eBay

velvet@ebay · ‎07-06-2022

Hi Everyone! This month's chat you’ll have an opportunity to talk to specialists from our Seller Tools team and is themed around “How to reach your customers”. Let them know your questions here, so they can have a chance to review them before the Monthly Chat on July 13th at 1:00 pm PT.

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Edit: Thanks for joining us for the Monthly Chat with eBay Staff and the Seller Tools Team.

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

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

As a reminder, we want (specialist name) to be able to get to as many members as possible during the allotted hour, so we have a few things to ask of you:

Keep on topic
Scroll through the list of questions to see what has already been asked to decrease chances of redundancy
Keep the message/question simple and no more than one to two items. If you include multiple questions in a post, please be aware that they may not be addressed during the chat and (specialist name) will do their best to follow-up with it after the chat has closed

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

Velvet,

a_c_green · ‎07-13-2022

@mam98031 wrote:

elizabeth@ebay

Is this also the thread you are using for the Chat? Have we adopted a new format? I thought this thread was just for advance questions not that you actually started the Chat a week ago?

I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps it doesn't matter; it was at least clear in advance that this one-hour session (at this time) would be when the principals for the seller tools would be available for real-time responses. No harm in starting the dialogue between us earlier than that.

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

elizabeth@ebay · ‎07-13-2022

@mam98031 wrote:

elizabeth@ebay

Is this also the thread you are using for the Chat? Have we adopted a new format? I thought this thread was just for advance questions not that you actually started the Chat a week ago?

Hi, @mam98031! This is slightly different, but that's correct that this thread will be where our Seller Tools Team will personally be answering as well, so we'll continue everything here!

Elizabeth,

mam98031 · ‎07-13-2022

Sure it matters. If the Monthly Chat is no longer an hour but a week or more long and without a specialist on the topic being discussed, it is a BIG departure from what the Monthly Chat was suppose to be.

I'm all for improvement on things, but we now need to know what the new rules are for the Monthly Chat so we all know what is going on. So the monthly chat will be a normal thread that last a week or more and doesn't have a specialist on the subject at hand participating? Just asking so we all know what to expect as this is very different.

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

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

valueaddedresource · ‎07-13-2022

elizabeth@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
elizabeth@ebay

Is this also the thread you are using for the Chat? Have we adopted a new format? I thought this thread was just for advance questions not that you actually started the Chat a week ago?
Hi, @mam98031! This is slightly different, but that's correct that this thread will be where our Seller Tools Team will personally be answering as well, so we'll continue everything here!

elizabeth@ebay I'd suggest putting a sticky topic with that information at the top of the monthly chat board then.

Since the previous monthly chat was done as a separate discussion from the week long "pre-chat" thread, community regulars are likely looking for a new, dedicated link just for the chat session and may be confused or miss out on the chat if they don't see one.

elizabeth@ebay · ‎07-13-2022

@mam98031 wrote:

Sure it matters. If the Monthly Chat is no longer an hour but a week or more long and without a specialist on the topic being discussed, it is a BIG departure from what the Monthly Chat was suppose to be.

I'm all for improvement on things, but we now need to know what the new rules are for the Monthly Chat so we all know what is going on. So the monthly chat will be a normal thread that last a week or more and doesn't have a specialist on the subject at hand participating? Just asking so we all know what to expect as this is very different.

@mam98031 and @a_c_green to clarify, the board is posted in advance, for questions to be posted and we will reach out to the specialty team for responses. Once the Chat goes live, our specialty team will be here to answer your questions personally! This is especially tailored to those who can't be here for the live portion, but all are answered by the specialty team.

Elizabeth,

dhbookds · ‎07-13-2022

lol............so is the team here and can we get an introduction to them?

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎07-13-2022

elizabeth@ebay I think what may be confusing some of us is, we are now 16 minutes into the hour, and no sign of a specialty team member.

seller_tools_team@ebay · ‎07-13-2022

@backpacktreasures wrote:

I would like to reach my customers in 2 ways.

1. After a sale, I would like to reach out to them to see if they may be interested in other similar products that I may acquire in the future or that I may be on the lookout for specically for them. How would I be able to do this as we do not have their email and the sales history disappears after 3 months and there is no other way to contact them. How can I build up potential repeat buyers?

2. After a sale, there are certain of my items that do not have the original instructions. Am I allowed to contact the buyer and send them a URL link to the instructions? I would like to send them a PDF, but it does not seem possible to do so.

Hi @backpacktreasures - answering the 2 questions separately:

1. You can use the Buyer Groups feature available under the Seller Hub Marketing tab to send coupons to buyers that have previously purchased from you in the last one year. You can filter the buyers using categories they’ve purchased in and their most recent purchase. You can then send the buyer groups coupons with inventory curated for that group.

2. You can message the buyer instructions via contact buyer option but it’s against eBay policy to send URLs off eBay.

devon@ebay · ‎07-13-2022

Thanks for joining us for the Monthly Chat with eBay Staff and the Seller Tools Team.

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

Devon,

mam98031 · ‎07-13-2022

elizabeth@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
elizabeth@ebay

Is this also the thread you are using for the Chat? Have we adopted a new format? I thought this thread was just for advance questions not that you actually started the Chat a week ago?
Hi, @mam98031! This is slightly different, but that's correct that this thread will be where our Seller Tools Team will personally be answering as well, so we'll continue everything here!

So where are they? This discussion has been going on for almost a week and they haven't stopped by yet.

IMHO this is a format I do not like. I think it is going to make things VERY difficult for those that want to read and participate in the now Monthly Chat. Without notification it is now different. So those just coming into the Chat expecting it is from 1 to 2 PM has to read through almost 50 posts to catch up with the discussion. And if they have questions along the way they need to create their posts.

By the time they get current on the thread it is likely to be 2PM and closed. Or is this now just going to be a thread that does not end at 2PM but at some undetermined time in the future.

I find this all very difficult and counterproductive.

sheila@ebay

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

a_c_green · ‎07-13-2022

elizabeth@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 and @a_c_green to clarify, the board is posted in advance, for questions to be posted and we will reach out to the specialty team for responses. Once the Chat goes live, our specialty team will be here to answer your questions personally! This is especially tailored to those who can't be here for the live portion, but all are answered by the specialty team.

Understood. We're already 15 minutes into the hour... can the team members post an intro paragraph or two about themselves to get things started, as I mentioned last week?

seller_tools_team@ebay · ‎07-13-2022

@driftermikey wrote:

For #2 could we use something like dropbox and restrict it to inside eBay only?

Thank you!

Hey @driftermikey - for your second comment, thanks for the suggestion of the insider dropbox functionality. We will pass that on to the applicable team.

seller_tools_team@ebay · ‎07-13-2022

@dhbookds wrote:

Any info you can give on the "buy rate" with coded coupons?....... We've sent several 100 at 10-15% rate....with no takers......

Hey @dhbookds - Conversion is based on various factors including but not limited to the amount of discount, relevancy of the coupon inventory to the buyer’s interest, category sell-through, quality of the listings, etc. As a result of the various factors, there isn’t a general rate that we can provide.

clarkphilatelics · ‎07-13-2022

Why was best offer duration reduced to 24 hours? I have no way to respond to offers presented on weekends and no secure way to respond to expired offers. Why not add an option to seller offers to buyers to respond to or approach a specific buyer? The fake email addresses passed to sellers from eBay are not helpful, especially if they expire. In one category, most buyers are repeat buyers, and some I had met long before eBay was invented.

Unfortunately, in the Stamps category, except buyers of specialized or highly graded items, there are fewer repeat buyers. Some buyers may stop using eBay because a significant percentage of sellers do not accurately describe stamps or covers offered for sale. What happened to the association logo program that tagged American Stamp Dealers Association, National Stamp Dealers Association, and American Philatelic Societies with easily recognizable logos. It would have been helpful to link the logos to association ethics requirements that far surpass eBay requirements.

It seems like professional sellers who believe in providing quality merchandise and good service are not visible enough amongst average or below average sellers. Top-rated seller requirements exclude sellers of lower priced items that do not justify tracked shipping.

Finally, sellers forced to spend extra time with tracking eBay revenue and expenses, could reallocate wasted time to better customer service if eBay would simply provide better Payout summaries with complete sales and fees. Poorly defined and missing eBay Item Specifics, especially in the Stamps category continue to hurt sales and frustrate potential buyers attempting to find the stamps they want with the ability to see every relevant listing relevant to the buyer.

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Edit: A response to your question(s) can be found here.

a_c_green · ‎07-13-2022

@mam98031 wrote:
IMHO this is a format I do not like. I think it is going to make things VERY difficult for those that want to read and participate in the now Monthly Chat. Without notification it is now different. So those just coming into the Chat expecting it is from 1 to 2 PM has to read through almost 50 posts to catch up with the discussion. And if they have questions along the way they need to create their posts.

That's a fair point. I think the pre-discussion thread, opened a week in advance, has its place, but I agree that maybe the actual Chat itself should be under its own thread, perhaps opening with responses to the topics discussed in advance.

...and I hate to keep harping on this, but if we're going to have this chat, let's at least learn about who we're "chatting" with. I don't know if we have an audience of 2 eBay employees here or 20.

P.S. We're kind of in a meta discussion on this now, so I'm going to hold off on further posts about it. It would be a valid topic for discussion over in the Community Platform Feedback group going forward, perhaps.