Community Chat, July 31 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[Anonymous]

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 

[papermoneyforme]

---

tyler@ebay wrote:

---

@papermoneyforme wrote:

When are they planning to fix the inability to hide purchases with multiple items?

It is a pain as the purchase lists just keep growing for no good reason.

This has been brought up on the chats before!

---

Hi @papermoneyforme - while we don't have an estimated time of resolution, this is a known issue still being worked on. Happy to get you added to the open ticket if it hasn't been added already!

---

Tyler

Why can Ebay spend all kinds of money on what they think is great and wonderful, for the mega sellers and Chinese, but when the little guys have something that worked and gets broken, they can never seem to be able to find the time or energy to fix it.

This type of stuff happens far too often and seems to punish the smaller sellers.

I would almost believe this is intentional in someones job description.

Adding people to a list is just not satisfactory, especially for long time sellers.

[tyler@ebay]

---

@fern*wood wrote:

Are "Sales Report Plus" being discontinued?  They have not updated since May and I need to print them for my records.

tks

---

Hi @fern*wood - no plans to discontinue them at this point in time, but there is an open bug with them not updating. I've added your info to the open ticket!

[mam98031]

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?

[papermoneyforme]

---

tyler@ebay wrote:

---

@fern*wood wrote:

Are "Sales Report Plus" being discontinued?  They have not updated since May and I need to print them for my records.

tks

---

Hi @fern*wood - no plans to discontinue them at this point in time, but there is an open bug with them not updating. I've added your info to the open ticket!

---

Another one that worked and is now broken and we can be added to another list.

Add me as well for what it is worth.

[dhbookds]

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?

[tyler@ebay]

---

@papermoneyforme wrote:

---

tyler@ebay wrote:

---

@papermoneyforme wrote:

When are they planning to fix the inability to hide purchases with multiple items?

It is a pain as the purchase lists just keep growing for no good reason.

This has been brought up on the chats before!

---

Hi @papermoneyforme - while we don't have an estimated time of resolution, this is a known issue still being worked on. Happy to get you added to the open ticket if it hasn't been added already!

---

Tyler

Why can Ebay spend all kinds of money on what they think is great and wonderful, for the mega sellers and Chinese, but when the little guys have something that worked and gets broken, they can never seem to be able to find the time or energy to fix it.

This type of stuff happens far too often and seems to punish the smaller sellers.

I would almost believe this is intentional in someones job description.

Adding people to a list is just not satisfactory, especially for long time sellers.

---

Hi @papermoneyforme - as we've discussed in the past, 'why' questions will be difficult for me to address. I hear your frustrations, and I'll make sure that your information is added to the open ticket. 

[brian@ebay]

---

@ncacheer wrote:

I have a couple questions about the 'send an offer' to buyers. I love the feature and have been using it. But I have a couple of questions. Thank you for clarifying.

1. Let's say I have 9 watchers, but the offer only goes to 1 or 2 'interested' people. What determines who is interested and who isn't? I realize you can opt out of this but it's hard to believe that I can have as many as 8 out of 9 people opted out on 1 item. I sell a variety of 1 quantity items and I never have the same number of interested people compared to watchers.

2. I sent offers and they expired with no sale. What I want to know is if I send offers again on the same item, will it go to the same people as the first offer? Or are they excluded and it goes to new watchers. I don't want to keep bugging the same people time after time. Thanks.

---

Hi @ncacheer, only buyers who have chosen to receive promotions (in their My eBay Communication preferences) will received these offers. If they have chosen to not receive promotions then they are considered to be not interested.

Offers are sent watchers and/or buyers with the item in the cart only one time. If they do not accept the offer or if it expires then another offer will not be sent that those buyers again. Instead, only new watchers and/or buyers with the item in their cart will receive the offer. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

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?

[vrykalak]

In the past few months, I have repeatedly reported changes to my listings that I didn't make: shipping mode changed from package to letter, "best offer" turned off, "local pickup" being shown as the only shipping option, items appearing in "Unsold" and "Active" lists at the same time, etc.
The answers have always been unsatisfying, but a couple of weeks ago the answer was: "sometimes things get changed if you relist an item a lot." WHAT?!?
How am I supposed to protect myself when "sometimes things get changed if you relist an item a lot"?

[vrykalak]

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?

[ncacheer]

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.

[wooden_flower]

Hi,

Are there any known issues with volume pricing?  I have a number of items set up for a discount with multiples, but the discount has stopped appearing when you view the listing.

Yesterday I ended one and relisted it and the discount came back, but I don't want to have to check them all.

My item # 333233802744 is an example of one no longer showing the discount - it is set up for 8% off when you buy 2 or more.

thanks!

Sue

[deejayjewelers]

Hello!

I have an issue with Ebay reflecting FEDEX INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY SHIPPING with an outrageously extended, false transit time. For over 20 years, we’ve used this same Fedex service for International shipments and delivery generally takes one business day to Canada and 2-3 business days for the other International countries we ship to. I can recall only one instance maybe 10 years ago, when a shipment to Australia took longer than expected, because the final destination was in an extremely remote location, requiring 3 days transit on a truck after clearing customs. 

Fedex website reflects 1-3 business days for International Priority service, and we can prove from decades of prior shipments records that this is an accurate estimate. Here’s the exact information from FedEx:

"FedEx International Priority. Delivery typically in 1 to 3 business days, next business day to the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean from most countries. Reach major cities in Europe by 10:30 am typically in two business days. Ship any package up to 68 kg."

Now THIS what eBay shows our customers in UK today:

Shipping and handling to United Kingdom: US $95.00

Service: FedEx International Priority

Delivery*: Estimated between Mon. Aug. 5 and Tue. Aug. 27

Seller ships within 1 day after receiving cleared payment

And in Australia:

Shipping and handling to Australia: US $95.00

Service: FedEx International Priority

Delivery*: Estimated between Mon. Aug. 5 and Thu. Sep. 5

Seller ships within 1 day after receiving cleared payment

And in Canada:

US $75.00

Canada

FedEx International Priority

Estimated between Fri. Aug. 2 and Wed. Aug. 28

These are absolutely ridiculous transit estimates. If I shipped a package to Canada tomorrow, it will arrive on Friday. (Monday at the latest if there’s bad weather or delay of any kind). Likewise, if tomorrow I shipped to UK or Australia, the shipments will arrive by Tuesday, Aug 6th at the latest. There is no reason for the extra long extension period eBay has added and is showing to our buyers.

Until recently, eBay didn’t provide buyers with any ETA for international shipments. Now they reflect a transit time of up to a month for our Fedex International Priority shipments. And they refuse to acknowledge and correct the wrong information they are posting on our listings. I’ve contacted eBay Concierge Customer Service numerous times about this issue. They say the transit time reflected is what eBay receives from the FedEx feed and they can’t change it, even if it’s wrong. I asked if they could at least contact Fedex and ask them to check their feed and I was told to contact Fedex myself. Hmmm. Well, as expected, an eBay seller trying to tell FedEx that their IT department needs to correct information they provide to eBay wasn’t successful. Ebay flat out refuses to even look into the issue, let alone contact Fedex to correct it. 

We offer free shipping on domestic orders, but not for International orders, and we charge buyers a flat rate fee for our insured, high value shipments. Fine diamond jewelry is extremely expensive to ship with insurance, but our International customers have never complained about the shipping cost, and have always been extremely satisfied with the expedited Fedex service they paid for. But now, when prospective buyers incorrectly see it could possibly take 3 weeks to a month for them to receive their goods, and not the actual 3 days, they’re obviously not interested in paying a shipping fee or even purchasing from us. Who would pay an expedited shipping fee for the snail service eBay is wrongly displaying. 

We use an industry specific courier to process, ship and monitor our shipments. We never use eBay shipping service or eBay labels. We’re not enrolled in eBay Global Shipping Program and we quickly un-enrolled ourselves from the WebInterpret program that eBay conveniently ˜Automatically Enrolled” us in last month. eBay doesn’t make money on us from shipping, and is now effectively killing our international sales with their gross inaccuracy of estimated delivery.

eBay won’t fix it. Fedex won’t fix it. Any suggestions?

[mam98031]

---

@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.

[2013fitzp]

Hi there-  why do sellers have to pay to attend eBay Open? The term "open" suggests an inclusive event, not a pay to play.