Community Chat, Jan 17th @ 1pm PT - General Topics

[alan@ebay]

Hi Community, 

Happy Mid-January! 

Please join The Community Team here for our weekly chat session on Wed. Jan 17th at 1pm Pacific. This thread will be open for questions for 60 minutes, it'll then be locked, and we'll work through answering all eBay-related questions. 

When posting and interacting with others in The eBay Community, please keep our Rules of Engagement in mind. 

Chat with you tomorrow! 

[vrykalak]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@vrykalak wrote:

Problem: USPS page often doesn't show item scan for one or more days after it has been scanned by our local post office. This has happened to about 1 of 3 packages, so it isn't a generic problem with the way they are scanned...that's always the same.
Sometimes, the original acceptance scan NEVER shows up. The first entry under USPS tracking is when it arrives at a sorting station.
Our local post office is aware of the problem, and have started posting "USPS is in possession of this item" to the USPS site, to ensure that credit is given for on-time shipping. But this shouldn't be necessary.
Can anything be done to deal with this on eBay's side? Can eBay somehow "encourage" USPS to be more prompt in acknowledging when items enter the system?
Alternatively, knowing this is a problem, can eBay be a little more friendly about acknowledging proof of on-time shipping, and removing undeserved late shipping dings?

---

Hi @vrykalak, if your local USPS location is not properly recording acceptance scans and communicating this information with eBay and they have been unable to resolve the issue on their own, I recommend you email Griff@eBay.com with the details and contact information for your local Postal Office so we can contact them and work on improving reliability. Additionally, if you contact Customer Service with proof of on time shipping we are happy to review and reinstate lost Top Rated status related to these transactions. While we do not currently have a process of removing these, we can ensure they are not held against you as a part of your Seller Performance review if needed.

---

As I said in my initial comment: the local post office scans all packages the same way, but 1 in 3 somehow doesn't show up in a timely manner at USPS.
Also, I have been selling on eBay for 12 years, shipping through this same post office, and this problem has only cropped up in the last three months.
How can that possibly be the fault of the local post office?

[tyler@ebay]

---

@golfingaddict wrote:

In the past few months, we have had many postal holidays.  During each holiday, the shipping dates in the Seller Hub have been quite mixed up.

On Sunday I had about 25 orders.  All of my listings are 1 day handling.  For those orders on Sunday, about half of them said that I should ship on Jan 16 and about half said I should ship on Jan 17.

Actually, all of them needed to be shipped on Jan 16 to meet my one day handling. 

There was no pattern to why these have different ship dates and this has happened on all of my seller IDs and it has happened for the holidays in November, December and January.  (Multiple holidays each month)

I have to wonder why the seller hub is not reporting these ship dates accurately and then I have to wonder how it affects shipping time, shipping estimates, guaranteed delivery and my seller status.

To repeat: ALL of my listings are 1 day handling and I ship all of my items in 1 day, no matter how confused ebay and seller hub is.   

We have asked this before, but could someone explain how and why this is happening and is there a fix in place to get it right?  I am learning to not trust information in Seller Hub.  I don't think that is why ebay created the seller hub.

---

Hi @golfingaddict - thanks for bringing this up. We've gotten several reports of this happening. You, of course, are correct in that your 1 day handling would mean we should be displaying a ship-by date of the 16th, not the 17th. I'll make sure your report is added to the existing tickets, and hope to see it corrected soon. 

As to why this is happening, I don't have an answer for you as it is still being triaged and worked out. Ultimately we want you to be able to rely on the data you receive in Seller Hub, so this kind of issue is an important one. Thanks! 

[brian_burke@ebay]

---

@rosevelyn wrote:

Does ebay still have a “Seller Insights” team or a team of people who can step into the intellectual shoes of an ebay seller who I may discuss matters with? I used to communicate with members of Jordan Sweetnam’s team  when he was head of Seller Insights. They were able to put the legal talking points aside and get to the nitty gritty of what can be done to improve the selling experience.

Shouldn't RJ Pittman's team be accessible to sellers to answer questions?

---

@rosevelyn  What is your question? We do not have "legal talking points".  We are not allowed to talk about upcoming changes until they are made public - so, if you have a question ask it. If you have a suggestion about improving the experience please tell us what it is. This team will get it to the the right person in our business or product organization. Bob Kupbens team (the team we are on) focuses on the seller experience and trust issues. These are the same areas of focus Jordan had. 

I'm very interested to hear what the suggestion is. 

Thanks for selling on eBay. 

Brian

[alan@ebay]

---

@stonevintage wrote:

Hi Alan.  I spent some time on a simple search this morning on active listings (Zippo lighter 1976). My question is on placement of active listings (or how to avoid ending up on the last page).

What DOES NOT seem to matter for listings to get a better placement are the following; detailed description, auction or BIN, free shipping, price range, photo quality, (seller) feedback, TRS+ rating, time remaining or just listed, description keyword order, free returns. This is referring to "Best Match" only (the default search). 

The only thing that I could see that DOES seem to help placement is; items with current bids, regardless of any of the above appear in the top half of page one.  Of course, there is no way to see who may have paid for promo - nevertheless, those auction style with bids rose to the top of the list.

I know what we are told for best listing practices but in reality - time after time (I do these type of searches on actives about 5 times per year), the results show different.  Your thoughts???

---

Hi @stonevintage, 

We don't go into the specifics on Best Match, there are a lot of factors that make up the algorithm. 

For auctions, listing relevance is important, also time ending soonest is very important. If we see that a listing is popular: search results impressions vs click-through rates + bids/purchases, that is also going to play a part in where the item displays in search results. 

It's also important that sellers list with item specifics and any structured data that they can to make it easier for buyers to find the items they're looking for.

Also, as over 50% of transactions on eBay are touched by mobile at some stage by buyers, its very important that listings look great on mobile. 

Regarding this "Of course, there is no way to see who may have paid for promo" if you mean eBay Promoted Listings, then you will see the word 'Sponsored' appear on listings that are appearing in search results due to using that feature. 

Hope this helps! 

[brian@ebay]

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

brian@ebay  wrote:  Hi @mr_lincoln, while there aren't plans for new sizes right now, that's something that could change in the future. I'll be sure to pass your feedback to the appropriate team for consideration!

___________________________________________

As always, thanks for the reply Brian but quite honestly I am a little surprised considering all the different box sizes our main competitor ships in.  Is the alure of eBay Branded supplies waning or people just aren't using them?  I personally like them, especially since they are Free but also provide a slighlty more professional appearance.  Oh, the other advantage to using a USPS footprint is that it winds up helping the USPS cube out trucks, delivery vehicles, etc.  They are already geared for that L x W and the H would simply be a function of other Flat Rate boxes stacked (its a math thing).  I really hope the eBay Packaging Group thinks outside the box here (no pun intended ... well okay, actually it was intended and I couldn't resist) ... like rather than a 25 piece bundle costing OVER the $ 25 coupon make it 20 or 15 per bundle ... I think if they find the right mix of larger box size, bundle count, etc. demand and volume would increase and we won't have to hear the "its not in demand" reply. which sadly is what I heard last time around ... 

---

eBay branded shipping supplies aren't waning. Since they're release we've kept on eye on which sizes sold well and which ones didn't. With that data we made the decision to discontinue the ones that weren't selling as well as we had originally hoped. Thanks again for the feedback @mr_lincoln.

[mam98031]

---

brian@ebay wrote:

---

@rosevelyn wrote:

Link to my original post. https://community.ebay.com/t5/Seller-Hub/ebay-Logo-Mailers-Being-Discontinued-and-Permanently-Replac...

---

Hi @rosevelyn, the selection of shipping supplies has evolved as we've seen which sizes in demand. As we've determined which sizes were cost prohibitive and in low demand, we made the decision to discontinue them. We don't have plans to add specific sizes right now, but we'll continue monitoring feedback going forward.

---

Since the beginning of this program, the envelope sizes available have remained the same.  A long time ago I suggested that there is no padded envelope properly sized for a whole range of books and other materials that sellers need to ship.  There are many types of items that are 8 1/2 x 11 [normal letter size] that sellers ship, yet there is not an envelope size to accommodate them without being too snug or too large.  Our choices are 8.5 x 10.75 or 9.5 x 13.25.  

There are lots of us that could utilize a padded envelope that is 9x12.

[Anonymous]

---

@vrykalak wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@terrycanarsky wrote:

General suggestion ('cause I could be here all day with larger issues!):

Recently on my personal buying account, I asked a (new) seller if he combined shipping.  I was bidding on two things of his, both with the same shipping costs, and was interested if they could be shipped together for convenience and maybe savings assuming I won both sales.  He replied he didn't combine --- because he didn't know how!

While we more seasoned sellers may know where to find information, eBay has become a tangled mess lately, especially with the updated format.  Maybe some sort of tutorial for someone listing their first item(s) for sale?  (Or is there one already?)

~M

---

Hi @terrycanarsky, we do have some great resources in our Seller Center for New Sellers, including specific suggestions on Combined Shipping. I can also recommend one of our recent Knowledge Base articles on ways to improve slow sales that highlights some of the most commonly used resources within our Seller Center 

---

I looked at the link for "Combined Shipping" and it is not helpful.
It says a bunch of different ways you could give a shipping discount, 
but not word one on HOW to do it. The HOW is what we need!

---

Hi @vrykalak, the suggestions within Seller Center direct to our Help Page on Combined Shipping. I've taken a screenshot and provided it below that I believe addresses the specific concerns you have raised: 

How to create discounts through calculated shipping rules

How to create carrier specific discounts

How to create discounts through flat shipping rules

How to create promotional shipping discounts

The Seller Center links provided previously are the best resources to direct new members to as these pages can cover a wide variety of basic and advanced topics. The Combined Shipping references within these pages will like to more detailed information in our Help Pages that outline the steps shown above.

[rosevelyn]

It has become too easy for ebay top decision makers to hide behind their keyboards. A simple phone call from ebay would clear up most issues deemed as violations. Restricting my account due to a blind spot I had about vintage hats I listed could have been handled much differently. The last three days of the month when I still had listings to use in my subscriber account ensured that the punitive actions on the part of ebay would follow me into 2018, as I would never again have access to the listings I paid for in December leaving me with the task of making hard choices about how I would deal with this deficit. 

[anthony1701]

Good day. New to eBay. This is what happened.  I ordered item, and didnt receive it. I opened a case and the favor was on me. The  eBay Customer support says that they refunded the price of item through PayPal last January 12,2018. But I used credit card to purchase that item. I just made Paypal account  January 16 and I checked it, the balance was (zero) 0.  What will I do?Where and how can I get ther refund?. Thank you in advance for your answers  

[tyler@ebay]

---

@castlemagicmemories wrote:

Just want to mention there is another thread started, probably on Selling, about items being relisted and sold without the seller relisting them.

They were advised to come to Chat but I have not seen them here as yet.

---

Thanks for pointing them our way @castlemagicmemories!

I did a quick search of the Selling board and I think I found the one you're referring to. I'll review and see what we can do to help clarify/assist!

[castlemagicmemories]

tyler@ebay

Especially want to thank you, Tyler, but also, all the Blue Team!  

You are appreciated.  

Threads pop up from upset sellers who experience a ghost listing that sells.

[golfingaddict]

brian_burke@ebay

Back in November I had an issue with detailed seller ratings for Communication (when there was none) on transactions  that qualified for the Auto 5 rating.

I was given the information that they likely would be fixed on January 10th.  

They still have not been fixed.

Suggestion:  Would ebay just get rid of Detailed seller ratings altogether? And while we are at it, scrap the feedback too. 

[mam98031]

---

@anthony1701 wrote:

Good day. New to eBay. This is what happened.  I ordered item, and didnt receive it. I opened a case and the favor was on me. The  eBay Customer support says that they refunded the price of item through PayPal last January 12,2018. But I used credit card to purchase that item. I just made Paypal account  January 16 and I checked it, the balance was (zero) 0.  What will I do?Where and how can I get ther refund?. Thank you in advance for your answers  

---

The refund will go back to your Credit Card.  Check your online statement.  It should show up there.

[Anonymous]

---

@terrycanarsky wrote:

@Anonymous

I think perhaps you missed my point. 

Maybe some sort of tutorial for someone listing their first item(s) for sale?

*I* don't need the links you so kindly included.  I do this five days a week, every week, and have for years.  And while some new sellers will not voluntarily go looking for information if they don't have to, there are some who will inevitably try - only to be caught up in the "where the heck do I find X?!?!???" mess that is the new format of eBay (where it's hard to even find the stinkin' site map).

~M

---

Hi @terrycanarsky, I apologize if I missed the heart of your question. We do have a large number of resources available to sellers on the site and they are always welcome to contact Customer Service with specific questions. When I searched for Combined Shipping in our Help & Contact link at the top of most eBay pages, I quickly found the steps I have provided previously as well as links that take a seller directly to their Shipping Preferences. If you have specific suggestions to share, I'd love to hear your ideas!

[rosevelyn]

I asked a for a reasonable credit on a bolded listing I did not choose to bold on December 31, 2017, and I could hardly believe it when someone overrided it and sent me a message that I would not receive it because I was only entitled to 1 credit during the calendar year. On New Year's eve that was done?! How rude!!!