Community Chat, August 14 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[tyler@ebay]

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on August 14th for our Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a set topic this week, so please bring any general questions you may have on buying or selling.

The chat will be open for questions from 1-2 pm PT, at which point we'll close thread. While no additional questions can be submitted after this time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that may still be unanswered.

If you're new to the chat, welcome! Simply Reply to this post with your question from 1-2 PM Pacific Time and we'll be happy to look into it with you 

[Anonymous]

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@mendelsons wrote:
@mendelsons wrote:
Its not a huge problem but something I've been noticing for several weeks when replying to buyers questions.
The page will not load all the way. I've tried a chrome and firefox - acts the same way. It will not give me the Enter Text Here so that when you click your mouse on that text it disappears.
Like I said not a huge deal but annoyance factor is growing.

Hi @mendelsons, can you give me an item number example where you've seen this happen? If you have screenshots, feel free to share them here as well (if not I can certainly test it out on my end as well).

Ask me a question on any of our items just to test it. I don't have an example right now as the way I have been fixing it is just by refreshing the browser screen usually two times and then it gives me the prompt where I can enter my text to reply to the buyers question.

Thanks,

Rick

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Hi @mendelsons, I'll definitely give this a try after the chat today and see what happens. Thanks so much for your help in getting to the bottom of this!

[mr_lincoln]

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@mendelsons wrote:

Its not a huge problem but something I've been noticing for several weeks when replying to buyers questions.
The page will not load all the way.  I've tried a chrome and firefox  - acts the same way.  It will not give me the Enter Text Here so that when you click your mouse on that text it disappears.
Like I said not a huge deal but annoyance factor is growing.

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Me too, have to back up then do it a second time to get the text window to type in ...

[tyler@ebay]

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@b86fiero wrote:

"The transaction was ambiguous"

This is the reason a buyer claimed when filing a charge back against my account.  Another seller posted on the managed payments board that they also had a charge back initiated with the same "ambiguous" reason.

Short history for mine ~ Buyer ordered 2 identical items, paid for them with one payment.  I shipped the same day, buyer received before estimated delivery.  Buyer then opens a charge back using "the transaction was ambiguous" reason. 

Buyer never opened a return request.  Buyer never contacted me.  eBay sent me a message saying eBay would handle it for me.

Charge back was found in buyer's favor.  Why?  Buyer kept my merchandise and got their money back.  I lost my merchandise plus cost of shipping and shipping materials.  Probably a charge back fee will show up on my monthly invoice.  I did everything right but still lost.

Is "the transaction was ambiguous" a new means for buyers to open charge backs with automatic wins?  What can sellers do to protect themselves from this?

And what exactly does ambiguous mean in this context?

---

Hi @b86fiero - I can't speak to account specific activity, but I know that chargebacks are handled directly between the payment processor and the funding source/financial institution. Ultimately the decision on whether or not the money will be refunded lies with the financial institution. 

I know that we do everything we can to represent the situation accurately with the financial institution, but I can't speak to specifics of what could have happened with this particular situation. I'd recommend contacting our managed payments team directly by phone so they can review it and get you more insight. Thanks!

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Thanks Alan --- so, this will be App only? And only certain categories?

Any time line for when we'll hear more?

You said Mohan "showcased" this on stage.....I presume at eBay Open? Did he show examples? If so, is the video of his presentation available? (I know the Workshops are available, I've been watching those....)

[rosevelyn]

Thank you, Trinton!

[dhbookds]

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alan@ebay wrote:

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

A question or two as a result of this week's podcast:

Mohan said this about a pilot program ebay is running, which sounds a little like the guides ebay discontinued a while back. Can you get us some more details about this? And, since it is a pilot, can you point me to an example of this actually being used on ebay right now?:

"And then the last thing I want to share, which I'm super excited about and we shared this today, doesn't even have a name. It's a new experience that we're trying to build of bringing content and commerce together. Which is really allowing our buyers to stay engaged on the platform. If you're into comic books, if you are into trading cards, if you're into baseball cards or if you're into clothing, if you're into camping. It is bringing interesting articles, content videos, that's off platform outside of eBay, allowing our buyers to read about it. But then showing items that they read about it in the article. How to have your first camping trip with your son. Great article. Here's 10 things you need. Here are all the items to buy on eBay. Now we're doing this as a small pilot in certain areas, but my ultimate goal is to give that to sellers so you as sellers can write about the areas that you guys are honestly the experts. We're not the experts. You are the experts. You can write about anything out there that you're passionate about, that you know more about. And you can actually say and here are the items that if you really like this you can buy to go learn something or you can put a recipe to go sell the goods that you're selling. That is where I think really the community comes together. The sellers are providing content that points to their items and buyers are coming to eBay because the content is fresh."

---

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques., 

Thanks for listening to the podcast! 

What Mohan showcased on stage was a new category experience that is in the works for to the eBay mobile app.

Say for example that you are into comics - you will be able to switch from today's classic view of eBay on your app to a comic focused eBay app, with a totally new look & feel. The comic feed will pull in content and articles, some from eBay staffers, some from outside eBay and it will showcase items that you may find interesting. 

The new experience is not yet live, so there's nothing that I can point you to today. 

Keep an eye out on announcements for more information on this. 

Thanks! 

---

Sounds alot like guides..............that were thrown out a couple of years ago?

[mr_lincoln]

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@mam98031 wrote:

---

@b86fiero wrote:

"The transaction was ambiguous"

This is the reason a buyer claimed when filing a charge back against my account.  Another seller posted on the managed payments board that they also had a charge back initiated with the same "ambiguous" reason.

Short history for mine ~ Buyer ordered 2 identical items, paid for them with one payment.  I shipped the same day, buyer received before estimated delivery.  Buyer then opens a charge back using "the transaction was ambiguous" reason. 

Buyer never opened a return request.  Buyer never contacted me.  eBay sent me a message saying eBay would handle it for me.

Charge back was found in buyer's favor.  Why?  Buyer kept my merchandise and got their money back.  I lost my merchandise plus cost of shipping and shipping materials.  Probably a charge back fee will show up on my monthly invoice.  I did everything right but still lost.

Is "the transaction was ambiguous" a new means for buyers to open charge backs with automatic wins?  What can sellers do to protect themselves from this?

And what exactly does ambiguous mean in this context?

---

That is down right scary.  I've never lost a chargeback in PP when I've proved the shipment was received at the address of the card holder.  But then I've never had a reason like you describe used.    I have found that most of the chargebacks I get are just buyers that didn't recognize the name that came across on the CC statement so they disputed it.

---

I had a Charge back occur in PayPal and they fought for me and we won.  I'm not hearing or reading where eBay-Adyen are doing the same thing ... should we be concerned?  I think so ...

[Anonymous]

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@theshoppingmom2 wrote:

So I have a question.... Ohhh Gasp... LOL

Anyway, I was trying to look in seller hub for the link to opt out of cross promotion  but I think it has been removed.

The reason why I was looking for it is because I have several sellers that are also buyers that are saying that when they buy something they also get an email from eBay showing them the same exact item at a lower  price.

I think  it is because they are opted in  the cross promotion but I am not 100% sure... I spend  a lot of time yesterday looking for it and I cannot find it... I think is not there anymore ... am I right?

---

Hi @theshoppingmom2, the similar items on eBay that are shown to buyers in the listings is not something that sellers can opt out of any longer. At the end of the day, we want to ensure buyers find the best match for them here on eBay, as buyers who cannot find what they are looking for may choose to go to another site and we risk losing their business in the future. Rest assured, your items will show up on other listings in the same way and as long as you are providing a great value for what you are selling, you will remain competitive.

The emails that are sent after a purchase would not be related to this kind of cross promotion - when a buyer purchases or looks at something, this is an opportunity for us to show them the variety of options available on eBay. While we understand that this may lead to a buyer wanting to purchase an alternative instead, overall this practice helps to build our brand and encourage those buyers to return to eBay in the future.

[alan@ebay]

---

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Thanks Alan --- so, this will be App only? And only certain categories?

Any time line for when we'll hear more?

You said Mohan "showcased" this on stage.....I presume at eBay Open? Did he show examples? If so, is the video of his presentation available? (I know the Workshops are available, I've been watching those....)

---

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques., 

As far as I am aware, it's app only. I will check and if I find out information to the contrary I will post here and clarify. 

He did show examples of this on the main stage at eBay Open. That part of the conference was not streamed and hasn't been made available for viewing. 

If it does become available I'll be sure to let you know. 

Thank you 

[tyler@ebay]

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

---

@b86fiero wrote:

"The transaction was ambiguous"

This is the reason a buyer claimed when filing a charge back against my account.  Another seller posted on the managed payments board that they also had a charge back initiated with the same "ambiguous" reason.

Short history for mine ~ Buyer ordered 2 identical items, paid for them with one payment.  I shipped the same day, buyer received before estimated delivery.  Buyer then opens a charge back using "the transaction was ambiguous" reason. 

Buyer never opened a return request.  Buyer never contacted me.  eBay sent me a message saying eBay would handle it for me.

Charge back was found in buyer's favor.  Why?  Buyer kept my merchandise and got their money back.  I lost my merchandise plus cost of shipping and shipping materials.  Probably a charge back fee will show up on my monthly invoice.  I did everything right but still lost.

Is "the transaction was ambiguous" a new means for buyers to open charge backs with automatic wins?  What can sellers do to protect themselves from this?

And what exactly does ambiguous mean in this context?

---

That is down right scary.  I've never lost a chargeback in PP when I've proved the shipment was received at the address of the card holder.  But then I've never had a reason like you describe used.    I have found that most of the chargebacks I get are just buyers that didn't recognize the name that came across on the CC statement so they disputed it.

---

I had a Charge back occur in PayPal and they fought for me and we won.  I'm not hearing or reading where eBay-Adyen are doing the same thing ... should we be concerned?  I think so ...

---

Hi @mr_lincoln - we do a lot to protect folks in managed payments from chargebacks. More info and details can be had here. Thanks!

[alan@ebay]

---

@dhbookds wrote:

---

alan@ebay wrote:

---

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

A question or two as a result of this week's podcast:

Mohan said this about a pilot program ebay is running, which sounds a little like the guides ebay discontinued a while back. Can you get us some more details about this? And, since it is a pilot, can you point me to an example of this actually being used on ebay right now?:

"And then the last thing I want to share, which I'm super excited about and we shared this today, doesn't even have a name. It's a new experience that we're trying to build of bringing content and commerce together. Which is really allowing our buyers to stay engaged on the platform. If you're into comic books, if you are into trading cards, if you're into baseball cards or if you're into clothing, if you're into camping. It is bringing interesting articles, content videos, that's off platform outside of eBay, allowing our buyers to read about it. But then showing items that they read about it in the article. How to have your first camping trip with your son. Great article. Here's 10 things you need. Here are all the items to buy on eBay. Now we're doing this as a small pilot in certain areas, but my ultimate goal is to give that to sellers so you as sellers can write about the areas that you guys are honestly the experts. We're not the experts. You are the experts. You can write about anything out there that you're passionate about, that you know more about. And you can actually say and here are the items that if you really like this you can buy to go learn something or you can put a recipe to go sell the goods that you're selling. That is where I think really the community comes together. The sellers are providing content that points to their items and buyers are coming to eBay because the content is fresh."

---

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques., 

Thanks for listening to the podcast! 

What Mohan showcased on stage was a new category experience that is in the works for to the eBay mobile app.

Say for example that you are into comics - you will be able to switch from today's classic view of eBay on your app to a comic focused eBay app, with a totally new look & feel. The comic feed will pull in content and articles, some from eBay staffers, some from outside eBay and it will showcase items that you may find interesting. 

The new experience is not yet live, so there's nothing that I can point you to today. 

Keep an eye out on announcements for more information on this. 

Thanks! 

---

Sounds alot like guides..............that were thrown out a couple of years ago?

---

That part does sound like guides. 

[theshoppingmom2]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@theshoppingmom2 wrote:

So I have a question.... Ohhh Gasp... LOL

Anyway, I was trying to look in seller hub for the link to opt out of cross promotion  but I think it has been removed.

The reason why I was looking for it is because I have several sellers that are also buyers that are saying that when they buy something they also get an email from eBay showing them the same exact item at a lower  price.

I think  it is because they are opted in  the cross promotion but I am not 100% sure... I spend  a lot of time yesterday looking for it and I cannot find it... I think is not there anymore ... am I right?

---

Hi @theshoppingmom2, the similar items on eBay that are shown to buyers in the listings is not something that sellers can opt out of any longer. At the end of the day, we want to ensure buyers find the best match for them here on eBay, as buyers who cannot find what they are looking for may choose to go to another site and we risk losing their business in the future. Rest assured, your items will show up on other listings in the same way and as long as you are providing a great value for what you are selling, you will remain competitive.

The emails that are sent after a purchase would not be related to this kind of cross promotion - when a buyer purchases or looks at something, this is an opportunity for us to show them the variety of options available on eBay. While we understand that this may lead to a buyer wanting to purchase an alternative instead, overall this practice helps to build our brand and encourage those buyers to return to eBay in the future.

---

@Anonymous  Thanks for the response!! These particular sellers were talking about increased cancellation  on their sales by buyers and  they had  seen it on their end when they tried being a buyer  to purchase something from the site.They claimed that eBay showed them the same item but cheaper and assumed that their increased cancellation rate from their sales was due to this

[mam98031]

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

---

@b86fiero wrote:

"The transaction was ambiguous"

This is the reason a buyer claimed when filing a charge back against my account.  Another seller posted on the managed payments board that they also had a charge back initiated with the same "ambiguous" reason.

Short history for mine ~ Buyer ordered 2 identical items, paid for them with one payment.  I shipped the same day, buyer received before estimated delivery.  Buyer then opens a charge back using "the transaction was ambiguous" reason. 

Buyer never opened a return request.  Buyer never contacted me.  eBay sent me a message saying eBay would handle it for me.

Charge back was found in buyer's favor.  Why?  Buyer kept my merchandise and got their money back.  I lost my merchandise plus cost of shipping and shipping materials.  Probably a charge back fee will show up on my monthly invoice.  I did everything right but still lost.

Is "the transaction was ambiguous" a new means for buyers to open charge backs with automatic wins?  What can sellers do to protect themselves from this?

And what exactly does ambiguous mean in this context?

---

That is down right scary.  I've never lost a chargeback in PP when I've proved the shipment was received at the address of the card holder.  But then I've never had a reason like you describe used.    I have found that most of the chargebacks I get are just buyers that didn't recognize the name that came across on the CC statement so they disputed it.

---

I had a Charge back occur in PayPal and they fought for me and we won.  I'm not hearing or reading where eBay-Adyen are doing the same thing ... should we be concerned?  I think so ...

---

IDK, without specifics on what happened to you, it is hard to say why you lost.  What I said for myself has held true for me all these years.  But certainly that could change at any time.

But if Ebay isn't allowing the seller to participate or offer up info they may have, who is to say that Ebay is actually submitting all the info properly to the CCC.  There would be no way to know.

And if you met all the requirements for Seller Protection, why wouldn't the seller be covered?  Why did this seller lose their product and their money with no protection whatsoever and no say in the matter?

[Anonymous]

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@theshoppingmom2 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@theshoppingmom2 wrote:

So I have a question.... Ohhh Gasp... LOL

Anyway, I was trying to look in seller hub for the link to opt out of cross promotion  but I think it has been removed.

The reason why I was looking for it is because I have several sellers that are also buyers that are saying that when they buy something they also get an email from eBay showing them the same exact item at a lower  price.

I think  it is because they are opted in  the cross promotion but I am not 100% sure... I spend  a lot of time yesterday looking for it and I cannot find it... I think is not there anymore ... am I right?

---

Hi @theshoppingmom2, the similar items on eBay that are shown to buyers in the listings is not something that sellers can opt out of any longer. At the end of the day, we want to ensure buyers find the best match for them here on eBay, as buyers who cannot find what they are looking for may choose to go to another site and we risk losing their business in the future. Rest assured, your items will show up on other listings in the same way and as long as you are providing a great value for what you are selling, you will remain competitive.

The emails that are sent after a purchase would not be related to this kind of cross promotion - when a buyer purchases or looks at something, this is an opportunity for us to show them the variety of options available on eBay. While we understand that this may lead to a buyer wanting to purchase an alternative instead, overall this practice helps to build our brand and encourage those buyers to return to eBay in the future.

---

@Anonymous  Thanks for the response!! These particular sellers were talking about increased cancellation  on their sales by buyers and  they had  seen it on their end when they tried being a buyer  to purchase something from the site.They claimed that eBay showed them the same item but cheaper and assumed that their increased cancellation rate from their sales was due to this

---

Hi @theshoppingmom2, this has been the standard experience for some time now so I would encourage sellers to look into other possibilities and make improvements. There may have been a shift in the average sales price in their categories or some other shift in the market that they can investigate.

[b86fiero]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

---

@b86fiero wrote:

"The transaction was ambiguous"

This is the reason a buyer claimed when filing a charge back against my account.  Another seller posted on the managed payments board that they also had a charge back initiated with the same "ambiguous" reason.

Short history for mine ~ Buyer ordered 2 identical items, paid for them with one payment.  I shipped the same day, buyer received before estimated delivery.  Buyer then opens a charge back using "the transaction was ambiguous" reason. 

Buyer never opened a return request.  Buyer never contacted me.  eBay sent me a message saying eBay would handle it for me.

Charge back was found in buyer's favor.  Why?  Buyer kept my merchandise and got their money back.  I lost my merchandise plus cost of shipping and shipping materials.  Probably a charge back fee will show up on my monthly invoice.  I did everything right but still lost.

Is "the transaction was ambiguous" a new means for buyers to open charge backs with automatic wins?  What can sellers do to protect themselves from this?

And what exactly does ambiguous mean in this context?

---

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi @b86fiero - I can't speak to account specific activity, but I know that chargebacks are handled directly between the payment processor and the funding source/financial institution. Ultimately the decision on whether or not the money will be refunded lies with the financial institution. 

I know that we do everything we can to represent the situation accurately with the financial institution, but I can't speak to specifics of what could have happened with this particular situation. I'd recommend contacting our managed payments team directly by phone so they can review it and get you more insight. Thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Tyler for your comments.

I'm in managed payments so eBay is the payment processor.  I had never heard of the "transaction was ambiguous" as a charge back reason.  I still have no clue what that means.  Neither does the OP on the managed payments group board.  

My little dictionary defines: Ambiguous - having more than one interpretation.

CS has given me no insight on this claim. 

Like mam said, this is scary.  And and noted on the MP group board,  I'm not the only seller dealing with ambiguous claims.

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