The recent fall in value of the pound against the euro, US dollar and other currencies is great news for UK sellers who are willing to export to other countries.

Your UK products are now around 30% cheaper for buyers paying in euros or US dollars, compared to a few months ago, and you didn't have to reduce your prices by a penny.

To attract bargain-hunting buyers from outside the UK, make sure you include international postage information in your listings. We're doing our bit with a big marketing campaign, telling millions of buyers across the EU that the UK is the place to go for great deals.

Provide international postage options to the EU and elsewhere, and state postage costs to other countries clearly in your listing.

Royal Mail is introducing new pricing with effect from 6th April 2009.
More details can be found on the Royal Mail website: http://www.royalmail.com/tariff2009

Make sure you're aware of the price changes and update postage costs in your listings if you need to. 6th April 2009

Over the coming months we'll be working on a number of pilots and initiatives to improve the resolution process. We look forward to providing updates throughout the year on these initiatives.

Throughout 2009

From 6th May 2009 you won't be able to use the Multiple Item Auction format (auction-style listing offering two or more identical items, also known as Dutch Auction).

Sellers will still be able to create multiple-item listings by using the Fixed Price format. Find out more about multiple-item Fixed Price format listings.

What happens to active listings in Multiple Item Auction format?
Active Multiple Item Auctions will remain active until they end naturally (after 10 days at the latest). You'll also still be able to revise the quantity of a Multiple Item Auction while the listing runs.

What happens to scheduled listings in Multiple Item Auction format?
Multiple Item Auctions scheduled to start after the format retirement date in 6th May 2009 will be cancelled.

Make sure you haven't got any Multiple Item Auction listings scheduled to start after 6th May 2009. Read about the Fixed Price format for multiple-item listings to see how to make it work for you.

6th May 2009

From 12th March, we're introducing a new fee structure for private sellers who use the auction-style listing format on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie. The fee structure for business-registered sellers on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie will not change.

12th March 2009

Back in August we advised you that from early 2009 all sellers will need to indicate how long it will take to post an item to a buyer. Please note that sellers will now only be required to enter a dispatch time on all their listings from June 2009, not from March 2009 as announced previously.

The dispatch time is used in combination with the selected postage service to calculate a delivery estimate. This is done to highlight important information to buyers and to help set their expectations in relation to delivery.

Update your listings to include dispatch times.

June 2009

We're happy to announce that eBay AdCommerce is now available in the UK. AdCommerce is a pay-per-click advertising programme that lets eBay sellers promote listings and eBay Shops by placing ads ('sponsored results') on eBay search result pages.

How AdCommerce works:
Let's say you sell laptops and want your ad to appear when buyers search for the keyword 'computer' on eBay. You would need to decide your maximum 'cost per click' bid for the keyword 'computer'; that is, how much you're willing to pay each time a buyer clicks on your ad after running a search for 'computer'.

If you're one of the highest bidders in terms of cost per click for that keyword, your ad - which can include a title, a short description, and an optional image - will appear near the bottom of the search results page when a buyer runs a search for 'computer'.

When you create these kinds of targeted advertising campaigns, you can specify the maximum you want to spend on clicks. Once your budget is used up, your ads will stop appearing or you can add to your budget if you want to continue advertising.

With AdCommerce, there are no setup fees and no minimum payments: you pay only when a buyer clicks on your ad and goes to your listing or eBay Shop.

Work out how AdCommerce fits in with your advertising strategy and go to www.adcommerce.co.uk to register and start advertising.

We've been receiving great feedback from sellers who opted in to test the new Shopfront design we introduced to you in early February.

Improvements include new Shopfront templates and enhancements to Shops search results. Searches within your Shop will include titles, categories, item specifics, and even similar keywords for more relevant results.

If you haven't opted into the new Shopfront design yet, see how your Shop will look by previewing the new look now. If you like what you see, you can opt in for the new look right away. In April, all Shops will be automatically upgraded to the new design.

Note to Shop Sellers: We recommend you preview your new look eBay Shop before April, especially if your current Shop design is heavily customised. While we've worked hard to ensure that most eBay Shops will upgrade seamlessly, with little or no modifications required by sellers, some heavily-customised Shops may require manual modifications.

For more details, please see our frequently asked questions.

Preview your new look Shop now and opt-in to the new design if you like what you see.

April 2009

The improvements to the Seller Dashboard, we told you about in January will be introduced during the week commencing 23rd March 2009. They provide new Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) reports which you can use to analyse transactions and ratings, and work out what action to take.

Improvements include:

• Detailed DSR reports to help sellers identify which listings result in low or high DSRs
• Adding more reports specific to the Buyer Satisfaction Rating
• Key information highlighted to make the Seller Dashboard easier to use

Detailed DSR reports can show transaction information based on:

• Buyer location
• Category
• Date range
• P&P
• Item numbers

Log into your Seller Dashboard and take a look at the new reports when they are available.

This feature will be introduced during the week commencing 23rd March 2009.

Back in January we told you that Free P&P is now a factor in Best Match, meaning that items you list with free postage & packaging could be more visible within search results.

Listing positions in search are determined by a mix of factors including:

• Number of recent sales
• Keyword relevance
• 30-day Detailed Seller Ratings
• Item price/value
• Free postage & packaging

For more details, see our frequently asked questions.

Remind yourself of what affects the popularity/recent sales score element of Best Match.

A large majority (64%) of online businesses are confident about the future and more than three-quarters are planning to expand their businesses during 2009, according to the eBay.co.uk new Online Business Index.

The Index shines a light on an increasingly successful part of the British economy, compiled from data and survey responses from hundreds of small and medium-sized online retail businesses, collectively turning over an estimated £785 million in 2008 alone.

Click here to download a PDF version of the report.