Say hello to the new desktop messaging experience

[seller_update@ebay]

What you need to know

You’ll soon see messages between you and your buyers in a whole new way on desktop. Our new messaging experience features the familiarity and ease of modern messaging apps, with an updated search feature to help you quickly find the details you need within your messages. You’ll be better connected to your buyers and it’ll be easier to manage your messages.

Making things clear

When you need to answer a question or reach out to a buyer, you’ll find all the previous messages between you connected on the same thread, so you’ll be able to see the context of the conversation without the hassle of sifting through multiple emails. You’ll also see that your inbox has been streamlined for a cleaner display, and to let you easily navigate between different folders. It’s a clear and modern approach that’s easy to use, and brings the look and feel you've told us you love on mobile to your desktop.

What happens next?

You’ll start seeing these changes from July, but if you’d like to try the new experience sooner, you can click on the "Try it now" link at the top of your inbox. And don’t worry, the classic experience will still be available for the next few months so you can get used to the new look.

Please ensure that all questions and comments remain on topic. Any off topic posts will be moved to the appropriate board, so they can be answered by Community Members.

Please allow us 24-72 hours to provide an answer to your question.

[renegade-chance]

Will this apply to those who use laptaps or computers to view and respond to Messages?

[seller_update@ebay]

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@renegade-chance wrote:

Will this apply to those who use laptaps or computers to view and respond to Messages?

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Hi @renegade-chance! This new experience will work on desktop web browsers which includes laptops and computers!   

[wastingtime101]

I was ready to punch my computer when I read this is being forced on sellers within the next few weeks.

The new message experience has been around for years and eBay still has not resolved major issues such as CCing messages to our email.

Others have complained about the lack of reporting option and the lack of "reply with offer".

At the seller check in a couple weeks ago the team said CCing messages to email is being added but said nothing more. Can we get a specific time frame for that? I heavily rely on that function for record keeping and it's the sole reason I try to never use the app when messaging buyers (no ability to CC my sent messages to email).

[seller_update@ebay]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

I was ready to punch my computer when I read this is being forced on sellers within the next few weeks.

The new message experience has been around for years and eBay still has not resolved major issues such as CCing messages to our email.

Others have complained about the lack of reporting option and the lack of "reply with offer".

At the seller check in a couple weeks ago the team said CCing messages to email is being added but said nothing more. Can we get a specific time frame for that? I heavily rely on that function for record keeping and it's the sole reason I try to never use the app when messaging buyers (no ability to CC my sent messages to email).

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@wastingtime101 We are still evaluating features such as CCing and we will be sure to let sellers know when new features have been rolled out!

[wastingtime101]

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seller_update@ebay wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

I was ready to punch my computer when I read this is being forced on sellers within the next few weeks.

The new message experience has been around for years and eBay still has not resolved major issues such as CCing messages to our email.

Others have complained about the lack of reporting option and the lack of "reply with offer".

At the seller check in a couple weeks ago the team said CCing messages to email is being added but said nothing more. Can we get a specific time frame for that? I heavily rely on that function for record keeping and it's the sole reason I try to never use the app when messaging buyers (no ability to CC my sent messages to email).

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@wastingtime101 We are still evaluating features such as CCing and we will be sure to let sellers know when new features have been rolled out!

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Thank you eBay for strengthening my focus on upping my selling game at Amazon.

[valueaddedresource]

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seller_update@ebay wrote:

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

I was ready to punch my computer when I read this is being forced on sellers within the next few weeks.

The new message experience has been around for years and eBay still has not resolved major issues such as CCing messages to our email.

Others have complained about the lack of reporting option and the lack of "reply with offer".

At the seller check in a couple weeks ago the team said CCing messages to email is being added but said nothing more. Can we get a specific time frame for that? I heavily rely on that function for record keeping and it's the sole reason I try to never use the app when messaging buyers (no ability to CC my sent messages to email).

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@wastingtime101 We are still evaluating features such as CCing and we will be sure to let sellers know when new features have been rolled out!

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seller_update@ebay at the recent seller check someone asked about this and was directly and explicitly told that eBay planned to add a CC option - not that it was still being evaluated as to whether or not it would be possible, but that it was already planned and definitely happening.

Please check in with Director of Product, Reviews & Messaging Patrick Hildebrand to get us an updated timeframe of when we can expect this feature - CCing to emails is absolutely business critical functionality and it is unacceptable for eBay to force sellers into this experience without that capability.

[wastingtime101]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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Please check in with Director of Product, Reviews & Messaging Patrick Hildebrand to get us an updated timeframe of when we can expect this feature - CCing to emails is absolutely business critical functionality and it is unacceptable for eBay to force sellers into this experience without that capability.

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Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes @valueaddedresource 

[discounttire]

Are we going to have the ability to create our own folders? We rely on having multiple folders for our team but don't see that currently as an option.

[seller_update@ebay]

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@discounttire wrote:

Are we going to have the ability to create our own folders? We rely on having multiple folders for our team but don't see that currently as an option.

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Hi @discounttire! Yes, this option will come over the next couple of months. We will maintain the option to go back to classic experience to access folders until we launch this feature.  

[wastingtime101]

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seller_update@ebay wrote:

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@discounttire wrote:

Are we going to have the ability to create our own folders? We rely on having multiple folders for our team but don't see that currently as an option.

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Hi @discounttire! Yes, this option will come over the next couple of months. We will maintain the option to go back to classic experience to access folders until we launch this feature.  

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So I can create folders as a "cheat" to stay with classic experience in hopes I can use classic until eBay starts CCing to email on the new experience? Thanks for inadvertently helping reveal that info @discounttire .

Edit: I guess I don't have to create folders. I just re-read the update which says, "And don’t worry, the classic experience will still be available for the next few months so you can get used to the new look."

I am worried if eBay does not add CC to email before those few months are up.

And the new messaging experience does not show buyer's registered location, correct? So that's another significant problem. I rely on that quick view of buyer's registered location in emails because most questions I get are about shipping. I need to see if the buyer is in Texas or Maine or Puerto Rico or France.

I'm all for change, but not at the expense of lost essential functionality.

[mam98031]

I agree with the others.  The "new" view has been around for quite awhile now.  I know that I personally have sent in many requests / feedback on the new version for well over a year if not longer.  

The ONLY thing I see on the current "new" version is the threading.  Oh and now the background is black instead of white.  We can't Report the message for cause nor can we block the buyer directly from the email in the "new" version.  In fact the new version ONLY has the black background and threading.  Everything else is just POOF.

After all this time I think the reasonable mind could have expected Ebay to fix what I described above and what others have described with the inability to cc my email.

[a_c_green]

My first trials with the new messaging format have left me slightly stunned.

1. I am still unable to provide my recipient with a WORKING hyperlink, such as to the URL of an eBay listing of interest. I know you want to screen against third-party URLs getting sent, but there is no reason not to provide an in-house eBay URL as a working link, and not just a string of characters that the recipient must copy-and-paste. (You already have the ability to screen and tell the difference, per my own testing.) Even basic messaging on my phone has this capability.
    
2. I cannot figure out how to look at a list of just my OUTBOUND messages. The threaded format is fine for summaries of two-way individual discussions, but I just want to be able to skim my In box and my Out box to quickly see who I have contacted recently and when.
    
3. I echo the others' concern about the inability to do simple tasks such as CC'ing my own email account, since of course that is the only way to retain eBay messages after they time-out from the Messages folder here. (That's fundamental stuff, not something that needs to be "evaluated" here in 2024.)
    
4. The display seems to lose track of which message it is displaying. I have sent three separate messages to a different eBay account to test various things, but my left-hand pane is only showing the headers of the 3rd message and the 1st message, and the right-hand pane is only showing the text of the 2nd message. Clicking on a different message and then coming back has no effect. If I click on the header of the 3rd message, it shows me the body of the 2nd message (whose own header is nowhere to be found on the left).

I will no doubt find more issues (and I have reported the first three issues above, but I need to get back to my own work), but these are enough for now to say that this is not ready for Prime Time, and it is definitely not a workable replacement for the existing Messages utility. This is essentially dumbing-down what was a mostly useful (or at least useable) set of functionality in the desktop view, just to get an imitation of a mobile texting app.

It is not clear why you would want to take what is essentially an email utility and reduce it to a text app. I get the distinct impression from working with this that someone in eBay is ramming this through regardless of pushback, or even basic release testing. You have to resolve some major issues (both errors and omissions) before this can replace the existing, full-featured Messages page. Whoever is spearheading this needs a reality check, delivered by someone/anyone that they will listen to. Good luck.

[7catsprinting]

May we are tripping but it seems some very basic functions do not exist.

When a buyer messages us we don't see their order?
Only a link to the listing which is not helpful when said listing has 100+ sold.
We need THEIR ORDER SPECIFICALLY.

Also how do we Search all messages by member name?
Like if their last message is 3 months ago we have to scroll forever?
So simple yet we can not find it.

Where are our sent messages?
Why can't we create folders?
What do those little icons with no labels do? We're not gonna push them nilly willy.

WHY IS THIS WORSE?

[a_c_green]

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@7catsprinting wrote:

Where are our sent messages?
Why can't we create folders?

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I stumbled across an answer just now: if you click the 3-line Menu symbol at the upper left of the left-hand pane, that will slide into view another pane that's hidden off the left-hand edge of the screen containing some of the old folders from the previous Messaging utility, though not a Sent folder.

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@7catsprinting wrote:

What do those little icons with no labels do? We're not gonna push them willy nilly.

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Click the empty box atop the left-hand column, which will allow you to Mark or Un-mark each of the items below it, and that will also activate rollover titles for each of those icons: Delete, Mark Read, Mark Unread and Archive respectively. Cursor over each icon to see the popup definition.

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@7catsprinting wrote:

WHY IS THIS WORSE?

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Poorly-conceived design, lack of research with users, lack of peer review or QA testing when coding, and poor release procedures. For whatever reason, it seems like an attempt to turn a desktop email-style application into a mobile texting-app simulation... on a desktop...? I cannot remember ever seeing any user demand that.

While the introductory page to this Summer Seller Update says, "Staff members will be answering questions from 8 am to 4 pm PST (June 26th to June 28th)," in fact no one using the seller_update@ebay alias appears to have been logged in for hours, and no one using the seller_update@ebay alias has posted any reply at all since yesterday. There are less than three hours remaining for this group to be open, so it will be interesting to see if there is any further interaction at all in that time period.