Community Chat, March 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[tyler@ebay]

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on March 11th for our Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a specific topic this week, so please bring any general questions you may have about buying or selling.

The chat will be open for questions from 1-2 pm PT, at which point we'll close thread from additional responses. After this time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that might still be unanswered.

If you're new to the chat, welcome!  Simply Reply to this post with your question from 1-2 PM Pacific Time and we'll be happy to look into it for you.

*Please note that we're not able to address account-specific queries. Questions regarding your account should be directed to eBay Customer Service.

[globalautodistributors]

I like those suggestions, thank you, @gwzcomps !  I do occasionally ship multi-package orders for the same buyer. It would be nice to do it in one session instead of going back to that transaction and selecting "print another label for this order".  

I too, have some buyers with lengthy addresses, and the character count limits require me to edit the label with educated-guess abbreviations to be able to print the label.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Hi Tyler,

Hope this screenshot shows up....Is this something new? A test or a change? This was a search result when I did a search using high to low search order.....I got this scrolling "Sponsored Listings" thing....rather than individual sponsored listings in the search list....

[tyler@ebay]

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@globalautodistributors wrote:

Hi Tyler,

No specific item numbers -- as this situation occurs with any and all of my items.  It's not an item-specific issue, but a technical, information-technology issue with the system, whereby origin/destination zip codes and shipping times are apparently not being accounted for in order to give the buyer an accurate delivery date estimate for USPS Priority Mail Express.

Thank you, and feel free to ask if more clarification is needed.

 -Bonnie

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That's fair! Do all of your items offer Priority Mail Express @globalautodistributors ? 

[maxoptical]

There is a huge issue with eBay displaying the wrong estimated delivery date BEFORE the purchase.    We ship guaranteed 1-2 day delivery to every location east of the Mississippi but eBay displays 3-5 day delivery,  the number of days actually fluctuates and it makes no sense.  I have also been working with UPS to get this resolved as the UPS API does accurately compute the delivery date using sending and receiving zip codes but eBay does not use the correct time in transit.  

If a customer looks at my item and sees 5 day delivery he will simply open a new tap on Amazon Prime and get the item in 1-2 days.   I can easily meet this standard but eBay never shows this to my potential buyers.

[wooden_flower]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wooden_flower wrote:

I have a question on estimated delivery dates.  I purchased an item on 3/5. Before I clicked buy now, I saw a guaranteed delivery date of 3/9. Nice, since I should have ordered this supply sooner.

During/after payment, it changed to estimated 3/10 - 3/12. Not as good, but still OK.

Seller entered a tracking # on 3/5, but had not shipped.  So yesterday I look for an update, and the estimated date had changed to 3/13.  This is realistic, but had this been the original estimate, I would have purchased elsewhere.

I thought the original estimated delivery date was never changed?  What prompted the update?

thanks,

Sue

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Hi @wooden_flower, the date we use as a reference for our Guarantee never changes, as this is the promise that is made to you at the time of checkout. That being said, the estimated delivery date may change to reflect the date the item is expected to arrive to you on so you have accurate information no when to expect your package. If we didn't allow this information to update, buyers would not know when to expect their shipment and may not be able to arrange for someone to be available to receive the package when this is desired. Customer Service is able to review the original date shown to you if there is an issue or you need to pursue compensation for a delayed shipment.

That being said, I am concerned that the date changed initially from the time you looked at the listing to the time you completed payment. While updates to the estimate are normal as we receive more information about the shipment, there shouldn't be changes in the short amount of time you described unless the time from viewing the listing to completing checkout extended beyond the seller's shipping cutoff time frame. I'm happy to take a closer look if you can provide me with the item number for this example.

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Ah, I had not thought about same day shipping cutoff.  Item # 254209509025 does show same day shipping. I will say I did not notice a 'if ordered in next xx minutes', but then I wasn't looking for it.

On the M2M board, we always tell people they can open an INR when the original est delivery date has passed, but if a seller can wait until he's in the est delivery time to ship, and that moves it out another x days, is that fair to the buyer?  I'm not talking about my item, I'm thinking more for buyers waiting for longer delivery time items.

Sue

[brian@ebay]

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@greg213213 wrote:

I don't know what she was searching for exactly, but she was using the US only filter and stuff was coming up from sellers that were not in the US. She was only looking for NEW and it also showed NEW OTHER. When she clicked on one of the NEW OTHER the description showed and stated it as being slightly used. I think she was looking for drapes and in the mix it has curtains which are not drapes. Is this the seller spamming using wrong keywords or does the search pick up on everything?

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Hi @greg213213, sellers select the condition when they create the listing (such as 'New other'). It sounds like the seller in question selected New other condition when they should have selected the Used condition. This could have been an honest mistake on the sellers part. In regard to the item location, if the international items appears underneath a line that stated 'international listings' then it is working as intended. If the international listings were mixed in with the US ones then I'm happy to take a closer look and get it reported. If you can tell me the search terms used in the search bar then I can attempt to replicate it. 

[nc-daydreamer]

I just paid for an auction I won. The email displayed as one I have never seen before. I got it corrected. But would  like to avoid any future complications. How did this happen and is it an eBay problem with hacking or is it a PayPal issue?

Thanks.

[tyler@ebay]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

Hi Tyler,

Hope this screenshot shows up....Is this something new? A test or a change? This was a search result when I did a search using high to low search order.....I got this scrolling "Sponsored Listings" thing....rather than individual sponsored listings in the search list....

---

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - I haven't seen that before either, thanks for sharing the screenshot! 

I'd heard that this was being talked about as a potential change, but nothing since then. I'll see if I can get more detail about it, but for now I assume it's a test. 

[globalautodistributors]

Shipped on 3/9 by UPS?  Ah, okay.  I'd probably go to the UPS website and plug the tracking number in for the latest update with the most accurate estimated delivery date.  

It's too bad the seller didn't or couldn't ship earlier than the 9th.  But I suppose it depends on what their handling time is.

I understand it can be a letdown when expectations aren't met.  As a buyer it's always nice to get an accurate estimate of delivery date.  As a seller, I like to ensure buyers are shown the most accurate estimate of delivery date.  🙂 

[Anonymous]

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@wooden_flower wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wooden_flower wrote:

I have a question on estimated delivery dates.  I purchased an item on 3/5. Before I clicked buy now, I saw a guaranteed delivery date of 3/9. Nice, since I should have ordered this supply sooner.

During/after payment, it changed to estimated 3/10 - 3/12. Not as good, but still OK.

Seller entered a tracking # on 3/5, but had not shipped.  So yesterday I look for an update, and the estimated date had changed to 3/13.  This is realistic, but had this been the original estimate, I would have purchased elsewhere.

I thought the original estimated delivery date was never changed?  What prompted the update?

thanks,

Sue

---

Hi @wooden_flower, the date we use as a reference for our Guarantee never changes, as this is the promise that is made to you at the time of checkout. That being said, the estimated delivery date may change to reflect the date the item is expected to arrive to you on so you have accurate information no when to expect your package. If we didn't allow this information to update, buyers would not know when to expect their shipment and may not be able to arrange for someone to be available to receive the package when this is desired. Customer Service is able to review the original date shown to you if there is an issue or you need to pursue compensation for a delayed shipment.

That being said, I am concerned that the date changed initially from the time you looked at the listing to the time you completed payment. While updates to the estimate are normal as we receive more information about the shipment, there shouldn't be changes in the short amount of time you described unless the time from viewing the listing to completing checkout extended beyond the seller's shipping cutoff time frame. I'm happy to take a closer look if you can provide me with the item number for this example.

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Ah, I had not thought about same day shipping cutoff.  Item # 254209509025 does show same day shipping. I will say I did not notice a 'if ordered in next xx minutes', but then I wasn't looking for it.

On the M2M board, we always tell people they can open an INR when the original est delivery date has passed, but if a seller can wait until he's in the est delivery time to ship, and that moves it out another x days, is that fair to the buyer?  I'm not talking about my item, I'm thinking more for buyers waiting for longer delivery time items.

Sue

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Hi @wooden_flower, I think that the possibility of the estimated delivery date timeframe being extended having a negative impact to buyers when they want to pursue an item not received request is a fair point, and I will pass this along for review in case we need to make any changes. Usually the estimated delivery date will only change by a few days unless there is some sort of disaster or widespread outage. In those situations we would ask a buyer to be patient for delivery and address any concerns they have after delivery or when it appears the item has been lost.

I'll take a look at the item number you have provided and see what might have happened. I'll touch base with you if I need any more information to investigate this and report it to our tech teams if there seems to have been a technical issue.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Thanks Tyler.

One thing you might mention to the team...calling it "High Priced Sponsored Results" doesn't seem like smart marketing. I suspect most buyers see that and figure : "But I don't want stuff that is priced too high"....(I realize it doesn't man it is TOO high, but I think a lot of buyers will interpret it that way, don't you?)

[brian@ebay]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Hi Tyler,
I listened to the podcast on Tuesday, and have a question about the new International Shipping program. As I understand it, my package goes to a transfer point in the US, and then eBay basically ships it out of the country from there. ebay protects me up to $100.00. Does that protection begin when I first ship the item, or does it cover the fate of the item only after ebay has shipped it out of the country? And if the latter, if my package goes missing between my local PO and the ebay point, would that be covered by USPS Insurance? (assuming the package is insured with USPS)

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Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques, I'm happy to clarify! The included insurance covers the package from the time you first ship it. If it goes missing at any point after this then you can file a claim on that shipment once 30 days have passed. 

[maxoptical]

My competitor opened a second eBay Anchor store and list the same 4000 items under both eBay names.     I purchase the same item from both eBay accounts to show you they are the same company.  Exact same item, exact same ship from address, exact same paypal address, exact same eBay selling template.  The only difference is the new eBay seller name.  This is a clear violation of the eBay duplicate listing policy.

I have supplied all of these documents to eBay several times now over the last few months.  I know eBay can not discuss other accounts but we can see results.  

To date both of these accounts are up and running with the same items.   This is cutting my exposure on the ebay platform as those coveted top search spots are now split between 3 eBay accounts. 

Please help me..

@maxoptical 

[globalautodistributors]

Thank you for your continued assistance, Tyler.  Not 100% of my items offer Priority Mail Express, I'd say at least 80%.  I don't think buyers would shell out the bucks for Express Mail on the heaviest items we sell, so Express Mail mostly applies when I sell smaller, lightweight items, that happen to be so urgent the buyer chooses Express Mail. 

[cortezer]

One more attempt to get a response before the hour is up. -

Hello, I am wondering what to make of this. A potential buyer from Indonesia is asking for me to send 2 - 30 pound folding bicycles to China. The exact request reads -

"Would you ship it to Singapore?

I will pay the shipping cost and any extra cost

thanks

harry "

My listing states 'local pickup' and no mention of shipping (anywhere, to any location let alone China)

I suppose this buyer who has been a member for less than 11 months with 20 all positive feedback, could be on the up and up. But sending $700 worth of vintage bicycles, is this a good idea? As I write this message my gut tells me no. Not worth all the potential issues that could arise.

Thanks to anyone for your thoughts - good or bad.