mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a specific topic this week, so feel free to share any general buying or selling questions you may have.
The chat thread will remain open until 2 PM PT at which point we'll close it from additional responses. After that time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that might still be unanswered.
To post your question, click Reply in the lower right corner of this post, type your question, and hit submit between 1-2 PM Pacific Time. The format of our chat mirrors the format of our Community Discussion Boards, where each post will appear in the thread chronologically. The Community Team will review each question as it comes in, and will quote the original question in our reply. This quote and the reply will appear later in the thread, so just keep scrolling down to see our answers.
Missed the chat? Send your questions to the podcast by calling 888-723-4630 or email us at podcast@ebay.com and maybe your questions will make it on the air! Or listen to past episodes while you wait for next Wednesday!
@clarkphilatelics wrote:
Why does offer history seem to disappear after 90 days?
Hi @clarkphilatelics - most of the data on the selling side is flushed or removed after that 90 day window. If you don't download that data before that time passes it may not be recoverable.
If you'll give me an example of why it would be helpful for you to have this data after 3 months I'm happy to get the suggestion made that you'd like to see a longer window!
@coinslabz26 wrote:
In the past buyers spoke loudly that they do not want any part of the "view store" and wanted the "see other items" view. Ebay acknowledged this and reversed course.
Buyers still hate it and it is extremely confusing. It doesn't remember search parameters such as list view or time ending soonest. The main search bar searches all of ebay and not the store. The page is busy and sales are once again dropping as a result.
Why did ebay bring this unusable store page back? Why can't buyers who want the store view just click "view store" and the ones who just want to see the listings click "see other items"?
Hi @coinslabz26! Could you include a screenshot or more info about where you're referring to? In a listing a buyer can select the option to shop the sellers store or click the link to 'See other items'. Shop the store link will take the buyer to the sellers Store, and the 'See other items' link takes the buyer to the search view you noted. From each page there is a search function within the sellers listings and I'll include a few screen shots below.
From listing:
Once in the Store:
Once in See other items:
We're aware of the customization issues within a Stores search page and have already passed that info on.
@clarkphilatelics wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@condoghost wrote:
His Jasmen, Grateful to you for this Weekly Community Chat.
I've bought seeds in the past and by the time we see they haven't produced anything, eg sweetcorn, it is too late to provide feedback or get a resolution as the feedback and contact seller are no longer available after 60-days.
I appreciate there isn't an 'answer' right now.. This needs to be escalated within ebay as it is a continuing problem with eg vegetable seeds and other seeds for growing. The orders I placed last week I won't know until June/July/August/September if the seed has grown and I have cobs of sweetcorn. I asked this be escalated and addressed within ebay so that I am not faced with the same issue in July/August/September 2022 as I did back in 2018/2019.
The agent thanked me for my "valuable suggestion", "I have now escalated this to our dedicated team, they will review the details again and take this into consideration in next evaluation".
The 'link' provided took me to "Unsolicited idea suggestions policy" from where there is the option "Sending us suggestions" yet when I submit the "suggestion" I am informed "We received your suggestion. Thanks for sending us your suggestion. We appreciate your input. However, we can’t respond to suggestions like this because we may have been working on a similar idea internally already, and we want to avoid any potential misunderstandings around the ownership of the idea."!
I can see I may well go round-and-round in circles again later this year if I have issues with any of the seed items I have bought last week same as I did back in 2018/2019.
We need more than an assurance "dedicated team will review the details again and take this into consideration in next evaluation". we need this to be actively looked at, resolved, and be notified the outcome as often some specialist seeds are only easily available through ebay and poor quality needs to be rectified. Thank-you.
Hi @condoghost - thanks for joining the chat, and I appreciate your suggestion and input. It sounds like you've done a lot already to share what you feel the best solution is for us in this area.
I want to be entirely transparent and say that I will not be able to provide you a follow up with exactly what is done with your suggestion, or if a similar idea is already in the works. However, I will make sure that it is shared.
Expertizing stamps often takes longer than 90 days, especially if multiple experts must examine the item. How do buyers, and sellers resolve hidden defects found after 90 days?
@clarkphilatelics - we'd encourage a buyer to message a seller, and would encourage a seller to respond to their customer to see if there was a way to rectify the situation. However, after that long a time frame there is no on-eBay recourse a buyer would have.
@mam98031 wrote:
Just as an update for those still waiting for certain categories to allow for Media Mail shipping when you create the shipping label in Ebay.
I've been trying to get certain categories in Crafts correct, ie Pattern books in various subject matters.
Ebay has determined we do not qualify to use MM. This decision was made with flawed information from people that did not understand what was being sold. They made the determination that the books we were selling were Picture books. Which anyone that has actually looked at a pattern book on crochet, knitting, cross stitch, plastic canvas, tole painting etc. know that is not true.
These books are considered Educational material and if they are 8+ pages, they ARE eligible for MM.
But because someone at Ebay in the position to make this decision did not understand the product being sold, this decision was made.
For what it is worth I am still trying very hard to get this looked at again. But it goes to reinforce how important it is to have at least one person on a team that is making a serious decision like this that actually knows the product intimately and well.
Hi @mam98031! The shipping team received your question regarding inclusion of certain subcategories as qualifying for Media Mail several months ago.
We escalated this to USPS, who responded most recently with a reference to a Customer Support Ruling they made in 2017 (link to it here) that stipulates crossword puzzles, pattern books, poster books, iron-on transfer books, and cut-out books which do not consist of reading matter as well as publications containing advertising are not acceptable in the mails at the Media Mail rate of postage.
If you have updated clarification from USPS on this please share it with us so we can get it escalated and clarified with USPS.
@mam98031 wrote:In your site preferences for your Buyer Requirements there is an option to require buyers in countries you do not ship to, to have a ship to address in the US. I'm not sure I got that wording right, but it is something close to that.
Might you be thinking of this checkbox on the Buyer Management page? (I clicked the Info popup before taking the screenshot.)
Ref: https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
That would seem to allow international buyers who set up a U.S. primary shipping address. If the buyer is asking to have it shipped directly to his home country but does not have his default Shipping address there, it does not appear that he would be blocked.
Thank you. I am aware of all that but I really do appreciate you looking into it as well. HOWEVER someone made the decision that pattern books are PICTURE books and dot contain written instructions on how to accomplish any given project. When you ADD the factor on of the written instructions and many books have diagrams, putting that together makes it an EDUCATIONAL book.
They read the front part of that statement from USPS and didn't take the balance of the statement into consideration. It simply does not work that way. Pattern books such as the ones I sell, if they are 8+ pages the do qualify for MM and always have.
To make such important decisions we need people not to take things out of context and people that know and understand the product being sold. Someone that doesn't understand the product being sold can NOT possibly adequately describe it to USPS or anyone else.
@coinslabz26 wrote:
When a buyer sends me a message offering me an amount for an item and the offer is acceptable I always reply with "reply with offer" I had noted a previous issue where I would get an error that stated the limit of offers was reached. I posted many screenshots in the tech support forum as previously discussed.
This issue is now made worse. When I try to use the "reply with offer" feature it redirects to a page that says "Error".
Is ebay phasing out the ability for buyers and sellers to make a deal? If not then is this a known issue and is there an ETA on a fix?
Hi @coinslabz26 - Unfortunately this is still an issue. There is a ticket and we're not looking to phase out offers. I can understand your frustration though and I appreciate the check-in.
