Community Chat, Oct 18th @ 1pm PT - General Topics

[alan@ebay]

Hi Community, 

Please join the Community team here at 1 pm PT on Oct 18th for our weekly chat. 

There isn't a set topic this week so feel free to ask us your eBay buying & selling questions. 

Thank you. 

[vrykalak]

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@chrysylys wrote:

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alan@ebay wrote:

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@chrysylys wrote:

What can be done about the abuse of multi-variation listings?  They may have 10 or 20 items at $40.00 or more and one barely related item at $1.00 or so.  It's clearly about gaming search placement when people search by 'lowest first'.

It's often found in clothing and electronics.

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Hi @chrysylys,

I agree this is a bad buying experience, we do consider this behavior as a listing violation. We will float this to the team that enforces the policy for their attention. 

Thank you. 

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Perhaps restrict it to all items have to be the same price and variations can only be for color or size?

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I agree about all items have to be the same price, but disagree about the 2nd part:
I often sell party supplies, all different (theme, type, etc.) but they are all the same price. 
I would hate to be denied the ability to do that.

[Anonymous]

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@theshoppingmom2 wrote:

Good afternoon everyone!

Got question :

I was wondering when  are we going to see the hurricane  credits that were  announced.

I was told it was coming  middle of the month

TIA

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Hi @theshoppingmom2! These credits should be available by the time of your invoice this month. If you are missing anything, email hurricanerelief@ebay.com and our dedicated support team will get back to you promptly.

[tunicaslot]

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brian_burke@ebay wrote:

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@tunicaslot wrote:

Afternoon everyone! I'd first like to ask that you give Brian our thanks for visiting yesterday and staying so late to answer questions posed to him - that goes to you to Alan.

It may have been mentioned already here - but people were not happy with the answers to Ebays new program that is enforcing policy to eliminate sales done outside of Ebay. I understand that this is being maintained by bots. And I understand that an investigation by a person will be done before actions are taken. The fear remains tho - due to buyers who don't know policy or try to circumvent it by suggesting to sellers the transaction take place outside.

Most older sellers know the rules - but are concerned with getting these warnings and are afraid that their selling will be sanctioned through no fault of their own. Can you explain a bit better how the sytem works. Will a seller be notified that the bots have picked up this type of behavior and any more could result in selling privileges being revoked - giving the seller time to call and talk to someone who can actually view the emails before any type of sanction is in place?

Many on the boards feel the warning to buyers may alienate them or scare them from trying to buy on Ebay.

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@tunicaslot Thanks for the remarks, my goal was to address everyone - if you take the time to ask, the least I can do is take the time to respond, even if I don't know the answer. 

Regarding off eBay:

First point -  if you are not soliciting or responding to off -ebay requests or including contact information in emails you have nothing to worry about - so best advice is don't do that.

Bots - not everything we do with off-eBay is algorithmically driven. We have agents who review content for intent. But if content includes contact info we will send a message. Because the rule is no contact info is permitted. There are use cases when someone has included an item number and our filter views it as a phone number - we continue to improve these filters and will continue to improve them to limit the amount of inadvertent warnings. 

Regarding the warnings, they by themselves will not result in a seller sanction (limits on listing, buying etc.) unless an agent reviews the content and can tell the intent of the buyer or seller was to take the item off eBay. We may restirct use of member to member communications. 

So, if a buyer emails you to take the item off eBay you should make it clear you will not do that. 

Thanks for selling on eBay

Brian

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Brian - TY for your reply - I don't have any problems with it myself - but the seller's board is abuzz with everyone imagining the worst and complaining. I've told them to come to chat and air their concerns but of course no one shows up.

It's not easy being an Ebay cheerleader - when the majority of posters see doom and gloom around every corner and I wonder why I waste my time. Again TY for your time spent here yesterday and make sure the head honchos know what a great team they have here helping on the boards and at Weekly Chat.

[jonathankirkland]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

Is there really any need to have a Basic Listing tool and an Advanced Listing tool?

I understand you want new sellers to be able to easily list things without overwhelming them, however the way the Basic Listing tool is setup right now is not very user friendly at all.

For example: for a fixed price listing, the Basic Tool defaults to having a "Best Offer" on it, when many users probably do not realize this or event want it. Not only that, but I don't think you can even select immediate payment required with the basic listing tool.

Also, I really believe that most people nowadays are smart enough to figure out the Advanced Listing tool and would like to have as many options as possible.

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Hi @jonathankirkland, providing tools that are tailored to the needs of our sellers is one of our biggest priorities. A lot of the options available in the Advanced Listing Tool are not utilized by newer sellers, and only serve to complicate the listing process. A streamlined Basic Listing Tool is ideal for those first starting out on eBay or for the occassional seller.

Additionally, 1) some default features such as Best Offer help to introduce new sellers to this option. 2) We automatically deny any offer below 30% of the asking price. 3) Immediate payment is another feature that is usually applied to the types of items new sellers list as the fall under the criteria we have set for this to be included automatically.

Lastly, 4) the Advanced Listing Tool is available to all sellers regardless of the age of their account or their selling volume. If a seller would like to dive in with more options, then they can opt to try out the Advanced Listing Tool 

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1) I really think it would be best if perhaps the option to included Best Offer or not is provided to new sellers with the basic listing tool. I have seen a lot of new sellers, myself included several months ago, not having any clue how to NOT include this option on our listings.

2) As far as the 30% goes, is that something that is new? Because when I started using it, there was not ANY default setup at all as far as declining offers and when you went in to the recommendations ebay suggested you entertain offers of up to 50% off the asking price!

3) As far as I can tell, immediate payment required is NOT a default, at least not with the Basic Listing tool...

4) Most new sellers are oblivious as to how to switch to the Advanced Listing tool. I realize it is in the upper right hand corner when you go to create a new listing, but really, people don't seem to look there. Perhaps it could be located better for people to see so they have the option when they are new to ebay?

[odditiesandantiquities1]

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@josjhw9i3fggmrd wrote:

I have been having an issue for a couple of days now. I cannot send an invoice to buyers. Every time I try to send it comes back with this message... “There is some technical error. Please try after sometime “.  Will this be fixed soon?

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Actually, I've been getting those messages on and off all day.

[siayan]

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@goodluckselling wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@goodluckselling wrote:

eBay messaging to sellers recently change as it relates to outcomes to cases that were settled.  In the past the verbage use to say something like

We ruled in the seller favor.  Your selling standards will not be affected and any feedback left from this buyer will be removed.

Now the verbage says this

We ruled in the sellers favor, and this outcome will not have any affect on your seller standards.

Notice the missing info about any feedback left will be removed in the new messaging from eBay.

____________

Here is my questions and it is fairly easy.

Moving forward: When cases are resolved and settled in sellers favor, does eBay still remove feedback left from the buyer?    Thanks

Good Luck Selling!

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Hi @goodluckselling, happy to confirm you that feedback is still removed when an eMBG case is closed as Seller Wins or if an appeal is granted for a Seller.

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Thank You for your quick response and I also want to thank you also for not using a bunch of eBay speak with tons of different meanings.

Now I would like to officially request you communicate with the proper team to put the verbage back in the outcome message eBay sends sellers for these kinds of instances.

Written words mean a whole lot more to us sellers especially since eBay does not have a very good history of doing what they say.  You are getting much better but not good enough to just take your word.

OTHER SELLERS  -  If you will PLEASE VOICE your demands to have this changed back by creating your own post making the same demands I just did.

This will help the Mods understand the importance of clear communications with sellers that will hopefully start to earn our trust when we see actions that take away uncertainty.

Good Luck Selling!

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I had a question in relation to this question.

If a seller has feedback removed is it removed from view but still included in the Best Search (cassini) seller standard or is it totally removed from the system.

[chrysylys]

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@goodluckselling wrote:

OTHER SELLERS  -  If you will PLEASE VOICE your demands to have this changed back by creating your own post making the same demands I just did.

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I do NOT agree that should be removed.  I think the FB should remain since it's still the buyer's evaluation of the transaction as a whole.

[tunicaslot]

Goodluckselling - I hear you loud and clear - unfortunately the ones that should be hearing that aren't here - they're back on the boards complaining. If they would learn to express their concerns and works with these great groups here - we may see a difference in these changes. I know Ebay wants the best for both sellers and buyers - because without either - there is no Ebay.

[alan@ebay]

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@odditiesandantiquities1 wrote:

alan@ebay

A seller provided a link to an article in Racked that was written on October 16th entitled Nobody Thinks About Ebay. There was an interesting comment near the end of the article that stated.

 Competing with Amazon on the “new” end of the retail spectrum is futile, but they could credibly fight off threats from startups like The Real Real and Poshmark. Many still believe eBay is the best option for vintage treasures, so why not own it? For now, though, the company has its sights set on pushing in the other direction, emphasizing the supposed shiny newness of what their sellers offer.

I was wondering what you thought of that. One of the reasons I sell on eBay is because my items are pre-owned. It is the site that gets me the most visibility for what I'm selling. There are others, but eBay does this better, I think, thank anybody else.  I personally don't like Amazon for much of anything except books. I think eBay does have it's own schtick. Why not move further in that direction? (direction isn't quite what I meant but I can't think of the word...lol. Maybe promoting that)

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I'd love to review the article, @odditiesandantiquities1. 

Can you share a link to it? I'll take a read and let you know. 

Thanks. 

[goodluckselling]

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@siayan wrote:

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I had a question in relation to this question.

If a seller has feedback removed is it removed from view but still included in the Best Search (cassini) seller standard or is it totally removed from the system.

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@siayan Feedback is not part of the seller standards any longer

Good Luck Selling!

[theshoppingmom2]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@theshoppingmom2 wrote:

Good afternoon everyone!

Got question :

I was wondering when  are we going to see the hurricane  credits that were  announced.

I was told it was coming  middle of the month

TIA

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Hi @theshoppingmom2! These credits should be available by the time of your invoice this month. If you are missing anything, email hurricanerelief@ebay.com and our dedicated support team will get back to you promptly.

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thanks @Anonymous

[golfingaddict]

I recently had a buyer open an INR case for an item the day after the item was expected to be delivered.

I checked the tracking, input it (again) into the case and suggested she wait another day or so and I could not explain why the Post Office delayed delivery.  She went on to update the case for the next two business days.  (she was VERY DISAPPOINTED in me .. her words)

The item was delivered.  It took FIVE business days.... the horror of it all....

I called to have the case closed in my favor... no problem.

But here are my problems..

1.  The tracking was already associated with the transaction and obviously the buyer could see it.

Why did I have to enter it again.  I use ebay shipping.. it is automatic.

2. When I had the case closed in my favor, the CSR told me that the buyer can leave feedback because she has "an opinion of the transaction"  Why is this possible?  The case was found in my favor.  I did everything I was suppose to do. 

3.  Why was she able to open a case so quickly?  Is this because of the Guaranteed Delivery program?  Since I do handling time Guaranteed delivery, does she have a way to apply for the shipping refund/certificate? It was free shipping. 

Thank you.

[goodluckselling]

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@chrysylys wrote:

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@goodluckselling wrote:

OTHER SELLERS  -  If you will PLEASE VOICE your demands to have this changed back by creating your own post making the same demands I just did.

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I do NOT agree that should be removed.  I think the FB should remain since it's still the buyer's evaluation of the transaction as a whole.

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The voice I am speaking about is the verbage where eBay tells sellers the feedback will be removed if the outcome meets the standards in place.

Good Luck Selling!

[smwhackedhack_3]

I'm having a very annoying glitch/bug when trying to buy in eBay. This started 3 days ago...

Basically, I am trying to pay an item I won by being the highest bidder.

I tried to use:

3 credit cards (i reviewed the info, it's correct)

PayPal (same)

PayPal credit card is verified...

ButI get a LOT of errors. And some of them are different. This makes me confused.

They say to verify my credit card (PayPal) (already verified), or, simply, "Couldn't process your payment." and tells me to use another payment. But I already tried 3 credit cards and my PayPal...

I don't know what to do. The seller can send me a Unpaid Item Dispute. But it's not my fault.

I need help. NOW. 

Edit: I won the item 3 days ago and I am trying to pay it since 3 days ago...