DaveOvenden.com

Yes, it’s true! Ebay is banning the sale of digital products from 31st March 2008. Anybody listing a digital item in the ‘Buy it Now” category after this date will be in violation of their Terms of Service. You can read the original announcement here:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200803.shtml#2008-03-24125416

There is also a ton of activity on eBay’s discussion boards:

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000671814&start=80

Needless to say this is creating a massive reaction amongst eBay sellers, particularly those selling e-books and other downloadable items.

Ebay say that it is implementing this policy to prevent feedback manipulation. Their suggestion is for sellers to list digital items using a classified ad. These show up in eBay listings and item searches but they cost $9.95 for 30 days and the seller does not receive any feedback on any sales from the ads.

Many eBay sellers are saying they will switch to selling digital items on CD to get round this new ruling but this seems like a retrograde step to me.

1. It adds cost
2. It’s slow
3. It’s not environmentally friendly
and finally…
4. It requires too much effort for the potential return (burning CDs, packing, posting etc.)

The only upside I can see is that you can retain buyer feedback.

So, for me, the answer lies in developing the classified ads route as a way of growing a list to sell digital items to outside of eBay. This is something that Jim Cockrum has been pushing in his newsletter for some time.

I already have an e-book website and MyDD works just as well outside of eBay as it only relies on the PayPal description. If I can add a customer rating system to my site and write a killer classified ad, I’m away!

I’m sure others will come up with more creative ideas. There’s even talk of setting up an alternative to eBay just for selling digital products.

Somebody will probably write an e-book about all of this - but where would they sell it?

This is a big change for everyone selling digital products on eBay but that’s life. The good news is that big changes always bring big opportunities for those who are creative and/or clever enough to grasp them.

I for one intend to move forwards not backwards!

Let me know your thoughts.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 6:20 pm and is filed under Ebooks & Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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