eBay

Anonymous · ‎05-20-2020

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on May 20th for our Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a specific topic this week, so please bring any general questions you may have about buying or selling.

The chat will be open for questions from 1-2 pm PT, at which point we'll close thread from additional responses. After this time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that might 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 for you.

brian@ebay · ‎05-20-2020

@vrykalak wrote:

@audiophileman wrote:

Is there any way to opt out of MP?

@audiophileman, all eBay sellers will progressively be required to participate in managed payments in the coming months. If you've received communication about preregistering for managed payments and have questions / concerns then you can go here and select "Have us call you" at the bottom of the page. A payments specialist will be happy to help you out

-----

The referenced page says: Information on fees and how they are calculated will be made available at the beginning of the registration process.
That is abominable! We are all going to be forced into MP without knowing the fees.

I presume the "per item" fee is still there. That will cause MP to cost more for people who sell more than one item to the same buyer than the current method in Paypal, and it will drive many sellers off the platform.

@vrykalak, beginning in July, sellers in managed payments will be charged one final value fee when their item sells, and you don't have to worry about third-party payment processing fees. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus $0.30 per order.

The total amount of the sale is the entire amount the buyer pays, including any handling charges, the shipping service the buyer selects, sales tax, and any other applicable fees.

This thread has more details that you may find interesting.

Brian,
Community Team

vrykalak · ‎05-20-2020

05-20-2020 01:14:45 PM

@vrykalak wrote:
I sold a Star Wars Monopoly game (383383383011).
When I "excavated" it from the "earthquake room" (which still has 1-2 feet of debris over most of the floor), I discovered there were some minor dings on the box and the cellophane cover was torn.
I wrote to the buyer, sent photos of the damage, to ask if he still wanted it. No reply.
Questions: Should I send it anyway? Can I avoid a Late Shipping ding?

Hi @vrykalak - thank you so much for providing an item number, it helps a lot.

I definitely think that contacting the buyer is important, preferably through eBay messaging so that we can see the messages as well.

However, if the item is not the way you described it and the buyer isn't being responsive I would suggest you consider cancelling the transaction to avoid a potential return. Thanks!

----

Is an "out of stock or damaged" demerit less evil than a "late shipping" demerit?

mam98031 · ‎05-20-2020

tyler@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@vrykalak wrote:
I noticed Priority Small Flat Rate box is not an option anymore...Actually, several of the Priority Mail options have disappeared. But the "area" boxes are still there. Do you know why?
Hi @vrykalak - great question! If you're referring to the shipping label screen, the Flat Rate box/envelope options are still there, but they're aggregated under the 'Carrier Packages'. If you click that option it will provide a drop down of the various products for you to choose from. (pic below). Thanks!

I think there may be a little more to this than that. For example I was preparing to ship an item this morning and media mail option was no where to be found. It wasn't due to my category or anything like that because I've sold off that listing before without issue. But this time there just was no option for it. So I had to go elsewhere to print my label.

I've had this happen before but I haven't reported it as I'm not going to hold up my shipment waiting for the proper way to handle it that could cause me a defect and more importantly a customer problem.
Hi @mam98031 - Can you provide me an example to have a look at? I still see the Media Mail option in the Shipping Label screen under the 'Custom Size' section.

The one I had a problem with this morning was my most recent sale of item number 392450680906. And like I said before. I've sold from this listing before and it has never happened on the other sales.

It just seems to happen from time to time and I don't know why.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

dhbookds · ‎05-20-2020

tyler@ebay wrote:
@dhbookds wrote:
I rarely buy anything on Ebay......I rarely buy anything period.....lol

But I did spring for a garden item on Sunday.... Today I get a message from ebay that the item has shipped......and then a message from the seller (apologizing) that due to virus shipping problems this item won't ship for 15-30 days...do I want to cancel? A bit confusing. I checked and it does show shipped, but no tracking # (lst class from Cal). I did tell him to cancel.

Two questions
How did I get a message from Ebay that it shipped? Only way I can think of is that seller bought a label and will void it at some point?

In normal times, since I canceled, would the seller get an out of stock? I realize they are protected now because of the virus rules, but just curious. I did tell him to cancel as need it quicker than 30 days....squash bugs don't understand the virus delay......and purchased from another seller who will hopefully have it.
Hi @dhbookds - you'd think the squash bugs would be a bit more considerate considering recent events! 😉

When it comes to your questions:

1. If a seller marks the item as shipped, it would trigger the notification to you. This would be whether or not we can verify if the item has shipped since we do not require the use of eBay Labels.

2. This depends on the reason selected when the seller cancels the transaction.

I hope this new seller has them in stock for you and can get them to your garden quickly!

Ah......hadn't thought about marking it shipped...thanks

I think we can guess what reason the seller will choose........that's a mighty big loophole isn't it? He certainly is out of stock...but no way for a buyer to bring that to ebay's attention?

tyler@ebay · ‎05-20-2020

@vrykalak wrote:

05-20-2020 01:14:45 PM

@vrykalak wrote:

I sold a Star Wars Monopoly game (383383383011).

When I "excavated" it from the "earthquake room" (which still has 1-2 feet of debris over most of the floor), I discovered there were some minor dings on the box and the cellophane cover was torn.

I wrote to the buyer, sent photos of the damage, to ask if he still wanted it. No reply.
Questions: Should I send it anyway? Can I avoid a Late Shipping ding?

Hi @vrykalak - thank you so much for providing an item number, it helps a lot.

I definitely think that contacting the buyer is important, preferably through eBay messaging so that we can see the messages as well.

However, if the item is not the way you described it and the buyer isn't being responsive I would suggest you consider cancelling the transaction to avoid a potential return. Thanks!

----

Is an "out of stock or damaged" demerit less evil than a "late shipping" demerit?

Hi @vrykalak - it's a bit of a Sophie's choice I'm afraid:

An out of stock cancellation demerit hits heavier than a late shipping mark

But

A Not as Described return will count on your Service Metrics, and you'd be looking at a financial impact as well (paying for return shipping).

If you wanted to hedge your bets you could always take the late shipping miss and message them again through eBay to see if they still want the item with the damage.

Tyler,

gwzcomps · ‎05-20-2020

For the record this is what a listing from a good seller looks like 373049316545. That probably took 30 minutes of my time between cleaning, figuring out what I had, and taking pictures.

This is what I am incentivized by eBay to list like 124194188739. That took me ~12 minutes.

ekmadonna · ‎05-20-2020

Hi, thanks for the response. I have been selling here for over 6 years and using ONLY Global shipping for International Shipments. I had no idea at all that I would have to Visually check what COUNTRIES EBAY GLOBAL SHIPPING SHIPS TO for each new listing and then On My Own Find a list of all the other Countries in the World and manually go in and check off a box that says I don't ship to ALL THE COUNTRIES EBAY Doesn't Ship to also. I thought just being in the Global Shipping Program did this work for me? Now I have to figure out what Countries may buy from me outside of EBAY GLOBAL SHIPPING? and I am Responsible for filling these orders? I am confused.

vrykalak · ‎05-20-2020

@vrykalak wrote:
I noticed Priority Small Flat Rate box is not an option anymore...Actually, several of the Priority Mail options have disappeared. But the "area" boxes are still there. Do you know why?

Hi @vrykalak - great question! If you're referring to the shipping label screen, the Flat Rate box/envelope options are still there, but they're aggregated under the 'Carrier Packages'. If you click that option it will provide a drop down of the various products for you to choose from. (pic below). Thanks!
---

Gottit. Thanks. (Pshaw, I could have saved 18¢!)

tyler@ebay · ‎05-20-2020

@mam98031 wrote:

tyler@ebay wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

tyler@ebay wrote:

@vrykalak wrote:

I noticed Priority Small Flat Rate box is not an option anymore...Actually, several of the Priority Mail options have disappeared. But the "area" boxes are still there. Do you know why?

Hi @vrykalak - great question! If you're referring to the shipping label screen, the Flat Rate box/envelope options are still there, but they're aggregated under the 'Carrier Packages'. If you click that option it will provide a drop down of the various products for you to choose from. (pic below). Thanks!

I think there may be a little more to this than that. For example I was preparing to ship an item this morning and media mail option was no where to be found. It wasn't due to my category or anything like that because I've sold off that listing before without issue. But this time there just was no option for it. So I had to go elsewhere to print my label.

I've had this happen before but I haven't reported it as I'm not going to hold up my shipment waiting for the proper way to handle it that could cause me a defect and more importantly a customer problem.

Hi @mam98031 - Can you provide me an example to have a look at? I still see the Media Mail option in the Shipping Label screen under the 'Custom Size' section.

The one I had a problem with this morning was my most recent sale of item number 392450680906. And like I said before. I've sold from this listing before and it has never happened on the other sales.

It just seems to happen from time to time and I don't know why.

Hi @mam98031 - this is really odd, because I see that a media mail label was printed for that item - could it have been another one?

I know you know what it looks like, but including a screenshot of the label screen for anyone else reading this who's not quite sure where to look for Media Mail on the new page. 🙂

Tyler,

brian@ebay · ‎05-20-2020

@gwzcomps wrote:
Actually forget it I think I will lower the quality of my listings. 1 photo and next to no description. The one poor quality unedited photo will save me 10 minutes of my time. The lack of a good description will save me another 5-10 minutes. I might quit testing and cleaning the stuff I would normally sell as working. That will save me 1 hour per desktop, laptop, etc. The hour or more I normally put into my one off items I can reduce to 10 minutes. I can list so much more stuff and can make up for the extra fees and bad user experience in volume.

@gwzcomps, I completely understand that returns can be frustrating, especially when a buyer doesn't fully review a listing first. You do an excellent job of describing your items and it must take a lot of time. While there will always be buyers that may not read a description or review all pictures, the majority of buyers do take time to review listings to ensure they know what they are purchasing.

There's a certain amount of risk involved with every business, but you are clearly taking steps to greatly reduce those risks by putting so much time and quality into your listings. At the end of the day you can describe your items and put as many pictures up as you feel appropriate for your business, but reducing the amount of details you currently provide would likely have a negative impact on those buyers who are reading your descriptions and checking our your pictures, which in turn may lead to more return requests.

Brian,
Community Team

maxoptical · ‎05-20-2020

I have been happily enrolled in the eBay Guaranteed Delivery systems for a long time with no issues. But in the last ten days it appears I have been thrown out of the program. I have the feature enabled on my account and I meet all of the requirements. My products are office items that buyers need quickly and I can easily meet their needs, the problem is once a customer select 3 day or faster or the Guaranteed Delivery Time options all of my listings are removed from the search. I even have the Guaranteed delivery dates on my listings, but they don't come up in search. How do I get this resolved?

John Norman
Max Optical

roadking5555 · ‎05-20-2020

Is there less technical staff working on keeping eBay up and running due to the covid-19?

It just seems there are so many" glitchy" problems lately....more than the norm.

Here is just a couple from the last few days,

1- bidding on auctions near the end, placed a bid from the item page, I placed my bid and hit confirm, a 2nd bid enter form comes up. ok I enter bid again and another from comes up and says do you commit to buy or something like that. Poof, the auction is over and my bids never made it through.

There is a topic in technical issues, so it's not just me. seems to be working ok now.

2- within the last day and up to 10 minutes ago, on my watch list where you can enter "note to self" and then save, the notes are disappearing. poof gone

3- I have encountered having to log into the community board every other time, it used to keep me logged in.

4- had to call in to CS as I had 2 auction sales show ended/unsold and asking me do I want to relist? I could not send invoice and buyer could not pay. Called in and CS reset my account or something and it went into my sold, they waited on the phone as my other auction ended 4 minutes later..same thing. They thought it was fixed the 1st time. CS did fix it the 2nd time also.

so...Is there a lack of technical support or are there too many things going on that are getting missed?

there is other stuff, this is what comes to mind. Is there enough support to keep up?

brian@ebay · ‎05-20-2020

@gracieallen01 wrote:

Hello Brian,

Out of curiosity, does that include all foreign seller selling on the dot com?

@gracieallen01, the plan is to eventually have all eBay sellers on the .com site in managed payments.

Brian,
Community Team

gracieallen01 · ‎05-20-2020

brian@ebay wrote:
@gracieallen01 wrote:
Hello Brian,

Out of curiosity, does that include all foreign seller selling on the dot com?
@gracieallen01, the plan is to eventually have all eBay sellers on the .com site in managed payments.

I don't suppose you can define 'eventually', but I understand why. Thank you.

Not saying 'NO' doesn't mean 'YES'.

The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.

Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, many people would use them more often.

Respect, like money, is only of 'worth' when it is earned - with all due respect, it can not be ordained, legislated or coerced. Anonymous

Anonymous · ‎05-20-2020

@ekmadonna wrote:

Hi, thanks for the response. I have been selling here for over 6 years and using ONLY Global shipping for International Shipments. I had no idea at all that I would have to Visually check what COUNTRIES EBAY GLOBAL SHIPPING SHIPS TO for each new listing and then On My Own Find a list of all the other Countries in the World and manually go in and check off a box that says I don't ship to ALL THE COUNTRIES EBAY Doesn't Ship to also. I thought just being in the Global Shipping Program did this work for me? Now I have to figure out what Countries may buy from me outside of EBAY GLOBAL SHIPPING? and I am Responsible for filling these orders? I am confused.

Hi @ekmadonna, enrolling in the Global Shipping Program will not block transactions outside of this program automatically - many sellers want to ship directly if the item is not eligible for Global Shipping, so we do not make changes to your blocked countries when you enroll in Global Shipping. If you don't want to ship to any international location directly, you just need to go to the link I provided and block every international region and then elect to override these blocks for Global Shipping Program eligible transactions. If you have some countries you are willing to ship to directly, you can uncheck those countries.

To clarify, if you do not offer a valid shipping option to international locations, buyers who only have a shipping location in those countries will not be able to bid or buy your items. The example you provided involves a buyer who has a shipping location in the United States, they simply changed the shipping address at checkout. There is no way to prevent this, but you are empowered to cancel the transaction for a problem with the buyer's address in these situations since you do not offer shipping to those locations.

If you have additional questions, feel free to start a thread on the Shipping & Returns board and @mention me and I'll be happy to keep discussing this with you.