Ebay PowerUP Magazine = Some New Strategies

I got my new eBay PowerUP seller's magazine in the mail today. I enjoy reading these. Honestly, there's not much new-to-me information in them, but there are usually just enough good tips that I can implement. This issue was no different. Here are the highlights that I plan to consider over the next week or so:

• Gift-related store categories. I vaguely remember eBay making this suggestion last year, and I remember liking it at the time, but I never bothered to implement it. I am considering adding a "Gift Ideas for Her" or "Gift Ideas Under $15" category to my store, just for the Christmas season.
• Social-media. I'm a Facebook fan. I make no secret of that. But I am brand new to Twitter - just joined a week or so ago. I don't really understand how it works, but I would like to tweet as many of my gift idea listings as possible over the next couple weeks. Of course that would be more successful if I had more than 12 followers....
• Bigger photos. I have been resizing all of my photos to 1000 pixels on the long side. eBay now allows up to 1600 pixels, so I think I'll start resizing all the photos in my new listings to 1600. Bigger pictures show more details, which gives our buyers more confidence.
• Free and fast shipping. This is a big deal! Currently, top-rated sellers get 20% off the final value fees on their invoices. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, if we offer at least 1 free shipping option and 1 day handling, we'll get an EXTRA 20% off the final value fees of anything that sells with those options. I already have a 1 day handling time, but I am going to add Express Mail to as many of my listings as I can. I'm also going to raise my prices just a bit and add Free Shipping to my listings just for that one month. I am NOT a fan of free shipping, but I will do it for just one month, and only for that additional 20% discount. Another bonus to this is on the final value fees for international sales. If we offer free shipping as our first shipping option, and that item sells internationally, the FVF will be figured on the first domestic shipping option (not on the international shipping option). If we offer free domestic shipping and sell our item internationally, then we get NO final value fees charged on shipping!
• Longer return window. I have always had a 30-day return policy. I recently changed that to 14 days, but I may change it back to 30 just for the holiday season. Buyers who are buying gifts want to know that they can return an item after gifting it, if it doesn't work for the person they are giving it to. I haven't decided for sure on this one, but I'm considering it.
• 4th Annual Free Shipping Day. December 14th is Free Shipping Day. This goes hand in hand with the Fast and Free tip above.

That's probably enough to keep me busy for awhile. If you don't have the time to read the entire issue, I highly recommend at least reading the summary page ("2011 Top Tips for Holiday Success"), and if you aren't currently getting the PowerUP magazine in the mail, sign up for it here - it's free!