mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on July 31st 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 with you 
@dhbookds wrote:
Am sure ya'll had a great time at open.....AND behaved yourselves.
Somewhat related to Mam's question.......
A buyer falsely claims an item was not as described or wasn’t received
If tracking shows item received......does that constitute "a false claim"? And therefore would negs AND infractions counted against seller metrics be removed.
Frankly, we know items can be/are misdelivered and buyers find an item after opening the case.....previously these were counted against us.....still true or is presentation of tracking enough to wipe both out......and do we have to present the tracking if it is entered into sale flow?
Hi @dhbookds, if the seller ships the item on time but it is delivered late then defects and feedback can be removed. Service Metrics are not mentioned as part of this protection.
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
I was pleased to see the announced changes to Seller Protection, but was sorry to see the following issue wasn't addressed :
Any chance it will be addressed before the end of the year?
As you know, if a buyer asks a seller to hold off on shipping an item, and the seller agrees to do so , the seller ends up with two dings for shipping late. One of these can be (eventually) removed by contacting ebay and pointing to the buyers request, but the other is not removed, and remains until the seller is actually in jeopardy regarding his seller status. This is a pain point for sellers. I know some sellers flat out refuse the request. others refuse but tell the buyer to cancel the transaction and re-buy it closer to the date they want the item shipped. Obviously, those situations do not provide a really good buyer experience, but some sellers feel ebay's insistence on dinging them for complying with the request leaves them no choice. My own position is simple: I agree to the request, ship when asked, and then contact ebay to get the one ding removed that can be removed. It's the best I can do for my buyer, but it is OBVIOUS that ebay's policy here is self-defeating and counter-productive. eBay WANTS us to comply with the request, but DINGS us for doing what both ebay and the buyer want us to do.
ebay already has access to buyer-seller messages. It should not be impossible to set something up in the messaging flow to indicate the buyer is requesting delayed shipping, and to show the seller has agreed. A new shipping date can be agreed upon, and that date can be put into Seller Hub. And that should be the end of it. As long as the seller ships on the agreed upon date, no dings, Happy buyer, happy eBay, happy seller.
Please forward this to Harry or the appropriate team.
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques, though we do offer protection for this situation and support a seller who is meeting customer requests like this, I will touch base with the team to see if the process is changing starting after October 1st 
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
I know there were quite a few announcements made at ebay Open, most of which have not yet been formally announced outside of Open. I could not attend this year, and may have missed some important announcements despite my efforts to keep up with them through social media.
A pain point for many sellers is the Return Rate metric. eBay counts returns against a seller (as I understand it) even if an INR is found to have been delivered, or an INAD claim has been found to be unjustified. Will this be changing now? Or is there no change to this?
Also, just asking because I do cling to a little hope: Coded coupons? Will we be getting them, or is ebay sticking with the justly unpopular codeless coupons?
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - sorry you weren't able to make it (maybe next year? ). We made a number of announcements at eBay Open, you can find the official recap of them here.
Service Metrics look at your rate of Item Not Received requests as well as SNAD return requests you receive. The outcome of these requests are not considered in that calculation, with a few exceptions:
For INR: If it was sent through one of eBay's intermediated shipping programs such as the global shipping program, or eBay Managed Delivery.
If you ship your item within your stated handling time but it arrives late due to carrier disruptions, site bugs, natural disasters or severe weather, this will not negatively affect your seller metrics.
For SNAD returns: Your item won't be counted in your service metrics as a case filed or a transaction if it was sold in a category which isn't covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee or if you had an UPI / cancel transaction.
There are some announced protections associated with Service Metrics coming in October (PDF here). These will be available for Top Rated Sellers.
As to coded coupons, I was crossing my fingers that we'd hear more about it this year, but unfortunately nothing. Thanks!
@ncacheer wrote:
Do the items have to be in someone's cart to be considered "interested" or just on their watch list? That could also be the difference. Thanks.
@ncacheer, the buyer is considered interested if it is in their cart or if they have it in their watch list. However, they are not interested if they have selected to not receive promotions via their My eBay Settings, even if they are watching it or have it in their cart.
@mam98031 wrote:
Regarding the upcoming Seller Protections. Why did Ebay choose to make the start date for these new protections October 1st? I mean I'm grateful that it wasn't delayed until after the holiday season but why not Sept. 1st? Or August 1st? I certain this has been in the plans for awhile, so why make us wait even longer for some desperately needed attention to Seller Protections?
Hi @mam98031, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to get the correct processes in place, train our Customer Service teams, and run testing before we roll out changes to the site. The short answer that applies to almost everything regarding timing is this: that is the date we picked to be ready by
@Anonymous wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:I am encouraged by the Seller protections that were announced at the Ebay Open event. But you all know me and I’ve got some questions. This is a bit long, so I apologize in advance, but I did try to include portions of the announcement to make my questions a bit easier to follow. At the bottom of my post will be a link to the document that I reference throughout my post.
Excerpt:
We provide protections when:
- An item arrives late that you shipped on time
- An item is returned after it was opened, used, or damaged when you offer free returns
- You delivered on your service promises, but you received feedback or a defect that was not accurate
- A buyer changes their order or demands extras
What does that mean? Who decides if it is accurate? What factors are taken into consideration?
Excerpt:
You’ll receive a credit for returns shipping cost when the buyer falsely says the item is not as described
- Report the buyer when you issue the refund through the eBay returns flow
- You will receive a credit on your invoice for the amount of the return shipping cost up to $6
- We will automatically remove any feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics
Does reporting a buyer regarding a Return Request the same as appealing the RR? Or is that two separate functions?
What is an “open case” in the Service Metrics? I have not heard that term before. Is there an update to the Service Metrics coming that makes a distinction between Open and Closed RRs?
How will the process of removing FB, defects and SM marks against our accounts transpire? I’m assuming this is predicated on us reporting the buyer for misuse of the system. So if that is the case, what makes this different than the Seller Protection announced in the Spring Seller Update? Unless Ebay rules right away or in a timely manner that the buyer is “abusive”, none of that will be removed. Having the transaction ruled abusive isn’t the same as having the buyer ruled abusive by Ebay.
Just throwing this out there: What if it takes a month for Ebay to rule on the report the seller submitted about the buyer? Will Ebay be removing the defects, FB and SM dings at that time or is it too late?
In a nutshell, how long is this process for reporting the buyer suppose to take normally? Will Ebay send the seller a notification of their findings? Or is this particular portion of this announcement actually the same process as the Spring Seller Update announcement or is it a new enhanced process.
Excerpt:
Abusive buying activity:
- A buyer falsely claims an item was not as described or wasn’t received
- A buyer returns an item after it was opened, used, damaged or missing parts
- A buyer retracted their bid or didn’t pay
- A buyer changed their order, requested a discount or something extra • A buyer asked to take the sale off eBay
- A buyer sent threatening or abusive messaging
How is it determined that it was a False Claim? Through reporting the buyer and waiting for an Ebay determination or by some other means?
Excerpt:
I received a false claim — what should I do?
- Offer 30 day or longer returns to be protected from item not as described claims on eligible transactions.
- If a buyer makes a false claim, please accept the return and report the buyer to us. You will receive a return shipping label subsidy on your invoice. We will also automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.
- Provide ship tracking to avoid item not as described claims. When tracking shows on-time item delivery, you are protected.
What constitutes an “eligible transaction” beyond having a 30 day or longer return policy?
Hi @mam98031, happy to address these:
- This portion of the FAQ is an overview list and the specific instances where negative or neutral feedback are outlined in the remainder of the FAQ (here). To summarize, we will remove negative or neutral feedback for Top rated sellers in the United states who offer 30-day returns that listed their item on eBay.com when; a buyer falsely claims an item was not as described; a buyer returns an item that they opened, used, damaged, or retained a portion of; your item arrived later than your shipping promise due to factors outside of your control (ie. inclement weather or natural disasters); the buyer claims the item was not received but you have provided tracking that confirms successful delivery; and when a seller reports a buyer for abusive activity. (I may have missed something as there are a lot of protections being added, so don't hesitate to clarify for anything I accidentally omitted).
- Reporting a buyer is separate from appealing the return request.
- Open cases refers to cases that were opened - we record return requests that were opened for not as described reasons in your service metrics, and these would be removed as a part of the outlined protections. When and how the request is closed would not impact if it is recorded, so we used the term open cases because that is when they are recorded - when they are opened.
- A seller just needs to report concerns of abusive behavior and the appropriate protections will be applied. We will apply these protections for sellers in good standing who meet the requirements outlined previously when a report is filed. For sellers who are not Top Rated, the protections discussed in the Seller Update earlier this year would apply when eBay can confirm abusive behavior. For those who are Top Rated, you just need to report the buyer to us and we will take appropriate action right away. A distinction between what is available to Top Rated sellers and what is provided to all sellers starting on October 1st can be found in our updated Seller Protections help page (here). This page also outlines what protections will be applied for various situations.
- We are able to take action on defects and feedback for up to 90 days from payment. That being said, we aim to take action on the reports filed for these protections within 48 hours, with most being reviewed within 8 hours.
- Sellers will be able to review the decision made on their reports and the action taken within the Seller Help section of their account that we announced at eBay Open and will be rolling out shortly.
- Eligible transactions refers to the eligibility requirements listed in the FAQ (ie. 30 day returns, listed on eBay.com) and the eligibility requirements for protections in general (seller in good standing, seller upheld their promises (such as honoring their return policy), the item is eligible for the eBay Money Back Guarantee).
You are awesome, thank you for all that GREAT information.
Just one more question if I may. Does a falsely filed Buyer Remorse claim count as a falsely filed claim? When a buyer clearly describes that they are just changing their mind or whatever but then file a SNAD reason!
@vrykalak wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@vrykalak wrote:I am going on vacation for a couple of weeks, and need to protect myself from late shipping dings while I'm gone.
What I have done in the past is to set Handing time to skip over the time I'm away, but the maximum I can set is 10 days, which isn't enough.
What should I do?For what it is worth, I always hide my listings. I don't risk that buyers will notice an extended handling time or any of that. For me, the risk isn't worth the gain.
Can I hide listings if I don't have a store?
If so, how do I do that?
Sorry, I did assume you had a store.
In that case, my suggestion would be to make you sign up for the OOS [out of stock] option for inventory. Then take all your listings to a zero quantity. Then when you come back from you vaca, you can put your quantities back in and away you go.
BTW, I hope your VACA is just wonderful.
@vrykalak wrote:
I am going on vacation for a couple of weeks, and need to protect myself from late shipping dings while I'm gone.
What I have done in the past is to set Handing time to skip over the time I'm away, but the maximum I can set is 10 days, which isn't enough.
What should I do?
Hi @vrykalak, if the handling time duration available is not long enough, you would need to end your listings while away. With that in mind, the maximum duration for a handling time is 30 days, as pictured below:
