eBay

tyler@ebay · ‎02-16-2022

Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a specific topic this week, so feel free to share any general buying or selling questions you may have.

The chat thread will remain open until 2 PM PT at which point we'll close it from additional responses. After that time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that might still be unanswered.

To post your question, click Reply in the lower right corner of this post, type your question, and hit submit between 1-2 PM Pacific Time. The format of our chat mirrors the format of our Community Discussion Boards, where each post will appear in the thread chronologically. The Community Team will review each question as it comes in, and will quote the original question in our reply. This quote and the reply will appear later in the thread, so just keep scrolling down to see our answers.

Missed the chat? Send your questions to the podcast by calling 888-723-4630 or email us at podcast@ebay.com and maybe your questions will make it on the air! Or listen to past episodes while you wait for next Wednesday!

Tyler,

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎02-16-2022

Also, on the subject of the video in the gallery----I know I've mentioned this before, but now that video has (I think) rolled out to everyone in the US, can we hope to see some search results page indicator/filter so that buyers can know which listings have video without having to click into the listing? I think that would really enhance the value of video as a competitive tool.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

vivabe · ‎02-16-2022

Thank you!

I appreciate the link. I will email them.

valueaddedresource · ‎02-16-2022

@valueaddedresource wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@valueaddedresource wrote:
tyler@ebay - the issue with fees for lead acid batteries being applied to all items in battery categories bubbled back up again 2 weeks ago.

I understand last week was crazy with the Winter update, but this issue still needs to be addressed - what is eBay going to do for buyers who overpaid tax *and* for sellers who were overcharged FVFs due to this issue?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-Overcharged-Tax-on-Battery-Sales/m-p/32670186/highlight/t...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/NY-tax-rate-42/m-p/32676817/highlight/true#M1935249

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Payments/Ebay-is-charging-over-100-tax-in-South-Carolina-for-button/m-...

Hi @valueaddedresource - this is a reported technical issue impacting some members. Buyer and Sellers who feel they have been charged improperly should contact CS to have their transaction reviewed and added to the open ticket and can request credits from the teammate they work with.
Thank you tyler@ebay - however, I think a more proactive approach is warranted here.

Sellers may not even be aware their sales were affected by the issue, especially if they are high volume sellers - do you really think they comb through the sales tax amount of every single order and would notice a few that had an extra few dollars added in?

At the very least can we get a pinned post in the technical issues board about the issue to alert sellers in those categories there was an issue and to check their sales and contact support if affected?

Also, as was mentioned this issue came up a year ago, the extra fee is not called out separately as a battery recycling fee, it is lumped in with sales tax, which just confuses the issue. From a design/UX/transparency perspective even in cases where that fee should correctly be applied, it should be a separate line item that clearly states what is it is for.

tyler@ebay I'll also add in the previous situation when this came up you acknowledge it appeared to be a systemic issue.

As I pointed out then, since it is a systemic issue, a systemic approach to resolving it would seem to be appropriate.

eBay has to have record of every sale made in those categories that had those fees applied somewhere - or else there is a much bigger question about where all that extra money went.

Your systems applied the fees in a systemic manner, so yes, you can and should "un-apply" them systemically as well.

tyler@ebay · ‎02-16-2022

@valueaddedresource wrote:

tyler@ebay wrote:

@valueaddedresource wrote:

tyler@ebay - the issue with fees for lead acid batteries being applied to all items in battery categories bubbled back up again 2 weeks ago.

I understand last week was crazy with the Winter update, but this issue still needs to be addressed - what is eBay going to do for buyers who overpaid tax *and* for sellers who were overcharged FVFs due to this issue?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-Overcharged-Tax-on-Battery-Sales/m-p/32670186/highlight/t...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/NY-tax-rate-42/m-p/32676817/highlight/true#M1935249

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Payments/Ebay-is-charging-over-100-tax-in-South-Carolina-for-button/m-...

Hi @valueaddedresource - this is a reported technical issue impacting some members. Buyer and Sellers who feel they have been charged improperly should contact CS to have their transaction reviewed and added to the open ticket and can request credits from the teammate they work with.

Thank you tyler@ebay - however, I think a more proactive approach is warranted here.

Sellers may not even be aware their sales were affected by the issue, especially if they are high volume sellers - do you really think they comb through the sales tax amount of every single order and would notice a few that had an extra few dollars added in?

At the very least can we get a pinned post in the technical issues board about the issue to alert sellers in those categories there was an issue and to check their sales and contact support if affected?

Also, as was mentioned this issue came up a year ago, the extra fee is not called out separately as a battery recycling fee, it is lumped in with sales tax, which just confuses the issue. From a design/UX/transparency perspective even in cases where that fee should correctly be applied, it should be a separate line item that clearly states what is it is for.

Thanks for this input @valueaddedresource - I will share it with the appropriate teams and work with them to determine whether or not a proactive post is made.

Tyler,

casuallyattractive · ‎02-16-2022

Why is eBay listing pages so glitchy?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Leave It To Me

velvet@ebay · ‎02-16-2022

@fern*wood wrote:

I need to find out why I cannot send my buyer a combined invoice (14 items) with adjusted shipping. Two days have passed and all I get is a message that something went wrong, try later. I assured my buyer I could do this for him and now I am embarrassed and basically feel foolish.

I phoned in for help and was told my adjustment was showing & buyer should be able to pay, but buyer only sees a way to pay individually for all the items and he will not do this. P.S. I did send this type of invoice a couple weeks ago for two items and it wasn't a problem then. I also fear an inadvertent unpaid cancellation may kick in to humiliate me and anger my buyer further. I discovered I was opted in to the automatic unpaid cancellation and hope I got it stopped in time.

Based on what you've said here @fern*wood, it sounds like Customer Support already verified that the buyer should be able to pay via the invoice you sent. If they're still saying they can't make the payment for some reason, then I would encourage you to have them work with Customer Support to get the payment made. If a payment never comes through, then you're next best option would be to go the unpaid item cancelation route.

Velvet,

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎02-16-2022

I see the adsteam has just posted a blog post about ebay auctions (and, of course, ebay's PL Express). This is probably another of those question you will tell me you can't answer, but I'll try anyway (hope springs eternal): Is ebay (as the original online auction site) giving any consideration to catching up with the times by enabling live video auctions for sellers? This sort of thing is available on a number of sites/apps, and from what I can tell, is rapidly growing in popularity.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

jasmen@ebay · ‎02-16-2022

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

Also, on the subject of the video in the gallery----I know I've mentioned this before, but now that video has (I think) rolled out to everyone in the US, can we hope to see some search results page indicator/filter so that buyers can know which listings have video without having to click into the listing? I think that would really enhance the value of video as a competitive tool.

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques that's a fantastic idea and I am happy to pass it along!

Jasmen,
Community Team

c.b. · ‎02-16-2022

thank you! i couldn't think of the term you guys use for that since i am just now encountering it. yes, indeed, that is what i was referring to. i'm thinking that tyler@ebay had figured out that's what i meant, but if not, hopefully he will give further instructions.

ok, but then...

1) why should we have to go through that process every 30 days if we have never had any limits previously and never any problems? and

2) what are the chances that they say it's high enough or cannot raise it fast enough to compensate for a new listing?

this is all speculative, and may never be an issue... but prices are crazy in that category.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

fern*wood · ‎02-16-2022

velvet@ebay wrote:

@fern*wood wrote:

I need to find out why I cannot send my buyer a combined invoice (14 items) with adjusted shipping. Two days have passed and all I get is a message that something went wrong, try later. I assured my buyer I could do this for him and now I am embarrassed and basically feel foolish.

I phoned in for help and was told my adjustment was showing & buyer should be able to pay, but buyer only sees a way to pay individually for all the items and he will not do this. P.S. I did send this type of invoice a couple weeks ago for two items and it wasn't a problem then. I also fear an inadvertent unpaid cancellation may kick in to humiliate me and anger my buyer further. I discovered I was opted in to the automatic unpaid cancellation and hope I got it stopped in time.

Based on what you've said here @fern*wood, it sounds like Customer Support already verified that the buyer should be able to pay via the invoice you sent. If they're still saying they can't make the payment for some reason, then I would encourage you to have them work with Customer Support to get the payment made. If a payment never comes through, then you're next best option would be to go the unpaid item cancelation route.

The invoice never went through. My buyer never received one at all and the CSR never said one went through. I have no idea how to tell a buyer to reach help. It took me over 30 minutes to reach a person myself. Why will the invoice not work?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

tyler@ebay · ‎02-16-2022

@casuallyattractive wrote:

Why is eBay listing pages so glitchy?

Hi @casuallyattractive - will you say more about that for me? If you share a bit more about what you're encountering we can try to assist in more detail, but at a high level:

If you're using the app, please make sure it is up to date.

If you are using a computer, the Chrome browser is the 'benchmark' browser we use, but it should also work without issue in all major browsers. Remember to clear cache and cookies if it's been a while since you last did so!

Tyler,

clarkphilatelics · ‎02-16-2022

Is there a team at eBay that is responsible for seller services? I have seen posts here that suggest that the Payments Team is responsible for financial reporting. If so, who advocates for sellers or is responsible for identifying issues that could interfere with seller tax compliance? Before the "crowd" suggested that eBay deduct expenses form Managed Payments payouts, it was easily possible to identify income from eBay and fees paid to eBay. Now, is anyone interested in helping sellers capture accounting data from eBay or helping sellers file correct tax returns?

How many sellers have enough skill to download Payments Reports and extract accounting information from the data in the csv files from eBay? How many sellers have time to add up and manually enter payout report data into some accounting system to keep their accounting up to date? Where has eBay been when wildly incorrect statements about the tax consequences of new 1099-K reporting requirements.

How difficult would it be for eBay to publish a guide for non-business sellers who may receive a 1099-K for household items or collectibles sold for less than the original purchase price or how to enter expenses associated with such sales? Why not also publish a guide for Schedule C sellers?

Are less experienced sellers able to correctly fill out a schedule C? Suggestions from the “crowd” to comingle payout with expenses does not bode well. Is it possible to total eBay payouts for the year, ignoring deducted expenses, and get to the correct bottom line for the year? What happens if the return is audited because reported income did not match the 1099-K? How many sellers would like to be audited, perhaps hiring a lawyer, only to find out that there was no change to income?

What about sellers required to report sales taxes monthly? Some states require that sales tax by Market Facilitators be reported and then deducted in the sales tax return. How do sellers of consigned items on eBay efficiently track sales and expenses for reporting either when payments or received or perhaps monthly? How much time should a seller be required to invest in tracking eBay sales and expenses? Is eBay interested in making the process more efficient and give sellers more time to create new listings?

My estimate is that two or more hours may be required to balance a complex payout containing ten to twenty orders because of the time required to manually convert eBay data into useable payment and expense information. Sales reports from eBay are better but do not identify items sold and paid in different months. Does anyone at eBay have responsibility for facilitating efficient seller accounting? If so, who?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

velvet@ebay · ‎02-16-2022

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

Another update request: I was disappointed to see the FVF fee increase in the Winter Update, but nothing about the promised 2.5% FVF for social media referrals....is that still "coming soon"? Or has ebay quietly dropped it? If it coming soon, can you give us an idea of when "soon" might be?

I'm sorry @my-cottage-books-and-antiques but we still haven't received word on the FVF social media referral feature or what is happening with it. They haven't told us it's been dropped though if that's any consolation.

Velvet,

gwzcomps · ‎02-16-2022

I get how this program works, and why it exists. Why is eBay trying to discourage buyers from buying stuff on the site though? I was gonna send this offer, but I'm not trusting eBay to store my credit card info on the buying side of things. I trust eBay to handle my stored payment info about as much as I trust used toilet paper in a rest stop.

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Edit: A reply to your comment can be found here

wooden_flower · ‎02-16-2022

Could you pass on a suggestion to the returns team? In the return request, where the seller can choose to refund the buyer instead of require return - there should be a confirmation step explaining that they are refunding immediately and not requiring return of the item. This would help new sellers understand that no return label is going to be issued, so they will not get the item back. It would also give sellers a chance to realize that they clicked the wrong option.

Thanks!

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Edit: A reply to your suggestion can be found here.

wooden_flower Volunteer Community Mentor.
eBay member since 2001.