eBay Canada Looking for Beta Volunteers to Test New Shopping Experience

As eBay announced in the Canadian, U.S., UK, and Australian 2018 Summer Seller Updates, the company is transitioning to a product-based shopping experience that the company says will make it easy for buyers to find products.

Today, on its Canadian announcement board, eBay posted a message that it is looking for sellers that would like to participate in an upcoming product-based shopping experience beta program.

As a beta program participant, sellers will receive early access to create and edit product functionality in the eBay catalog. Participating sellers will be asked to work closely with eBay employees to resolve any issues they discover.

In order to be selected for the beta program, eBay sellers must meet the following selection criteria:

• Be a registered seller in good standing for at least one year
• Sell on one of the following eBay sites: eBay.com, eBay.ca, eBay.co.uk, and/or eBay.com.au
• Sell in one of the following categories with annual GMV exceeding $5,000 in one or more of the following categories:
  • Cardio Equipment
  • Cell Phones & Smartphones
  • Computers/Tablets, Networking Tablets & eBook Readers
  • Humidifiers
  • Internet & Media Streamers
  • Major Appliances
  • Portable Fans
  • Programmable Thermostats
  • Small Kitchen Appliances
  • Space Heaters
  • TV, Video & Home Audio: Internet & Media Streamers
  • TVs
  • Voice-Enabled Smart Assistants
• Use Seller Hub as their primary listing tool
• Have inventory on-boarding and/or listing activities planned within the next 30 days within the above categories
• Are willing to provide constructive feedback by email, phone, or video to help identify and resolve any discovered issues

For seller wanting to participate in this program, the company provided a link to fill out a BETA Application form.

The Beta is scheduled to start on August 1, 2018. Currently, there are no similar announcements on the U.S., UK, or Australian boards. One would hope sellers on those countries will have similar opportunities to help develop this feature on eBay.

Asking for beta participants is the right way to launch new significant functionality on the platform.

It is a departure from the old days when eBay would just roll out features and sometimes appear to make everyone a “beta” tester on a new feature that only had a small group of invited private testers.

If you are a Canadian eBay seller, will you participate in this beta? Head over to our Facebook Discussion Group or use the comments section below.

Richard Meldner

Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.

To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.