eBay to Require More Generous Return Policies in SR2 Announcement

eBay's second round of changes for the year will roll out beginning August 22 and will be the last seller update for 2011.

The Good News
Sellers will get an extra 25 characters in their titles - starting in early September, titles will have 80 characters so that sellers can add more keywords and buyer-attracting descriptors.

eBay will modify its open cases policy: starting August 31, if the buyer doesn't contact a seller before opening a Buyer Protection case and the seller acts quickly to resolve it, the case won't be included in their count of opened cases. Currently eBay penalizes sellers when buyers make a certain number of claims, even in cases where the seller is found not to be at fault.

The policy only affects sellers who have a Standard, Above Standard, or eBay Top-rated rating.

The Bad News
eBay will require more generous return policies, and warned sellers that new guidelines were coming early next year that include longer timeframes and cash-back options.

Starting October 1, sellers will not be able to submit listings that contain email addresses or links. Examples of information that is no longer allowed in listings:

• Email addresses (clickable and non-clickable)
• "Links that do not help buyers safely and efficiently transact on eBay" (non-clickable links (e.g. www.mysite.com that does not hyperlink)
• Shortened URLs (bit.ly, TinyURLs)
• Other links that are currently prohibited under the existing Links policy.

Other News
eBay will launch a new way to shop for tickets. In August, sellers will list using a new tickets catalog, and starting in September, buyers will see all tickets available for an event on an event page, including a selection of tickets available for purchase on StubHub.

Listing with the eBay catalog will be required for GPS devices whenever there's a product match. Starting September 15, when there is no match sellers will be required to add the product to the catalog to complete a listing.

Category and Item Specifics updates in Coins, Computers & Networking, eBay Motors Parts & Accessories, Consumer Electronics, Tickets, Collectibles and eBay Motors Vehicles.

eBay will be announcing Seller Release 2 today, July 12, 2011.

Related Story:
eBay UK SR2 to Include Cross-Selling and TRS Grace Period

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