Community Chat, July 17 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[Anonymous]

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on July 17th 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 after 1 pm Pacific Time and we'll be happy to look into it with you 

[tunicaslot]

Sounds like it may be in the Fall Seller Update - I do think most consider summer running from the middle of June until Labor day when school starts back up - but it may be that it's different in the business world.

[nc-daydreamer]

@Anonymous 

I want to inspect some items too large to ship.  Local Pickup. How to make arrangements so neither party gets penalized? I have no intention of buying a piece of furniture that I can't see before I pay for it.  Would you?

Thanks.

[tyler@ebay]

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@nuclearomen wrote:

my question is what is ebay doing to fix all the issues and bugs on the platform - especially the horrid search issues? Many sellers have been concerned to this and ebay certainly has the people to fix these things.

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Hi @nuclearomen - our tech teams work hard to correct technical problems, review reports of possible tech issues as well as working with appropriate teams to get your feedback about pain points and suggest future product enhancements. If there's a specific issue you're running into we're happy to help if you'll get us more detail!

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i don't think it's to complicated to see that the question was primary aimed at the ebay search engine, people search for items either they don't come up or get things they didn't even want, it come to the point that if you want to search for something on ebay one must turn to google to find results... that would be an issue you take concern about no? 

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Hi @nuclearomen - there are no reported issues with our search engine. We want to make sure that a buyer finds what they're looking for, when they're looking for it, regardless of the platform they choose to use (eBay's or an external search engine). That's one of the reasons why we've been aligning changes over the past few years to better expose seller's listings in outside search!

[brian@ebay]

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@xxlostspiritxx wrote:

Ok I see. But over a Year is unacceptable.

What's going on? WHO do I talk to. I am tired of calling ebay about it.

These were addressed regularly and nobody is doing anything about it whatsoever.

These sellers are ruining ebay and is one of the MOST important topics as everyone's department has a bunch of sellers doing this. Making legit sellers have Zero reason to exist.

I am not joking. few days to 2-3 Months Max Ebay would address these super obvious problems.

Please tell me who to contact about this. Reporting feature isn't doing anything anymore but I report same listings. It's so bad other sellers are trying to copy them as well.

Bots are being used and everything.

It's just like Fight Club. Everytime you ask Ebay about it.   

"You do not talk about Fight Club"

Everytime I ask about this serious issue.

And thank you for doing what you can.

I don't want tons of Ebayers scared away because of scammers. they are ruining everyones businesses. Not just my department, everyones.

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Hi @xxlostspiritxx, the report item feature found on listings is the best way to report items. The listings will be reviewed and if any policies are found to be in violation then action will be taken. Additionally, if an high number of buyers report Not As Described items from a seller then action will be taken via our Seller Performance policies.

[a_c_green]

Hi! As you may or may not already be aware, the "new" Shipping form has been revised again as of either yesterday or today, this time putting the Ship From:, Return To: and Ship To: addresses in a separate pane to the left of the current layout, and seems to have introduced a new error in addition to the known ones (which are still there).

I notice that it is still listing Shipping methods that I did not actually offer to the buyer, and is now also showing an "Expected" delivery date of... today?... on an item that the buyer purchased just this morning. That date is defined via its Info popup as "The expected delivery date your buyer saw when they purchased the item." That would seem to suggest that the buyer is seeing the same incorrect information there that I am seeing (below):

Are you able to see the buyer's view of what they would have actually seen when they purchased the item? I realize that common sense tells us that that "Expected" date is wrong, but we know that not all buyers have that... common... sense, and some late-night buyers might be expecting next-day delivery, for example. (The above is from listing 333262426993.)

[Anonymous]

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@2013fitzp wrote:

Last question, sorry. It was stated in the forum that no other eCommerce site punishes sellers for returns like eBay does. My question is why promote returns only to punish us for them?  The few times I've purchased something on eBay, I've gotten an email asking if I'd like to return the item- to me, it seems like eBay is encouraging returns.   I understand eBay is a for-profit but it seems returns are being advocated for only to punish us financially (5% FVF increase). Have the higher ups heard our battle cries?  Do they care?  Will there be an end to this, or a plan to make returns more equitable for sellers? 

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Hi @2013fitzp, our protection program and the way we monitor a seller's behavior is standard for the eCommerce industry. I've spoken with countless sellers who sell on more than one platform and time and time again have heard stories of how other marketplaces are comparable or more strict than eBay. Notifying a buyer that they have protection options is not encouraging a return that the buyer does not want to make - nobody who is satisfied with their purchase is going to receive an email like the one you describe and open a return simply because it is an option. Buyers return items because they are not happy with what they received. An increased final value fee for those who are Very High compared to their peers serves to incentive sellers to improve. There was a time that this kind of drop in performance may have led to a loss of selling privileges and as we now allow for more time to recover, we also want to ensure that this is not taken as simply more time to create poor experiences for our buyers.

[tyler@ebay]

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@windhaze wrote:

My second issue is more complicated. To sum it up briefly eBay had to step in and issue me the refund the Seller promised and didn't do. It's much more detailed than that but bottom line is while I rceived the refund of the sales tax from eBay I haven't received the refund. I can see that eBay sent it to PayPal but it just sits there.

It has not been applied back to my card and I have heard every excuse in the book the latest being PayPal is waiting for eBay to send the $? I finally talked to an eBay Supervisor who told me to have PayPal do a conference with them to get this resolved-PayPal refused.

I just want my refund and would appreciate any help in getting it. I do have a Reference # for this if needed.

Thank you.

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Hi @windhaze - that sounds like a headache, to be sure!

While refunds issued do go back to the funding source used (ie, card, bank account), there are situations in which that may not be the case. In those situations, we send it to your PayPal balance and you are able to move it to a funding source of your choice that is attached to PayPal. 

If you are not seeing the refund in your PayPal balance please let me know, I may have misunderstood your question!

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

trinton, Well, I suppose you are right. I must be confusing the many complaints about the lack of seller protection and the lack of any real, timely change with the giddy sense of anticipation as we all eagerly await the changes to be announced this month. Or next month. Or maybe September. I know I for one can't wait to see the seller response to the announcement once it finally arrives....

[windhaze]

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@windhaze wrote:

My second issue is more complicated. To sum it up briefly eBay had to step in and issue me the refund the Seller promised and didn't do. It's much more detailed than that but bottom line is while I rceived the refund of the sales tax from eBay I haven't received the refund. I can see that eBay sent it to PayPal but it just sits there.

It has not been applied back to my card and I have heard every excuse in the book the latest being PayPal is waiting for eBay to send the $? I finally talked to an eBay Supervisor who told me to have PayPal do a conference with them to get this resolved-PayPal refused.

I just want my refund and would appreciate any help in getting it. I do have a Reference # for this if needed.

Thank you.

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I wanted to add that there is a blue button on that refund  to send it back to eBay and it was suggested by PayPal that I do that and ask eBay to issue me a coupon instead (that would be fine with me) however when I asked eBay about that option I was told not to do that as they didn't know where the refund would end up.

This is from a June purchase and I just would like it resolved please-thank you.

[mam98031]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Trinton, Anticipation building, along with strong disappointment that we are still waiting to see the tangible benefits that we were promised.....and meanwhile we are stuck under the old rules which even ebay acknowledges aren't very good, or you wouldn't be changing them. I sure hope ebay realizes: the longer the wait, the higher the expectation that there will be significant change, and not just an application of lipstick on a pig.

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Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques, I am uncertain why there is disappointment rising - we stated we would make an announcement this summer and summer is not yet over. If any of our sellers are feeling disappointed that they have not yet seen any news, I can only recommend they remain patient as the deadline for updates that we communicated has not yet passed.

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I too am VERY impatiently waiting to hear what the new Seller Protections might contain.  It is so important to all of us.  I do however understand that Ebay said we would get more of them in the summer of 2019.  Summer isn't even 1/3rd over yet.  In fact we aren't even a month into summer yet.  Close, but not quite there.  It is however very hard to wait patiently for something that is so important to many.

Spring: 21 March to 20 June
Summer: 21 June to 20 September
Autumn: 21 September to 20 December
Winter: 21 December to 20 March

I personally have always thought it would come a couple weeks or more AFTER Ebay Open.

[nuclearomen]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@nuclearomen wrote:

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@nuclearomen wrote:

my question is what is ebay doing to fix all the issues and bugs on the platform - especially the horrid search issues? Many sellers have been concerned to this and ebay certainly has the people to fix these things.

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Hi @nuclearomen - our tech teams work hard to correct technical problems, review reports of possible tech issues as well as working with appropriate teams to get your feedback about pain points and suggest future product enhancements. If there's a specific issue you're running into we're happy to help if you'll get us more detail!

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i don't think it's to complicated to see that the question was primary aimed at the ebay search engine, people search for items either they don't come up or get things they didn't even want, it come to the point that if you want to search for something on ebay one must turn to google to find results... that would be an issue you take concern about no? 

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Hi @nuclearomen - there are no reported issues with our search engine. We want to make sure that a buyer finds what they're looking for, when they're looking for it, regardless of the platform they choose to use (eBay's or an external search engine). That's one of the reasons why we've been aligning changes over the past few years to better expose seller's listings in outside search!

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how can there be no reported issues... impossible... read the sellers hub community board, it's mentioned on almost every other post. Well I'm telling you now anyways, it's an issue HUGE ISSUE

[vrykalak]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@vrykalak wrote:

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@vrykalak wrote:

Someone asked me if I could possibly mail an item he wanted to buy...but apparently said Local Pickup only. When I looked at the item on my laptop, I saw the usual three shipping options, as well as Local Pickup.
Where/why was he seeing Local Pickup Only?
...How many potential sales have I lost because people saw Local Pickup as the only shipping option?

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Hi @vrykalak - definitely sounds like an unusual one off, and one you can work with CS to report should it happen again. If you have a specific item number example we can take a look we're happy to review if you'll let us know!

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383000513582

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Hi @vrykalak - thanks for this! In reviewing the item number and other aspects of the potential buyer's communication it seems that there was some confusion about shipping in general. Depending on a number of factors a buyer may not have seen all available shipping methods (for instance, if their default shipping zip or post code was set to an area or country to which you do not ship). I think advising them on how to find shipping costs is the best course of action to take if folks have questions about available shipping methods in the future!

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eBay won't tell me where a buyer lives, but he sounded like he was in the US.
Again: Where/why was he seeing Local Pickup Only?
...How many potential sales have I lost because people saw Local Pickup as the only shipping option?

[fern*wood]

Why would offering free returns protect a seller from neg/neutral feedback for SNADs, since a SNAD falls under the ebay MBG?

[brian@ebay]

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@vrykalak wrote:

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brian@ebay wrote:

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@vrykalak wrote:

I have noticed two cases in the last few weeks where I get notice of an offer...but someone else buys the item--for a really low price in one case--before I can respond to the offer.
The first time, I just figured it was a coincidence, but it happened again Monday.

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Hi @vrykalak, a pending offer will not prevent other buyers from purchasing the item before an offer is accepted by the seller. If an offer is accepted then the listing will no longer be available for other buyers to purchase. 

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I understand that. But twice in two weeks?

And the second time, the purchase price was LESS THAN the offer price, which of course, was less than the listing price.

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Hi @vrykalak, it sounds like the main issue you are reporting is that the item sold for less than your buy it now price? If that is the case then we'll need some item numbers to review to get a better idea of what happened. 

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

The chat is now closed from further replies. We will work to reply to any remaining questions throughout the afternoon