Community Chat, December 30 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[brittanie@ebay]

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a specific topic this week, so feel free to share any general buying or selling questions you may have.

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 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.

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 Wednesday!

[divwido]

Are there any plans to fix item specifics?  I'm tired of arguing about pattern name and country.  I can write the pattern name is over and over and over, but if it isn't one of the choices given, it just keeps coming back with "You need to add the pattern name."  And one item in particular wants to pick the country and will not accept the correct ansswer.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

[coinslabz26]

There is a glitch where some TRS sellers are no longer eligible for protections from false SNAD returns. I have not reported a buyer who “Claimed the item was not as described when that wasn’t true” since I think March. On December 5th I reported 2 buyers because their comments clearly showed the returns were buyers remorse and not the SNAD reason specified. Including one buyer who actually emailed me when the return was complete “Thank you for the refund. While the coin was just fine for collection, it did not visually display well next to a companion item in the same gift/display box.” Obviously this is buyers remorse…..But apparently we are not longer receiving protection because of a glitch.

After opening a report I got my “monthly” seller protections summery that I haven’t received for months. The graphic (by ebay’s error) seems to imply I don’t qualify for protection since I don’t offer 30 day returns as indicated by the dark blue circle. However, I have offered 30 day free returns and have been a TRS since ebay changed TRS requirements to 30 days. That graphic was false and because of the glitch my return reports got no consideration at all. My TRS discount is also given to me and my seller dashboard shows all listings are eligible for benefits confirming they should be eligible for removal consideration. I called customer support but they didn’t seem familiar with the buyer reporting function and their email to the correct team yielded no results.

What do I do and how do I report this glitch where I am not eligible for TRS benefits even though I am TRS and my listings qualified?

Also the reports were done December 5th and I have since been evaluated. The attached graphic is the one received in the message from ebay erroneously telling me I need to offer 30 day returns for benefits.

_____
Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[wooden_flower]

I am unable to remove myself from a seller's newsletter.  I deleted the seller from my saved sellers and still get the newsletter.

I know I am not the only one that wants to be able to stop receiving a newsletter.  Can you ask the appropriate team to look at why the subscription doesn't get cancelled?

Not the highest priority, I'm sure, but still annoying 😊

thanks,

Sue

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

[tyler@ebay]

---

@divwido wrote:

Are there any plans to fix item specifics?  I'm tired of arguing about pattern name and country.  I can write the pattern name is over and over and over, but if it isn't one of the choices given, it just keeps coming back with "You need to add the pattern name."  And one item in particular wants to pick the country and will not accept the correct ansswer.

---

Hi @divwido - wanting to make sure I'm on the same page on this: is this for all listings you create (from scratch, relists, sell similars) or particular listings that won't keep an input change?

I guess is this more of a "We need to add Pattern Name and Country to X category of item specifics" or a "These selections currently exist but are broken/not working"?

[donsdetour]

Need some very fast help on a topic; hacked account in progress

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/major-problem/m-p/31477858#M78883 

_____
Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[valueaddedresource]

tyler@ebay  - 

Thank you for checking back in on the topic of taxes being overcharged on batteries, but respectfully I have to say it is unacceptable for eBay to have gone over a week without resolution on this matter.

The fact that the teams involved are still trying to “understand what occurred” when examples and a possible explanation where explicitly given shows there has been little attention or sense of urgency here, which is especially concerning considering there are end of year financial implications both for affected users and for eBay.

Bottom line, it was brought to eBay’s attention over a week ago that taxes were being wildly overcalculated for buyers on battery purchases in error and that consequently those sellers would also face being overcharged on fees and potentially be at risk for negative feedback and chargebacks. The underlying issue causing the overcalculation appears to have been addressed, but there has been no communication or further action from eBay.

The bare minimum ethical obligation here would be to make a very public announcement acknowledging the issue and provide affected buyers and sellers direct, explicit instructions how to contact eBay to obtain refunds on overcharged amounts and protections against any negative feedback or chargebacks that may occur.  There should be a dedicated point of contact for this, not the regular customer service line that currently often requires hours or even days of hold/wait times for a call back. eBay so far has failed to make even this most basic effort.

I understand there may also be implications for how this is communicated to the states involved regarding the collecting and remitting of taxes and applicable fees, but that is eBay’s responsibility to figure out and should not in any way interfere with doing the right thing for buyers and sellers in a timely manner.

Going further than that, eBay is an established 25-year-old, multi-billion-dollar tech company – there is absolutely no good reason this cannot and should not be handled proactively.  You should be able to pull reports of all sales for items in the affected categories for the affected time period, analyze the tax amounts to see if there was an error, notify affected buyers & sellers, process appropriate refunds automatically and flag affected transactions in case any protections need to be applied in regard to feedback or chargebacks.

If CEO Jamie Iannone is serious about his tech led reimagination, his insistence that “doing business with integrity drives our success”, and his desire to “build lifelong trusted buyer relationships and be the partner of choice for sellers” – this is what that looks like in practice.  It’s time to walk the walk.

[divwido]

The biggest problem is When it askes for pattern name and I put in the pattern, it immediately goes away.  It will only accept one of the pre-entered choices.  But to use one of them is lying. 

-----

Edit:  A reply to your comment can be found here

[valueaddedresource]

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@donsdetour wrote:

Need some very fast help on a topic; hacked account in progress

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/major-problem/m-p/31477858#M78883 

---

Wow that is crazy! brittanie@ebay tyler@ebay  please get someone over there to help ASAP.

[gwzcomps]

Why is it that many of the site or policy changes never seem to make sense.  It seems like the people who make these changes have never even used the site before.  Why isn't eBay willing to work more directly with active sellers when coming up with their zany ideas?

Also yes I am aware of the focus groups eBay does and have been part of some of them.  My impression from them is staff are just looking for people to fill their echo chamber.

_____
Edit: A reply to your post can be found here

[donsdetour]

On the shoe Authentication policy:

A problem arose that the shoes were authentic but one shoe was the wrong size.

When the user opens a case it was denied due to authenticity.

This topic:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping-Returns/Authenticity-Guarantee-Shoe-Service/m-p/31466001 

If such is they way this is going to work then I will have to say to purchasers to avoid using said services.

-----

Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

[tyler@ebay]

---

@wooden_flower wrote:

I am unable to remove myself from a seller's newsletter.  I deleted the seller from my saved sellers and still get the newsletter.

I know I am not the only one that wants to be able to stop receiving a newsletter.  Can you ask the appropriate team to look at why the subscription doesn't get cancelled?

Not the highest priority, I'm sure, but still annoying 😊

thanks,

Sue

---

Hi @wooden_flower - well that's definitely annoying. I've been looking to see if there's an opt-out option that doesn't require you to opt out of all marketing emails, but I'm having a hard time finding anything. I'll see what I can shake out of the email tree. 🙂

[gwzcomps]

---

@valueaddedresource wrote:

tyler@ebay  - 

Thank you for checking back in on the topic of taxes being overcharged on batteries, but respectfully I have to say it is unacceptable for eBay to have gone over a week without resolution on this matter.

The fact that the teams involved are still trying to “understand what occurred” when examples and a possible explanation where explicitly given shows there has been little attention or sense of urgency here, which is especially concerning considering there are end of year financial implications both for affected users and for eBay.

Bottom line, it was brought to eBay’s attention over a week ago that taxes were being wildly overcalculated for buyers on battery purchases in error and that consequently those sellers would also face being overcharged on fees and potentially be at risk for negative feedback and chargebacks. The underlying issue causing the overcalculation appears to have been addressed, but there has been no communication or further action from eBay.

The bare minimum ethical obligation here would be to make a very public announcement acknowledging the issue and provide affected buyers and sellers direct, explicit instructions how to contact eBay to obtain refunds on overcharged amounts and protections against any negative feedback or chargebacks that may occur.  There should be a dedicated point of contact for this, not the regular customer service line that currently often requires hours or even days of hold/wait times for a call back. eBay so far has failed to make even this most basic effort.

I understand there may also be implications for how this is communicated to the states involved regarding the collecting and remitting of taxes and applicable fees, but that is eBay’s responsibility to figure out and should not in any way interfere with doing the right thing for buyers and sellers in a timely manner.

Going further than that, eBay is an established 25-year-old, multi-billion-dollar tech company – there is absolutely no good reason this cannot and should not be handled proactively.  You should be able to pull reports of all sales for items in the affected categories for the affected time period, analyze the tax amounts to see if there was an error, notify affected buyers & sellers, process appropriate refunds automatically and flag affected transactions in case any protections need to be applied in regard to feedback or chargebacks.

If CEO Jamie Iannone is serious about his tech led reimagination, his insistence that “doing business with integrity drives our success”, and his desire to “build lifelong trusted buyer relationships and be the partner of choice for sellers” – this is what that looks like in practice.  It’s time to walk the walk.

---

With all the long existing site issues I doubt it will get fixed anytime soon.  As you pointed out eBay is a 25 year old company.  Sometimes I have to wonder if they are trying to run the tech side of their site the same way they did many years ago.

[tyler@ebay]

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@divwido wrote:

The biggest problem is When it askes for pattern name and I put in the pattern, it immediately goes away.  It will only accept one of the pre-entered choices.  But to use one of them is lying. 

---

Thanks for this clarification @divwido - so we need to make sure that either A) your pattern names are available as drop downs or B) that the pattern name you input is retained

Sorry to keep pushing on it, but I've found the structured data team typically needs very detailed specifics when it comes to making adjustments.  

[brittanie@ebay]

---

@coinslabz26 wrote:

There is a glitch where some TRS sellers are no longer eligible for protections from false SNAD returns. I have not reported a buyer who “Claimed the item was not as described when that wasn’t true” since I think March. On December 5th I reported 2 buyers because their comments clearly showed the returns were buyers remorse and not the SNAD reason specified. Including one buyer who actually emailed me when the return was complete “Thank you for the refund. While the coin was just fine for collection, it did not visually display well next to a companion item in the same gift/display box.” Obviously this is buyers remorse…..But apparently we are not longer receiving protection because of a glitch.

After opening a report I got my “monthly” seller protections summery that I haven’t received for months. The graphic (by ebay’s error) seems to imply I don’t qualify for protection since I don’t offer 30 day returns as indicated by the dark blue circle. However, I have offered 30 day free returns and have been a TRS since ebay changed TRS requirements to 30 days. That graphic was false and because of the glitch my return reports got no consideration at all. My TRS discount is also given to me and my seller dashboard shows all listings are eligible for benefits confirming they should be eligible for removal consideration. I called customer support but they didn’t seem familiar with the buyer reporting function and their email to the correct team yielded no results.

What do I do and how do I report this glitch where I am not eligible for TRS benefits even though I am TRS and my listings qualified?

Also the reports were done December 5th and I have since been evaluated. The attached graphic is the one received in the message from ebay erroneously telling me I need to offer 30 day returns for benefits.

---

@coinslabz26 -  I'm sorry to see you've been running into that! I have reported the issue with the graph to the correct team to review why it's showing your items were not eligible.

Sellers do not have to be Top Rated to have their metrics adjusted if we find abuse on a buyer's account from their report and all sellers reports are reviewed. Can you let me know what makes you feel like these weren't actioned? To clarify, we aren't able to follow up on reports or what action was taken because we protect all member privacy, but I want to better understand what happened.