Community Chat, May 22 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[alan@ebay]

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on May 22 for our weekly Community Chat with eBay Staff. No set topic this week, so feel free to share your general buying and selling questions. 

The chat will be open for questions from 1-2 pm PT, and then we'll close it down. 

If you are new to the chat, welcome! Simply reply to this post with your question after 1 pm. 

Thanks! 

[vrykalak]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@vrykalak wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@postcardcountry wrote:

Sending Offers to Buyers:

I would truly like to use this feature more, but for some reason eBay is throttling my efforts.

Over the last 14 days, 82% to 99% of my watched listings are 'not eligible to send offers'

When I have done my calculations, I have excluded those items that do not have at least 2 1/2 days left, the ones I have sent offers to and the ones I don't want to send offers to.

So what exactly makes an item/watcher combination ineligible?

Will there ever be anything in writing to explain this?

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Hi @postcardcountry, if the buyers who are watching an item have elected to not receive these kinds of offers then you won't be able to send offers on those items. While the listing may be eligible, the watchers are not, so it will return an error message when attempting to send an offer.

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" if the buyers who are watching an item have elected to not receive these kinds of offers"
I was never asked if I want to receive offers from sellers. 

How would a buyer have set that? and why? I bet it's a default.

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It is in your Site Preferences.

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Hi @vrykalak, @mam98031 is correct! You can make changes to what promotions you would like to receive by going to My eBay > Summary > Communication Preferences. 

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Okay. Where?
I think I read everything on the page.
I don't see anything that contains the word "offer" as a noun.

[Anonymous]

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@postcardcountry wrote:

trinton,

I presume you are referring to the buyer - best offer preferences.

If so, may I point out a problem I see with this?

What email communication did you make with BUYERS to tell them "hey, we just started this neat feature.  Watching an item?  The seller may offer you a better price.  You need to change your settings to receive them". 

99% of the communications I receive are seller oriented.    Ya'll don't do much about telling buyers what the new features are and how to receive them.

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Hi @postcardcountry, if a buyer has previously indicated that they do not want to receive promotional offers (ie. better prices from sellers) it stands to reason that they still do not wish to receive these through a new feature. If a buyer receives an offer from a seller whose item they are watching, the accompanying email details this feature, the buyers options, and what will happen if they don't reply or another buyer accepts before them. 

Generally, if a buyer has elected to not receive promotional offers from sellers, they have also chosen to not receive promotional material from eBay. For these buyers, any update we would send on the feature would also be blocked, so we typically do not send updates on these kinds of changes to buyers. Those who are open to the option will be notified and provided with more information if they receive an offer, and those who are not open to the option have made this clear.

[starting_5]

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brian@ebay wrote:

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@starting_5 wrote:

Good Afternoon.

My question concerns the dreaded "smells like smoke" claim. Trinton has stated that "smell" is not covered by the MBG with the exception of a few issues. I had a buyer claim "extremely strong smoke smell" and wants to return at my expense claiming the item was "not as described".  Item didn't smell as claimed, but everybody knows buyers will claim whatever necessary to avoid return shipping. If I fight this issue with CS, I will lose and get a defect.

If the "smell" claim is not covered, how can a seller get these types of claims resolved in their favor? Also, would it be possible for Ebay to institute a definitive policy concerning these claims? 

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Hi @starting_5, while smell is typically not covered, we do look to the buyer's return reason when deciding how to move forward with a case. If the smell is an integral part of the item, or the odor poses a health risk (chemicals, as one example) then a return would be warranted. Ultimately, if a buyer's return reason is that the item is not as described then we will decide to move forward with a return. 

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Thanks for the response, but that didn't really answer my question. So you are saying that if the buyer simply says "not as described" then Ebay gives the buyer a free return. This contradicts what trinton has said in the community forum. .....

"smells would only be a valid return reason if a) the listing states the item comes from a smoke free home b) the listing states it comes from a pet free home c) the smell is an integral part of the item ie. a vanilla scented candle or d) the smell reported poses a health risk, such as the smell of chemicals. In these instances, we would cover a smell. If the seller has no disclaimer about smoke or pets, then the buyer's concerns regarding odors related to these factors would not be covered."

[mam98031]

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@mg152 wrote:
Also what about blatant drop shippers? Not the ones that abide by policy but the others. The ones that list, sell then use amazon prime gift to order the items? I got one just this week not the first time either. The item was cheaper on eBay than amazon. I don’t get it.
We had someone post today that’s blatantly breaking the rules about dropshipping. Thanks!

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Just a curiosity question.  Do you know that the Ebay seller was not shipping from their own stock that they may keep in FBA at Amazon?

I too have made purchases on Ebay in which come from Amazon, but I'm not sure how to tell if they are shipping from their own stock or someone else's.  So I'd be interested in hearing how you were able to determine this.

To me when a Ebay seller uses Amazon Prime to ship something to me, that is between the seller I bought from and Amazon.  So I've gone out and reported the seller to Amazon.  For me, I couldn't get them to pay attention to my concern.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Thanks Alan. I'm sure Doug will triumph.

We were at Open last year for the first time, and enjoyed it, but it didn't work for this year. One of these days though....

[aikatt]

What about those that drop ship from CHINA? It takes 5 days to get the item to the postoffice? That tells me it wasn't ever in the usa as claimed, the seller is not in the usa, only a reshipper is in the usa. I clicked on return for one item, and it showed a Chinese return address for a seller claiming to be a "usa seller". I once, *once* returned an item to China, never got the refund.

[brian@ebay]

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@mg152 wrote:

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brian@ebay wrote:

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@starting_5 wrote:

Good Afternoon.

My question concerns the dreaded "smells like smoke" claim. Trinton has stated that "smell" is not covered by the MBG with the exception of a few issues. I had a buyer claim "extremely strong smoke smell" and wants to return at my expense claiming the item was "not as described".  Item didn't smell as claimed, but everybody knows buyers will claim whatever necessary to avoid return shipping. If I fight this issue with CS, I will lose and get a defect.

If the "smell" claim is not covered, how can a seller get these types of claims resolved in their favor? Also, would it be possible for Ebay to institute a definitive policy concerning these claims? 

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Hi @starting_5, while smell is typically not covered, we do look to the buyer's return reason when deciding how to move forward with a case. If the smell is an integral part of the item, or the odor poses a health risk (chemicals, as one example) then a return would be warranted. Ultimately, if a buyer's return reason is that the item is not as described then we will decide to move forward with a return. 

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I put we have dogs and a smoker in the home. Am I covered or do I need to do more?

The only complaint I ever got was years ago from a lady that took weeks to pay for the used $25 handbag she bought. That’s a funny story but for another time. 😂😂

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Hi @mg152, it's definitely a good practice to describe any odors that an item may have. This can help reduce the chance of a return due to odors. With that said, if the buyer opens a return with a not as described reason then you would be expected to accept the return. 

[fern*wood]

Any suggestions for sellers that use USPS when the new dimensional pricing for all zones goes live next month?  Should I just give up on all my larger items?

[abfabvintage]

@starting_5 

Thank you so much for finding the policy quote. My older printout didn't cite the thread info so I couldn't find it. Appreciate it very much. 

[alan@ebay]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Thanks Alan. I'm sure Doug will triumph.

We were at Open last year for the first time, and enjoyed it, but it didn't work for this year. One of these days though....

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Keep an eye out for eBay UpFronts. We're doing some this year as a pilot and we may do more next year. One could be coming to a city near you. 

[vrykalak]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@vrykalak wrote:

For several months now, I have been trying to relist an item I last listed a year ago.
eBay won't post it, claiming that it contains JavaScript. I tried retyping the Description from scratch, in a text file, and verified that when I uploaded it to the Description, the only HTML in it were line feed & paragraph tags...No dice: system saw JavaScript.
Several eBay agents looked at the code, and agreed that they didn't see anything in it that looked like JavaScript.
Finally, yesterday, I realized what the problem was. The last line of the Description says the little figurine "has a bewildered expression (like Kermit the Frog)"...the system was upset about "Kermit" (which I think was a version of HTML many years ago).
So I removed that, and it posted.
C'mon guys!

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Hi @vrykalak, if you can provide me with the item number I will be happy to look into this. Using a trademarked reference like Kermit the Frog may be problematic in other ways, as this could pose VeRO concerns or potentially be a search and browse manipulation violation as searches for Kermit the Frog items may pull up your listing, which would potentially be seen as unrelated.

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Actually, the original listing just said "(like Kermit)"
I added the rest of the name to see if that would make it look less like JavaScript.
But the system still objected.
Everything in the listing is identical to the version that had  "(like Kermit)" in it, except that. So that is obviously what the system was objecting to.
The item number is 382963219329

[tyler@ebay]

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@stubz406 wrote:

i was just scammed out of $1200 from a fraudulent return.  The buyer sent a "return" to me and I opened it to find a bunch of junk in the box.  I called ebay and told them I have video and photo evidence and provided all the information they requested (police report, badge number etc).  They still awarded the refund to the scammer buyer.  I'm more upset with eBay than I am with the scammer at this point.  The package he sent back was almost 30lbs lighter than the one i sent him.  It doesn't make any sense how they could refund him, they obviously did NOTHING to actually look into what is happening.  I need help and every time I call ebay i get a different person who doesn't care and i have explain the whole thing over again and it doesn't get properly looked into.  eBay is letting this scammer get away with murder and they are doing nothing to help me.  At this point i just want my item back i don't even care about the money.  

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Hi @stubz406 - that's a really hard situation, I'm sorry to hear about what's happened. It sounds as though you are in the process of appealing an outcome of the return at this point, which is good! Typically with a value that great we'd ask you to upload documentation and send you an email with a specific URL to use to upload it to get to the right folks. 

If you've done that already give it some time and the right team will contact you (usually within 72 hours of upload). Alternatively you can contact CS directly and let them know that it's been uploaded and they can work it with you while you wait. Thanks!

[brian@ebay]

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@abfabvintage wrote:

brian@ebay 

Sorry, did you mean to say "if the smell is NOT an integral part of the item..."? Sorry if splitting hairs but this issue is important to those of us who sell vintage. Thanks.

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Hi @abfabvintage 

I'm happy to clarify - when I stated "if smell is an integral part of the item" I am referring to an item that is scented specifically as a feature of the item. For example, a vanilla candle that arrives smelling of cinnamon. This would be a situation where we feel the return is warranted. The majority of vintage items do not have an integral smell, so this shouldn't be a factor with those listings. 

[vrykalak]

I looked up a book I was interested in, and noticed that the first 5 copies in the source results were all from the same seller, with identical Item Specifics & Descriptions, just different listing numbers. Is this legal?

[a_c_green]

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@vrykalak wrote:
Actually, the original listing just said "(like Kermit)"

I added the rest of the name to see if that would make it look less like JavaScript.
But the system still objected.
Everything in the listing is identical to the version that had  "(like Kermit)" in it, except that. So that is obviously what the system was objecting to.

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It sounds like that's acting as a code trigger, which then returns an error since, well, it isn't really code. 

If I remember right, there was a similar headache a few years back involving the word "cookie," which could also be interpreted as a coding command, but I haven't read of any similar sightings recently, so perhaps they managed to code an exception for that.