The invitation only promo is being mentioned around the ebay community and elsewhere.
The numbers are staggering! What? with all the millions and millions of new sellers who must be joining from the recent seller referral promos and recruitment videos... I'm sure (rolls eyes). Then factor in the 400 (or X amount of) servers they shut down to get their green jollies. Calculate your visibility, or more precisely, the lack thereof.
What a deal! Just be careful it doesn't turn out to be another interest free cash advance loan to ebaY, as their promos often turn out to be.
Once again, if you have 800,000 free listings (along with the sponsored ads on them) but none of them are ever seen, do they really exist anywhere besides on ebaY's books?
Are ebaY members (and shareholders) so conditioned to the glitzy plablum scam glitter that they can't understand what is happening?
It sure would be something to, for once, see a major journalistic entity take a good look at ebaY with a critical eye.
oops, scratch that thought, I think an epic week long, really creepy mini-series by Stephen King might fit the bill better. lmao.
-- Edited by budnonymous on Sunday 14th of July 2013 08:24:54 AM
I called Ebay customer service. It is a "technical problem" of course! If you have been charged fees, you should call Ebay Customer Service to get them reversed. Make sure you tell them that 10-day listings are included in the promotion (the rep I spoke to first tried to tell me that I was rightly being charged the upgrade fee). Hopefully they will fix this soon.
A little more info... here's the actual promo page
Screencapture with pertinent details underlined:
The ebay forums are all lit up with complaints, across several threads and forums. Many of them center around the 10 day listings. You can see it clearly states 10 day listings are included.
There is also some mention of a blue button to activate the offer. Not everyone saw the button, or got it. Again, the promo details say
"Sellers that have been invited to participate in the Promotion will automatically receive the Promotional Rate when they list items auction-style through the Sell Your Item form, eBay Seller Tools, eBay mobile applications, and most third-party tools."
Is it just me or is it very hard to believe after this many times such circumstances are a mere glitch?
I'm also left wondering again , with regards to the mysterious blue activate button, if ebay is deliberately playing mind games on their beloved community?
-- Edited by budnonymous on Monday 15th of July 2013 03:16:56 AM
The intent of the ZIF Auction promotion was to exclude the special duration listing fee for 10 day auction listings, however we recognize that this may have been confusing for our sellers. We have updated the terms and conditions of our promotion to further clarify this offer and will be crediting back the special duration listing fees for any invited sellers who listed with 10-day auctions during the timeframe of the promotion.
They wound up editing the offer's verbiage after the fact, without any other notice or sign the offer had been revised, and after numerous conflicting infos given by ebay customer service.
Apparently plain English written in black & white is not what it means?
I see at least a couple complaints wherein the victims state that ebay will only remove the overcharges one by one. Cold comfort for folks who listed hundreds or thousands of listings.
At any rate, I found a cached page on Yahoo. Full sized screencap in this tweet
Invited sellers ("sellers") who list in the auction-style or auction-style with Buy It Now format pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth herein will pay no Insertion Fee per item listed ("Promotion") for up to 800,000 listings during the Promotion period as defined below. 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10-day listing durations are included as part of this Promotion. The Promotion is in addition to the free insertion fee promotion for up to 50 auction-style or fixed price listings per calendar month as further described here, or any other insertion fees that you receive as part of a Store subscription described here.
Who's eligible?
This promotion is available by invitation only. Sellers that qualify for participation will have received an email, and/or a message in My eBay. The Promotion is then activated with the seller's qualifying eBay User ID. The Promotion is for invited sellers only and is not transferable.
When is it?
This Promotion will begin on Sunday, July 14, 2013, at 00:00:01 PT (12:00 AM plus one second), and will end on Saturday, July 20, 2013, at 23:59:59 PT (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds), for listings on www.ebay.com. For listings on www.ebay.ca, the Promotion will begin on Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 00:00:01 ET (12:00 AM plus one second), and will end on Saturday, July 20, 2013, at 23:59:59 ET (11:59 PM plus 59 seconds), (the "Promotion Period").
How do I get the Promotional Rate?
Sellers that have been invited to participate in the Promotion will automatically receive the Promotional Rate when they list items auction-style through the Sell Your Item form, eBay Seller Tools, eBay mobile applications, and most third-party tools.
What are the fees?
During the Promotion Period, there will be no Insertion Fee per item listed for up to 800,000 listings in the auction-style format. Sellers may also add the Buy It Now option to these listings free. Additional optional feature fees apply. Final Value Fees will be applied to the total amount of the sale including the cost of the item, shipping, and any other fees a seller may chargeexcluding any sales tax.
Summary of Restrictions & Exclusions.
Please take time to read the full terms for all the details.
Sellers can list a maximum of 800,000 items as part of this Promotion on the U.S. site, www.ebay.com, eBay Motors at www.eBayMotors.com (Parts & Accessories only), eBay Canada at www.ebay.ca, or with an eBay mobile application for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, or Blackberry in the U.S. and Canada.
This Promotion does not apply to the following: Items listed in eBay's fixed price format, eBay Motors Passenger Vehicles, Motorcycles, Boats, Power Sports, Other Vehicles, Motors Local Market, Real Estate, or Classified Ad listings. The following business and industrial categories are excluded: Heavy Equipment, Concession Trailers & Carts, Imaging & Aesthetics Equipment, and Commercial Printing Presses.
Only sellers whose accounts meet eBay's minimum seller performance standards are eligible. Please sign in to My eBay and view your Seller Dashboard to verify whether your account is currently meeting the standards. If you have received fewer than 10 detailed seller ratings from buyers, this information will not appear in My eBay; however, you will receive email notification if your account falls below the minimum performance standards. Find out more about seller performance standards.
All existing selling limits on your account (as well as category and item limits) still apply, and may exclude and prevent you from creating the maximum number of listings in this Promotion.
All listings must comply with eBay policies, including eBay's Duplicate Listing policy that allows for the removal of duplicate auction-style listings.
The Promotional Rate does not apply to listings with a start date prior to Sunday, July 14, 2013, including those listings revised during the Promotion Period. Additionally, the Promotional Rate will not apply to listings scheduled to start after the Promotion Period. Listings created prior to Sunday, July 14, 2013, which are scheduled to start during the Promotion Period, will be eligible to receive the Promotional Rate.
Please note: For sellers listing with any tool other than the latest version of the Sell Your Item form (SYI 3.0), the Promotional Rate will not be shown during the listing process. Instead, the discount will be reflected in the "View Account Status" section in My eBay, as well as in your next invoice.