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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.
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Hello all!
It's fair to say that the current Shipping form is slowly going completely bonkers. In addition to the unaddressed problems with package dimensions getting loaded into the wrong variables:
...it is now (as of a couple of days ago) setting the default Shipping method to the wrong choice, selecting Priority Mail when the buyer's choice was First Class Package:
...and selecting FedEx Overnight, of all things, when the buyer's choice was Priority:
I had heard of this happening occasionally in the past, but had not seen it happening myself. Now it seems to be completely locked in as a malfunction that occurs every time.
I'm pretty sure that this has been reported in the past, so reporting it again today will simply make the rubble bounce. I would like to ask different questions instead, ones that have been kind of sidestepped in the past, but I think it's important to get them up front now:
- Do you have actual two-way communication with the people responsible for getting these problems fixed? Video conferencing or other regularly scheduled meetings, for example?
- Why is it taking so long to fix? We're talking months here.
- Who is testing this code before it is released? If the new code really is being tested, how or why did it get released in this state? (For the record, the recently-revised Blocked Bidder List and Buyer Requirements Exemption List pages are still unrepaired as well.)
It's possible to reach eBay management through their LinkedIn pages, and programmers through such sites as StackOverflow, but it should not be necessary to go outside normal channels just to get feedback on important code fixes. I mean, really, this is basic stuff. How can we expedite the process of getting obvious coding errors fixed?
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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.
@carlqsportscards wrote:
Last couple of days when I buy labels, the default is set to priority mail, instead of the buyer selected first class package.
Very annoying. Almost clicked purchase a few times before noticing.
@carlqsportscards I saw another report of this today and over the last few weeks. I've reported it but am still collecting examples to add to that report. Feel free to tag me if you have screenshots showing the discrepancy and I'll send them over to the tech team. Thanks!
I have been seeing a lot of complaints about the shipping label not defaulting to the buyer selected method as it should.
I experienced this today too.
I would like to know if this is a glitch and if so then can eBay PLEASE post that it is a known glitch on the seller's announcements board. OR if this is on purpose then post a notice about it too so that sellers are not caught off guard.
First-class shipping was the only shipping method offered on this listing
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Edit: A reply to your comment can be found here
Good afternoon eBay Support Team!
Subject: eBay’s Label Flow
It may be time to post a “flash flood” warning on eBay’s label “flow” as problems and issues keep piling up. This week I noticed numerous threads on Priority Mail being selected by eBay when Buyers actually purchased other services like Media Mail, First Class, Parcel Select. It has happened to me too.
For myself it is not a big issue considering that for most items over 1 lbs I offer BOTH Parcel Select and Priority Mail – Buyers usually pick Parcel Select but I use my discount and upgrade to Priority Mail. But for other Sellers who don’t do that or where other services were selected it is indeed another glitch that needs to be fixed.
In the pic below arrows 1 & 2 show the Buyer selected service and arrow 3 shows Priority Mail selected by eBay. Arrow 4 is just a REMINDER about the dimensions being in the wrong order as reported - what 6 weeks ago? And I guess while we are on it the 2nd pic shows the Bulk Label flow still having those pesky little up and down arrows hiding part of 2 digit dimensions - as this been addressed as well? Plus, WHY are there two label flows? One for a single item and one for bulk label printing??????
I know you have said on more than one occasion that these issues have been passed on to the department that handles them - but the fact remains they are not being handled …
Edit: Reply to this post can be read here
The "buyer Selected" icon has reared it's ugly head again on the label program. I and others reported this months ago and it subsequently got removed. Now it is back. This time in just a bit of a different form. Before what was labeled as "buyer selected" was the default carrier and service [even though buyer CAN'T select this] but now it is not the default method of shipment.
What defaults is usually the most expensive type of shipping method.
There are three carrier icons. Fedex, UPS and USPS. Now the logical mind might think that if you click on the USPS icon you will only see the shipping options for USPS, but Oh no that is not how that works. You must select the TWO methods you do NOT want to see so that the ONE you want to see will display.
While the engineers may not and obviously do not see these as important issues as it has been reported for months, all it does is create extra work for sellers in creating a shipping label. It has ZERO value and I don't know why they seem to not recognize this.
Some sellers on a thread or two have been saying that they have received their TRS discount on international sales when they are not a Global TRS. Has the structure of how the TRS discounts are applied changed? If so when and what changed?
My understanding is that the TRS discount for US sellers is only on the product amount of the sale for domestic transactions.
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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
When I go to print an ebay shipping label, ebay shows the buyer's chosen method as the default. At least, ebay HAD been showing that. NOW, ebay is showing a different choice as default. Is this a glitch? Is it intentional? If intentional, why on earth change the default to something the buyer did NOT choose? (In the labels I've seen with this change, ebay has defaulted to "Fast" rather than "Buyer Selected" or "Best Value"....)
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques it's a know issue that shouldn't be happening (it's not intentional). The Community team has sent and is continuing to bubble this up to our tech team. Personally, I'd like to see it fixed soon since the holidays are coming up.
