UPDATE: Back Charging Of Promoted Listings Fees For Months Old Sales
For anyone who missed it, community staff have responded to last week's reports from sellers who were back charged ad fees on months old sales by acknowledging there was a "system error" which delayed attribution and while they apologize for the inconvenience - it doesn't sound like fee credits will be forthcoming.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Charged-promoted-fees-months-later/m-p/35126336#M2575167
"We have received a response from the Team handling this and here is what they have said: We recently discovered a system error which led to missed ads attribution and charging for certain sales promoted with the general campaign strategy that occurred from clicks across our Recommendations section. This error has been corrected as of May 8. If your account was one that was affected by this error we apologize for the delay in charging and any inconvenience this may have caused."
Given that the error was apparently corrected on May 8 but eBay couldn't be bothered to give anyone a heads up about it and just quietly charged the fees 30 days later, it is absolutely ridiculous for the multi-billion dollar corporation in the room not to just do the right thing and eat the cost of their own mistakes, imo.
Before hitting up sellers for the fees, maybe they should seek to recover those costs from the person responsible for the systems that failed - which would ostensibly be Chief Technology Officer Mazen Rawashdeh, who just got a pay raise to a base salary of $715K/yr plus stock, bonuses & incentives.
And if that's not enough to cover it, it's time to start passing the collection plate around the c-suite starting with CEO Jamie Iannone who took home over $20M in total compensation in 2024.
But since eBay isn't exactly known for their ethics and integrity, I figure it's probably worth mentioning that the FTC is currently actively seeking reports of misconduct by technology platforms....just FYI. 😉
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/form/main
valueaddedresource
OP1 year agoAnd for those who think "you're just paying what you should have any way, what's the big deal?" - a reminder that multiple sellers have reported that they were double charged, meaning they were already charged the ad fee months ago when the original sale happened and then charged again for the same ad fees last week as part of this supposed "system error."
eBay has yet to address that part of the situation as far as I know.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoAbsolutely, multiple sellers have reported double charges. I don’t rule out that they were double charged, but my default position would be that there has been one charge. eBay has addressed it – they have stated that there were no double charges. Addressing beyond the clarification wouldn’t make any sense. Hundred percent, I believe that those sellers reporting double charges absolutely believe that it happened to them. Do I believe it actually did? At this point, no.
lakefor94
·1 year ago@powell-collectibles @valueaddedresource
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoInteresting. Am I a believer? Maybe – I suppose I am in the 90% confidence level that you were double charged on one item, at least. Definitely different than my experience. I had a couple of late promo fees charged. I went back to the original transactions, And no promo fees had been charged from that sale on or near the date of that sale.
absolutely, you should be refunded for those double charges. If that happens automatically, great. Definitely a pain, and hopefully you don’t have to check too many sales to figure out the extent of the potential double charges.
lakefor94
·1 year ago@powell-collectibles
I look at my Transaction Fees and other entries daily, or almost daily. That was the 1st and only one.
That was on a consignment sale for a longtime client. I just put the $2.27 as a line item on their payout spreadsheet and we split the loss. No big deal and I won't waste any time contacting eBay. They can keep the chump change donation.
Does not make a difference to me what anybody here believes 😉
Just thought to post since we have folks that have been researching this heavily and posting their findings.
Have to get to the UPS drop and then back here and on the zero-turn.....
As always, Best to all.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoI agree with you...'won't waste any time contacting eBay'...
I don't have the time to look at other promoted fees.
'keep the chump change'...I like that.
Not to knock Wastingtime101...it's a waste of time for me also.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoHey James. I agree it would be a waste of everybody's time to contact CS. Statements were already released on this and the seller isn't going to get anything more from CS.
I also agree it would be a waste of most sellers' time (depending on $ impact) to go through all the charges because when something like this happens, eBay's probably double-checking accuracy since late billing is already going to cause a stir and they wouldn't want the impact to be worse with billing errors.
When someone makes a public statement saying they are being double-billed, in my opinion it is worth spending time to check that charge and verify the accuracy of the double-billing claim. That's all I was suggesting. 🤷
I worked with a couple sellers that reached out to me on this and both thought they were double-billed, but when I asked them to look into the details and search by order number, it turned out there were no duplicate charges. While they weren't happy about late billing, they were relieved to know there were no double charges to deal with, and it was worth their 60 seconds of time doing that search for peace of mind.
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I think eBay could have handled it better by communicating with sellers when this was discovered and letting us know a systems issue was resulting in delayed billing for some ad fees.
Honestly I've had random ad fees pop up several weeks later now and then, but always on a small scale so I barely even glanced at them. In this situation I think the impact was widespread enough for eBay to communicate upfront instead of dealing with a big issue after the fact when sellers are confused, upset, thinking it's a billing error that uninformed CS tells them they'll be credited for, etc. eBay has a lot of room for improvement in the communicating with sellers arena.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoHey there @lakefor94 . Can you go to your transactions page, search for that item number, and confirm if the $2.27 was deducted twice? The screenshots provided are not enough info to show a double charge. The first screenshot is just a summary of the order, while the second screenshot shows an actual financial transaction.
Not saying you're wrong, just asking if you could check. Another seller messaged me thinking they were double charged, but when they looked up by Item ID and Order ID on the transactions page we were able to confirm there was no double charge.
lakefor94
·1 year ago@wastingtime101
Further checking shows you are right.
They added the line item of $2.27 to my original sale information from May 5th as shown in the screenshot above but the actual payout (Order Earnings) amount for May 5th did not change.
I was not double charged. The transaction fee for May 5th stayed the same at $13.36
klhmdg
·1 year agoAnd another reason to not "pay to play"
eBay just charges you whenever and there is zero proof that the item was clicked on during the promoted listing time.
No way for you to prove it wasnt either.
bennotbill
·1 year ago"due to a system error"
I would also have to believe all those that say they "accidentally" bought something.
And maybe aliens really have landed, and fairies exist.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year agoAlso, I included this in one of the other threads about the fees being back charged, but just so it doesn't get buried:
eBay updated their Marketing Terms in January to say that disputes about ad fees must be submitted in writing within 60 days of the charge or else you waive your right to dispute.
https://pages.ebay.com/sell/pl/termsofservice.html
"Any disputes about Marketing Fees (which we will evaluate reasonably) must be submitted to us in writing within sixty days of the date you incurred such charge, otherwise you waive such dispute and such charge will be final. "
That page does not give details about how to submit a dispute, but it references the User Agreement, which was recently updated to force users into arbitration for most issues.
That likely means this section of the User Agreement would be applicable for these disputes, though I am not a lawyer and sellers should absolutely consult their own legal council before moving forward with any kind of dispute or arbitration process.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-agreement?id=4259#section19:~:text...
A party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a valid Notice of Dispute ("Notice"), which may be downloaded at this link. The Notice to eBay must be sent to eBay Inc., Attn: Litigation Department, Re: Notice of Dispute, 583 W. eBay Way, Draper, UT 84020.
eBay will send any Notice to you to the physical address we have on file associated with your eBay account; it is your responsibility to keep your physical address up to date. To be valid, you must personally sign the Notice and complete all information on the Notice form, including a description of the nature and basis of the claims you are asserting, the specific relief sought, and the email address and phone number associated with your account.
You can download the dispute form: https://p.ebaystatic.com/aw/help/legal/Notice_of_Dispute.pdf
I'd still also suggest submitting a report to the FTC too though - especially since there's a pretty strong argument that eBay did not provide "reasonable notice" of these charges as required by their own Marketing T&C.
itsjustasprain
·1 year agoFixed it for you. ðŸ˜
Fuzzy wording on their part as far as trying to fit the T&C around their failure to properly bill their charges. While the user may have 'incurred' the charge several months ago - fees for it were not incurred until much more recently. Now that the user has been billed fees they should have 60 days from that point. Before that point there were no fees outstanding to be disputed.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@itsjustasprain thanks for the assist - darn auto-correct 😂
Agree it's fuzzy wording. Like so much surrounding Promoted Listings, it's a maze intentionally designed for maximum cash extraction and minimum transparency and accountability.
pls-consignments
·1 year agoNo boundaries, no checks & balances, no accountability. Unless new laws are passed and then enforced, eBay and other platforms will continue to do whatever they want and there's nothing we can do about it. I don't think we've seen anything yet. Thinking about becoming a seller? Sell at your own risk!
lakefor94
·1 year agoHas ebay shed acknowledgement on the PM fees that were double charged exactly like the one on my account?
lakefor94
·1 year agoI should add, Sloppy, Very Sloppy.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@lakefor94 as far as I know, no eBay has not acknowledged that at least some of these fees were double charged.
The only official communication I've seen about this issue has been Devon posting an alert number for sellers to reference when contacting support:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Charged-promoted-fees-months-later/m-p/35121264/highlight/true#M2573958
And Elizabeth's statement I included in the OP here, saying it was due to a "system error" and apologizing for the "inconvenience."
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Charged-promoted-fees-months-later/m-p/35126336#M2575167
I could have missed something though - has anyone else seen any other official communication from eBay about this issue?
kickin.assets
·1 year ago@12345jamesstamps
I’m with ya! Ebay has always been my first and favorite platform and in general, I’ve had mostly wonderful experiences, whether with buyers, the community or even CS with the rare issue that pops up … this though? I’m just at a loss.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoI’m still struggling to understand why folks are so upset. Effectively, eBay is just late on sending out a bill for you to pay. You use the service, you got the benefit – what reason would eBay have to not charge you once the mistake was realized?
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@powell-collectibles can't speak for others, but in general I think we'd be looking at a much different reaction had eBay sent out an email to affected sellers somewhere around May 8th (when they acknowledge they not only knew about the "system error" but had already fixed it going forward), apologized for the error and advised that the missed charges would be placed on their accounts in 30 days.
I personally still think the right thing to do would have been for eBay to eat their own mistake - and they could have even made a public announcement about it that would have garnered goodwill - but proactive communication and reasonable notice/timeframe to prepare for unexpected charges to mitigate any effect on cash flow is the very least eBay could and should have done.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoFirst, I will say I love my eBay.
What if my telephone provider billed me for something months later, or my comcast wifi or my motorcycle insurance or my dentist when I use my credit card?...and I get charged months later?
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year ago@12345jamesstamps that's exactly what happened to me; Dentist charged ANOTHER $450 3 months later because they 'misunderstood' what insurance was paying, so instead of us paying $450, we had to pay ANOTHER $450 ($900 total).
Also had a bank accidently deposit $2000 in our account. Didn't touch it and 8 months later they finally 'found' the error and took it back. People have had that done, took the money, and the bank can file charges to get $$ back if needed.
Bottom line- stuff happens and just because someone was given an 'accidental discount' (by NOT charging correctly) doesn't mean that this 'someone' should 'just not have to pay'.
Where do people get this stuff??
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@stainlessenginecovers Did the dentist notify you about the charge before hitting your card and/or provide documentation showing why you were responsible for paying it rather than your insurance?
If so, that's not exactly an exact comparison to what happened here.
As far as the $2000 deposit error - clearly when you saw that, you knew it was an error and proceeded accordingly and correctly due to that knowledge, expecting it to eventually be taken back.
Again, not a great comparison because for the last ~2-6 months, these sellers have had sales records, payment reports etc. all clearly showing completed organic sales with no indication of any ad attribution or additional fees owed.
The lack of information/knowledge/ability to verify the charges are legit on the sellers' part coupled with the lack of transparency/communication on eBay's part makes this a different scenario, imo.
johnrj1226
·1 year agoWhen our son was born '86 he was in the ICU A Texas Children's Hospital for 26 days. Never received an invoice for the insurance co-pays - (high 4 digits) for 4.5 months to a human error (often called a "glitch". We were still obligated by law to pay the full invoices - which we did. Glad we saved for rainy days'.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@johnrj1226 again I'd have to guess you were likely provided documentation either from the hospital or the insurance co showing why that invoice was legitimate and given a notice of the bill being due and a timeline for when payment would be expected.
In this scenario, sellers were charged with no notice and there is no way to verify the charges are legitimately owed so...not exactly the same thing.
toomuchstuffagain35
·1 year agoRegardless of the actual legitimacy of the billing "mistake", the optics of the way ebay handled this aren't good and leaves many questioning how they can KNOW for sure that PL fees were even warranted.
And lord knows if a seller makes an honest "mistake" ebay wastes no time extracting their pound of flesh, no excuses allowed, because unlike ebay itself, we sellers must ALWAYS be "perfect".
gurlcat
·1 year ago12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoThis year A T & T input a refund due to some charges and also this year comcast is refunding charges that were added to my bill so far 3 months in a row. These are to customers and not just me...LOL
I never contested any charges...I think they got caught by the government somehow.
I don't do auto-pay on those two accounts anymore.
kickin.assets
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
Wow … just wow … so they took millions and say, sorry not sorry?! This just isn’t good!
Thank you for this update!
Kiks