mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on November 6th Community Chat, October 30 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics for our Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a set topic this week, so please bring any general questions you may have on buying or selling.
The chat will be open for questions from 1-2 pm PT, at which point we'll close thread. While no additional questions can be submitted after this time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that may 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 wrote:
@millcreekrescue909 wrote:This is now the third week in a row that I have posted my issue on the Weekly Chat. As I stated previously, my account has been completely tied up (cannot list, edit or sell similar) since 10/21 due to the PayPal “Immediate Payment Required” issue. The only thing I can do is receive payments. And now, on top of all of that, my sales are in the toilet because all my best selling fragrances are out of stock and I can’t edit them to increase the stock. I have been given advice on previous Weekly Chats to: Remove “Immediate Payment Required” which, as I have stated in prior chats, will not work with my fragrance listings or; end and relist when the issue is fixed which will cause me to exceed my 1000 monthly listings and incur listing fees.
To the best of my knowledge, this issue has now been escalated to tech support three times with no results i.e. no fix, no updates on the expected fix time and no announcements on the announcement board. There has been absolutely no transparency on this issue as well as many being experienced by other sellers. And I am paying for a Premium Store that has been basically unusable now for approx. 2 ½ weeks. We all deserve better from eBay!
I am again requesting an expected fix date or a way to contact Tech Support directly. And if you cannot provide this information, please tell me who can.
Hi @millcreekrescue909, we definitely want to see this issue fixed as well. We are not typically given an ETA on when issues will be resolved and that is the case with this issue. I know this isn't an ideal situation for you and we are working to get it fixed as soon as we can. Thanks!
I respect that. But no one is updating sellers at all. The announcement board has been VERY silent on the subject of the multiple issues affecting sellers right now. Not only that on the Tech board, the thread that was started for members to inform Ebay of the problems they are experiencing, there is never any updates there either. So where are we to get our information?
Again, I know you guys have no control over this. But someone does and why are seller's being informed?
Jordan just posted an announcement on the announcement board. Again touting Ebay's strong desire for transparency. The sellers get upset by stuff like this because it keeps being said, but nothing changes. We are still left with the lights turned out.
@mam98031 wrote:
Now that PP is showing the sales tax being collected by Ebay in regards to states with Facilitator laws, I have a question.
When you view the details of the PP transaction with this transpiring, you see the amount the buyer paid for the product, the amount they paid for shipping [if any], then you see the deduction for PP fees and a deduction for the sales tax removed and remitted to wherever Ebay is having it transmitted to, for a net amount in the PP account.
So that all looks good. Now if act as if you are going to do a refund to your buyer, it shows up as being the total amount the buyer paid to include the sales tax. So it appears that while the seller does not have the sales tax money, they would be refunding the buyer for the sales tax anyway.
How is that working? Is Ebay going to refund the sales tax collected back to the seller if they refund the buyer? What is the process?
Hi @mam98031 - in the event of a full or partial refund initiated through eBay, or a full refund issued directly through PayPal, the buyer will receive a refund of the sales tax portion automatically. That tax portion will come from eBay (via PayPal) and will be noted as 'Fees Refunded By PayPal" in the details of the PayPal refund.
In the event of a partial refund sent directly through PayPal with no eBay involvement (which we do not recommend) you will want to contact CS for assistance issuing a refund of the sales tax to the buyer. Thanks!
@mam98031 wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
I have a question about Free Returns. First if someone could give me a link to the rules and benefits to Free Returns specifically? I’d appreciate it as I’m having real trouble locating it.
My question is if a buyer files a proper Buyer’s Remorse return when a seller offers Free Returns, who pays for return shipping?
Hi @mam98031!
You can view benefits of Free Returns, including potential lift in sales, here. Protections for offering free returns is detailed here.
Free Returns are made without stipulation - meaning regardless of the stated reason the return shipping cost would be provided by the seller. Thanks!
Thank you for the clarification and the links.
As to the links specifically. Those are the pages I've found too. Neither of which list out the benefits of Free Returns and how it works for sellers. There use to be a page that listed it, I'm just having trouble locating it again. I suspect Ebay is calling it something that I'm not thinking of.
Hi @mam98031 - can you let me know what kind of information the page had that these don't? I'll see what I can find!
tyler@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:Now that PP is showing the sales tax being collected by Ebay in regards to states with Facilitator laws, I have a question.
When you view the details of the PP transaction with this transpiring, you see the amount the buyer paid for the product, the amount they paid for shipping [if any], then you see the deduction for PP fees and a deduction for the sales tax removed and remitted to wherever Ebay is having it transmitted to, for a net amount in the PP account.
So that all looks good. Now if act as if you are going to do a refund to your buyer, it shows up as being the total amount the buyer paid to include the sales tax. So it appears that while the seller does not have the sales tax money, they would be refunding the buyer for the sales tax anyway.
How is that working? Is Ebay going to refund the sales tax collected back to the seller if they refund the buyer? What is the process?
Hi @mam98031 - in the event of a full or partial refund initiated through eBay, or a full refund issued directly through PayPal, the buyer will receive a refund of the sales tax portion automatically. That tax portion will come from eBay (via PayPal) and will be noted as 'Fees Refunded By PayPal" in the details of the PayPal refund.
In the event of a partial refund sent directly through PayPal with no eBay involvement (which we do not recommend) you will want to contact CS for assistance issuing a refund of the sales tax to the buyer. Thanks!
Great info, thank you. In most cases this will work just fine. But it is very problematic for sellers that issue refunds to buyers when they overpay for shipping. Ebay isn't involved in those little refunds. That is going to be a real issue for some sellers, not to mention buyers.
tyler@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:I have a question about Free Returns. First if someone could give me a link to the rules and benefits to Free Returns specifically? I’d appreciate it as I’m having real trouble locating it.
My question is if a buyer files a proper Buyer’s Remorse return when a seller offers Free Returns, who pays for return shipping?
Hi @mam98031!
You can view benefits of Free Returns, including potential lift in sales, here. Protections for offering free returns is detailed here.
Free Returns are made without stipulation - meaning regardless of the stated reason the return shipping cost would be provided by the seller. Thanks!
Thank you for the clarification and the links.
As to the links specifically. Those are the pages I've found too. Neither of which list out the benefits of Free Returns and how it works for sellers. There use to be a page that listed it, I'm just having trouble locating it again. I suspect Ebay is calling it something that I'm not thinking of.
Hi @mam98031 - can you let me know what kind of information the page had that these don't? I'll see what I can find!
Once upon a time there was a page that outlined everything about Free Returns. The benefits to the seller, the specific requirements for the discounted refunds, what free returns means to a seller, etc.
I can find the pages you gave me and I can find a separate page that will tell me the do's and don'ts of the discounted refunds.
@creativecrisis wrote:
What's the right way to handle the following situation (i.e., without earning a defect)?
Last month I sold an item that was returned about 3 weeks later as "unclaimed" from the buyer's p.o. box. I messaged the buyer and got no response. Since she didn't contact me or open an INR claim, I assume something serious has happened in her life.
How do I cancel and refund without a request from the customer, and avoid an out-of-stock defect? And can I refund the item price minus shipping, or do I need to refund the entire amount?
Thanks.
Hi @creativecrisis - depending on the exact date of the transaction, you have a few options!
The simplest may be to issue a cancellation as 'Buyer requested or problem with buyer's address', which will issue a full refund and will not be held against you from a Seller Performance perspective.
A cancellation can be filed for 30 calendar days from the date of transaction. If it's been longer than that you can contact CS directly to review the transaction and any options available for you!
@millcreekrescue909 wrote:
With all due respect, Brian, I heard this same thing 2 1/2 weeks ago.
@millcreekrescue909, the information available to the Community Team has not changed in the last 2 1/2 weeks, which is why you have not received updated information. I realize this has been a frustrating experience for you, but we don't have any new details to share. I definitely appreciate your patience while we work on this!
As to Jordan's announcement. Link below.
He stated:
Internet sales tax
- Customers turn to eCommerce to find great value, and internet sales tax (IST) squeezes them in new ways - adding new taxes to online shopping. We are working with partners like PayPal to alleviate any surprising charges or fees, to minimize impact on buyers.
It should be noted that while he is absolutely correct, I to think the recent changes has lessened the impact on buyers. But let's make no mistake, it is at the expense of SELLERS. The recent move puts the PP fees on the sellers for sale tax collected by Ebay. Prior to this date this was a cost sellers were not paying on anything that was as a result of the Facilitator tax laws.
This isn't something that the sellers don't see, but it is interesting that he is not even acknowledging the impact of this change on sellers as if we won't notice if it is worded this way!
