Sending Invoices
Ebay now no longer trusts sellers to send invoices unless we need to make alterations in the shipping costs. I guess this is punishment for those of us who chose not to require immediate payment. To make this new policy even more laughable is the new message in red that appears when you try to send your own invoice:
Send an invoice only if shipping adjustments are needed. We will SPEND payment reminders to the buyer on your behalf.
The idiots who don't trust us to send our own invoices can't even be trusted themselves to use the correct English word when admonishing us! I suggest they try to SEND those payment reminders instead of SPENDing them! OR perhaps simply leave us alone in the first place!
95 comments
gallopingghost
·1 year agoThis is laughable. I've been using eBay motors for 26 years and now I'm restricted in sending my own invoices. Do they think the items are theirs? We do all the work and that's fine....at least I know what's what.
I never asked for anyone to hold my hand.
What I think is that they're selling off portions of their operations and whoever is buying it ....wants it a certain way. That is.....they want complete control. That's all fine but the user is always hanging out in the breeze. No one tells you anything. They make you feel like a dummy.
You talked to the agents and the longest anyone's worked there is 6 months, so they know nothing.
I'm about ready to quit this company. They're greedy, the fees keep going up and what do we get ...."we want to thank you for being a member for 26 years".
I'll end this rant now before they yank me.
Good luck everyone....
GG
Gg
Gallopingghost
heartland_hussy
·2 years agoEvery single friggin day, Ebay has to make some kind of change. How long have they been in business? smh
mam98031
·2 years agoThis is an old thread. What specifically are you talking about?
gallopingghost
·1 year agoFeels a few minutes.
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoMy last useless attempt to remind people that the point of this post was not to spark a war about sending invoices but to point out eBay's continued roll-out of "fixes" that are unnecessary without any advance warning and in this case with a stupid spelling mistake included.
I am glad that I pointed it out both verbally to eBay and in text form here as they fixed the spelling mistake within 24 hours and have seemingly withdrawn the policy entirely within 72 hours of my complaint.
So those of you still arguing with each other about who gets to send or not send invoices and the pillars of creation that are toppled because of it can stop since it appears to be a moot point.
POWER TO FREEDOM OF CHOICE!
onefootflipper
·2 years agoI am a full time seller and have sold on and off since the 90s. I have two large accounts and I think I have sent all of 3 invoices this year.
Invoices are like packing slips and unneeded step that is more likely to cause problems than solve them.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoThis reminds me that the argument about invoices is about as unwinnable as that about packing slips.
fern*wood
·2 years agoAdd who should leave feedback first to the never ending argument, but at least packing slips & feedback don't have the potential to cost you like locking in the shipping does on invoices.
yuzuha
·2 years agoPacking slips at least serve an actual function, so they have that in their favor. Invoices? Not so much.
lakefor94
·2 years agoDon't know if anyone mentioned it yet, but eBay has crawfished on this policy and stated they will now allow sellers to once again send invoices.
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoSee post #84
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoInterestingly, for the items I've accepted offers on this morning, I have been able to send invoices without a red warning message appearing. I'll cross my fingers and hope it continues.
I'm not arguing whether or not Ebay has the right to make these tiny changes. I am peeved that when they do they do not alert volume sellers and in this case pushed it through without even checking their own language.
I feel that sometimes this lack of thought has proven to be disastrous for sellers in the past. For example, they once had a wonderful postcard selling setup with hundreds of useful categories. Then they decided to trash it into 2 nonsensical categories when they went to drop down menus. They could have simply kept the existing category setup and added the drop down menus and not harmed thousands of sellers.
Similarly, they have gone through about 6 different ways to give condition for trading cards over the past 5 years and have only succeeded in alienating another important part of their seller community.
And the way they "transitioned" to USPS Ground Advantage from USPS First Class was a complete disaster for many sellers as well. It seems like their approach to beta testing is to ignore any feedback they receive from it.
mam98031
·2 years agoWhy do you feel it is so important for you to send an invoice when Ebay has already taken care of that?
Ebay does have the right to make whatever changes they want whether we agree or not. They own the site, we don't.
This change is in no way "disastrous" for sellers.
I transitioned to GA quite easily. It was a little bumpy getting all my listings reading the correct info, but other than that, for myself, I transitioned just fine. Could it have been smoother, it likely could have.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoI never needed ebay butting in on doing by invoice's for me ,when I know how to do it myself .
mam98031
·2 years agoNot sure that should be the takeaway from this. Ebay has been sending invoices since around 2006. So between 2006 and 2023, sellers that realized this saved time and did not send invoices to the buyers which just duplicated the email they already received from Ebay.
Unless the seller needs to combine shipping or give some other type of discount or maybe a multiple purchase, sellers can still send these invoices, which provide the buyer with new updated information on their purchase or purchases.
Ebay is saving seller that have been sending invoices for a single purchase a bit of time. It is likely that most sellers didn't do this in the first place as they knew Ebay already took care of it. It is also likely that Ebay decided to stop sellers from being able to do this because buyers complained about the multiple emails.
It also protects sellers from accidentally restarting the 96 hour clock on being able to file a Cancelation because the buyer did not pay, as it resets every time an invoice is sent unless you are using the Tool in your Site Preferences that automatically sends the Cancellation.
For sellers that are upset by not being able to send these single invoices anymore, they can make a simple adjustment and use the new found time to send a message to the buyer instead, thanking them for their purchase. They could create a canned message to copy and paste to save time so they don't have to retype it each time as well.
I get it that some sellers are upset. Change can be difficult to adjust to, it is just part of human nature. This one however can be replaced easy enough by just sending a message instead of an invoice if one has the need to communicate in some way with the buyer after a purchase.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoI had wondered if it was another Beta testing a useless new tool .
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoIn the current case it's actually getting rid of an OLD useless tool.
juki1146
·2 years agoIt seems the frustration stems from eBay's policy change regarding sellers sending invoices, particularly for those not requiring immediate payment. The new policy restricts invoice sending unless shipping adjustments are necessary. The user criticizes this as punitive, possibly due to the choice of not requiring immediate payment. The frustration is accentuated by a perceived grammatical error in eBay's red warning message, adding irony to the situation. The user suggests that if eBay doesn't trust sellers to send invoices, they should at least use correct language in their communications or, alternatively, allow sellers more autonomy.
mam98031
·2 years agoIt hasn't been necessary for a seller to send an invoice for a one off sale for many years. Ebay has done it for us for many years. But some sellers have gotten really use to doing it and it is simply part of their process of selling. Those sellers are having a tough time letting that part of their job duties go. Ebay has actually helped them to save a little time. It doesn't hurt a seller in any way at all. It only changes a procedure that seller has had.
If the seller feels compelled that the much contact every buyer they have, they can still send them an email thanking them for their purchase. Nothing prevents that. So simply remove the sending invoice part from your procedure and replace it with sending a thank you email.
Sellers that have had multiple purchases by one buyer will still be able to send an invoice with combined shipping.
It is highly likely that Ebay made this change because of buyer complaints of too many emails.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoSooner then later ,These policy change's will comeback to bite the folks running ebay because members sellers & buyers can take only so much and head out the door.
mam98031
·2 years agoHelp me to understand why you say this @carlmarxx . I really do want to understand. Ebay has been sending invoices for around 17 years now. What kind of issue is this going to cause to stop sending duplicate invoices to a buyer? I am sincerely asking so I can better understand your point of view and that of others.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoI never looked at winning notification ebay a true invoice Percey, when buy win's a auction or BIN from one seller only once . ebay does over kill on sending too many auto invoice payment reminders.
mam98031
·2 years agoNot sure about the "Percey" reference. To my knowledge Ebay sends the notification of the purchase email that has the invoice in it and if after 3 days they don't pay a payment reminder goes out. So I'm unsure how that is excessive as after day 4 and no payment the seller would likely cancel the transaction for non payment.
mam98031
·2 years ago@carlmarxx
You responded to my post above, but you didn't answer my question. I would really like to hear your point of view.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoOnce the buyer has ask for combined shipping request to their seller, that is when eBay's auto payment reminder needs to be turned off , while waiting for seller to send the invoice .
mam98031
·2 years ago@carlmarxx
What?
This change has NOTHING to do with the ability to send combined invoices. Sellers can still do that whenever they have the need.
And why would a seller way beyond 3 days to respond to a buyer with a combined invoice so that Ebay would send the buyer payment reminders??? I don't understand why any seller would do that.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoShipping included : i.e. the Free shipping gimmick ,when a Zone 8/9 cost is used for all U.S. buyer's by zones . there case's where seller needs to redo the first invoice that ebay sent , with reduced shipping to zones 2,3,4,5 and 6 if called for based on the weight and size . Now with USPS dropping commercial rate discount eBay sellers will have to do their own shipping invoicing especially if seller does the shipping included : i.e. Free shipping . So it will be pointless for ebay to send auto invoices .
mam98031
·2 years agoAgain @carlmarxx this has nothing to do with the subject of this thread. You are trying to complicate it with other issues. The subject of this thread has nothing to do with zones or free shipping. It is a SIMPLE change that Ebay has made. They don't want sellers sending out an invoice after something has been purchased because Ebay has done that for years. It is likely they got complaints from buyers about the redundant emails.
With that said it does NOT prevent a seller from sending invoices for combined shipping or to extend any other kind of discount to the buyer.
Free Shipping isn't a "gimmick", it is a Marketing Tool used for years before Ebay finally allowed it. It was started many years ago by the Marketing Team for Target.
Sellers can not RAISE the price of the shipping charged on the listing just because shipping to that buyer's zone is more expensive. This is true for a couple reasons. One, the seller does NOT know what the ship to address is going to be until the buyer PAYS. Second if you charge $5 for shipping on a listing and you discover it is going to cost you $6, sellers are not allowed to raise the price of shipping AFTER the purchase.
Again, if the seller needs to discount the purchase for any reason, the seller CAN send the invoice. This thread is long and I have to admit I'm surprised that you are not understanding the basics of this change that was completely covered in the first few posts.
When is USPS dropping the Commercial discount?
Most sellers that do stated shipping do an average or charge enough to cover it if the item is shipped to the most expensive zone. What we don't get to do is change the purchase agreement AFTER the buyer purchases something to increase the shipping that was charged. We can give them a discount on the shipping, but it is against the rules to increase it.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI still strongly suspect the change was due to complaints from buyers of too much email/notifications. eBay is very anxious to keep buyers.
Similar to Amazon getting complaints of over-packing orders - in response they did supplement box sizes and change some of their materials, and it improved.
yuzuha
·2 years agoI have noticed that Amazon's packing has gotten much, much better lately. It was ridiculous that they were throwing a single bottle of Tylenol into a box with air pillows; these days it comes in one of those paper mailers instead because that's all it needs.
mam98031
·2 years agoBoy that would never be my complaint about Amazon shipping. I get an item in its own box inside of another box 10x the size of the item and no packing material around it to keep it from flying around the box. This has happened a few times to me.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI've gotten small items in giant boxes with like three air pillows. The point is, the item could have been sent in a small box or just a bubble pack, not a big, wasteful box. Last week I ordered a 2 gallon container of whey protein powder and it came neatly in a box that fit properly - did not need more packing. Definite improvement! Small items that don't need a lot of protection are now coming in smaller packages.
ETA: And buyers on eBay are getting at least a little less unneeded email.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoEbay send's out large amount of auto payment reminders to the buyers . As a seller I was not happy they did it ,because I didn't want upset buyers over it and think it was me .
mam98031
·2 years agoWould someone please post a screen shot of the message you are seeing when you try to send an invoice to your buyer.
mr_lincoln
·2 years agoHere you go @mam98031
Note the Discount price field is outlined in red ... unless one either changes the actual shipping cost up the page or fills in that Discount field sending an invoice is blocked (I tested it). I have a thread on this topic too and posted this screen shot there for the eBay Team to get the red warning banner corrected.
gail5176
·2 years agoPersonally I like to send my own invoice and do not like this additional in red letter warning on my page.I think it gives a personal touch to selling-and buyers appreciate it.
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoBefore this thread got hijacked by mam and jimmy I simply wished to make the following points:
1. Ebay, without announcing it, decided to suddenly stop sellers from sending out invoices unless they had alterations to make. This follows a pattern which I as a long time seller find insulting. If you wish to make a change simply have the courtesy to send out an announcement or message to sellers.
2. The change was not done with any thought as they couldn't even be bothered to proofread their big red admonishment to sellers who had the temerity to want to send an invoice and misspelled a word which resulted in changing the meaning of the passage.
3. Sellers who wish to send their own invoice minutes after making a sale are not harming anyone. The change was unnecessary.
To MAM AND JIMMY:
1. My line about eBay punishing sellers who opt out of forcing immediate payment from their customers was not paranoia - simply sarcasm. I know that eBay does not punish anyone for these kind of things. They don't care enough about individual sellers to target anyone. The immediate payment change is actually a great help to those sellers who don't sell more than one thing at the same time to their customers. They don't need to offer combined shipping. By implementing that change without warning sellers who do like to give breaks on combined shipping they caused confusion and added work as we had to give out piddling $1 and $2 shipping refunds until we figured out how to "unforce" immediate payment by opting out of it. It had been put in as a default without letting us know. Hence my sarcastic reference.
2. If a customer can't handle an extra email about a purchase they've made they probably need to go back into hibernation until the spring. We live in a world of hugely excess communication by varied means so an extra thing to delete or ignore is not a big deal.
3. Kudos to mam for being willing to use her real ID as I do. Jimmy, don't tell me about your 24 years of experience while hiding behind an ID with feedback totaling 3. Not interested in that kind of hypocrisy.
I simply used this posting to vent about eBay continuing their policy of fixing things that were not broken while never alerting affected sellers to the changes. The fact that they couldn't be bothered to proofread it is what probably pushed me over the edge. I apologize if that offended anyone. The fact that they did indeed fix that gaffe within 48 hours after I called it in does show that even they realize how stupid it looked.
mam98031
·2 years agoLOL, no hijacking here. We are on subject. It may not be the same point of view as you have, but still we are on the same subject. so no hijacking, just a discussion.
1. I have never even commented on you not using IPR. I didn't realize you didn't use it nor do I remember you saying it before, so I missed it therefore I never even commented on it.
With that said, you are right, IPR doesn't work well for sellers that have customers that often buy multiple items from them. I agree with you. Just make sure in your Buyer Requirements you have the two new requirements unchecked as when Ebay added them a couple months ago, they auto checked them.
So this subject had nothing to do with any of my previous comments.
2. Well yes and no. But unnecessary / repeat emails can be annoying.
3. OMG, lots and lots and lots of posters use posting IDs. Sometimes participants on these threads get to feeling very passionate about whatever subject being discussed and sometimes they reach out and try to hurt a posters selling account when there are disagreements. No one owes you the access to knowledge of what their selling account is to post here. It also isn't hypocritical either.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoI have had no trouble getting invoice 's from seller 's that combined shipping setup and when set the request in the shipping cart . I have found number seller's that never setup combined shipping setup when buying from them . they do refund the extra cost back if any. I don't use the make offer some sellers have in their listing. because they don't eBay opted them in Immediate payment required in it . Which to me is a added mess eBay has done by not being able get invoice for several items being bought from seller . What folks running eBay don't understand is that we sellers have buyers that do both auction and BIN's for items they want at same time. When I was selling I had buyers that would buy 4 to 7 of of my BIN listings and would bid on several of my auction listings ,I gave them time . I never used the IPR option do to not being able to give the buyer combined shipping .
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@carlmarxx
You bring up an excellent point about the combination of BIN and Auction purchases from one Buyer. A number of years ago I brought the idea of Sellers having a "Pause" feature on their transactions. In essence it would be useful in your BIN and Auction example where purchases are spread over a few days ... the Pause function would suspend a listing from the Seller metrics (which are already too subjective) and allow a Seller the ability to work something out with a Buyer or Combine items spread over a few days without penalties for late shipping, etc.
I have always been of the opinion that Sellers have little flexibility in constructing their own deals for their own products with their own customers ... notice eBay is not part of that right? eBay has historically been good at juggling one ball and rating Sellers accordingly ... sadly, I think that has influenced how much flexibility sellers are given all for the sake of metrics that in most cases are subjective at best and rely on the honesty or dishonesty of Buyers.
carlmarxx
·2 years agoI agree with you .
mam98031
·2 years agoIf a buyer wants combined shipping, a seller should not encourage them to make separate payments. They should let them know not to pay until they have purchased everything.
Sellers that frequently have buyers of multiple items should seriously consider going to their Buyer Requirements and turning OFF the requirement for buyers bidding on auctions to supply a payment source when they set their first bid. They are rolling this out across the site.
The other new option should be fine as it is for Offers. Requiring buyers to supply a payment source if their offer gets accepted by the seller. That one likely won't create too much of an issue if any for multiple purchases.
I even have a note in all my listings for those that want combined shipping. To purchase what they want FIRST then ask for a combined shipping total.
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@mam98031
Comments in red
I have often wondered about the Seller metrics and the need for them as it relates to the % of offending Sellers. Are they needed because there are that many bad Sellers and eBay feels the need to try and control them via the metrics or are the metrics there for a small % of really bad Sellers that they want to get rid of by having them shoot themselves in the foot by not following certain guidelines?
mam98031
·2 years ago@mr_lincoln
I think you are way over thinking this. But that is just my opinion. A seller's "metrics" has nothing to do with sending an invoice.
What I an tell you is that I do not and have not sent my customers invoices in decades unless I need to combined shipping. I do not have a big problem with buyers not paying.
If I get a buyer that purchased multiple items and just paid without contacting me for an invoice, then I simply refund them for the overpayment of shipping. This doesn't have to be a complicated process.
IDK why anyone thinks with this change Ebay has taken away your ability to send a combined invoice.
Whether you should or shouldn't use IPR is a completely separate subject and you just need to do what is best for you.
inhawaii
·2 years agoTo say ebay no longer allows this because they "no longer trust sellers" is pretty presumptuous.
Why do some sellers have so much animosity towards ebay, yet continue to sell here?
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@paytonrules2003
I sell a lot of items Auction style and I posted about this issue too when it first appeared on my transaction flow last week. On the thread I have asked for the verbiage that eBay uses in their invoicing and reminder messages as well as frequency.
I think however a message or invoice from an actual Seller may be more effective because I also suspect that numerous messages from eBay appear as more junk mail to Buyers.
Most of my auctions end on weekends so on items that are not paid by early Sunday evening I send a message alerting Buyers that we have a regular Monday AM shipping run from weekend sales and purchases completed Sunday evening will ship out at that time. Ironically, most items get paid in short order and I often get messages back form Buyers letting me know they paid ... I seriously doubt they do that with eBay reminders to pay. And since I have never seen what eBay sends the messages could just be viewed as more eBay spam by Buyers and subsequently get ignored.
For myself I think it should be the Seller's responsibility to send Invoices, after all, it is their item, their customer and their transaction. The invoice flow also has a message field and on more than one occasion I have included a note specific to the transaction.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·2 years agoI'd bet many a seller just sends them out, day after day after day hounding for payment and that's not customer centric. So, need limit it.
mam98031
·2 years agoI find it surprising that some seasoned sellers here didn't realize that Ebay has invoiced buyer for years.
IMHO most buyers if buying a fixed price listing likely pays right after they purchase, so the seller never has a need to even think about sending an invoice.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·2 years agoWell I send em' off now and again if I make offer to a watcher and they accept. Bout' it unless I need adjust shippin's.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoYes, eBay introduced "eBay Checkout" around 2006(?) when they created the safe payments policy requiring at least one electronic payment method and then they eliminated any non-electronic payment methods (checks, MO's, cash), after that it was no longer necessary to send invoices unless there was an adjustment.
gail5176
·2 years agoI know eBay sends invoices/but I like to add a personal touch when I send one myself/to just take that away with no notice is wrong
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoSend a message instead!
9 times out of ten the buyer you send the invoice to will never see the message, they will just go to checkout and pay (using the link they got from eBay or the link in their purchase history).
mam98031
·2 years agoI respect that some sellers like to do that, but now you can't. So instead, just send them an email and thank them for the purchase. It accomplishes the same thing.
@gail5176
flukeman43
·2 years agoSame thing I saw when trying to invoice someone. I just added an extra buck in the charge field so I could send an invoice myself. And yes thought the spelling error meant ebay was hacked and that this was bogus. This site is becoming a joke
eBay is protecting sellers against themselves. It is extremely annoying to win an auction and then be sent an invoice Two minutes after winning telling me the total and asking when I’ll pay.
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoYou have to love the haters!
A few facts for the people who have not been selling on eBay forever:
1. It was always the job of the seller to send an invoice.
2. The automatic 4 day window was not always there. For many years the seller would let the buyer know the time deadline in the item description itself and also in the invoice in case they had not read it.
3. I only send invoices right after I have accepted a best offer, as a courtesy since some newer customers don't realize the sales tax addition and might question it. I always put an explanation in my invoice explaining it. The idea of restarting the 4 day window is therefore BUNK.
4. I also send a message to my customers after they have paid thanking them and telling them exactly what day I am sending the item out to them.
5. Ebay has a way of implementing changes to processes that DO NOT NEED ANY and also NEVER LETS ANYONE KNOW ABOUT THEM. They have continually angered sellers by not communicating properly with them.
6. The fact that they couldn't even be bothered to proofread their own message admonishing sellers for simply doing what had been SOP for 20 years is what prompted me to get on their case about this one.
NOW BACK TO THE HATERS...
fern*wood
·2 years agoThat 4 day thing isn't automatic unless you set it up that way. You can still wait longer if you don't make it automatic. I can't imagine sending individual emails to buyers after each payment, especially at your level and number of sales.
starrynightrecords
·2 years agoAbsolutely agree with you 300% on this too, you've said it all exactly. The way we feel about this is a generational divide between sellers. The older original sellers like us feel this way. The newer not much sales young kids don't understand this at all. It's not so much about haters but older and younger generations being unable to understand each other whatsoever!
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoA bit broad brush. This is purely an Operations issue and nothing more, however people feel about it, for or against.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoI have been seller here for 24 years I DO NOT feel as the OP does in any way, shape or form on this topic. I don't care what generations you are the sending of invoices when they are not needed should have been blocked more than a decade ago.
It has nothing to do with age or length of time on eBay no matter where on the scale you sit. Just because in 2001 you sent invoices doesn't mean it's appropriate in 2013 or 2023.
mam98031
·2 years ago@paytonrules2003
1. No it hasn't. Sellers just use to do it as needed and they still can. Ebay has always sent an invoice inside of the email they send the buyer notifying them of their purchase. Sellers that send invoices it is just their personal preference, not a necessary thing as the buyer already has it. Unless there is a discount you need to extend to the buyer, then invoicing them is necessary.
2. The 4 day non payment window is not "automatic" unless you have that set up in your site preferences to auto file cancellations for non payment. The 4 day window or 96 hours isn't that old of a policy.
3. IDK how much of a courtesy that is since the buyer already received and invoice from Ebay. Now they don't present the same way as an invoice from the seller, but all the info is there as are the details.
4. That is really great customer service!
5. Ebay sending an invoice is NOT a new thing. The designs of the emails have changed over the years, but Ebay has sent invoices to buyers for many years in that email the buyer gets notifying them of their purchase.
6. While it was SOP for you, it isn't for many other sellers. I only send an invoice if a correction / discount needs to be made. I don't want the buyers feel like they are getting spammed with multiple emails with the same info.
Because some posters disagree with you or are trying to explain something to you doesn't make them "haters". If you are only interested in your own point of view, why come here?
BTW, every time you send a buyer an invoice, the 96 hour clock for filing a Cancellation for non payment starts all over again.
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoWhy do people keep stating this when it's ONLY true if you don't have the auto cancel set up?
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoBecause frequently on this board sellers come here screaming that it's day 4 and the cancel for non-payment option is not available. Then they come up with a bunch of conspiracy theories about why eBay is picking on them.
mam98031
·2 years agoBecause at least for me I did not know that had any affect. Some sellers use the auto function and some don't.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·2 years agoAt least I know I'm not being referred to as one of the young, few sales, new seller haters
..because although I fit in that category no doubt, I spoke from my experience as a buyer 🤪 selling experience not required.
mam98031
·2 years ago@paytonrules2003
What? Why so paranoid? Why are you feeling it is a "punishment"? That really doesn't make any sense.
Ebay has always sent an invoice to a buyer automatically in the initial email sent to the buyer notifying them of their purchase. The seller has no need to send an invoice unless they need to give the buyer a discount of some sort for some reason and you can do that. Beyond that, there is really no need to send one.
Besides when a seller sends an invoice to the buyer [which all sellers can send invoices], it restarts the 96 hour clock for using a Cancellation with the reason the buyer didn't pay.
chefd2007
·2 years agoYou keep posting that a Seller can give a discount on an Invoice for other than the Shipping Charges, and that is incorrect. You can only discount the shipping amount stated on the invoice, there is no way to give a buyer a discount on the items purchased or anything else through an Invoice.
I just went through this problem yesterday being shuffled through 6 different eBay CSR's for over an hour that could NOT figure out how to discount the invoice the Buyer requested except for the Shipping. I wanted to give the Buyer a one time 10% discount to reward them for their past loyalty, which came to $40, but eBay systems kicked it out as an "Invalid Format", and had to be an amount less than the $14 shipping charge, which was useless. There is no other way to discount anything else because we all tried several workarounds, none of them worked. I already had combined shipping on my listings and the Buyer was charged correctly for the shipping, so the Invoice is useless to discount the amount I wanted to give the Buyer.
eBay could easily fix this, but they are too busy making unnecessary changes to other functions on this platform that weren't broken.
mam98031
·2 years ago@chefd2007
Below you can see you can give a discount on the invoice OR you can change the shipping selection. Now the question of should you be changing the shipping is completely different than can you change it.
This pic is from @mr_lincoln post:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Sending-Invoices/td-p/34096936
As to the problem you had giving a discount on an invoice, without knowing exactly what you entered and where, IDK what the issue was for you.
This current change [if it still exists] that prevents you from just sending a plain old invoice, no adjustments would have absolutely NOTHING to do with your current problem regarding issuing the discount.
IDK that anything is broken that Ebay needs to fix. Sure maybe there is a problem, but I do not know anything about it, so I can't help, sorry.
chefd2007
·2 years agoYou are correct, you don't know and you're not helping. My post initially referred only to YOU stating more than once that a discount can be given for OTHER THAN THE SHIPPING AMOUNT, and that is blatant misinformation !!!! I posted my recent experience to show that it can't be done, and 6 eBay CSR's couldn't do it either, but you always think you know everything ( and you don't ). Get a Buyer to request an invoice from you and then you can better understand that your statement is wrong by experiencing it personally, rather than trying to bolster your position on the Leaderboard by commenting on every post for likes.
I buy from wholesalers regularly, and when I place an order, they send me a revised invoice with a discount depending on the amount I purchased, and no reason why eBay can't allow the same option on their invoice.
I CLEARLY stated that the shipping amount was $14, which appeared in the "Adjustments" box highlighted in red shown at the bottom of that screenshot, and that amount was generated by eBay. That is the ONLY place on the Invoice you can enter any adjustment/discount, and ONLY for an amount less than $14 on my invoice. I could only change the $14 to $0, and that doesn't cover the $40 I wanted to discount the buyer. There is NO WAY to discount the invoice for anything other than the shipping amount entered by eBay, but you keep saying you can. Read and comprehend before you post !
mam98031
·2 years ago@chefd2007
Clearly I'm not getting the point across to you, but that is fine. You have every right to a different point of view.
Ebay can't do as you suggested because there are 18+ million active sellers and Ebay doesn't decide what the seller's shipping discounts are. Ebay does do this when a seller uses volume pricing on a given listing, but when there are multiple listings Ebay can't do that discount like your vendor does. Your vendor is only dealing with their own inventory and internal structure. Ebay doesn't sell tangible items, that is us sellers, so you aren't comparing apples to apples.
Oh and your rudeness is unnecessary.
I hope you have a wonderful Holiday season.
kh-leslie
·2 years agoHi everyone,
This discussion has gotten a bit heated. Please remember that, while it is fine to disagree with others, discussion should always remain friendly and respectful as required by the Community Guidelines.
Thank you for your cooperation.
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoThey did take my suggestion and fix their message wording (Changing spend to send) so at least I feel that someone is listening. I'll take very small victories when they occur.
lights-camera-actionuk
·2 years agoHEAR HEAR WHY can i not send MY customers a message from me for MY sale with there name personally rarther than a stupid generic e bay message ive done this myself for 23yrs and my feedback is 100% excellent no negatives so much for e bay and its customer service
wastingtime101
·2 years agoSure you can. Use eBay messages to send messages instead of using invoices where the message gets buried at the bottom and the buyer may never see it.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·2 years agoCompletely agree with this wastingtime101. If your goal is to send your special message to a buyer, send it as an EBay message. You sending it as an invoice has a few potential negatives. 1) I used to ignore invoices pretty often. I especially ignored it if there was NO combined shipping because it was 1 item. I know when to pay, I don't need the invoice. The info will show up in my cart. 2) If I even looked at the invoice... I quick went to see the S/H (combined multiple items) and then backed out, I never looked for any special message. So If I was your buyer I would've never seen it. 3) If it's a single item, and you sent me an invoice, you've already P'ed me off. It would iritate me. Pet peeve. Just used to find it annoying as heck. Especially when i got the invoice almost immediately like I didnt pay fast enough.
So sending a message removes the likelihood that a buyer ignores it or never sees the message you intend for them to read and also you remove the potential "negative" a buyer may feel receiving an unnecessary invoice.
------------------------------------------
Side notes:
Another pet peeve is getting a direct message from a seller asking when I'm going to pay for the item (worse than getting an invoice) especially when it's been less than 24hrs. Don't pester me for payment. I've never not paid, I'm probably bidding on your other items.
Also, don't tell me "I'm trying to ship everything out right now". If me taking a day or two to pay is such an inconvenience for your shipping schedule, you need to rethink your choice to do business on EBay. If I'm worried about the shipment and receiving the item, I'll pay sooner so you can ship it sooner. I know you can't ship til I pay. If I was concerned, I'd hurry up and pay. Seller needs to realize buyer has 4 days to pay, so they can't expect to be ready to ship every single item the day after the auction as some buyers wont have paid yet.
^^^Some of my most serious pet peeves about transactions as a buyer^^^
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoThere is a certain way to do business and a good salesperson should send out their own invoice with the deadline for payment and any other message they wish to include in it. I don't need or want the faceless corporation to do that for me when I accept an offer. I can take the 30 seconds it takes to send the invoice with my personal message myself. The fact that they keep doing this kind of garbage without letting us know and also without even proofreading their own messages simply makes my point that we can do these things much better than they can.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoBut eBay is a Marketplace and THEY are the ones that sent the payment notices and the ones that process the payments.
In a traditional business the good salesperson makes the sale and moves on to make another sale. They might send a thank you note to the customer but they don't get involved in the money collection unless receivables are having a hard time getting paid and as a last resort they might ask the salesperson to give one last attempt before transferring the transaction to collections.
starrynightrecords
·2 years agoI agree with you 300%. You can tell by seller's messages in this thread who's been doing this business for a really long time and who hasn't. Long time older sellers with massive amounts of feedback and sales are really annoyed. Younger sellers with not much sales or feedback are fine with this change. Hmmm, seems like ebay is the only place this seems to be happening......
mam98031
·2 years agoIt is NOT a change. You may have just discovered it, but still not a change. Whether you are a young seller or an older seller, neither matters. Well other than to you, it seems you feel younger people know more than those with some mileage. Which is nothing new. Young people even when I was young, and I'm older than dirt, thought the same way. The only way those opinions change will be as you get older and realize how much you missed out on by dismissing others simply due to age.
For the record, again not a change, but I do not nor have I in the past sent invoices to my buyer unless it was needed due to a discount or something.
🤣 🙄
lakefor94
·2 years agoNoticed the same today. Kind of surprised me.
On to tomorrow......
starrynightrecords
·2 years agoLooks like the proof readers were out to lunch 🤣. This is so confusing because large scale sellers have single items and then combined items for postage.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoCombining shipping is exactly the reason to send the invoice (or adding another ship method). That's the point. Sellers are blocked from sending invoices unless they are adjusting shipping. So those large sellers combining shipping that you mentioned won't be affected by this.
I think it's a good change, despite the embarrassing typo on the banner.
Avoids buyers being spammed with too many reminders to pay (because eBay already sends them, so no need for seller to send another reminder). Avoids sellers complaining that they can't file an unpaid item cancellation after 4 days because they unintentionally reset the clock when sending an invoice. Avoids sellers complaining buyers were undercharged for shipping because the buyer changed their address at checkout but the seller unintentionally locked in the ship cost when sending an invoice.
fern*wood
·2 years agoYou have been sending invoices?
It isn’t necessary to send an invoice if you’re not making adjustments like combining shipping. eBay already sends an initial invoice to buyers plus buyers already know what they need to pay by looking in their purchase history for orders waiting for payment. Sending additional invoices is redundant.
Sending invoices changes the date of sale, thus changing the amount of time the buyer is allowed to pay and for sellers to cancel for nonpayment.
lights-camera-actionuk
·2 years agoI have sent a personal thank you message on my invoices with the customers name of the winning items i now cannot its bl**dy stupid E bay !! my feedback is excellent in the 23yers ive sold on e bay no negatives so much for customer service
vintageflair2
·2 years agoWhat you are saying makes no sense. We have always send our own invoices because it encourages faster payments and I like to add a personal note of thank you in the invoice. eBay needs to reverse this new rule and allow us once again to send our own invoices. Just one more annoying thing to push sellers away to other venues.
mam98031
·2 years ago@vintageflair2
I think you misunderstand. Ebay has sent invoices to the buyer for about 17 years or so. It is in the email a buyer gets telling them they purchased the item. There hasn't been a need for sellers to send an invoice in years.
You can always send your buyers a thank you email. There is nothing preventing you from doing that and you can continue with your great customer care. It is just a simple change in your process.
vintageflair2
·2 years agoIf only it were that easy. I’ve been selling on eBay for 22 years. Yes, they’ve always been invoicing customers, but sellers could always send their own invoice. We are prevented from doing that. That option has ended. Sellers are no longer able to invoice their customers. When you try to send an invoice, an eBay message in red pops up stating that the only way we can invoice is if we are changing the shipping price. Sending our own invoices seems to speed up payment. You may not understand how the system has changed as of last week.
slippinjimmy
·2 years ago"seems" to speed up payment? Going forward when you won't be sending a pointless invoice monitor things for a month or two and see if that is actually true.
Speaking for myself only, as a buyer if I am pestered for payment immediately after a purchase/eBay notification, I'll still make the payment but it will be via the slow train.
mr_lincoln
·2 years agoHi @vintageflair2
You can still send an invoice by adjusting either the Shipping amount or adding a Discount ... the next time you need to send one see if knocking a penny off the shipping cost lets you send it ... I just posted a screen shot of the invoice page up thread ...
mam98031
·2 years agoBut it was never necessary unless the seller needed to adjust something. You are now prevented from doing something you never needed to do in the first place.
Sellers can still invoice their customers if there is something different than was on the original invoice sent by Ebay.
You sending an invoice likely didn't do a thing to speed up payment since the buyer already had an invoice.
I do understand.
If you really feel that you need to touch base with your buyers after a transaction, send them an email and thank them for their purchase.
vintageflair2
·2 years agoYou have a hard time understanding and you’re totally wrong. I’ve already explained why sellers prefer to send their own invoices and I’m correct. Save your convincing for someone else who actually cares about your opinion.
mam98031
·2 years agoI understand just fine. Because you feel that because I don't agree with you that I don't understand is completely ridiculous.
BTW, it doesn't matter to me if I convince you of anything.
gail5176
·2 years agoActually after I commented on this subject yesterday -today I see they have let me send my own invoice again-fluke not sure-but that’s the way I want it
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoInteresting, were you making a change to the total?