Changes to item specifics for eBay.com media, jewelry categories
July 25, 2008
If you list on eBay.com in the media or jewellery categories, some major changes to item specifics are coming next month (on a date yet to be specified).
For media categories Books, DVDs & Movies, Music and Video Games, the current “new” and “used” item specifics are being replaced with “brand new”, “like new”, “very good”, “good” and “acceptable”. Sellers should note that when relisting, current “new” will default to “brand new”, and “used” to “acceptable”: make sure this doesn’t misdescribe your item!
In Jewelry, item specifics are being added to the new categories Fine Bracelets, Fine Earrings, Fine Necklaces & Pendants and Fine Rings, and “used” will be available as a dondition alongside the current “new”.
More details of the changes are available from Seller Central.
eBay.com, .ca sellers told ‘PayPal required’ in error
July 22, 2008
Sellers listing on eBay.com and eBay Canada may be receiving messages telling them that PayPal is required on their listings in error today. eBay say that they are aware of the problem and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible.
With so much speculation that ‘compulsory PayPal’ will be rolled out beyond the UK and Australia, this will be one glitch they’ll want to fix as soon as possible.
eBay.com 25¢ fixed price discount 16-29th July
July 16, 2008
On the day the two week 1p fixed price technology promotion ends in the UK the US have announced a 25¢ fixed price promotion for the rest of July.
The promotion page starts with the question “Stores Sellers: Want more exposure?” suggesting “Move your Store listings to Fixed Price”. Although the 25¢ isn’t as generous as the 1p listings in the UK it does cover almost all of the eBay.com categories.
eBay are definitely embracing fixed price listings in preference to auctions as never before. With the new Best Match technology they seem confident that they can still present the best selection to buyers without being flooded either with irrelevant information or with one seller’s items hogging the first page of search results.
It’ll be very interesting to see the next pricing changes where I’d expect to see changes along similar lines to encourage sellers to list more inventory at an affordable rate.
eBay.com postpone new links policy
July 11, 2008
eBay.com are postponing implementation of their new policy banning links from About Me pages to sellers’ websites. According to the most recent Power Up! email newsletter, which is sent out to PowerSellers registered on .com,
the policy announced in May covering links in sellers’ listings or other eBay pages will not be enforced. Instead, we’ll be announcing a clearer and more comprehensive links policy in mid August.
No corresponding policy was ever announced for eBay UK, so it’s still not clear if there will be a change here, and if so, what it will be.
At eBay Live, Brian Burke stated that the new links policy had probably been announced prematurely: certainly there were many unanswered questions that even eBay staff I talked to seemed to need clarification on. It seems that eBay may have changed their minds, for example, on links to non-transactional pages.
Of course, none of this will be much comfort to sellers who spent hours last month changing their listings to comply with the new policy. eBay have now put out an announcement board post confirming that implementation of the policy is being delayed, and that once the new version goes live, sellers will have a four week grace period to amend their listings. Sellers will also not be required to specify shipping prices until August, when improved bulk editing tools will be available to make changes more easily.
Via Skip.
PayPal claims shown in eBay dispute console
July 10, 2008
eBay.com have just announced that PayPal disputes will now be shown in the dispute console on eBay. It will show the status of open disputes, as well as indicating when you need to take action. If you’re unfortunate enough to have a number of claims open, this should make dealing with them a little easier. The change on the eBay.com site will be made in the next few days.
eBay.com offers international visibility for 5c
July 1, 2008
eBay.com are offering international site visibility for just 5c from today until 4th July. With the upgrade, normally priced from 10c to 40c, items listed on eBay.com also show in the search results of eBay UK. The usual sorts of exclusions apply: the offer isn’t good for Motors, Real Estate and SIF, and other listing fees apply as normal.
eBay.com test new My eBay pages
June 25, 2008
eBay.com have announced testing on some new features on My eBay pages. There will initially be two test groups - one who can opt out, and one who can’t - and you’ll know if you’re seeing the new beta version because the page will be primarily yellow rather than blue.
As I’m not in the test group myself, I’m going by what other people are saying here.The major feature change appears to be the introduction of lists within the watch list: rather than everything being in one list as it is now, you can break it up into ‘items I’m going to snipe’, ‘items I might BIN’, ‘items I’m researching to sell myself’, ‘items I might get Biddy for her birthday’ and so on. A screenshot suggests that lists are not limited to individual items, but can also contain saved searches and favourite sellers too.
This is a great way for items that you’ll be looking for over a period of time. But in assuming that buyers are going to research and search and browse and make lists, I think eBay are really overestimating the amount of effort that the average eBayer wants to put in on the average purchase. What about the buyer who wants to hit the site with a very specific want in mind, buy the first decently-priced one they find, pay, and forget about it: because that’s how the majority of ecommerce transactions go, and if eBay is really going to survive, behaving in a way that people are used to is essential.
Making it easy for people to come back and find items they were looking at yesterday or last week is great. But what about items you’re looking at now? I need to buy a new laptop battery today, and I’m going to browse through half a dozen sellers trying to find one who looks reliable and is in the EU. I can’t be bothered adding things to my watch list and then clicking through to My eBay and finding the link for watch lists (it’s not a feature I use that much) and considering which battery I’m going to pick. The “flow”, as eBay refer to the process of doing things on-site, is just too cumbersome here. I want, in fact, a shopping cart, like every other ecommerce site has got. When are eBay going to roll this out beyond eBay India?
If you’re one of the lucky Beta testers, let us know what you think in the comments below.
Gallery Plus for 10¢ on eBay.com 24th-26th June
June 24, 2008
eBay.com are reducing the price of Gallery Plus from 35¢ to 10¢ in a three day promotion running from 24th - 26th June. the promotion runs on eBay.com and eBay motors for auctions and fixed price listings. There are a few exceptions so check the promotion page prior to listing.
Stores shipping prices now editable even after sales
June 13, 2008
eBay.com have made a great change for Store owners: shipping details can now be edited on SIF listings which have already made sales.
Previously, neither shipping price nor shipping services could be edited on a multiple item SIF listing if an item had already been sold. If shipping prices changed or the seller switched shipping provider, the listing had to be ended and relisted. But not any longer: sellers can change shipping details relative to future purchases, though obviously the offered price and carrier will remain the same for purchases made prior to the change.
This should make Stores’ owners’ lives so much easier; lets hope it rolls out to other eBay sites very soon.
eBay.com seller dashboard now displays 1/100ths
May 27, 2008
Logging into the seller dashboard on eBay.com now reveals your DSR scores to the nearest 1/100th. It should now be clearer if your score is edging upwards or downwards over a shorter period of time.
For those who have seen their scores fluctuate between two decimal places you are likely to see your DSR score in the 1/100ths hovering around the x.x5 mark and being rounded up or down.
I would caution against giving your scores too much weight over a short period of time. Just one or two feedback DSR scores received could show large swings, especially over a 30 day period unless you receive vast amounts of feedback. However if you monitor the dashboard over an extended period of time you should be able to see if your scores are trending up or down.
The UK Seller Dashboard is expected to go live this week, and to display scores to 1/100ths by next week.
eBay average DSR is not dropping
May 25, 2008
Now we have some stats available through the US Seller Dashboard it’s possible to see how the stats have changed over the course of a year.
| DSR | eBay 12 month Average |
eBay 30 day average |
|---|---|---|
| Item As Described | ||
| Communication | ||
| Dispatch Time | ||
| Postage and Packaging Charges |
It appears (at least from figures available on eBay.com) that DSRs have in the large remained static or crept upwards over the last year. I’ll be interested to see the averages next week when DSRs are displayed in 1/100ths.
In order for your listings to have raised visibility in Best Match on eBay.com each of your DSR
scores has to be 4.7 or higher, and Post and Packing charges are still the sticking point for the average seller.
That DSRs aren’t falling has got to be a relief to sellers, but of course the real question is are yours above, level or below average?
Are eBay banning cheques in the US?
May 23, 2008
Auctionbytes has an interesting story this morning regarding a recent eBay survey of US users. One of the questions apparently reads:
To make eBay a safer place to buy and sell, sellers would be limited to accepting only the following safer electronic payment methods for their eBay sales (Paper forms of payment such as personal checks, cashier’s checks and money orders would no longer be allowed):
* PayPal
* Certain other electronic payment methods currently allowed on eBay, such as Xoom and Propay
* Credit Card or Debit Card payments made directly to the seller’s Merchant Account (Sellers would need to acquire a Merchant Account from a bank or other provider)
* In person payment for local pickup items
Sellers would be able to accept any one of the above payment methods, or they could accept all of the above. Sellers would receive full protection from payment reversals for items sold on eBay and paid with PayPal when they ship to the address provided by PayPal. Buyers paying with PayPal would be fully covered, no coverage limit, if their item doesn’t arrive or is different than described.
eBay have said that they have no plans to replicate their Australian PayPal-only policy in the US, but as many eBay-watchers have said, those statements seem to have been very carefully couched in get-out clauses.
A move to all-electronic payments would surely make buying on eBay safer for buyers, though it would also drive away those who don’t have access to credit and debit cards, and those who choose not to use them online. Allowing the use of other payment providers than PayPal might help to convince sellers that this isn’t purely about eBay’s bottom line.
eBay typically only consult users like this when something has been decided and they’re just tweaking the details, so I’ll be expecting an announcement from the US on this before the end of this year.
Offer free shipping, save 15% on .com, .ca FVFs
May 23, 2008
eBay.com are holding a sale on final value fees for sellers offering free shipping. Between 23rd May and 1st June, listings which offer free postage within the US can save 15% on FVFs. The offer is valid for auctions and BINs including Motors’ parts and accessories, for sellers with all four DSR ratings of 4.5 or above over the last 12 months, or no ratings. Those with DSR ratings of 4.4 or lower are not eligible. There are a few categories excluded and some rules on how shipping should be listed, so please do read the small print before you list.
Updated to add: eBay Canada have the same offer.
eBay.com ban ME page website links
May 20, 2008
As part of today’s policy changes, eBay.com have announced some major changes to the links policy. These will take effect from July, and have been announced for .com; when we know when and if they will affect sellers on other sites, we’ll let you know.
Likely to most affect sellers is the ban on About Me page links to a seller’s ecommerce website:
The new Links Policy prohibits linking from a seller’s listing or other content on eBay–including eBay Store pages, About Me pages, eBay Blogs, Reviews and Guides, and forums–to any site that offers a product or service for sale off eBay.
About Me pages have traditionally been the one place on eBay that sellers could legitimately link their website; eBay Blogs have - until now - been quite relaxed about the external links that were permitted.
Other links once permitted within listings have also been banned: pages which expand upon the item description or include terms and conditions not expressed on the listing page are no longer allowed. Sellers are permitted only the following links:
- to third parties supplying solutions and services directly related to the listing (e.g. listing tools, hit counters, etc.)
- up to five links to “eBay property” pages (i.e. eBay, PayPal, StubHub, Half.com etc.); quite where this leaves scrolling galleries of sellers’ other products, I wouldn’t like to guess
- embedded links to videos, so long as the videos comply with eBay’s policies themselves
- links to photos of the item for sale, “as long as the page displaying the photos doesn’t offer, or link to a site that offers a product or service for sale off eBay”.
Many sellers have, for years now, used eBay as a customer acquisition tool, directing prospective buyers to ecommerce websites by way of About Me pages and “further photographs” pages. This is going to be a very much more difficult process from now on, with eBay tightening up the opportunities for promoting off-eBay sales on-site. Sellers will perhaps have to accept that the first sale must be through eBay now, and work more on bringing returning happy customers back to their websites for subsequent purchases, rather than trying to funnel traffic from eBay to their own sites directly.
Whatever happened to eBay?
May 17, 2008
Mimi Jackson has been an eBay member, buyer and occasional seller for eight years. She’s not a professional seller, but someone who has enjoyed buying and selling, finding unusual objects and some bargains. Here she reflects on some of eBay’s recent changes and the effect they will have on her use of the site.
I have been a faithful member of, and true believer in eBay for about 8 years now. I have sold some things I thought could fetch a good price, and I have even built my collection of late 1800’s sewing, craft and etiquette books mostly by surfing ebay. Many of the books were lovely little gems from someone’s grandmother’s attic, or some dusty corner of a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. eBay has allowed me to find the things I never would have otherwise found, and connect with people I would never otherwise meet. It has allowed me to fanatically pursue and satisfy such a specific, quirky, and rare interest… affordably!
Now, I fear, that era is coming to an end.
I always thought that eBay was founded on the idea that people are basically good and honest, and are happy to exchange unwanted/extra goods for money, when mutually beneficial.
Just this week, I decided to sell an old Lenox China (Ceramic Arts Company, c. 1900) sugar bowl that we’ve been keeping, simply because it is beautiful. After I noticed the markings on the bottom, a bit of internet research showed that it might be quite a bit more valuable than I realized, and I decided that it might be better off in the hands of a collector.
So I took pictures, and got ready to list it on eBay. After signing in, I saw that due to my “limited” transaction history with eBay ( Me? 8 years? More than 50 transactions?), I would be required to accept Paypal as a payment option, and that the payment would be held until proof of delivery or positive feedback. Uh… okay… but, wait a second… I’m dealing honestly here… what if the buyer isn’t?
Many of my favorite purchases have come from people who aren’t sophisticated eBayers. It seems they just had a trunk of old stuff to clear out, and a need for some cash, in many cases. eBay won’t get those sellers (who are important!) with these new rules. Who wants the hassle of these new restrictions for something that might not even attract a good price? That leaves eBay selling to the businesspeople, those who know have more valuable items to sell, and those who are strapped for cash.
The whole idea of getting a good deal on eBay, in my opinion, relied on the fact that selling was cheap and easy, and that both parties were willing to take a bit of a risk, trusting someone they’ve never met to pay or ship as promised. In my case, I haven’t ever had a problem that wasn’t satisfactorily resolved, and have gotten some phenomenal deals, just because I bid on the right thing at the right time.
Okay, so I can see that there are some items on eBay that look too good to be true, and clearly there are dishonest sellers and buyers lurking about, but can’t we tolerate a bit of that for the greater good?
First posted on Mimi’s blog and reproduced with permission.
eBay deny ‘PayPal only’ plans for .com
May 12, 2008
In a post on the eBay Ink blog, eBay spokesman Usher Lieberman has denied that eBay’s PayPal-only policy is to be introduced in the US. He writes:
We were offered the chance by the AP to be categorical on this subject, and we declined to do so. We declined because there are no plans, but categorical statements have a tendency to cause headaches down the road, particularly as we evaluate how to move forward in other markets and as conditions could shift in the US.
As I said in the article, we will take what we learn in Australia with PayPal-only and apply it accordingly. What perhaps didn’t come across as well is that we will apply those lessons differently in different markets.
Certainly eBay will have to consider not only local markets, but local laws. In France, for example, it would be both illegal to ban other methods of payment, and very difficult to seperate the French from their beloved cheque books.
Nevertheless, Mr Lieberman has left himself a lot of room to manoeuvre in this statement: I’d interpret it as “we’re not planning anything elsewhere til we see how it goes in Australia, but never say never”. There are other markets where PayPal’s share of eBay’s payments is apparently much higher than in Australia, where making PayPal compulsory might be much less of a struggle: the UK is certainly one of those.
I’ll stick my neck out here: by this time next year, we will have PayPal only on eBay UK. I wonder if Ladbrookes would give me odds?
eBay opens new green offices
May 8, 2008
eBay open a brand new energy-efficient office building today, reports the Mercury News. The five-story building on eBay’s North First Street campus has the largest commercial solar roof in San José, as well as soft furnishings that use post-recycled materials, and water-based paint that you can “safely lick”, though Wes Washburn, eBay’s facility operations manager, says it doesn’t taste nice. Outside, a large pool helps keep the building cool by water evaporation, and lots of windows let in lots of natural light. Sensors monitor light levels, and only turn on fluorescent lighting when its needed and when rooms are occupied.
EBay says the building meets the gold standard for green buildings, the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating.
The building will be dedicated in a ceremony featuring eBay CEO John Donahoe, PayPal President Scott Thompson and San José Mayor Chuck Reed. It will be the working home of 800 PayPal employees.
eBay.com caps BIN listing fees for a week
May 7, 2008
eBay.com have announced a cheap listing week for buy it now items. From 7th to 14th May 2008, insertion fees will be capped at 50c, meaning that any item selling for $10 or more will be cheaper to list. The offer includes media categories and parts and accessories in Motors, though there are several other category exclusions, primarily from Business and Industrial. Auctions are not eligible for the promotional pricing. eBay Canada is running a similar promotion.
I’m seeing a few trials of this capped pricing structure across various eBay sites. I suspect this year’s switch in emphasis from insertion fees to final value fees is not the last “rebalancing” of eBay fees we’re going to see.
Trial an eBay Store for free (again)
May 2, 2008
eBay.com have just announced that from now until the end of July, first time Stores subscribers will enjoy the first 30 days free of charge. This promotion was first run in March and was deemed such a success that it’s being repeated. The offer is valid for Basic or Premium Stores.
Is it worth opening an eBay Store?
Yes. Even if we see the end of Store Inventory Format (and we haven’t yet), there are lots of good reasons to open an eBay Store:
- Your listings are all in one place, easily linkable and searchable.
- Stronger branding within your listings.
- Marketing tools like email marketing and markdown manager.
- Free telephone support.
So give the trial a go; you have nothing to lose.
US start-up takes on eBay
April 29, 2008
A new startup is being billed as the marketplace that will rival eBay. Launched in public beta today, though apparently only open to US residents, Wigix is aiming for the Buy It Now, new items end of the market. The site, whose name stands for “want it get it exchange”, offers a stock exchange-type price matching mechanism, where buyers and sellers can add their desired prices for items, and the system will notify both parties when there is a match. Wigix will offer a ticker showing recent transactions and prices, hoping to entice browsers to become sellers.
No fees on items under $25
As has become the norm with eBay competitors, there is no fee to list on Wigix. Items sold for under $25 are fee-free even when sold. From $25 up, there is a downwards sliding scale for sellers:
- $1.50 for a sale $25 - $100;
- $1.50 + 2% of the amount above $100 for a sale $100 - $1,000;
- $21 + 1% of the amount over $1,000 for a sale of more than $1,000.
Buyers will - unusually - pay $1.50 per item themselves. This pricing structure obviously tends towards the higher end of the market.
But members also have the opportunity to earn money from the site, without needing to sell a thing themselves. Those who add new products into Wigix’s Amazon-style inventory, will earn 5% of the site’s transaction fees when items are sold from that listing. There’s a great opportunity for someone with a large database of products there…
Members can also become category experts, overseeing product submissions, blogging, posting on forums and dealing with other members’ queries: creating community around their categories. For a fairly hefty time committment, these members will earn 1% of the revenue from their category.
PowerSellers wanted
eBay PowerSellers will be able to import their catalogues into Wigix, and they say that from July, the site will offer store fronts.
I must admit, I’m more impressed with Wigix than with pretty much any “the next eBay” I’ve ever seen. Concentrating on higher-end consumer products rather than trying to take on the breadth of eBay’s marketplace, looks like it may attract experts in the relevent categories, as well as serious buyers and sellers. It’s a shame they’re limiting it to US residents at the moment, but perhaps that will change in time.
Sued for leaving neutral feedback
April 24, 2008
eBay sellers have been getting pretty protective of their feedback in recent weeks. With search results’ order and even ability to list on the site now influenced by the feedback buyers leave, I was unsurprised - if a little depressed - to hear of one seller negging a buyer for not leaving four 5s on DSR stars. But now one American seller has gone a step further, trying to sue a buyer for leaving neutral feedback.
According to reports, the buyer had bought some silver dollars on eBay, which arrived poorly packed. Then it seems like the seller asked for feedback. The buyer left him a neutral, and was slapped with a $10,000 lawsuit. Though the judge threw the case out, the buyer was still left with a $500 legal bill for the attorney he’d had to hire.
King5.com’s report of the case says that the seller was prevented from leaving negative feedback for the buyer because of eBay’s rules: in fact, this new rule doesn’t kick in until next month. But I’ll predict that this will not be the last case of this kind that we’ll see from sellers desperate to protect their reputations and their livelihoods.
.com Markdown Manager adds free shipping feature
April 22, 2008
eBay.com have announced a great new addition to their version of Markdown Manager: free shipping sales. Sellers will have the ability to add a free shipping sale, with distinctive icon, to any of their listings, either individually or in bulk. Free shipping can be added to auction listings as well as BIN and SIF, making Markdown Manager available for auctions for the first time.
In addition, the free shipping icon will appear on any ordinary listings where the seller has specified free shipping. No doubt this will lead to some sellers complaining that eBay are trying to foist free shipping onto sellers; but I’d say try it, especially if you sell in an area where free shipping is not the norm. I’ve been trialling it on some French listings with some pretty promising early results.
eBay.com 10c insertion fees for PowerSellers today
April 22, 2008
eBay.com are holding a 10c insertion fee sale today (22nd April) for PowerSellers only. Auction and Buy It Now listings in both regular and media categories will be charged 10c insertion fees. All other normal fees apply, and eBay Motors and some business and industrial categories are excluded so do read the small print before you list!
This is the first time eBay.com has held a PS-only cheap listing day, though similar events were held recently on eBay Australia and eBay France. It’s another first too: this CLD is sponsored by monster.com, who have an advert on the CLD page. What do you think about sponsored CLDs - is this a step too far towards tacky? Leave us a comment.
eBay.com buyers can win Disney vacations
April 21, 2008
eBay.com are offering US buyers the chance to win a Disney vacation and other Disney prizes, every time they buy on the site. Each month until the end of October, one lucky winner will receive a ‘Dream Come True Disney Vacation’. In addition, for up to two purchases every day, buyers will receive a free Disney gift credit, which they can either redeem immediately or save up for a larger gift later. You need to register to be included in the prize draw, which is sadly limited to US residents only.
PowerSeller FVF discounts : a tale of woe
April 16, 2008
You’d think that offering discounts to your biggest and most loyal customers would be a good thing, wouldn’t you? A thing that would make them want to spend more money with you, maybe even like you. But eBay have managed to turn their PowerSeller FVF discount scheme into one of the biggest fiascos I have seen in my eight years’ trading on the site.
First there was the Seller Dashboard, which didn’t roll out until more than a month after the new pricing scheme. Imagine if you asked *your* customers to guess the price they’d have to pay you. This should have been implemented at exactly the same time as the new pricing, even if that meant delaying the fee changes.
However, it gets worse. Imagine if you promised your customers a discount, and then charged them the full whack. That’s exactly what happened to me.
When the FVF discount scheme was announced, one of the first questions asked was how it would affect those of us who don’t trade on our national site: French residents who list on .co.uk, UK residents who list on .com, and so on. For a company that promotes international trade, it seemed a little bizarre that eBay didn’t think of this one for themselves. For a few days, Pinks made different statements. Some said that sellers would only be entitled to discounts on their national site, so if they sold elsewhere, they’d have to pay full price. Others said you’d get a discount based on your local site, but it would apply on sales from other sites too.
Then came the good news: an eBay employee, asked specifically about my account, said I would get the discount because it was based on your main trading area, in my case, eBay UK.
Have I got a discount? Dear reader, I have not. Nor have I got access to the seller dashboard. It seems French sellers stay French, even if they’re selling on eBay UK.
Now I know a lot of people are tempted to get protectionistic about this, but lets be logical: if I only get the discount by being UK-registered, that’s a pretty huge incentive to start lying about my location, put something in my listings about “your item may ship from my holiday home in France”, and get 35% off my fees. I won’t. But I would bet money that thousands of sellers from across the world who make their living on eBay UK are thinking of doing exactly that right now. I thought we’d largely cured the location misrepresentation problem, but this discount scheme might bring it all back again.
We asked eBay to comment on this more than a week ago, but they’ve been either unable or unwilling to clarify the position. I still don’t know whether I’m not entitled to the discount I was promised, or whether someone’s forgotten to push a button somewhere.
And it seems I’m not the only one with a problem. PowerSeller Lynne from Josordoni Collectables told me earlier today “I keep on checking and as of now the dashboard is still showing ‘not calculated’. My April invoice should have been available from yesterday, and that isn’t up yet either.”
A thread on the PowerSeller Board [PS login required] suggests that Lynne’s problem is far from unique. Some sellers are having the dashboard waver between ‘not calculated’ and ‘no discount’; some are told ‘no discount’ when they have four green ticks indicating they’re entitled to the discount; others are seeing their figures drop at the last minute, and inevitably this raises questions about their accuracy.
I loved the idea of this scheme when it was announced; rewarding good sellers seemed exactly what eBay needs. But in reality, the whole thing has become a farce that even eBay staff don’t seem to understand. It’s causing good sellers an immense amount of frustration and worry. It’s going to encourage location misrepresentation. This half-ready scheme should never have been launched until it was properly ready: sometimes, it feels like policy is being made up as we go along.






