The announcement was released today - no more digital products allowed on eBay after March 31. This includes eBooks. The announcement reads:
"Digital goods are often reproduced at little to no cost to the seller. On eBay, this creates the potential for Feedback Manipulation (both real and perceived). To preserve the integrity of the Feedback system, effective March 31 all goods that can be digitally downloaded or transferred electronically must be listed using the Classified Ads format."
In a nutshell, sellers can advertise eBooks through eBay's Classified Ads for $9.95 a month, but classified ads do not appear in your store, nor are they a selling platform. Classified ads are just a way to reach an audience and advertise a product. Any buying and selling takes place off of eBay at the buyer and seller's own risk.
It looks like eBay's position here is to weed out sellers that only buy and sell eBooks to artificially inflate their feedback scores. Other sellers use this technique as an inexpensive marketing tool - they fill their eBooks with links to their websites and affiliate programs and practically give them away on eBay. eBooks = viral 
marketing at its best.
Granted, many sellers offer "junk" eBooks - that is just a given. I sell eBooks in my eBay store - books that I have written, about eBay selling and marketing. This move will hurt sellers like me who have a genuine, helpful, informative product to offer and can reach buyers on eBay.
Some sellers are responding by planning to sell eBooks on CD, or printing them out and selling a hardcopy. I don't see this as a viable option, since the production costs of a CD or printed copy devour any profit made from selling a $5 eBook.
My plan is to offer my eBooks on my website. I can still enjoy the hassle-free selling platform of digital downloads, and avoid any eBay fees or policies. Generating traffic to my site will be the challenge.
If you are an eBook seller, how do you plan to respond to this change? Discontinue offering eBooks? Sell CDs? Start your own website?
As an eBay Power Seller, I do currently have an eBook category in my store where I sell a variety of eBooks, primarily in the recipe and self-help categories. I also have a separate website where I sell my hand-crafted, artisan clothing, jewelry & gift items. In response to this announcement, I have transferred my eBooks over to my Shoppes site where I will continue to offer them as a service to my customers. My Feedback on eBay from my customers who have purchased my books has always been Positive, thanking me for the valuable information contained in the books, ease of delivery (immediate download) and reasonable cost. Personally, I feel the announcement in it's current form is a giant step backwards and I question the real intent of the decision.
Posted by: Moomettes Magnificents Olde Towne Shoppes | March 28, 2008 12:36 AM | Permalink to Comment