11-11-2020 01:00 PM
Hi everyone! 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.
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11-11-2020 01:24 PM
I currently have 176 listings and this stupid thing is also telling me to add the recommended item specifics to 153 listings. I added some to a couple and nothing changed. The thing keeps saying 153. This is a real joke, as like you said, things don't even pertain to the listings.
11-11-2020 01:24 PM - last edited on 11-11-2020 01:39 PM by tyler@ebay
11-11-2020 01:26 PM - edited 11-11-2020 01:30 PM
@divwido wrote:
No picture of the dog?
@divwido I know this was probably for brittanie@ebay , but if we're gonna share dog pics then I have to join in!!
11-11-2020 01:26 PM - last edited on 11-11-2020 01:37 PM by brittanie@ebay
11-11-2020 01:28 PM
@postcardcountry wrote:I know you can't answer managed payments questions.
This is not a specific question but a procedural one.
How does one escalate a problem from the foreign support reps to someone who can actually help you?
I have seen several different people with severe problems be unable to get past the support "it is fixed. wait 48 hours and you will see it" and it's not fixed.
These are problems where funds have not transferred for 5 or more weeks with no explanation.
Users who are being asked to re-verify themselves every two or three weeks.
There has to be SOME way to actually get assistance other than a foreign person reading from a script.
It is likely that the Chat team can't answer this as it does go to how MP functions or doesn't function as the case may be.
You are absolutely correct. Getting to someone that can actually assist with the problem or is actually knowledgeable to answer questions correctly in MP is nothing short of a miracle. The MP help line is often shut down and that certainly doesn't help. At times it appears we are helped by the general CSRs on the help lines which isn't helpful either as the advice they give is often wrong which causes some seller to make decision that cost them money or causes them to improperly take care of their buyer which causes a chain reaction that doesn't usually turn out well for the seller.
This is such a big problem. One I have personally fought for several months trying to get help to the threads by those that can actually help. Charles does a great job, but it is clear that in the last few weeks something happened and he can't extend the help like he once did. Most of his posts are now just telling us to call the MP help line.
To say all this is frustrating is such an understatement. I've been told for over a couple of months that MP is increasing their help for sellers, however there is no evidence of that on the threads at all. I'm at a loss as to where to go from here. Those in a position to do something about this don't. They say they are, but nothing changes so it is hard to believe that they did anything.
I personally find this absolutely shameful. Literally shameful. Ebay introduces the single most important change ever to sellers. One that goes to the core of their business, how their money is handled and then won't extend the help to those that need assistance in adapting to the HUGE change. It isn't that they can't, it is that they don't. I find this the single biggest fail Ebay has ever done for its sellers.
MP isn't that bad of a system. It needs to improve, but we can survive it if Ebay would take a real interest in helping the sellers. If they don't have enough staff to take care of us, then get the staff. Stop onboarding people until you can service the ones you have.
And they need to roll back the change they made in August where they went to Business Day processing only. That was not done before then. Sellers that need to rely on Daily Deposits need to have the ability to actually rely on it. I understand, I don't like it, but I understand the time for clearing a payment. But go back to the 6 or 7 day a week processing would help so many of the sellers that are struggling.
CLEARLY MP CAN process pending payments on the weekends. I see them clear all the time on my account. So the ONLY thing MP stopped was making actual Available money transfers on non business days. Bringing them back would help quite a few sellers.
11-11-2020 01:30 PM
11-11-2020 01:31 PM - last edited on 11-11-2020 01:43 PM by brian@ebay
brian@ebay wrote:
@donsdetour wrote:
Looking to be a slow day: or is it the calm before the storm.
So hope you, (Brian); and the folks at eBay are doing well.
And again thanks for talking to us users.
I can not thank the group that does this enough.
Just saying HI.
@donsdetour thanks! I really appreciate that and I hope you're doing well too 🙂 I'm thinking the weekly chats might slow down until the holidays are over, but we'll see! 🎄
🛒
OH NO! While I'm sure it would be great for the team, it would not be so good for us out here. This is often the only place we can come to get accurate explanations of things.
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Edit: Reply to this post can be read here
11-11-2020 01:31 PM
@comics-scifi-collectibles wrote:
brian@ebay I have been seeing a LOT more reports of calls not going though from the help pages. Instead of being given a chance to ask for a callback, they are just redirected back to the help pages when they are calling during normal business hours.
OR callbacks are supposedly received but the OP was by their phone and receives an email notice that they missed their call when their phone number is correct in the system.
Hi @comics-scifi-collectibles - I know that some folks may not receive a call back if their carriers mark it as spam (there's been a rash of reports of that). Additionally, there have been times where callback volume has high enough that the call-back option is temporarily removed to as not to overpromise a callback if there's a chance teammates may not get to it in time.
In any case, would you mind tagging me to a few so I can gather examples?
11-11-2020 01:33 PM - last edited on 11-11-2020 01:58 PM by brian@ebay
Here is my dilemma. I shipped a set of books to the Virgin Islands. The buyer chose media mail. Needless to say, the estimated time of arrival that ebay gives is inaccurate, especially with the Covid issue. The tracking states that the item has been delayed and will arrive late but is still in the system to be delivered. It has only been 3 weeks, and from what I have read, deliveries to PO boxes in the Virgin Islands are taking 4 to 6 weeks---even, during the best of times, media mail can sometimes take this long. Problem: the buyer has requested her money back because the item hasn't arrived. If it was documented as lost or missing, I wouldn't have a problem refunding the money. However, refunding her now would mean she gets the books, if they arrive, and never paid for them. Ebay's system states I have to refund within 3 days. Should I just refund or should I have ebay close the case with no seller resolution and ebay refunds the money; so that if the books arrive, I can at least try to have ebay refund my money since the tracking only showed books were delayed in transit and not lost?
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Edit: Reply to this post can be read here
11-11-2020 01:35 PM - last edited on 11-11-2020 01:45 PM by brittanie@ebay
While we are sharing our puppies. I always call them puppies as they are forever our babies.
Ohana has moved on to be with her brother [we lost him a couple of years ago]. It is a very sad time for our family as she was such an important part of it. 💔
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Edit: A response to your message can be found here
11-11-2020 01:35 PM
@golfingaddict wrote:
I'm hoping someone can answer or at least give an explanation about what is going on with item specifics.
Today, once again, I am getting notice that I need to add "recommended" Item specifics.
In my selling manager, this "notice" is front and center since it is in the middle of my seller manager setup in the same box as "print labels and ship" Not exactly easy to ignore.
But what makes this so annoying is that these are exactly the same items that I added item specifics to at least 3 times. 1. when I created the listing. 2 when they first came up with this notification and 3. approx two weeks ago.
I did check "don't remind me of these again" back when that option was first given. It seems like this item specific thing is trying to nag me to death. What's worse is that the recommendations are stuff that do not even make sense!!! Compression for things that don't have compression. "character" for things that don't have character Theme for things that don't need or have a theme and fabric type, when you already ask for "fabric" What the heck is that suppose to do?
This morning I had 6 items pop up. I fixed those. I went to golf and had 2 more pop up. I fixed those and just a few minutes ago, I had 20, I've gotten that down to 4 now and I am almost done, but it seems that these will get done and you will find another few to annoy me with.
I'm attaching a view of a typical item that "needs" recommended Item specifics. I fill in a lot of stuff, much more than I typically see when I view listings. And this is not enough?
Please end the madness.
@golfingaddict @greg213213 I just looked into this and found it's a known issue with that section of Seller Hub / Sell page. It isn't updating even after a seller adds the recommended item specifics to listings. Our tech team is aware and looking into it, but I don't have any details beyond this.
11-11-2020 01:36 PM - last edited on 11-11-2020 01:56 PM by tyler@ebay
I'm not sure this is a question as much as a wish. It saddens me to see new sellers post on the boards after selling their first item (generally high dollar) and they have been tricked. They don't know how returns/cases work and refund without first getting the item back or ship without payment.
Heck, I've sold here for years and still couldn't explain how returns/cases work (I personally have a INR case just sitting around for almost a month now), but I do know to get my item back first on a return or complaint.
So my wish is either a required little tutorial to complete or a requirement to sell at least a few low dollar items before being permitted to sell a high dollar one.
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Edit: A reply to your wish can be found here
11-11-2020 01:36 PM
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Any update on the question I asked about the TRS Promoted Listing credit? Is it going away at the end of this quarter or not? A simple yes or no answer shouldn't be so hard to get.
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques I don't disagree with you. We're still waiting on an update on this. We'll provide you with more info you as soon as we get it.
11-11-2020 01:37 PM
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:Any update on the question I asked about the TRS Promoted Listing credit? Is it going away at the end of this quarter or not? A simple yes or no answer shouldn't be so hard to get.
It has been 3 weeks now with no answers to this simple yes or no question. There is just no good reason for this complete lack of communication.
I understand they may not have planned for this to come out yet, but here we are with two big "oopsies" and no real answers. eBay would be far better served by just coming out with it now and taking whatever heat may come than to keep delaying or ignoring the question.
11-11-2020 01:38 PM
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Any news on the Terapeak question I asked about before? Terapeak is still showing "free shipping" in its active results, even when the listing does not have free shipping. This remains an ongoing issue.
Sorry @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - no update on this one either. I'll see if I can get some extra eyes on it today. Thanks!