Community Chat, March 20 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone! We hope to see you today at 1 PM PT for the Weekly Chat with the Community Team. Bring any general buying and selling questions you might have to discuss 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Thanks tyler, I wasn't expecting anything specific, more like hoping for some rough idea as to whether repeated manual relists would see much of a benefit in Best Match?

[coinslabz26]

---

brian@ebay wrote:

---

@coinslabz26 wrote:

It was explained to me that the service metrics compared us to peers selling similar items at similar prices in similar categories. In my category however, that does not appear to be the case. Big ticket item sellers are being compared to high volume low priced item sellers leaving us at a serious disadvantage, almost ensuring at some point many of us will be paying penalty rates simply for selling high quality and high priced items.  

This is easily confirmed by the fact that the service metrics show INR claims significantly higher then SNAD return rate. That is not something you would expect to find on big ticket item sales comparisons, but rather where low value items are too cheap to be worth returning and too cheap to be worth buying tracking! How ebay can call feedback manipulating $3 item sellers shipping with a postage stamp my peer simply makes no sense! There is no way sellers with an average of selling price over all of $266 at high volume would have more INR's then SNAD returns. Can someone please look into this and see if it is a glitch or error?

---

Hi @coinslabz26, you are correct that the peer benchmarks for the Item not as described metric is created by comparing a seller with sellers on the same listing site, selling items in the same category with a similar price point, return policy, and delivery estimate. I did check your Service Metrics and found that the average Item Not Received benchmark is lower than the average Not As Described benchmark. I want to assure you that the Service Metrics is pulling in the correct data to create these benchmarks.

---

So then you have confirmed there is a problem? I am seeing a HIGHER average of INR then SNAD. That is how I know there is a problem. You probably checked the 1 year look back for less then 400 transactions which seemed more accurate. Now that I am OVER 400 it is comparing me to $3 item sellers. Something is very wrong.

[mam98031]

On some of the threads regarding this GTC mandate, some sellers are saying they never got an email from Ebay regarding the Early Spring Seller Update.  Doesn't this type of email go to all sellers or is there something in Site Preferences that can turn them off?  Or some other way within the seller's control to make sure they get these emails?

Also on my Seller Hub at the top it has a link to the Early Spring Seller Update, but through sharing this information on a thread, it became clear that it does not appear at the top of all Seller Hubs.  Please advise.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Thanks Tyler. I kind of figured that, but always best to find out for sure.

[Anonymous]

---

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

GTC: I think many sellers can see the value in GTC listings for multi item listings, particularly because of the sales history such listings can carry. But I think these is a perception that GTC is actually detrimental for those of us who sell single quantity listings ("one offs") With no sales history and no possibility of a sales history (I sell the one item, that's the end of the listing, obviously), sellers fear they will plummet in Best Match. Can you explain how Best Match treats one offs differently from multi-quantity listings (if, indeed, it does?) And can you explain what other factors besides sales history might keep a one off item higher in Best Match search (besides using Promoted Listings).

---

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques, while most details on our Best Match algorithm are proprietary and cannot be shared, I can assure you that Best Match will not penalize GTC listings for single quantity. Best Match is more complex than is generally assumed from the posts I have reviewed. To clarify, a large number of variables are used to surface results to Buyers that include (but are not limited to): price, keywords used, product identifiers present, seller account issues present, customer interactions with the listing (watchers, views, click-through, etc), and much more! I know it's hard to reassure these concerns considering the best practices that may have been applicable in the past, but we are confident that sellers will see for themselves the benefits of this change as time goes on.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

mg152,

I think this is a different test, with different durations, although I'm not certain. Tyler, do you know anything about the previous, similar tests?

[marst_ambe]

Hello I need help I bought a tablet on here it came not as advertised it is not new it was a store return they didnt tell me that  the sd slot is broken I am thinking thats  why it was returned to the store  but I have all ready payed to transfer all my information for all my other electronic I mess up something I am thinking because eBay sent me a return shipping label I don't want to return I put all my information on there I just want help paying for the sd slot to be fixed   HELP !!??WHAT DO I DO 

[tyler@ebay]

---

@divwido wrote:

I have only one small question.  Is there any hope that at some time eBay will cut the notices about selling and offers down to none?  One rejected offer will get me several emails, a lit up icon and then more emails.

I'm just me and I know what I did.  Can we have an off button for notices relating to listings?

---

Hi @divwido - your 'Communication Preferences' allows you to edit most email preferences, including many selling situations. Best Offer emails, however, are set to notify you in real time as they come in, to make sure that you have as much notice as possible and you won't be able to reduce their frequency. 

Depending on your email provider you may be able to set up an auto-forwarding rule to send those notices to a specific folder instead!

[brian@ebay]

---

@gew6463 wrote:

Last year, a large group of sellers that used GTC, lost pictures during one of the GTC cycle turnovers (myself included). At the time, there was hope given pictures could be recovered, but it did not materialize, resulting in a lot of  lost time for many replacing those pictures. It was one of the reasons I switched from GTC to 30 day listings. With all fixed priced listings being GTC now, have extra precautions been taken to assure this does not happen again? Or if it does, that pictures will be recovered? I want to give the GTC another chance, but feel like this possibility is hanging over our heads. It would be an overwhelming event if it happened yet again. Thanks. 

---

Hi @gew6463, I want to assure you that we learned a lot from that issue and have taken appropriate steps to ensure it does not happen again. 

[Anonymous]

---

@mam98031 wrote:

GTC listings will sort by ending soonest and get closer to the top of that search as their end date nears.  Just like we are use to a 30 day FP listing would.

GTC listings will also appear as newly listed when they are initially listing.  However when they renew, this does not apply.

It would be nice if GTC could be considered as newly listed in the searches when they renew.

Any thoughts on this!

---

Hi @mam98031, definitely some great feedback and something we are passing along to the appropriate teams. While I can't elaborate on this topic, I do want to highlight that our Best Match algorithm evolves and changes over time and the recent changes are designed to increase conversion rates for our sellers. Long-term listings have a higher chance of a successful sale and we are confident this will be apparent for our Community as time passes 

[labs118]

Maybe I am the lone wolf on this but is anyone else reporting issues with the Seller Hub columns being jumbled?

Edge, Chrome  doesn't matter what browser My last & very important Time left column  looks like this.
I have decreased the size on my zoom , tried other browsers & still all jumbles

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Thanks trinton. I've been using GTC since last Sept, and I sell primarily one offs, used, antiques, collectibles...long tail stuff. I haven't seen any indication that my sales have dropped because of GTC use, so my impression was that the lack of any actual sales history wasn't impacting me. ...but again, it helps to hear this from ebay, rather than to guess.

[deepseashadow]

Seems to me that the big e is done

[mg152]

---

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
mg152,

I think this is a different test, with different durations, although I'm not certain. Tyler, do you know anything about the previous, similar tests?

---

They had a test I think last year where the buyer could choose 12, 24, 48 hours etc.. 

This appears to not be a test though. I like knowing exactly how long I have to consider an offer. This bothers me much more than GTC. Ugh!

[mam98031]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

GTC listings will sort by ending soonest and get closer to the top of that search as their end date nears.  Just like we are use to a 30 day FP listing would.

GTC listings will also appear as newly listed when they are initially listing.  However when they renew, this does not apply.

It would be nice if GTC could be considered as newly listed in the searches when they renew.

Any thoughts on this!

---

Hi @mam98031, definitely some great feedback and something we are passing along to the appropriate teams. While I can't elaborate on this topic, I do want to highlight that our Best Match algorithm evolves and changes over time and the recent changes are designed to increase conversion rates for our sellers. Long-term listings have a higher chance of a successful sale and we are confident this will be apparent for our Community as time passes 

---

Thank you.  I've used GTC for years.  I like them for myself, but I can see how for casual and small sellers it can be more than a challenge to have this format work for them.