mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Please join us today at 1 pm Pacific today for our weekly chat with the Community Team. We don't have a set topic for this week, so feel free to ask us your eBay buying & selling questions.
The thread will open for replies at 1 pm and will remain open for one hour.
See you then! 
@tsme35 wrote:
Another postage increase in Janaury, I see ebay notigated better discounts but when are the gonna make it a fair international selling market for the US. International rates going up another $.75, so I'll have to charge $13.50 now to just cover shipping but China sellers pay pennies. I'm about to stop selling international all together just because if a item gets lost or broken I'd lose more in shipping then the item.
Seriously ebay, you need to get your lobbyist on this or I'll most likely have to just close all international business for the lack of profit. I sell fishing items, which do slow down this time of year, winter and all, BUT , I use to make it up with Japan, Austraila and New Zeland buyers because its summer there, which adds up to thousands of dollars to cover the slow down. Not for a few years now, when shipping doubled I lost 95% of my international business and every year keeps dropping 8-10%.
They are just not buying, their not bidding on auctions either so prices drop on actions too, which I almost don't do anymore.
Don't even get me started on dupliate listings, fixed and auctions. I've reported and called and nothing is every done. I guess ebay doesn't get it that when you flood the market with hundreds of duplicate listings from the same person, prices drop.
Hi @tsme35 - we work hard with the USPS to reduce impacts to you when it comes to shipping increases, and we'll get your input to the shipping team. If you ship frequently with the same carriers you could consider approaching them directly for a pricing arrangement, or consider different carriers that may offer more competitive shipping prices.
When it comes to duplicate listings it's something we work to eliminate regularly, and we do. While there are definitely listings that can be in violation I encourage you to report them so we can work on taking proper action. Thanks!
@Anonymous wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:Last week we were chatting about INRs. There were suggestions on how some of us feel we can make the process better and less expensive to process for both Sellers and Ebay.
Now there is reality on how the INRs are currently processed. This particular story is not mine, but of a friend that asked me to share it here because she was unable to attend today.
She had an INR from a customer, normal stuff. In researching the problem she found that this was being shipped to a reshipper [typically not a problem] and the buyer apparently didn't know the reshipper was no longer at the address the buyer provided, therefore the item was returned to sender.
The INR was updated by the seller with both the tracking and a note to the buyer regarding the incorrect address as well as the item being returned to sender. In the meantime of corresponding with the buyer regarding the claim the item arrived to the seller's address in good order. The buyer was informed.
The seller notified the buyer via the claim that they would get the INR closed and then issue them a refund for the item, but not the original shipping. The buyer responded that this was acceptable to them. The seller did this because she felt it was fair even though the Ebay rules do not require the seller to refund anything.
The seller then called Ebay to get the claim closed. The seller informed the CSR as to what she intended to do and that the buyer had agreed inside the claim to the partial refund. The CSR stated that the claim could not be closed yet and to call back in a day or two. The seller didn't understand why the claim could not be closed and asked again. The CSR stood his ground so to speak and was being rather forceful with his voice according to my friend. So she hung up and called me.
I suggested that she call again as all to frequently this is necessary to get the attention needed to a problem. I know it should not be that way, but it is the reality of things.
The next CSR was much nicer to my friend and she explained that there was a 3 day waiting period for closing the claim. So she would need to call back after that period had lapsed to get the claim closed even though the tracking shows that it was returned to sender due to a bad address. She got off the phone with the CSR and then called me again.
I was surprised. Has something changed. I know that I've closed INRs on the same day I've received them with no contact with my buyer and with the tracking showing delivered. Has this processed changed?
My friend called back late the next day and got the INR closed. She then went into PP and processed a partial refund to the buyer [holding back original shipping]. She was happy and the customer was happy. Yet the story isn't quite over.
The next day she went into her PP account and noticed that the $$ balance on this transaction was still on hold. She couldn't get to PP yesterday via phone for answers as PP was having phone issues. I haven't heard from my friend today as to why this happened.
The claim was not opened in PP! The claim was closed by Ebay!! Why in the world would PP have the right to continue to hold funds on a transaction Ebay deems to be complete??? I know you may not have these answers regarding PP, but I find this very strange. Would they old it forever since the seller had not intended to refund the original shipping?
Hi @mam98031, happy to clarify this process. We have made changes to a sellers ability to escalate a claim early. We found that there were patterns of abuse related to cases being escalated before three full business days had passed and, while I can't be specific about what this abuse looked like, we made the decision to only allow for an earlier escalation in very few situations; primarily in instances related to restricted or suspended accounts and unauthorized transactions. As it stands, we absolutely offer protection for sellers when delivery or an attempted delivery has been made, but would not be able to escalate the case before three full business days have passed since the request was open.
As for the hold on the funds that is placed, this is generally released within 48 hours of the case decision being made. If this time has passed and the funds are still on hold, I would encourage a seller to contact eBay so we can look into the payment hold and see what can be done.
What a waste of time for both the seller and the buyer. The buyer is far more likely to get upset by being told they will have to wait for the refund because Ebay has now imposed a 3 day wait on INR claims. I know you are just sharing with me the changes in the processes by Ebay, but I'm not so sure this will improve much of anything.
Further I don't know how a seller would "abuse" the INR process. The seller does not control the tracking nor do they control what the tracking says. So if the tracking shows delivered or attempted to deliver but the address was bad, what in the world could be a good reason to make the seller and buyer wait 3 days before they can process the claim for the buyer.
My vote: I don't like this at all and I see problems in my future.
@siayan wrote:
brian@ebay wrote:
@siayan wrote:
I sold an item with shipping and local pick up options. Someone bought it as local pick up. After they picked it up they requested it to be marked as paid. When I marked it as paid there were 2 drop down menus with shipping options. If one is marked as local pick up the other must be marked with a shipping option, both cannot be local pick up. As a result I had a no tracking ding and had to call to get it removed. Why?
Hi @siayan, that's odd. I'd like to check on that transaction to see what happened so I have a better understanding. I'll send you an email shortly and we'll take a closer look at it.
If you need more info let me know. I only had one local pick up recently.
I'll let you know. Either way I'll send you an email with more information 
Hi everyone,
Thanks for joining us today, we're closing the topic as the hour is up. We'll stick around to answer any questions we haven't got to yet.
See you same time next week 
@dtexley3 wrote:
Happy New Year,
As more and more items are tied to product pages you really need to add a LOT more education on what consitutes a "Review". Many times buyers are using the review feature to make extended feedback comments instead of a review of the item. Why would I want my "Mint" collectible to be tied to a product page where the top review is "item is not mint, I wouldn't even consider it 'very good'. I'm disappointed with the item" or similar.
Hi @dtexley3 - thanks for sharing this. You can report reviews left that are item-specific feedback or otherwise inappropriate by clicking 'Report' to the right of the review. Those will be reviewed and appropriate action taken, as you are right that item-specific feedback is not what the Product Reviews page is for. Thanks!
@mallontown wrote:
alan@ebay wrote:
@mallontown wrote:
this is a follow up to previous community chat.
Has ebay shipping team got back and explained why there delivery dates were wrong and what ebay is doing to protect sellers from ebays erroneous shipping times during the busy holiday season.
Also these false delivery estimates will discourage buyers who were affected.
I've included all comments on this subject for transparency
alan@ebay wrote:
@mallontown wrote:
usps holiday shipping deadlines 12/19 for first class mail
Why does ebay show buyers false delivery times for usps deliveries? This effects millions of people , buyers and sellers who use usps.
I included an example of an auction today 12/20 with delivery date of 12/23 to compare with usps saying all first class needed to be shipped 12/19 for Christmas delivery.
Hi @mallontown,
Thanks for sharing this, I'm going to contact our Shipping team to have them review, I'll get back to you when I know more.
Hi @mallontown,
Our shipping team wrote back on Wednesday after reviewing your listing to advise:
"When USPS publish their holiday calendar they are stating the most conservative date that would work for the longest possible delivery for that carrier service – ie from east coast to west..
When eBay makes a delivery prediction we are looking at the actual distance between seller and buyer and historical data for that carrier, at this time of year between those two zips. We are a lot more specific and therefore accurate.
It seems here that the seller is checking their own listing – and the delivery estimate algorithm is, therefore, showing the ship speed from and to the same zip code. On top of this, the seller offers same day handling so it's completely realistic that if it shipped today (Wed 20th) it would be delivered on Saturday.
When I check this listing now (Wed 20th) i.e. after their same day cut-off – the estimate is now Dec 26th."
Thank you!
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Hi Alan
Thanks for getting back to me.
There are major flaws in the shipping teams response.
First they assume I only checked my zip code 17929 when in fact I checked multiple zip codes including
04569 Christmas Cove, Maine
47579 Santa Claus, Indiana
32709 Christmas, Florida
97641 Christmas Valley, Oregon
All of these showed delivery before Christmas
99705 North Pole Alaska and 00901 San Juan Puerto Rico were the only 2 that I checked that had an extended delivery with multiple dates as the estimate (shown on ebay as expected delivery between X and Y dates which included a date after Christmas)
Second is what historical data are they using? Data for the 4th quarter,data starting 1st week of December? Since I checked on this issue on the 20th only data from that date should apply and USPS informs everyone that delivery takes longer than usual. Did the shipping team only use data from 12/20 of the previous year(s)?
Third is the shipping team erroneous statement about same day handling by me. I researched the various zip codes as shown above and posted the question between 4:00 and 5PM EST . Since the shipping department researched my items and saw that I offer same day shipping they should also know that my cut off time for same day shipping is 8:15 am EST Which is a full 8 hours after my checking delivery times and posting the question. So the statement "On top of this, the seller offers same day handling so it's completely realistic that if it shipped today (Wed 20th) it would be delivered on Saturday." is an unrealistic statement.
Here is the true question on this issue.
Is ebay providing buyers with unrealistic ship arrival dates in order to compete with other venues that have fast shipping.
Thanks again Alan for addressing the issue and if you can forward this back to the shipping team it would be appreciated.
Since I can't post to a locked thread I will start a new one and reference the original community chat
Happy holidays
Deb
Hi @mallontown,
Thanks for posting, I'll share your post with the Shipping team and get back to you.
I am in danger of losing my top rated status with a big red exclaimation mark ! on my account because of the bad delivery dates given by ebay.
Please let me know how to get the late shipment rate report changed to reflect that these were not late shipments.
What step to I have to take to get them removed?
Hi @mallontown - the best course of action for you to take at this point would be to call CS to discuss and provide proof of shipment within your stated handling time so they can work on an appeal. Thanks!
@odditiesandantiquities1 wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@odditiesandantiquities1 wrote:
Happy New Year Everyone. Hope you had a great holiday. I won't talk about mine...between flights and the flu.
Question. Have you heard recently of any problems with uploading photo's when responding to messages? I have never had a problem until this morning when I couldn't get a picture to attach. It was like all my other pictures. No real difference in size. It just wouldn't upload.
Howdy @odditiesandantiquities1 - glad to hear you made it in one piece (hopefully at least
)
Can you get me more detail about what happened when you tried to upload photos to the message? Did it upload very small or give you an error?
Sorry. Darn flu made me zone out there. Maybe the Dayquil too...lol.
It didn't give me any error at all. Just went back to the message screen and didn't do anything. It was only one photo. About ten minutes before I was able to send three pictures to the same customer. I'll try it again, just to make sure.
That's really odd - before you try again will you do the usual business CS asks you to (clear cache and cookies, restart browser, etc)? If you run into it again let me know!
Also, feel better! Hope the flu doesn't stay too long.
@thegreenhouse2 wrote:
RE: Changes or Additions to Item Specifics
Hello and Happy New Year,
How is the best way to get changes or additions to item specifics. I have asked customer service several times about various needs but they do not seem to be able to do anything. I have tried to send on comments/feedback but nothing ever changes. (I kinda feel like those go in a black hole). Please advise.
One example, I have asked for and asked for is for "Type" in the Sewing Pattern category to be set up so that multiple types can be added - this would be akin to "Suitable For" that we have in Fabric category. I have attached an example. If you can forward this to the right party that would be great.
Thank you,
Lisa
hi @thegreenhouse2, happy New Year to you as well You can send feedback and suggestions directly to the team in charge of Item Specifics at t his email address: sdsupport@ebay.com. Provide them your screenshots and details about when you would need multiple Types in this category and they'll definitely review it.
@mr_lincoln wrote:
brian@ebay wrote:
@siayan wrote:
I sold an item with shipping and local pick up options. Someone bought it as local pick up. After they picked it up they requested it to be marked as paid. When I marked it as paid there were 2 drop down menus with shipping options. If one is marked as local pick up the other must be marked with a shipping option, both cannot be local pick up. As a result I had a no tracking ding and had to call to get it removed. Why?
Hi @siayan, that's odd. I'd like to check on that transaction to see what happened so I have a better understanding. I'll send you an email shortly and we'll take a closer look at it.
@Anonymous not odd, the Local Pick up feature has been an issue for a while ... I go back to a previous post of mine where Local Pick should make certain things Null and Void ... like buying through PayPal and cash required at pick up should happen when Local Pick up selected. I know on "certain" things eBay does not agree but it would solve a lot of issues. Additionally, Local Pick up should wipe out all shipping requirements and links so what happened to @siayan and I am sure others does not occur.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents again on th topic.
Hi @mr_lincoln, we have to ensure a protected payment option is available to buyers, which is why PayPal is available on local pickup items. If buyers choose to pay with cash on pickup, the option is also available.
@golfingaddict wrote:
I have one day handling.
Sometimes I am able to ship same day. The items get purchased, paid and shipped on the same day purchased even though I have one day (next business day) as my handling time.
How does that affect me?
1. Does the guaranteed delivery date change to an earlier date?
2. Does my expected delivery time change for "late shipping"?
3. Am I getting shorter delivery estimates based on same day shipping even though I have one day handling (next day shipping)
I ship fast hoping to satisfy my customers and give me a cushion on late deliveries due to carrier issues. Am I getting credit for that or is ebay just adjusting the expectations?
Thank you.
Hi @golfingaddict - ultimately we want to get the buyer as specific information as possible, while also respecting the limits and indications you have set within the program.
1. We will not show a guarantee date that does not include your stated handling time, even if historically it appears that you ship similar items within the same day. Guaranteed delivery dates are shown before a buyer purchases, so there isn't a way to give you credit for the extra work you're doing. I think it's a great thing you're doing for buyers, and if it's something you can do consistently for the same types of items, consider changing the handling time on those items to get full credit for the effort you're putting in.
2. The 'Late Shipping' metric is set up based on your stated handling time. If you get an item scanned as 'accepted' same day, you will get credit for an on-time shipment, but we wouldn't hold you to same-day shipping if you sold the same item again in the future.
3. No.
Right now, if you have a 1 day handling time and are shipping same day you are creating a buffer for yourself.
@golfingaddict wrote:
I had a buyer purchase something today and added a note that said
"ship ASAP"
Well, yes, I will... I always do.
What is the customer seeing or receiving about when and how I will ship?
Why would she have to send me that note?
It seemed an odd note to add and I wanted to say "I will do what I said I will do"
But that is not a nice thing to say.
Are buyers not getting the "handling time" "shipping information" during the purchase?
It sure says it in my sold email "You did it! Your item sold. You agreed to ship this item to the buyer within 1 business day(s). Please promptly ship the item and follow the guidelines below to ensure buyer satisfaction."
Hi @golfingaddict - your buyers receive a delivery estimate that includes your stated handling time within it, but does not specifically state what that handling time is. I'm not sure why this buyer felt the need to ask for faster fulfillment.
