Community Chat, January 8 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[tyler@ebay]

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on January 8th 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 for you.

*Please note that we're not able to address account-specific queries. Questions regarding your account should be directed to eBay Customer Service.

[labs118]

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

Full view, labs.  I can see the emojis in your post and also the ones in your screenshot.

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OMG
This is so strange they don't show to me .

[vrykalak]

Having so much fun you didn't notice it was 2pm?

[doug@ebay]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques here's what I was told:

We took a very targeted approach to our efforts this holiday and also selected key windows that would allow us to break through especially given the shorter time frame between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Here are a few key points:

1 - We leveraged TV and a heavy up of digital video early in the season to help establish us as a destination for unique and different Holiday gifts that deliver value to customers

2 – Radio including streaming audio continued to be a key medium for us as we got closer to the critical weeks.

3 - Targeted efforts toward buyers that have shopped eBay was a critical piece so we could bring them back this holiday.  We also provided select incentives to encourage additional purchases

4 - Social continues to be a strong channel for us to launch new inventory and also engage buyers specifically during the key moments

5 - We also secured key digital takeovers to help provide stronger reach at key moments

6 - Search and affiliate marketing were at comparable levels YOY

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Well, doug, that's two of us mystified. Maybe check with Suzy Deering? Is she the one in charge of that sort of thing?

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[dtexley3]

emoji's still don't display for me and the quote button is sometimes there and sometimes not.

[doug@ebay]

Thanks @coffeebean832 I'll take a look and pass your feedback on.

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

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doug@ebay wrote:

Hi @coffeebean832 we do check the email, but we are probably a bit behind due to the holidays and time off. If it was about being on the show, we do get a lot of email and may not respond if we don't have a slot. If you want to resend I'll take a look. I'll also double-check and see how far behind we might be. 🙂

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@coffeebean832 wrote:

Do you typically respond to e-mails that come in to the Podcast address? I e-mailed a couple of times since it started but never got a response so I don't know if my messages ever made it through or if it's standard to not receive a reply.

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It was definitely not about being on the podcast doug@ebay- my last message was sent on September 15 and it was a request for featured content. I can re-send it.

I also sent an e-mail about a month after you started the podcast back when Griff said you guys weren't getting any e-mails from us and I never got a response to that, either. That e-mail was feedback about one of the episodes.

If it's normal to not receive a reply then you should set up an auto-response so we would at least know our e-mails went through. If your intention is to reply to all the e-mails even if it's just to say "thanks" or whatever- then somehow I got missed a few times.

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[alan@ebay]

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@better_than_ice_cream wrote:

In your survey, Question 5, first option: "Two hour long chats on Wednesday, morning and evening".  Did you mean:

Two hour-long chats on Wednesday, morning and evening

OR

Two-hour long chats on Wednesday, morning and evening

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Two hour-long chats on Wednesday, morning and evening. Thanks, @better_than_ice_cream. 

[Anonymous]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
@carlqsportscards wrote:
Just relisted an item that didn't sell as an auction.

I chose "relist as fixed price" from the drop down to the left of the unsold item. But it still came up as an auction, so I changed it to fixed price.

What is the purpose of "relist as fixed price" if it's the same as "relist"? Am I missing something?

Hi @carlqsportscards, it sounds like something isn't working as intended. Can you give us the item number for this example so we can look into this further? If you don't get a chance to reply until after the chat is closed you are welcome to start a thread on our Technical Issues board and @mention me.

------------Trinton, I had this happen recently, too. I'm wondering, does the "Relist as Fixed Price" only apply if the seller is doing a bulk relist? I was relisting just one item....I wonder if that might be the root of the problem?

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Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques, I'd have to take a look at an example to be sure. Feel free to start a thread on our Technical Issues board and share an item number for me to review.

[alan@ebay]

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@vrykalak wrote:

Having so much fun you didn't notice it was 2pm?

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haha yes! 

[brian@ebay]

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@krys888 wrote:

When do you anticipate having the photo editor (dropping colors; making listing photos dull) for the ebay iPad app fixed? CS said this morning that it could be 7-10 days or longer. Since the problem started at least a week ago, that’s a big chunk of listing days down. Listing from the website is far more time consuming and inefficient for me compared with the listing via the app. At least in my area with slow internet and weak cell service, the website takes a LOT longer to load anything and everything. Thank you kindly.

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Hi @krys888, I'm not aware of an issue with the image uploader on the iPad. However, the mobile team is active on the iOS mobile app Community board. I suggest create a thread about the issue you are experiencing on that board so that the iOS mobile team can review it. 

[medallion-trading-company]

I am not talking about Seller Performance, I'm talking about service metrics, which I think you understand but I just wanted to clarify. And you can see by going to my service metrics and looking at the projected rate, those two returns are still being counted as of today.

I am guessing on the 20th of January,  they will still be there when the evaluation happens since nobody has done anything to remove them otherwise. There would be no way for eBay's system to automatically know that the customer opened a not as described case and I uploaded pictures showing that the length was as-stated. I mean, just in theory, I can't see how this is going to happen. They opened the not as described return, they got a refund, the return closed. How is that not going to count against my service metrics unless somebody steps in to remove it?

Is there something more I need to do?? Because I am just not seeing the method by which this is actually going to happen.

This is the question I asked many supervisors and even a manager and they said they have no idea how to get it off the service metrics. Somebody was supposed to call me back. Nobody ever did.

[krys888]

Someone already did and we’ve been very active on it for the past few days. We meaning, me and another seller. No one from ebay. And it makes me nervous that CS told me you guys are aware of the problem and working on it, but you don’t. Yikes. I created a test listing to show what happens thinking someone would be looking at it. Feeling very discouraged now. 

[tyler@ebay]

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@gwzcomps wrote:

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@gwzcomps wrote:

eBay CS constantly gives inconsistent or incorrect information. Also the CS people in various occasions have made unauthorized changes to my account. What is being done to deal with this? It really seems like the CS people are lacking in training. Buyers may be important but sellers are the ones paying the fees.  It kinda shows where eBay stands regarding sellers with the quality of support we get.

Regarding policies, depending on where a user looks the rules and policies are inconsistently laid out on the site. Is there a specific page or area on the site that has the latest and most accurate policy information?

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Hi @gwzcomps - all teammates go through extensive training on eBay processes and policies, as well as regular updates when things change. We work hard to provide coaching to teammates when we become aware that incorrect information has been given. In addition to that, teammates are regularly evaluated on their interactions with members and reviewed for accuracy. Failure to provide correct information impacts them. 

Teammates should not be making changes to your account - please feel free to tag one of us to a thread with more detail so we can review.

The best sources for eBay policies are the Help Pages and Seller Center, and I would also recommend the Announcement Board if you want to keep up to date on major announcements. Thanks!  

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Ok I am not sure why I get inconsistent and incorrect information I guess.  The most frequent one I hear is "it is ok to change the shipping address if the (actual) buyer of the item requests it in a message".  Anytime I hear something questionable I ask them to point me to the policy and they never can.

I will try to make notes next time a CS person makes changes to my account without my permission.  I have resorted to making it verbally really clear that I don't give them permission.  That seems to be working for now.

I have used those pages to read up on things like Seller Protection, but there are contradictory things written in them.  The one that comes to mind first is the penalty fee.  One page says 4% another says 5%.

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Hi @gwzcomps - thanks for the extra clarification! You're correct that in order to maintain protection with us that you're expected to send a purchased item to the buyer's address used at checkout. I'll get your feedback passed on to see if there's an opportunity for more coaching available. 

When it comes to the 4-5% fee will you tag me to a new thread with more detail? I'm not following exactly what we're talking about there. Happy to help get some definitive answers for you. 🙂

[labs118]

alan@ebay 

How can one figure out what the issue is , as some can see emojis and some cannot
If you look coffeebean can see emojis in posts  but I don't
They appear when I am composing or do an edit but they don't show to me after I post.

I did screen shots of what I see/don't see & posted them on here now others like dtexley3 post #94 says they don't see them either .


😁  🤗There are some here in front of this sentence do you see them?

[brian@ebay]

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@golfingaddict wrote:

I am still confused about estimated delivery times I had four listings that sold on Friday the 3rd and I have one day handling. The estimated ship delivery time for items going across the country was Tuesday the seventh that didn’t make a lot of sense to me because one day handling time meant I didn’t have to ship them until Monday and it’s highly unlikely that first class mail would arrive by Tuesday across the country from me.  could you please explain how they’re getting those estimated delivery times?  I usually ship on Saturday but I am not required.   Are the estimated dates based on what I have done in the past.

1.  These were first class mail selected by buyer. 
2. sold on Friday after 10am and mail had gone out for the day

3.  Each had 1 day handling which should be ship on monday

4 estimated delivery was Tuesday January 7. 
Washington to Ohio. Washington to Kentucky and Washington to California. All estimated for Tuesday. 

one was an instate shipment. Approximately 100 miles away and that was estimated for Wednesday January 8

does not make sense

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Hi @golfingaddict, estimated delivery times do take into account the sellers historical shipping times. If you typically ship items earlier than the stated handling time in your listing then the estimated delivery calculation will take that into account. This results in a more accurate estimated for buyers. However, as long as sellers ship within their stated handling time then they are protected in the Shipping on time metric. 

[brian@ebay]

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@krys888 wrote:

Someone already did and we’ve been very active on it for the past few days. We meaning, me and another seller. No one from ebay. And it makes me nervous that CS told me you guys are aware of the problem and working on it, but you don’t. Yikes. I created a test listing to show what happens thinking someone would be looking at it. Feeling very discouraged now. 

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Hi @krys888, if there is already a thread don the iOS board then feel free to tag me in it and I'll be sure the mobile teams review it. Thanks!