Below you will find a recap of our Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team for June 5, 2019. We hope to see you at our next chat!
Taxes
Currently I collect and remit sales tax in my state, but if/when eBay starts collecting and remitting this on my behalf, will I still have the option of collecting/remitting it myself?
With the recent changes to marketplace responsibility, in the states that eBay collects and remits sales tax on behalf of the seller, the seller would not have the option of doing this themselves. You can stay up to date on this topic by keeping an eye on our Help Page for taxes.
I am seeing the amount of sales tax collected included in my total sales amount in Seller Hub. Can this information be removed or more clearly separated?
We will take a look at this and pass along the feedback for improvements, no problem.
It would be really helpful if eBay could design a report that is specific to the sales tax for the states eBay is collecting and remitting sales tax in, organized by state. Is this something that could be worked on?
We have some great news! There is currently a report that breaks down sold items by state which shows if and how much tax was charged per transactions. On the Orders page in Seller Hub, click Download Report in the upper right. If your Orders page doesn't have this option in the upper right corner, you can check mark items and select Other action. From here, choose Download. This report also shows which state the buyer is in and if and how much tax was paid.
Offers
When a buyer makes an offer, and I either counter or decline it, I can send a message to the buyer. But if I accept the offer, I can't. Is it possible for the capability to send a message even if I accept an offer be added?
From a Best Offer perspective, if you accept an offer there shouldn't really be any other need to message the buyer within the Offer flow. You can send a message directly to the buyer after the offer has been accepted that should cover any additional information you need or want to provide. Just select Contact buyer from the awaiting payment section to communicate further.
It would be nice to be able to include a note with my acceptance if appropriate. Something like, "Thank you for your business, please check my store for additional items before completing payment and receive a combined shipping discount". Can you pass this suggestion along?
Sure! We’ll be happy to share this idea with the appropriate teams for consideration.
Seller Hub
I was recently opted into a newer version of the seller hub and it is missing a least one feature I need. There is no section for zip code in this newer version, and I use this to calculate sales tax for my customers Can you tell me if there is a different way to get this information?
While there isn't an option to add that info in the Seller Hub columns, you can download a report that will have that info!
I recently have been experiencing a problem with the Seller Hub. If I go into my Order screen for Awaiting Shipments, I am able to see all my current sales that need to be shipped.
I select one and create the shipping label, print it off and then click on the link to go back to Awaiting shipments. When I do that, there is NOTHING showing in my Awaiting Shipments. I have to go back to the Order tab at the top of the page and then click again on Awaiting Shipments and then they all appear. What is happening?
We want to dig into this odd issue more. We will contact you after the chat to get more details and investigate.
Managed Payments
With payments and financial information, we want to make sure that all information is accurate and that we have time to review and research how managed payments may fit into our business model. Where can we find more information on rates and fees that may apply specifically to us?
Our pricing is specific to sellers who have been invited to participate in managed payments. Most sellers can expect to see savings compared to their current payments processing fees.
If you have received an invite to managed payments, you will receive more information on pricing before you opt in. You can express your interest in this program here.
Search
I’ve noticed some peculiarities lately with search - results change depending on capitalization, but not all the time. What is going on?
We can definitely look into any issues with examples. The next time you see this, share some URLs with us and take screenshots of the issue so we can review.
Shipping
When a seller chooses First Class Parcel Service but for Package Type chooses Large Envelope, the system is bumping the shipment out of First Class Parcel Service and instead charges the buyers for First Class Mail. The seller then does not receive the full amount needed to pay for shipping. Could you please pass this along to the shipping team?
This is something we're aware of. We haven't removed the large envelope package type in order to allow sellers more options when choosing their own shipping service. With that said, we’re happy to pass along your feedback.
A buyer recently was upset that they were overcharged for First Class shipping. I use Calculated Shipping, but noticed that the buyer was being charged at least $1 more than what I pay for the label. What is going on?
Double check your site preferences to ensure the option to Offer eBay-negotiated discount rates to buyers is selected. That ensures buyers pay the discounted rate you’re charged when purchasing a label on our site. Also be sure that the correct package type is selected when setting up shipping within a listing so the rate is calculated correctly.
I recently did combined shipping on 3 items for a buyer, but I was not able to add tracking to 2 of the items. Apparently, this has caused a defect on my account. I called CS and was told they cannot add tracking to the 2 items and the defect will only drop me to 98.8%. How can I get this fixed?
Combining the shipment through eBay labels should automatically update all items that were combined with the tracking number. If that wasn't done, there isn't a way to get credit from a 'Tracking uploaded on time and validated' perspective. One-off and rare situations like this is why the goal for this metric is 95% to maintain a Top Rated status. We can review for manual adjustments to your Top Rated status if situations like this cause you to no longer be Top Rated, but we wouldn’t be able to take any action before that time. Be sure to contact Customer Service if you are facing this issue so we can take appropriate action.
Sorry, it's hard for me to understand why I have to get a shipping defect when it was the system that wouldn't allow for adding tracking to the other two items. I strive for 100% and a defect for a system error is just not fair. Why am I being punished for taking care of a customer?
Our system is set up to prevent the same tracking number being uploaded to more than one item as a way of preventing abuse of the requirements for Top Rated status. You're able to get the same tracking number to upload to all items within the shipment if you use eBay labels and combine the shipment there. While there is not a way to appeal the miss that is recorded, we will work to protect you if accommodating customers in this way has a negative impact to your Top Rated status.
I ship from the next town over. That is our closest USPS location.
-Our listings show the zip code (city where our items are located).
-Our labels have a different ship from zip code (next city over which is the same as our return P.O. Box on the label). While we aren’t dropshipping, we are concerned that this may be negatively impacting our visibility. Can you check on this for us?
If the zip code you provide as your ‘ship from’ location matches the actual location the item was shipped from, you have nothing to worry about.
If you look at a listing it shows the city where I am based and the current location of the item.
On the Print Shipping Label Page is where I use a different zip that shows on the top of the label, and the actual return address is different than what is in the listing. Just to be clear this shouldn't be an issue?
Correct!
Are there plans to allow buyers to request an updated invoice on multiple purchases before paying?
The current intended function of the cart is to disallow invoice requests on items where you already offer shipping discounts. Because the only discounts you can offer via invoice are shipping related, it was seen as a redundant feature and removed.
It's been two weeks since we last checked in on the problems with the new Shipping Label Confirmation email missing data, and four weeks since the first sighting of the problem. Do we have any news yet?
We asked for an update earlier this morning, but haven't heard back quite yet. We will keep working with the appropriate teams to get more information into these notifications.
Item Specifics
I recently listed some items and wanted to see where they appeared in search. I used the filters on the left of the screen to select matching item specifics for my items, but found my items were listed in the “unbranded” section. I used the brand in my listings, so why are they appearing as unbranded?
Glad to hear that you're using item specifics, as those are the most effective way to detail your item's vital information to potential buyers! When it comes to category search, a number of factors determine what exactly will be shown. If you are including the product brand in the brand item specific then it should be visible/sortable. Depending on the number of available brands it may be lower on the list, and potentially not surfaced to a buyer if it is not a commonly used brand or keyword. That being said, we are happy to see if we can find any additional information on this and will touch base with more details.
Report A Buyer
Could you please explain why ebay removed and refuses to reinstate the "Report" button in the ebay message system? Calling CS is time consuming and seems an antiquated and unintuitive way to report the fraud occurring on the site via the message system.
The reason the report button was removed was because proactive filters were adopted to screen for violations instead. Returning the report message button isn't currently on the roadmap. What may be helpful is to collect some of the most common attempts you're seeing get through our filters so we can get those added to the filter's logic.
Sold Listings
Why are my clothing items not showing up in solds? If a buyer clicks “see all items” and then clicks “sold items” they see recent solds. I understand that some do not show up on variation listings until the item ends, but what is the cause and how can it be fixed?
Applying the sold filter will default the display to 'end date: recent first', to provide someone with the freshest results possible. A complete sales history isn't something that would be immediately available to someone searching your items.
It isn’t limited to the full history, but recent history as well. For example: I sold 3 clothing items this last weekend, one today and 3 or 4 last week and none are showing in recently sold.
We'll see if I can find information about this and get back to you, no problem.
Saved Searches
I have noticed on all my saved searches that the sponsored listings are coming up first. I have saved searches for auctions that are ending soonest and I am seeing sponsored BIN listings that have significantly more time left. Why am I seeing results that do not fit my search parameters?
This is something we are aware of and changes are under consideration for future updates. Nothing to share at the moment, but thank you for touching base so we could pass along your feedback with the appropriate team.
Best Shipping Options Announcement
With regards to our announcement on Showing buyers the best shipping options, we received a few questions (below), some of which we are working on answers to. Be sure to check back for updates as they become available.
Why did eBay decide to make changes to what shipping options are presented to the buyer?
This is an improvement to the buyer experience. As a buyer, it is confusing to see multiple delivery options for the same day at different prices. It just didn't make sense for us to continue displaying conflicting information when buyers are at the checkout. If confusing information is displayed at the checkout, there is a very real risk that a buyer will abandon their purchase and go elsewhere. That is not good for eBay sellers.
Are all the shipping options going to be view-able to the seller when looking at the listing?
How will this work with multiples?
When did/will this go into effect?
There are rural customers also that prefer UPS and FedEx so they do not have to go to the post office to pick up their mail. How are they to choose their preferred shipping method if it's hidden because it costs more?
What is a buyer supposed to do when you hide additional options with the same estimated delivery date, but one is more expensive because it includes insurance?
