eBay

brian@ebay · ‎11-05-2019

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,
Community Team

community_team · ‎11-26-2019

Posting To The Discussion Boards

Q: Sometimes I see answers to questions with "If this doesn't work, please start a thread on the technical issues board and tag a member of the Community Team so we can help further." Can someone tell me how to do that?

A: You can create a thread on the technical issues board by clicking this link: https://community.eBay.com/t5/forums/postpage/board-id/technicalissues-db

When typing your message, type the @ symbol and then begin to type the posting ID of the Community Team member you are notifying, then select their ID from the drop-down list.

Technical Issues

Q: My account has been completely tied up (cannot list, edit or sell similar) since 10/21 due to the PayPal “Immediate Payment Required” issue. Is there an estimated time frame for a fix on this?

A: 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.

Sale Items Display Format

Q: I noticed recently that eBay is showing in the sales section when an item has been sold with a Markdown Manager discount (similar to the way eBay shows an item was sold via Promoted Listings). Is this correct?

A: We don’t have a definitive answer on this quite yet, but we'll make sure to get you an update as we hear more on this.

Q: Does eBay show when an item has been purchased using a Codeless Coupon?

A: Codeless coupon sales will be displayed in the Seller Hub Orders page.

Free Returns

Q: Could someone give me a link to the rules and benefits to Free Returns specifically?

A: You can view benefits of Free Returns, including potential lift in sales, here. Protections for offering free returns is detailed here.

Q: If a buyer files a return for a remorse reason when a seller offers Free Returns, who pays for return shipping?

A: Free Returns are made without stipulation - meaning regardless of the reason for the return, shipping cost would be provided by the seller.

Terapeak

Q: I understand the Terapeak site will cease to be functional sometime in early 2020. Will SEO become functional under research?

A: Our understanding is that SEO is already available in Seller Hub Research and that SEO will be integrated into the listing form at some point in the future.

Q: Will mobile Terapeak still work?

A: Support for the Terapeak mobile app was discontinued some time ago and it is no longer available for download. If you still have the app then it may work until the site is discontinued, however there is no guarantee that it will continue working for that long since support has already been discontinued.

Mobile App

Q: Is there any hope of getting an eBay seller app that doesn't show me ads for everything I research, has Seller Hub available, and is more targeted to the full time seller.

A: We’re always working on improving the tools available to our sellers and while we have no announcements to make about more business focused apps, this is a request our developers are aware of!

Sales Tax

Q: When you view the details of the PP transaction, you see the amount the buyer paid for the product, the amount they paid for shipping [if any], the deduction for PP fees, and a deduction for the sales tax removed and remitted by eBay, leaving a net amount in the PP account.

Now if you act as if you are going to do a refund to your buyer, it appears that while the seller does not have the sales tax money, they would be refunding the buyer for the sales tax in the total amount of the refund. How is this process working? Is the seller refunding money they never had?

A: 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 or the buyer will need to contact CS for assistance issuing a refund of the sales tax to the buyer.

Item Not Received: Unclaimed Item

Q: Last month I sold an item that was returned about 3 weeks later as "unclaimed". I messaged the buyer and got no response. How do I refund without a request from the customer and without creating a defect on my selling account? Can I refund the item price minus shipping, or do I need to refund the entire amount?

A: The simplest may be to process a cancellation for 'Buyer requested or problem with buyer's address', which will issue a full refund and will not be counted 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!

You wouldn’t be able to deduct anything from the refund through eBay’s tools in a situation like this, but could issue a refund of less than the full amount directly through PayPal as you see fit. Be aware that this won’t credit any fees on eBay automatically; Customer Service can review for appropriate credits based on the amount refunded and the details of the situation.

Automatic Best Offer

Q: A little more feedback on eBay automatically changing some of my listings to accept offers. If my asking price were above similar items, I could see the utility. But the AI used to determine "similar items" seems to be off. I've had to change over 100 listings back, so this is not a minor annoyance, it a problem.

A: Thanks for sharing some insight into how this feature affects you. While we don't have any plans to change how it works at this time, we are happy to pass along your feedback.

View Best Answer in original post

tyler@ebay · ‎11-06-2019

Hi everyone - the chat is open for your replies!

Tyler,

millcreekrescue909 · ‎11-06-2019

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.

____________________________________

Always a newbie!

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎11-06-2019

I asked this last week, and I think you were going to check with the team. Maybe you had some luck getting an answer. So, I'll ask again:

Something I noticed recently...apparently ebay is now showing us right in the sales section when an item has been sold with a Markdown Manager discount (similar to the way ebay shows an item was sold via Promoted Listings). Is that correct? And, if so, does ebay also show when an item has been purchased using a Codeless Coupon?

mam98031 · ‎11-06-2019

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?

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

autopiacarcare · ‎11-06-2019

@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?

The seller pays for return shipping on Free Returns, even Buyer's Remorse. We tested it out for a while, but didn't see much benefit so we changed back to buyer paid returns.

tyler@ebay · ‎11-06-2019

@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!

Tyler,

dusty_relics_tx · ‎11-06-2019

Good Afternoon. I fully understand that the terapeak site will cease to be functional sometime in early 2020. I am grateful they didn't do it in Q4. No changes should ever be made in Q4.

So a couple of important questions. Will SEO become functional under research? It’s a Very important feature! Second, I use the terapeak app on my phone regularly, will the mobile terapeak still work? If not is there a solution in the works? If so I do hope it will be in place before the App goes down. I don't like using the eBay app for solds as then I see ads and suggestions for stuff I am really not interested in purchasing for days.

Additionally is there any hope of getting an eBay seller App that doesn't show me ads for everything I research, has Seller Hub available and is more targeted to the full time seller. I rely on templates for workflow in several categories and while I have a work around to list with templates on my phone it's additional steps and wont work when I am away from my desktop unless I happened to save an extra draft. If I had the same listing functionality on my phone as with the desktop it would be great.

brian@ebay · ‎11-06-2019

@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!

Brian,
Community Team

tyler@ebay · ‎11-06-2019

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
I asked this last week, and I think you were going to check with the team. Maybe you had some luck getting an answer. So, I'll ask again:

Something I noticed recently...apparently ebay is now showing us right in the sales section when an item has been sold with a Markdown Manager discount (similar to the way ebay shows an item was sold via Promoted Listings). Is that correct? And, if so, does ebay also show when an item has been purchased using a Codeless Coupon?

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - I know that brian@ebay was waiting for an answer and hasn't heard back. We'll make sure to shake the tree and update you as we hear back on this.

Tyler,

mam98031 · ‎11-06-2019

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.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

mam98031 · ‎11-06-2019

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?

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

millcreekrescue909 · ‎11-06-2019

With all due respect, Brian, I heard this same thing 2 1/2 weeks ago.

____________________________________

Always a newbie!

vrykalak · ‎11-06-2019

I tried to look at my invoice details, because I see a charge of $7 for "Advanced listing upgrade fees" and a savings of $6.48 for same.
I select October 2019 to see details, but all I can see are the details for November.
I was not aware of using any "Advanced listing upgrade fees" last month. What gives? ...and where can I see those details?

creativecrisis · ‎11-06-2019

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.