Kayomi This week on the eBay for business podcast. Patty Whitlock "...And the reason why I started selling the whole thing was because I got pregnant. I had my son and then I wanted to have a second said, not gonna go ahead and chase around having another baby, whatever. And I started selling all my sons clothes. And the minute I did that, I became pregnant. Georgea That's how the universe works, Patty. Don't you know it by now? .." Kayomi I'm Kayomi Kayoshi.
Griff And I'm Griff, and this is the eBay for business podcast, your source for the information and inspiration to help you start and manage and grow a successful business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And this is episode two ninety nine. I'm not gonna say a thing. Kayomi Griff, you know what I'm thinking. You you can see it in my face. Griff I can see it. Kayomi You can, like, feel the the excitement. Can you not? Griff I'm imagining how it feels.
Kayomi Yeah. It might be one-sided, but I'm I'm definitely evoking that on my end Griff Well, yeah. And episode three hundred is next week, so I guess it will be a milestone. We're also coming up to one that actually matters to me, and that's the anniversary of the start of the podcast. We'll be starting our seventh year the first week of August. So it's just a month, almost a little more than a month away. Kayomi Oh, amazing. Yeah. So I'm excited for it and the seven year anniversary.
Griff Anyway, it's going to be an exciting show this week. Kayomi Well, Griff, why are you so excited? Who's our guest for this episode? Griff Well, this week, our trusted correspondent, Georgia Mampanis, comes back to the podcast. He's gonna return with the next installment of the seller spotlight series, which as you know, has moved from its own podcast in two hours. And this particular segment is featuring a conversation with eBay seller, Patty Whitlock.
And Patty's well known in the eBay community as somebody who mentors and helps and supports other sellers. She's well loved and she has interesting things to say about eBay. But first, talking about interesting things, what's up with the eBay news this week, Kayomi? Kayomi So the big recent news is about some significant changes to feedback. Last week, eBay announced some changes to feedback specifically addressing the need for clarity regarding which feedback qualifies for removal.
In fact, more than a dozen feedback policy changes have now taken effect on eBay. For example, we will remove feedback when a seller denies a buyer's cancellation request because per eBay policy, a seller has discretion to accept or deny a cancellation request. These are not the last of the changes to feedback policies as more criteria for removal will be added to the list in coming weeks and months. You can read more about this announcement on the eBay seller news page in community.
Oh, Griff okay. I guess clarity is always a good thing. Kayomi Yeah. Fingers crossed, but we're only improving from here. Griff Yeah. I like to think back to the original days of feedback, and a lot of sellers may not know this, but the initial removal policy for negative feedback was this. If you want to have a feedback removed, you can send a signed court order to do so to eBay at two one four five Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, California.
Kayomi Should I start, letting the community members know? Griff Only if you wanna discuss history as, like, ah, in the old days. Well, anyway, that's good news for those sellers who spend a lot of time worrying, I believe, unnecessarily about occasional negative feedback. Now what do you say we welcome Georgia and her guest for our monthly seller spotlight segment? Transition Music Georgea Every seller has a story.
I'm Georgea Pmampanis , and welcome to our newest episode of our seller spotlight segment, where once a month, we spotlight a seller with a story to share with us. Our guest this month is someone that doesn't really need an introduction, as many of you in the eBay community will recognize her. Before she started her eBay business, she worked as a respiratory therapist. Now, not only is she full time on eBay, but she's also a mentor for other sellers.
Welcome, Patty Whitlock. Patty Whitlock Thank you for having me. Georgea Patty, we wanna know more about your business. I mean, I did mention that everyone pretty much already knows you, but for the one for the listeners that are coming in who don't know you, what do you sell? Patty Whitlock A little bit of everything, but I love to sell vintage jewelry, especially vintage brooches, which now are back in fashion. Brooches have been a state for generations, and they're so much fun.
They're like blingy, you know, I love bling. And, you know, some celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Nick Jonas, Usher, what's the other one? Sarah Jessica Parker and so on now are spotting this hot trend. So I'm really excited about it. Do you have a favorite brush? Oh my gosh. I have tons. I like the ones that have, like, a lot of bling, like, a lot of crystal, and they have a lot of colors. Multicolors are cool.
I like the Juliana broaches because the the bling is so much more than any other, and I like the big ones. And one tip I just had the other day, somebody told me that because the brooches are very heavy, and so what you go ahead and do is you go ahead and take a piece of felt and you put it behind the clothes and then you put the broach onto the felt and it will not weigh on the fabric. Georgea Pull down. That's a really, really good tip. Okay. Noted.
Yes. So you've been on eBay for a while now and have sold tens of thousands of items at this point. Do you, by any chance, remember the first item you've ever sold? Patty Whitlock Yes. I do. It was a pre loved baby romper from my son. The romper went to this lady who was a new grandma. And I remember that she said she lived in a mountain romper that her son had when he was little. So she wanted to give the grandson that romper, and that's how she found me and purchased the romper from me.
Georgea What color was it? I wanna know details. Patty Whitlock It's so cute, and it was vintage too. It was just like the snap buttons and the little color, and it was just, you know, kind of like a little doggy in in the front and oh, and she was just thrilled. She emailed me and she says, you know, I've been looking for this and my son had it and now my grandson is gonna have it. And then she was, like, so excited. Georgea I love that. So you remember all the details to it.
That's that's it must have been so inspiring and probably made you wanna sell more Patty Whitlock Oh, yeah. And the reason why I started selling the whole thing was because I got pregnant. I had my son, and then I wanted to have a second pregnancy, and I couldn't get pregnant. So we tried and tried for almost six years. And then all of a sudden, I said, you know what? This is enough. I'm not gonna go ahead and chase around having another baby, whatever.
And I started selling all my son's clothes. And the minute I did that, I became pregnant. Georgea That's how the universe works, Patty. Don't you know it by now? Patty Whitlock Exactly. So this is why it's so thrilling. You never know what you're gonna go ahead and sell or how the sales are gonna go up or down or, you know, steady or dry, whatever. But, yeah. The minute I finished selling all my kid clothes, that's when I became pregnant.
So here I go searching on eBay to buy more Georgea For more. That's hilarious. I mentioned that in your intro, you're a respiratory therapist. Can you tell us a little bit more? Patty Whitlock Yeah. So I always wanted to be in the medical field and to help people. I first went to biology and chemistry. I got a degree in that. And the plan was to go to pre med and then medical school.
And then I got DRL and I went and I got early childhood education because I was dating this guy and I was going to marry him and he owned a daycare and he needed me to go ahead and have some kind of a certificate. So I did the early education certificate, and then we then get married, and I came back to Florida. And then I said, you know what? I want something quick so I don't have to live with my parents. Okay. I mean, medical school is like, it's long.
Okay. So I went and I got my degree in respiratory and then I started working in, Miami Children's Hospital. Respiratory is a lot of stress. It was extremely satisfying, but at the same time, tons of stress. And I work in the in the trauma network and I saw a lot. And then when I worked in Miami Children's Hospital and my heart was always broken dealing with the kids, you know. Plus, when you work with the trauma network, you will fly with patients in critical condition.
It was a high energy, high demand career. Very, very stressful. Georgea Okay. So I've heard of people doing crazy things for love, but you got a degree for love. Is that what I heard? Patty Whitlock Yes. It was crazy. I was dating this guy, and it was just like, oh, I should have never dated him. Georgea I got a long list of those too. Don't worry, Patty. Patty Whitlock Right? And he owned a daycare, so he had me running the three year old program. And we were going to go ahead and get married.
And he's like, I can't have you be assistant director unless you have a degree. So I went ahead and I got my degree in early childhood education, and I taught three year olds. And then I taught the afterschoolers too. That was fun. Georgea I wanna know a little bit more about why you decided to leave the field and focus on your business full time. Patty Whitlock Okay. So like I said, my life as a respiratory therapist was very high stress and high demand.
And most of my patients who were very ill and very sad too. Once I had kids on my own, just going to the hospital and taking care of a child that, for example, was a near drowning and seeing that child that was not going to go ahead and ever wake up and, you know, be connected to a ventilator or a respirator and parents struggling about unhooking them or disconnecting them or not. It was very overwhelming to come home and deal with that and see my kids and think, what if this happens to my kids?
You know? So I just couldn't go ahead and do it. So I had a lot of, people in the field, like doctors and nurses and everything else. And and the hospital used to go ahead and throw a lot of galas and fundraisers and whatnot. And, a lot of doctors had, like, these beautiful gowns, and they only wore them once because they couldn't, of course, they couldn't go anywhere. Can you just imagine wearing a gown twice? How dare anyone. How dare. Right?
So they will give them to me and say, hey, can you go ahead and sell them? Them? And so I started selling on eBay, and I was hooked from the minute I saw my first gown there. It was like, this can be a business.
So I started doing it more full time, you know, because before it was because the kids' clothing and whatever I had in the house, but this was like serious business because then I will pick up all the gowns or shoes or whatever that they they couldn't wear anymore, and then I will take them and and put them on eBay. And it was fantastic. It was so like arcade. Georgea So you were obviously helping people in your last career. How would you say you're helping people through selling on eBay?
Patty Whitlock Okay. So there are several scenarios. Number one, I help people by selling their stocks. Sometimes someone comes to me saying, listen, I would like to sell this so I can send my kid to summer scam. Could you help me? I might just take the item, but I might teach that person how to sell. It depend. If it's just one type thing, yeah. If I see that the mom or the person that has approached me has a lot of inventory, then I will sit with them and I will try to teach them how to do it.
And then, of course, I will refer them to eBay help pages, which are fantastic. People don't understand how good the help pages are. Anyways, so then I sell all sorts of things. And one time, I had this beautiful vessel. It was crystal, and it was pink. And it was just oh my god. It was amazing. I love pink. And I love anything that when you turn it around, you know, the shoes, like, reflect and everything else. Just so happy with this vessel. I didn't wanna sell it.
All my inventory, I never wanna sell any of it. I want it. But my husband, he says, you know, you need to. But anyway, so I listed it. And then within a few days, this lady contacts me, and she says, could you go ahead and give me a break on shipping? And this was kinda like a big vessel. And so I said, okay. And she says, I'd be looking for something like this to put my daughter's ashes in it. And, this is the perfect color.
It's her color, and it's the perfect shape, but it is sort of pricey and with the shipping is more pricey. Could you do better? So because her daughter had just passed away, I went ahead and I gave her free shipping. So she was happy. I was happy because I could go ahead and help her out. It tore my heart because I mean, it was just like her daughter's ashes. So it was really sad. Then another one was, and this one is a fun one. This one went to a hairdresser.
And you know when you go to the hairdresser, they tell you to go ahead and take your top off and then go to the, you know, and and they give you like that cape, that black cape or whatever. Well, she didn't take the top off. Okay. She left it and then she used the cape, but then the dye, she was dyeing her hair. So the dye dripped into the top and ruined it. And I had the top and she had been looking for the stuff for two years, two years. And she found it. She's like, can you just imagine?
I found the top and it's in my size. I don't have to have it altered. I've been looking for it for two years. So, you know, I helped her out and I was like, that was fun. And then the worst one was, not the worst one, but this guy is a father. He's traveling to Florida with his wife and his baby girl. They leave behind the blankie and oh no. Ted is four hours crying in the plane, poor people in the plane, but poor, you know, poor parents too.
And she is lucky at eBay trying to see if he can find the blankie, and I have it. So he contacts me. He says, this is an emergency. If I purchase this, would you get it to me in Florida in my hotel instead of my address? I can change the address blah blah blah. I need a FedEx next day air at the hotel. So I went ahead and I did it. He was so grateful to me because I didn't inflate the price or anything, and he got the blankie and saved his sanity, the wife's sanity.
Georgea So it's experiences like this that'll help you build that community, and that's why you're very well known. Okay. Aside from, like, the buyer community, I wanna know about your, you know, journey of, like, the seller community. How did you discover it and how are you involved today? Patty Whitlock So what happened was I got in trouble. Georgea It's gonna be juicy. Okay. Patty Whitlock This is a juicy one.
I got in trouble with eBay when I was selling something that I was not supposed to be selling. So my account got restricted for six months. I could still sell, but not what I I was used to. So Griff suggested I go to the community boards and learn about selling something else until my restriction was lifted. So that's when I found the boards and I fell in love with the people there. Oh my gosh. The wealth of information that the community boards have. It is just amazing.
But I went to learn for, you know, about vintage and what I could go ahead and do with vintage. And I went for 1940s, 1950s, 1960s. They taught me how to run my business. And all of this was for free. I have one guy that was on the boards, and the first question he asked me when, you know, I introduced myself and everything else, he said, did you register your name? I said, what do you mean register my name? He says, did you register your name as a website?
And I said, no. He says, go do that now. And that was a very good piece of advice. And they will give you all kinds of tips about pictures and everything else, and they still do. Everything like this is still available for everybody and it's for free. Georgea I know you're also a mentor. Can you tell me how others can become a mentor as well? Patty Whitlock So you could go to community dot eBay dot com, and then on the right side, you're gonna go ahead and see the mentor program.
You can click on that, and then you can go ahead and apply. Now to be a mentor, you need to be an active buyer or seller. You don't have to be a seller only or a buyer only. You can be both or you can be either. And then you have to post frequently into the community and you have to be positive community participant. You know, not like, some people tend to go ahead and be, like, star key and stuff like that. That's not a good match for the mentor program.
So you need to go ahead and be, like, giving paying it forward and all that kind of stuff. And you have to be willing to mentor other people. And then you could go ahead and apply, and then they will review your account and then tell you if you qualify or not. But it is really neat. We have a very tight community and we are always welcoming new members. And, it's so satisfying to be able to help people and to answer questions and everything else.
And sometimes I think the community replies to your concerns faster than if you were to request a phone call back. You know? So that's That's something for everyone. Right? Yeah. Because, you know, it it is open twenty four seven. So you could go ahead and do, you know, I mean, you're up three o'clock in the morning and somebody just sent you a message about they're gonna go ahead and give you a negative and you don't know what the heck to do. Okay? And you're like, oh my god.
And you're sleeping, and then you could go to the community and you can find somebody there. And usually you can find me because I'm a night owl or, you know, you can find other, mentors there that are night owls, and we can go ahead and answer and guide you in the right direction. Georgea Patty, we appreciate you for all your work you do in the community. Thank you. Now can you please let us know where we can find your store? Are you online? Patty Whitlock Yes. I am.
So I am the shopping mom grace deals, or my user ID is the shopping mom with the number two at the end. Georgea Thank you, Patty. Thank you so much for being here today. This was honestly so great. Patty Whitlock Thank you for having me. Georgea Patty Whitlock sells on eBay under the store named The Shopping Mom's Great Deals. Shop her store today and be on the lookout for her next seller meeting with South Florida eBay sellers, linked in her Instagram theshoppingmom2.
We hope you'll join us on our next segment where we'll shine the spotlight on another seller with an amazing story to share. Now back to Griff. Transition Music Kayomi You've got questions. Griff Well, we've got answers. And today's three questions, Kaomi, are all part of a general theme regarding regulations. Kayomi Oh, how fun. Griff It was a coincidence that these three questions came in kinda lumped together. And as always, would you please read our first question?
Kayomi Since you asked so nicely. Our first email is from seller Erica who sent the following to podcast at ebay dot com. Hello. I just wanted to ask a question about a change to the dolls and bears category. We used to be able to ship to the United Kingdom in this category, but now it is no longer an option. I used to sell quite a bit to the UK, and I am losing sales. Is this a new thing or just a glitch in eBay software? Thanks, Erica. And her store is Eliana's Attic.
Griff Wow. So I can tell you this, Erica. It is not a glitch. It's actually deliberate that your item is not showing up in the UK, and here's why. The UK recently implemented regulations regarding product safety, and you can read about them online by searching for UK consumer product safety. Kayomi And as always, we'll be sure to put a link to the site in our show notes for episode two ninety nine.
Erica, one of the requirements for an item's eligibility to be sold in the UK are specific safety markings. In the case of a marketplace like eBay, we are required to make sure every item on their list has one of the required safety markings on the item coming into the UK. But since eBay cannot open and inspect all items going to the UK to be sure that they have the required markings, we had no choice but to block items from the UK for certain categories including toys.
Griff Yeah. Toys are on their list of products that they require now to have this safety marking. Safety markings like that CE marking you'll see on some electronic devices. There's a list of them, and you can find them on that page that we'll link to in the show notes for the UK, consumer product safety regulations. Let me read a section from that page if you don't mind, because it talks about this particular requirement for markings. So I'm quoting now from that page.
Some products must display appropriate markings to be sold in the UK. These markings are a statement from the manufacturer that the product meets specific safety, health, and environmental requirements. Now according to that UK consumer product safety page, the products that this applies to include, and I'm gonna quote, toys, electrical goods, gas appliances, fireworks, which you can't sell on eBay, I don't believe, personal protective equipment such as goggles, gloves, and helmets, unquote.
So, Erica, the Upshot, and we admit it's definitely not an ideal solution in order for eBay to be in compliance with this UK regulation toys along with some of the other categories like electronic goods, gas appliances, gloves, goggles, and helmets. Don't ask me why. If they're listed on ebay dot com, they're no longer going to be available to buyers in the UK. I know this is this may have an impact on her sales because she was selling a lot. I don't know what to tell you.
There's no other way of getting around this. Sorry about that. Now our next question was sent to podcast at ebay dot com by seller Bob. And Bob says, Griff, a year a year or two ago, when eBay announced the requirements for registering and packing standards for Germany, I opted out and restricted shipping to Germany. Oh, that German packaging act, I remember it well. Kayomi Is this the one with, like, the little packing nuts and everything?
Griff You had to register and you had to join a company and you had to buy a pack. It was just so onerous, and we talked about it online. Since then, eBay's been able to arrange with Germany so that through the international shipping program Yeah. They handle all that now, so that's no longer a concern. Anyway, Bob continues. Currently, I'm shipping exclusively through eBay International Shipping with no other options. My account is listed as an individual.
When eBay moved to the new global shipping program, which is not called that, it's called the, eBay international shipping, Bob says, I removed any restrictions including Germany. I was recently contacted by a buyer in Germany, and after some back and forth about the item itself, I told him that the eBay International Shipping Program was exclusive as a shipping option. He advised that the listing was showing that it was not available to ship to Germany.
I checked my account restrictions and saw that Europe, including Germany, was not a restricted company. I also verified this with customer support. The buyer sent me a screenshot which Bob shared with me. It's basically the item page with an overlay of a red error message saying that the item was not available to the buyer to be shipped into Germany. Bob continues. At that point, I added the option to ship USPS first class international and sold the item.
Could you please explain what, if any, is the issue on my part or account? Customer support said there is no restriction, yet buyer claims and shows that there is one from his end. Thanks and regards. Bob Crockett, his user ID on eBay is Racer Trek. Okay. Let me take this one on if you don't mind. You can jump in. Kayomi Please go ahead. Griff Okay. Robert, again, with the regulations here. So this blockage that your buyer saw in Germany is due to a new regulation in the European Union.
It's called the Digital Services Act. And this is one of the regulations where there's actually a page about it on seller center, and it outlines the act and how it impacts eBay and eBay sellers. We'll put a link to that page in the show notes for episode two ninety nine. Kayomi Oh, yeah. I am all too familiar with the DSA, our Digital Service Act. I mean, we've had to change things on our end to be in compliance with this.
So Bob, the European Commission adopted the Digital Services Act, or DSA, to provide a safe and accountable online environment for consumers. Digital platforms, including online marketplaces like eBay, are required to comply with regulations that aim to increase accountability, consumer protection, and transparency. Griff And so what does this mean for you as an eBay seller?
If you're a registered business seller who has listings available for purchase to buyers in the EU, your listings will reflect the rules established by the Digital Services Act. Starting in early two thousand twenty four, your business contact information will be displayed on listings that are available for purchase by EU buyers. And in this case, if you're registered as a business seller and you don't have that information filled out, your listings will not be purchasable by sellers in the EU.
Kayomi And if you are registered as a business seller and you want your items to be accessible to EU buyers, you can add the required information in just a few steps. First, you're going to log in to your account settings on my eBay. Then you're going to navigate to the public business information page. And finally, add the business contact details, phone number, email, you know, as shown in the form, and you're done.
Griff And if you're not happy with showing your phone number, get a business phone number like on Google Voice or what any of the other IP voice services, and make sure you're using a business email. And then that way, you're protecting your own personal privacy. But you have to have that information in your account if you want your items to be purchased by EU buyers. And by the way, we actually did an episode about this very topic with eBay's Andrea Stairs.
It was episode two sixty two, so it wasn't that long ago. I think it was, like, beginning of the year. If you wanna scroll through the podcast library in your app to locate and listen to it, look for ep 262. Kayomi And Bob did say in his email that he was able to circumvent the requirement by shipping the item using his own shipping as opposed to eBay international shipping. Griff, is that recommended?
Griff Yeah. What he discovered is that we block them if it's international, eBay international shipping. That's how we put the block in because we can see the information. So apparently, he was able to circumvent that, and I guess it can work. Listen. Am I gonna recommend that somebody try to get around compliance? No. I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry.
It's best to be in compliance by providing the required information on your eBay business account, and that's what the majority of sellers have done. Kayomi Yes. And a seller would also have to ask themselves if it's worth giving up the safety protections of eBay International shipping when it comes to returns just to make a sale? Griff Yeah. It's a good point. I definitely wouldn't try to circumvent it. Kayomi Yes. We are law abiding citizens.
Griff Can you imagine if we started giving out outlaw advice? Kayomi Go wild. Griff Go ahead. Do what you want. Anyway, it's a seller's decision to make. Oh, by the way, we also announced this, new digital service act in the two thousand twenty three fall update if you wanna read more about it. We'll put links to all the pages mentioned including the two thousand twenty three fall update page in the show notes for episode two ninety nine. Kayomi And our last question is a bit unusual.
It comes from seller Barbara in Ohio who sent this to podcast at ebay dot com. Hello, Griffin Kiyomi. Several YouTube influencers have talked about how, unless you are a licensed auctioneer, you cannot run eBay auctions if you live in a state that has legally restricted auctions of any kind to licensed auctioneers only. I live in one of those states. Is this really a thing? Is it enforceable for online platform auctions like eBay?
I still see several resellers from my state on eBay and other platforms running auctions, and I'm now thinking that I'm just being a wimp for not using that feature. Is there any hope you can give those of us who do not plan on going through the hassle and expense of becoming licensed, love your podcast, and think it should be required listening. Oh, why thanks. Barbara in Ohio. Griff Okay. Is there any hope you can give Barbara? So, yeah, Barbara, move. Kayomi Relocate potentially. Griff Sorry.
I know that sounds kind of blunt, but it's really the only hope I can give you because now I gotta say this right upfront. We're not the expert.
But you said it's Ohio, and, yes, Ohio does indeed have a state law that they finally, after, like, twenty years of trying to pass, they were able to pass last year, and it governs the requirement for any Ohio based seller and what they must follow in order to be in compliance with that law if they're using an offline or an online platform's auction format to sell goods. I've read through the pages.
There are apparently some exceptions, but, again, I'm not qualified to provide guidance on this issue, but you can do it yourself. You can go to the pages, which I'll I'll put a link to their main page in the show notes. We do know that the Ohio law doesn't cover fixed price sales. It's only for using the auction format. So any Ohio seller can sell using fixed price.
But if a seller based in Ohio wants to use the auction format on eBay or any other online marketplace that provides one, They're gonna need to inform themselves about their state laws regarding selling on auction sites online. And I have heard secondhand, of course, that Ohio has enforced this law since it passed. And apparently and I don't know if this is true or not, but there can be significant consequences for those found in violation.
Kayomi Yeah. Barbara, reading your message today definitely taught me something. And I was picking Griff's brain before this, and I was like, is this really a thing? Griff It was twenty years ago when this first started happening. When eBay started becoming really successful, there were a lot of these traditional auction societies in different states around the country who thought this was unfair to them, not quite understanding how the how the model works, and they pushed for legislation.
Most of that never passed. It never made it anywhere. But there were a few states like Ohio, and I don't know what the others are, if there are any, where the auctioneers within that state and their usual usually agricultural estate auctioneers that, you know, stand up on a podium and go, oh, what do you bid? I'm gonna take three. Well, give me four, four, five. You know, it's that kind of thing.
And they really pushed to make sure that anyone who sells online using the auction format had to meet the same requirements. Kayomi Well, Griff, what are the requirements for compliance within the Ohio law? Griff Again, I'm not the expert here, but a quick perusal of the high Ohio State website regarding this new law seems to indicate there are things like you have to take an exam, which you have to study for. There's mandatory ongoing annual education, which you must take.
You have to pay for the courses. There are dues and fees about joining the state's auctioneer association. It is not a simple process, and it is not inexpensive. Kayomi Capitalism at its finest sounds scary. Griff Yeah. I don't know if I blame capitalism, but I agree mostly. I don't use the auction format that much myself, but if I did and I lived in Ohio, I gotta tell you, Barbara, I probably would think about relocation.
Kayomi This might just be me, but it seems like a stretch to call eBay sellers auctioneers. But, you know, Barbara, if in the training that you may go through, you learn how to speak like them and do do the impression that Griff was doing earlier, please call in to us at the podcast so we can hear it. Griff Who knows? You may have a future as a cattle auctioneer. There could be worse futures. So I wanna thank everyone who sent in their questions this week.
I'm sure it wasn't coordinated that they all had to do with regulations, and I have to admit, Barbara, that Ohio question was definitely unusual. If you send me your address, I'll send you the USB mug. You more than deserve it, and I think you're gonna need it. Kayomi And if you have any unusual questions about running a business on eBay, why not ask us? Griff Yeah. We might know the answer right off, but we can always research and find the right answer.
Kayomi We research everything here on You Got Questions. Griff Yes. We do. Kayomi That's why we know about Ohio law fairly, briefly, vaguely. Griff Yeah. Enough. Right. Enough to give you some information. Kayomi Exactly. And if you're interested, just call us at eight eight eight seven two three four six three zero. Or if you prefer, you can always email us at podcast at ebay dot com. That is podcast at ebay dot com. Griff And now it's time for your tip of the week.
This week's tip was sent to us by seller Jonathan who says, if your item has a unique indelible identifier like a serial number or other string of numbers, take a photo of it and then include it in the listing. Type it into the item description, and maybe even create a custom item specific for the number as well. The inclusion of any unique number in the list It is Kayomi It is. Very thorough.
And our tips for every week, check the transcript for links for reference in the episode and check the eBay announcement board every day to stay up to date on eBay news, launches, and changes. Griff On our next episode, episode three hundred, Komi Kayomi Oh. I Griff knew you'd like that. We'll continue the theme of eBay and regulations when we are joined by William Schooner. He's the associate of the pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration.
William's gonna join us to outline the requirements for shipping anything hazardous. Kayomi And we'd like to again thank our guest this week, Patty Whitlock. Griff The eBay for business podcast is produced in house by the eBay podcast team. Georgea Mpampanis is our monthly cohost and guest coordinator. And I'm your weekly cohost, Kayomi Kayoshi. And I'm editor in chief and head bottle washer, Griff. The eBay for business podcast is distributed by Quill and cohost. We'll see you next week.
Kayomi Episode three hundred. Griff Episode three hundred on New Year's. And you knew you were gonna say that... Kayomi I had to get that in.