Hello fellow coupon users! Many of us have purchased coupons from a seller on eBay. There have been some changes to eBay and there are more changes coming that will drastically affect those of us who buy and those who sell coupons on eBay. Note: The coupons discussed are newspaper clipped manufacturer coupons. This does not refer to internet or expired coupons. (Please click "More" to read the full explanation)

Here are the two main changes:

Recently eBay started ending listings and issuing policy violations to sellers where there were more than 20 identical coupons per listing (multiple lots). This has apparently been the policy but they have started enforcing it in the last six months or so. For sellers this means more eBay fees and more time involved in listing their coupons. This in turn makes the cost for buyers higher. This makes more money for eBay and more hassle for the seller and buyer. When a seller can list, for example, five sets of 20 in one Buy It Now listing, the seller pays one fee for the listing (and a final value fee when the coupons sell) and the buyer can pick between one and five sets. This eliminates the need to go back and forth between the search results and individual listings. Also, many sellers offer combined shipping and when buying multiple sets within one listing it simplifies the shipping charges. How sellers have coped with this policy is creating a listing for every 20 coupons they have, so if they have five sets of 20, there are five identical listings.

An email was sent out on September 21, 2010 to explain a new eBay policy, the Duplicate Listing Policy, which will go into effect on October 26, 2010. Now all sellers are only permitted one identical listing (with up to 20 identical coupons) per fixed price (But It Now) listing. You can see where this poses a problem for coupon sellers. For example, if a coupon seller has 100 coupon inserts, they would have to list 20 coupons and then wait for those to sell before listing 20 more. This will become a massive hassle for inventory control for these sellers. They will disappear off of eBay and buyers will only be able to purchase 20 coupons from any individual seller. Also, if a buyer wants to buy 100 coupons, they would have to find five different sellers, and pay five different shipping fees.

As of right now, there are over 100,000 active listings for %u201Ccoupon%u201D on eBay and over 180,000 completed listings. Many of those are duplicate listings because of eBay%u2019s policy about limiting 20 identical coupons per listing.
Feel free to read eBay%u2019s coupon selling policy and the new Duplicate Listing Policy

Coupon sellers and buyers are the only ones who can effect change in eBay%u2019s policy. If we stay quiet, the policies will go into effect and people who add to their income by selling will see this opportunity disappear. People who buy coupons to stock up on items for their families or to donate to needy organizations will see an increase in prices and fewer coupons for sale in general. We need to get together and let eBay know how we feel!

Please do two things:
1. Contact eBay. After you login, click %u201CContact Us%u201D in the upper right corner, do a search for contact customer support and two blue boxes should come up on the right, one for live chat and one for phone. You may get a box with an email option as well. Here is another page with eBay contact information- http://www.ebayinc.com/contact. This page has an address, print this letter, sign it and send it directly to eBay.
2. Sign this petition.
3. Tell your friends! You can use the links to the right to contact friends via email, Twitter and Facebook.

Let your voice be heard!

Attention: Policy Compliance Department

We the undersigned are concerned members of the eBay community. We have bought and/or sold manufacturer newspaper clipped coupons through your site and we value the opportunity to do so. Many of us have added to our family%u2019s income in these tough economic times by supplementing our income with eBay coupon sales. Many of us have fed our families and cleaned our homes with products bought at a discount at our local stores with coupons we have purchased on eBay. Many local charities have benefited from our contributions of items bought with coupons purchased on eBay.

Recently, you have been enforcing a policy regarding how many identical manufacturer newspaper clipped coupons can be in a single fixed price listing, a total of 20.  For sellers, this has caused them to list each set of 20 in a separate listing. Sellers have had to raise prices because of more eBay fees. Also, this makes it much more difficult for buyers to purchase multiple lots from a single buyer (often for the benefit of combined/free shipping), since they have to search through the pages of listings to find the same seller. We propose that this part of the coupon selling policy be removed.

On September 21, 2010, an email went out to many eBay sellers stating a new policy, the Duplicate Listing Policy. Sellers will no longer be able to have duplicate listings. This will make it very difficult for coupon sellers to sell multiple lots, and to keep track of inventory. This will make it difficult for coupon buyers to purchase multiple sets of 20, since they will have to purchase each set from a different buyer, and pay separate shipping for each set. We propose that you remove the limit on how many coupons can be in a single listing before implementing this new policy.

Currently, there are over 100,000 active listings for coupon and over 180,000 completed listings. Coupon buying and selling are a good part of eBay. We, as coupon buyers and sellers appreciate the outlet for coupon sales. It is our desire to affect this change in eBay policy to make eBay an even better place to buy and sell.

Thank You