eBay Announces Changes to eBay Stores

eBay just made an announcement about eBay Stores. We support it! We think it's great that some changes to how an eBay Store looks will help the site be more consistent. That can only help shopping and buying. But the announcement raises some issues. Here is our press release:

As Was Assures The Compliance Of Their eBay Store Designs

 eBay’s announcement on January 13, 2009 means that so-called “Advanced” eBay Stores that use certain design and coding will no longer display correctly, and must be phased out immediately. Are you one of thousands of eBay sellers who paid an “eBay Store design specialist” for an eBay Store that now has to be replaced?

For the last few years, eBay sellers who called As Was looking for an “advanced” eBay Store design were talked out of it. As Was told sellers individually and in classes at eBay Live, RocketPlace, and other conferences that these designs break an eBay rule called Site Interference. The staff at As Was were made aware of the Site Interference rule in November 2004. Having seen eBay crack down on Site Interference, As Was didn’t want to risk it for sellers, and has since chosen to stay away from “Advanced” eBay Stores that break this rule.

Sellers will no longer have the option to try to fly under the rules radar. eBay’s announcement about the exciting new version of eBay Stores includes a more stringent crack-down on the Site Interference rule. For example, under the new Stores upgrade, http://www.aswas.com/img/bambinibarucci-old.jpg (not designed by As Was) will look like http://www.aswas.com/img/bambinibarucci.jpg. The repeating background and changed link colors mean that even in this broken state, this Store is still not compliant with Site Interference. Watch our video explaining the Site Interference rule, and how currently-infringing Stores will break.

Thousands of eBay Stores that were never compliant will now completely break under the new Store layout that eBay is phasing in throughout Q1 2009. This includes Stores built by “eBay Store design specialists” who have “extensive experience” with eBay selling, and are claiming to provide you with the “most advanced high impact eBay design”. These “professional eBay design” companies who took money to build and install non-compliant Stores either didn’t know their designs broke eBay rules, or they knew but chose to break the rules anyway.

“Years ago, we made the decision to choose honesty, compliance, and future-mindedness for our clients,” said Debbie Levitt, CEO of As Was. “Not only did we know these Stores broke eBay rules, but they’re also often overdesigned for what the eBay shopper expects to experience around eBay. We knew this, we heard it from sellers who bought these overdesigns and saw disappointing results, and we feel like this eBay announcement echoes our theory about the eBay Stores experience.”

Levitt continued, “eBay disallowing this style of Store design seems to support my conclusion that overdesigned Stores didn’t work very well. No Stores that have ever won eBay’s Best In Stores Award had these “Advanced” (non-compliant) designs. If these types of designs worked well towards converting shoppers into buyers, I’d imagine that eBay’s announcement this month would be in greater support of this type of design rather than to more formally outlaw it.”

It’s not just the companies claiming to be eBay experts that worry Debbie Levitt. “There are a lot of eBay sellers using freelance, outsourcing, and job-bidding websites to try and find people who will cheaply build so-called advanced eBay Stores,” Levitt explained. “I want to help get the message out about the new eBay Stores so that sellers can spend their money more wisely. Anything spent on a non-compliant eBay Store is wasted money, especially if the designer is not going to fix the broken Store for free.”

As Was designs like Msss Kel’s Place, winner of the 2008 eBay Best In Stores award, will continue looking fabulous without any changes or alterations needed. http://www.aswas.com/img/mssskel-old.jpg is the old version of the Store, which will transition seamlessly to the new version of Stores, http://www.aswas.com/img/mssskel.jpg.

As Was is happy to continue offering eBay sellers the best in service and attention. As consultants and eBay experts, we are always advising clients on what is allowed, as well as how to respond to all of the changes eBay has been making. Best known for eBay listing template design and eBay Store design, the one-on-one relationship As Was enjoys with each seller also extends to strategy advice as well as off-eBay services such as website design, print design, and marketing consulting.

As Was will continue offering innovative and creative designs as well as tools to help eBay and online sellers. Developed throughout 2008 in total compliance with eBay’s current and upcoming initiatives, As Was will soon be launching a new tool to help eBay sellers cross-promote items within their eBay listings, eBay Store, and even outside of eBay.

Sellers looking to upgrade from their current paid Frooition design to the custom, unique, and compliant work done by As Was can enjoy our competitive upgrade pricing offer. Learn more about As Was at http://www.aswas.com.

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