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Seller - Business Policies (Simplified)

What are Business Policies?

Starting April 2013, eBay.in will start inviting sellers to opt-in to a new way to create and manage their own custom settings for payment, shipping and returns information, and apply them to their listings quickly from one central location within My eBay. The invitations are being issued gradually, but will be available to all sellers by July 2013.

These custom settings are called ‘Business Policies’ and are aimed at saving you time while creating and updating listings.

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Benefits of business policies

Use business policies to save time and reduce errors - Once you’ve defined a business policy, reuse them multiple times. Add the information to your listings with just a few clicks.

If you choose to Change/Edit a policy, all linked listings will automatically update.

Set the policies that you’ll use most often as your default, and create different policies to apply to different types of listings as you list. For example, listing in unusual categories; or specifying shipping and returns for heavy or refurbished items etc.

You can use business policies through My eBay, most eBay listing tools including TurboLister, Selling Manager Pro, File Exchange and the APIs, and various third-party tools.

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How do I Opt-in?

From Site - My eBay

Opting in from TL (Turbo Lister)

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How do I Opt-out?

NOTE - At any given point of time, you can opt-out from Business Policies, but this change will be temporary. Going forward all sellers will have to use Business Policies as standard listing practice.

The link will be available at My eBay - Account - Manage Business Policies page. This will be displayed ONLY after you have opted-in.

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Additional Information

What happens to my existing item listings after I have Opted-in?

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(Once you have Opted-in) - How do I manage the Business Policies page.

This is the central business policies location where you'll be able to:

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What will I see here on the Manage Business Policies page?

If you have listed an item/s in the last 90 days, Business Policies will be automatically created for you based on your current active, scheduled and ended listings.

So here you will see all the various payment, shipping and returns policies that have been created for you and are linked to active listings that are currently using them.

Also, based on the usage of a particular policy they will be marked as default. So you would have many payment policies, but one of them marked as default.

If you don't have any active listings and haven't listed within the last 90 days, you will not have any policies created yet and will need to create at least one policy of each type (Payment / Shipping / Returns) to complete a listing.

TIP - Consider keeping as few of those variations as you possibly can so that it's easier to manage this information.

Examples -

For Payment Methods

If you have been listing a few items with a few of both:

Then we would have created 2 Payment Policies viz. (And linked these policies to those listing that use these options)

  1. For Only PaisaPay
  2. For PaisaPay + PaisaPay COD

Similarly, for combinations of Shipping services and COST that your listing uses

Example -

If you have been listing a few items with:
Flat Rate Courier - 1Qty Cost Rs. Free and each additional Cost Rs. 10.00
And a few items with:
Flat Rate Courier - 1Qty Cost Rs. 50.00 and each additional Cost Rs. 25.00
And say a few with:
Flat Rate Courier - 1Qty Cost Rs. 50.00 and each additional Cost Rs. 25.00 + COD 1Qty Cost Rs 150.00 and each additional Cost Rs. 100.00

Then we would have created 3 shipping policies (and linked these policies to those listing that use these options)

  1. For (Flat Rate Courier - 1Qty Cost Rs Free and each additional Cost Rs. 10.00)
  2. For (Flat Rate Courier - 1Qty Cost Rs 50.00 and each additional Cost Rs. 25.00)
  3. For (Flat Rate Courier - 1Qty Cost Rs 50.00 and each additional Cost Rs. 25.00 + COD 1Qty Cost Rs 150.00 and each additional Cost Rs. 100.00)

Similarly, for combinations of Returns specified or Not Specified

If you have been listing a few items with:
14 Day + Buyer Pays + Exchange
and a few with
14 Day + Seller Pays + Money Back
and a few with
No returns specified at all

We would have created 2 return policies (and linked these policies to those listing that use these)

  1. For 14 Day + Buyer Pays + Exchange
  2. For 14 Day + Seller Pays + Money Back
  3. No returns specified

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What do I do with the Policies that have already been created for me and visible on the Manage Business Policies page?

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How do these actions impact SYI (Sell Your Item Form) that I fill to list an item?

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What does this do to my TL (Turbo Lister) form that I fill to list an item?

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What does Business Policies do to my File Exchange or SM Pro file exchange .csv file that I fill to list an item?

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What changes will need to be done if I have my own API tools for listing?

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How do I create new Business Policies?

Example: Creating a New Payment Policy

Example:

  1. Only PaisaPay (For Mobile phones)
  2. PaisaPay + PaisaPay COD (For Phone Accessories)

Example: Creating a Shipping Policy

Domestic Shipping Services -

International Shipping Services -

Example: Creating a Returns Policy

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How do I edit Business Policies?

When editing a business policy, all listings that use the policy will be updated with the new policy information. However, there are a few restrictions on revising listings.

If there are listings that can't be updated with the new policy, we'll ask you to save the edited policy with a new name. All listings that can be updated with the new information will be changed, and listings that can't be edited will continue to use the original policy.

To edit a business policy:

  1. Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
  2. Click the Account tab, and then click Business policies on the left.
  3. Find the business policy you want to update and then select Edit policy from the Edit drop-down menu.
  4. After changing the details of the policy, click the Save button.
  5. We'll show you how many of your active and scheduled listings are using this policy. Click the Confirm and save button to update the policy and all listings that use it.

You can also edit business policies when listing an item.

If a policy isn't used by any listings, you can edit and save the policy from the listing form:

  1. From the listing form, select the business policy to be edited.
  2. Click the Edit selected policy link.
  3. After changing the details of the policy, you have 2 options:
    • Click the Save and close button to replace the original policy.
    • Click the Save as button to create a new policy and keep the original policy details. Enter a unique name for the new policy, and then click the Save button. The new policy will be used with the listing.

If a policy is used by more than one listing, you can edit the policy from the listing, but you'll need to rename it:

  1. From the listing form, select the business policy to be edited.
  2. Click the Edit selected policy link.
  3. After changing the details of the policy, click the Save as button to create a new policy and keep the original policy details.
  4. Enter a unique name for the new policy, and then click the Save button. The new policy will be used with the listing.

If needed, you can update other listings to use your newly created policy from My eBay.

Important: From the listing form, we'll show you the number of listings using a policy in the drop-down menu when you select a policy. If you've recently reassigned or made updates to your business policies, this number may not be accurate right away. For accurate information on how many listings are using a policy, go to the Business policies section in My eBay.

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How do I copy existing Business Policies?

Copying a policy is a quick way to create new policy that is slightly different from one of your existing policies.

To copy a policy:

  1. Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
  2. Click the Account tab, and then click Business policies on the left.
  3. Find the business policy you want to copy, and then select Copy policy from the Edit drop-down menu.
  4. Edit the policy as needed, and then click the Save as button.
  5. Enter a unique name for the policy, and then click the Save button.

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How do I delete Business Policies?

You can't delete policies that are used by active listings, scheduled listings, or listings with Second Chance offers. To delete these policies, you'll need to reassign new polices to the listings first.

If you're deleting a default policy and have at least 2 other policies of that type, we'll ask you which policy should be your new default. (If you have only one other policy of that type, then the other policy will automatically be your new default.)

To delete a policy:

  1. Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
  2. Click the Account tab, and then click Business policies on the left.
  3. Find the business policy you want to delete, and then select Delete policy fromthe Edit drop-down menu.
  4. Confirm the policy should be deleted, and then click the Delete button.

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How do I update listings in bulk?

To reassign policies for multiple listings:

  1. Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
  2. Click the Account tab, and then click Business policies on the left.
  3. Find the business policy used by the listings, and then select Change policy for these listings from the Edit drop-down menu.
    Tip: To edit your listings one by one rather than in bulk, click the Change them individually link.
  4. Select a new policy for these listings, and then click the Change button.

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Helpful Tips

Naming your business policies

Each policy you create needs a name. You can also give your policy a brief description, if you'd like, which can help you quickly identify the best policy when listing an item. Policy names and descriptions aren't visible to buyers.

If we've created policies for you automatically, it may be helpful to rename them. (To rename a policy from My eBay, select Edit policy from the Edit drop-down menu.)

Example policy names and descriptions
Policy type Policy name Policy description
Payment PaisaPay—Buy It Now Immediate payment
Shipping Badminton—set Flat, Rs 200, 1-day handling
Shipping Badminton—individual Free Shipping, 1-day handling
Return DVDs and CDs 30-day money back, unopened package

Consolidating your business policies

To quickly and easily find the best policy when listing an item, it's best to have as few policies as possible. Consider reviewing and consolidating your policies from time to time.

Before deleting a policy, you'll need to be sure that no listings are using it.

Setting default business policies

We'll automatically set a default for each policy type: payment, return, and shipping. For each policy type, the policy that is used by the most listings is the default policy, but you can set a different default policy if you like.

To set a default policy:

  1. Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.
  2. Click the Account tab, and then click Business policies on the left.
  3. Find the business policy you want to make the default, and then select Set as default from the Edit drop-down menu.

You can also make a policy the default while creating or editing a policy.

Filtering business policies

To help quickly find and manage your business policies in My eBay, you can filter your policies. To narrow the view of policies by type, click the Payment policy, Return policy, or Shipping policy links above the main policy table. To see all your policies, click the All link.

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