Ebay has long been the go-to site for sellers and bargain hunters alike, and the annual Ebay Live summit provides an opportunity for ebay enthusiasts to hobnob with fellow buyers and sellers and Ebay head honchos. Attendees spent time visiting with exhibitors and had the opportunity to discuss Ebay’s new policies with the Powers That Be themselves.

The new policies, most of which will go into effect in July, are aimed at improving the buying experience, rewarding top sellers, and keeping users from leaving the site. Let’s take a gander at the key policy updates:

• Sellers will no longer be permitted to link to any non-Ebay websites selling goods or services. Linking to Ebay owned companies like StubHub or PayPal, however, is still a-ok.

• Rather than creating multiple listings for similar items (think 10 pairs of jeans in 10 different sizes), sellers will be able to include size and color options in one listing.

• The 15-listing limit on identical product listings will be lifted.

• Discounts for Power Sellers.

• A new primo Power Seller level, Diamond Seller, will be initiated for sellers with over 50,000 items sold per month or $500,000 in sales per month.

• Sellers will be required to include more detailed info in their listings, including their processing and handling time, return policy, and item condition.

While surely well intentioned, the changes aren’t going over too well with a large contingent of users. During a town-hall type meeting, sellers got the chance to step up to the mic and voice their – strong – opinions. Check out some of the emotional “feedback”:

Like it or not Ebay is making changes this summer and dedicated users are going to have to go along for the ride. Time will tell if the updated policies prove beneficial or if they backfire and drive folks away – it’s very curious to what changes sellers are going to have to make to their business model in this latest Ebay era.