HOW EBAY COULD IMPROVE, (feel free to add to list)

[chinafindermichael]

1) Not only acknowledge technical issues but email customers of issue and estimated fix date.

2) Fluent English speaking customer service representatives for English speaking countries.

3) Before making any changes to the system conduct thorough alpha test for at least a week. Then for at least 2 weeks beta test with customers that agree to be beta testers (across numerous product lines and store types) Beta testers should be given discounts on their fees.  Once it passes this stage then make active on full system.

4) Ebay charges us a final value fee on S&H. Yet when we refund part of what the customer was overcharged by Ebay calculator we do not get a refund of the Fee we paid on money we did not keep.

5) When Ebay system errors cost the sellers sales and/or time it would be nice if Ebay would put out a listing promotion as a jesture of actually caring about their customers.

6) Provide a list of known/proven issues with a status assigned to them with a hotbutton link on main store page. Proove how good you are to your future customers by showing how good you are as a company. Not only do you acknowledge issues but you communicate them to your customers and you show how fast the issue was resolved. This will also keep your CSR's from having to take all the calls and deny that the issue exist, over and over again.

7) An EOM invoicing system that I don't have to wait 12 days to get my itemized monthly invoice. I shouldn't have to wait almost half a month to get my invoice. 3-4 days is acceptable for me.

ISSUES I HAVE HAD THAT ARE STILL UNRESOLVED NOR WAS I EVER CONTACTED BACK ON

1) Customer pulls up listing shows them correct S&H price then when they go to buy the invoice shows them a different amount. Ebay invoicing shipping calculator uses a ficticious zip code that the CSR can see yet was unable to find where it came from (yes, we looked everywhere in my account). 01-03/2017 (had me in Hawaii) cost me 50% sales then again in 02/2018 (Had me in Kentucky). Now it is sporadic. Had a customer charged $62 for a $12 shipping bill 07/2018.

2) Photos missing from 25% of my listings 07/2018 that day got back 15% but still missing 10%

[mynewfindstore]

I've got a BIG one....

Make promotions manager work the same for EVERYONE using it.....like it used to work, banners at the TOP of each listing included in the promotion.  Now, promotions are useless for us, tried a bunch of different kinds and the banners are always at the bottom of listings.  So I would assume that ALL my promotions are bad.  😞

[toomstoys]

alan@ebay

A couple observations

I think that your promotions are relevant.

And tagged Alan for his input - He loves hearing from me 🙂  

I think that you should make a phone call to ebay as Bob suggested.

Buy 2 get 1 free (when you add 3 to cart) is a good deal especially when you are already offering free shipping/free returns on most of the items too. 

But, and it may be nothing and I cannot speak about your business model because I don't sell clothes I did notice that some of your items offer free returns and some do not (at least do not show that) so maybe that is affecting the relevance factor that Bob was speaking to. (It is minor and MAY mean nothing but the system has been known to be quirky and do some weird things)

On the desktop version they show up very nicely : 

•  Buy 2, get 1 free
•  FAST 'N FREE

  Estimated Delivery Fri, Jul. 20
• Item: 312185716167

and yes I am aware that on the mobile version that banner and promo will never been seen.  I am pretty sure that even though mine shows top on desktop it is most likely buried in the app. Oh well. 

One thing that worked for me was to take a percent off per item AND offer a buy get promo to get items moving. It also helped move the banner to the top. Not saying this is going to "for sure" get you top banner placement but it did help improve sales and conversion.  And the more I sold the more likely that banner was to stay on top. Even after the % sale dropped off.  

One word of warning - If you decide to try this - layer them properly. I noticed at one time that the banner promoted the % off sale instead of the buy get. The system SHOULD have valued the buy get more but I think the timing over rode common sense. 

I wish you the best of luck

A couple final notes - and again speaking only in my experience be careful about trying too much and changing things a lot I think it gives best match a headache. 

and lastly I will duck and cover now - I do somewhat disagree that promotions manager should work the same for everyone but let me explain, I think it should be tailored to fit the category. For example and I do realize I am talking about 2 different tools and instances ( and using this just as a for instance) but Strike through pricing and MSRP works best for electronics etc. but I do not see anyone running for a buy get promo on those high ticket items.  But for collections like yours ( pants, shirts,shoes) or collectible toys like my area etc sure.  That is more of what I am getting at - one size does not fit all. 

[3eyedfishcatcher]

For the wrong zip code you should check the site preferences and addresses on file. I recently found that after issuing a few return shipping labels Ebay had stored those addresses as alternative return addresses. If ebay did this to you it might be how those wrong zip codes got populated into your listing. Then after in 1 listing the next item you list could take that zip as ebay uses your last listings shipping options as a template. You should use the bulk editing tool to pull up your listings 200 at a time and use the option to change the zip code in your listings. Use your correct zip code and if there are other listings set with the wrong zip code it will get corrected. You can also save templates for listings. Perhaps the wrong zip code is on one of these templates. You might want to call Ebay support to find out how to check these templates. It is possible when filling out a listing you put in a few wrong digits for your zip code and did not catch it causing your templates and future listings to have the wrong zip code.

[bitbeat]

Bring back Markdown Manager - this new 14 day rule is crazy.  All my 30 day BINs rolled off and now I am left with LOTS of items that appear less competitive.   The only solution for me now is to cancel ALL my promotions and re-price all my items when I could be spending time listing new items.  The best tool (MM) for sellers with a store has been ruined - when sales were slow, we could change the prices, or add items to the same listing, or have "Prime Day" sales without penalty - now, no longer...

I am truly disheartened...

[eaux-de-vie]

Yes! I am getting ready to move and would have had a nice sale. I have no idea how promotions works and want to do the whole store (I had 1500 pieces of inventory). I had to do lots which was a lot of time and effort. Why not have BOTH? 

If is isn't broke, eBay still tries to "fix" it. 

[obtanium_enterprises]

Implement a public bug tracker system so that issues and enhancement requests can be properly tracked; documented, commented on, and followed-up on.

eBay: There's no excuse for not having this already!

[mynewfindstore]

****I think that you should make a phone call to ebay as Bob suggested.

I can't even tell you how many times I have called ebay about this issue!  Also I have written to ebay for business on Facebook multiple times.  I tried everything they suggested to no avail.  I rarely used markdown manager.  Last fall when sales started to fall, we dropped all prices in the store by 30% and sales picked up.  We raised a few prices on older items here and there because of the USPS rates going up but most of the older items are priced really as low as they can go.  This buy two get one free offer is the only one that makes sense for our store.  When it showed up at the top of listings a couple months ago, buyers used it quite a bit.  We even had one buyer purchase over 20 items!  

I do see the offer in search....but I think it's so faint that many buyers ignore it.  When they click on an item, that is where it needs to be prominent.  

[thatsallfolks]

1) Stop breaking things
2) Stop breaking things
3) Stop breaking things.

Until that happens, there's no point discussing how they can improve, because they'll just break whatever they're trying to "improve" (e.g. postage labels).

[jeweloftheheart]

LOL

[chargedparticle5]

I would add CONSISTENCY to this list. There is absolutely no consistent training whatsoever for eBay support representatives.

If I call in three different times about one issue, I will get three different answers about what the appropriate resolution is. 

This has been especially noticeable lately, with the changes to eBay's return policies as of June 1.

Starting in July, I have spoken to multiple eBay representatives who weren't even aware that eBay's return policy states that returns must include all original packaging and accessories. They also weren't aware of the new policies around partial refunds for listings offering free returns. 

You'd think that eBay would have trained its support representatives on the new return policies more than a month after they had been implemented, but that is apparently too much to hope for. Frankly, the reps should have been trained BEFORE the policies were implemented. 

Compounding matters is the significant language barrier that I often face when contacting eBay support representatives. How am I supposed to get my issue resolved when only one out of three representatives even seems to understand my specific issue?

Reading from a script does not solve 90% of eBay customers' problems!!

It's gotten so bad that I often ask for a supervisor immediately after calling in. This is the only reliable way that I have discovered to speak to someone who understands the nuances of my issue and has a grasp of the eBay return policies that is consistent with what is posted on the eBay webpage. 

[chinafindermichael]

Never use templates for new listings. We looked everywhere and all my zip codes were correct yet when she tried to buy an item she could see that it was using the wrong zip code. Everywhere was correct until you get to the invoicing system. Thanks for input.