and over again. The dang SYI form works. Let it alone! Think how much money they could save by firing all those really poor programmers and the really ditzy folks who think up the stupid ideas. Maryanne (rant over)
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An email I received today ... geez, keeping tabs on us "rebels"!
Dear blah blah,
This is a reminder that we will be retiring the old "Sell Your Item" (SYI) form in early May. This is the form you see when you click on the "Sell" tab at the top of the eBay home page or when you use "relist "or "sell similar" to list an item.
Our records indicate that you are still using the old form.
We urge you to start using the new form right away. In early May the version you're using will no longer be available.
To begin using the new form, just click on "Start selling with the new version of the Sell Your Item form" at the beginning of the selling process.
The new version makes it faster and easier to list your items. It also has great new features such as more fonts and colors, built-in Help, and reusable templates.
For more information, please read our Helpful Links about the new SYI form at http://click3.ebay.com/7234568.68070.0.113505
Sincerely,
eBay Product Management Team
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I've just listed a few things after a long-ass hiatus. I used both TL2 (for the very first time) and the online SYI form. I might've just gotten lucky, but they both worked great for me.
I didn't get those pop-ups you're talking about Kevin. Do you think it could be your internet settings?
What p-o's me now, though, is that you MUST add a shipping cost - no longer do we have the ability to just say "see item description" in which case it says "not calculated" in the shipping cost column on the ebay search pages.
*unless I have missed something* ???
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I didn't get those pop-ups you're talking about Kevin. Do you think it could be your internet settings?
My Kaspersky blocks almost all types of pop-ups and has a mechanism so I can allow it, but it just allows the one for the second category with the tick boxes - maybe it reads it as an essential part of the procedure on a form that is being filled out.
Overall it doesn't work badly, but I am very cynical about the motives behind a listing system which is billed as easier when it seems to only be designed to ram additional services and fees down our throats. The latter page could pretty much be deleted (or optional) if they truly wanted to make the form easier/quicker to use. Scum sellers like me who don't use many of the bells and whistles, would at least be spending more on fees if we were more productive (ie: Listing quicker).....
Kevin
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I used to get the pop-ups for second categories, but I don't anymore. Maybe because I mostly use it for re-listing.
One sort of related item is that the new version of ZoneAlarm doesn't play too well with eBay. If you have it, PM me for a long list of eBay servers compiled by Surreal to add to your site list-it flew after I added them.
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Post the list.
We might be able to add it to our HOSTS file.... (Redirected to 127.0.0.1)
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I find the "Preview Your Item" as a pop-up to not be an effective way of actually reviewing the listing, but that is probably just a personal quirk on my part.
I have just listed my first item on Ebay UK using SYI 3. Their "Preview your Item" is inserted in the second page with a scoll. For me personally, it is much better than the pop up method and is an easier way to review my J-Peg.
By the second listing "Listing Designer" was back, so the hide options are useless for me on the UK site as well.
Among the recommendations on the UK site is:
Improve your picture download time
Consider using eBay Picture Services to help buyers view your pictures faster.
How long until they use this as an excuse to stop self hosted pictures on Ebay? Never mind that the Ebay pictures are too difficult to see important details on many items (and many sellers rely on those pictures as part of their description) - as long as they download quickly the buyers will allegedly be happy.
Kevin