mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Regards,
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.
Missed the chat? Send your questions to the podcast by calling 888-723-4630 or email us at podcast@ebay.com and maybe your questions will make it on the air! Or listen to past episodes while you wait for next Wednesday!
🙂
brian@ebay wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:
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 …
@mr_lincoln this appears to be the topic of todays weekly chat 😉 Both of these issues have been reported and our tech team is aware. Thank you for these screenshots! Our tech teams love examples and screenshots so I'll get these added to the ticket 🙂
brian@ebay Hey Brian, I know you have no control over the "tech teams" but what did they do with the screen shots they got weeks ago on the dimension issue on the single label and little arrows on the Bulk label flow? With the rearrangement of the dimensions I am thinking these are off shore programmers not familiar with package (box) dimensions here in the US. That or they are from the lumber industry where boards are measured by cross section then length (like 2 x 4s ... 2 x 4 x 8'). Anyway, I know you are trying and I appreciate that ...
Mr. L
______
Edit: Reply to this post can be read here
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
One thing I like about Promoted Listings is that, as a TRS, I get a $30 quarterly credit applied against PL fees. In other words, my first $30 worth of PL fees in any quarter are basically free. I just read the transcript of this week's ebay for business podcast, and, if I'm reading this correctly, Q4, 2020, will be the last quarter to offer the TRS PL credit? Starting next year, no TRS PL credit? Is that right? Here's the text of the Transcript:
"The other thing to remember too, is if you're a Top Rated Seller, you can actually try Promoted Listings for nothing. So you can get for this quarter, you could get a $30 credit to use to, to try them and get the effect and get the benefit. The second thing is you'll get increased access to different types of premium placements across the site for your listing. So it's not just on search results page. That's obviously a really key place, an important place to be. But it's also in the merch strips on view item and a whole host of other places all over the site. And it's really, really, really easy. I know that sounds like, okay, how easy could it really be? But it really is quite easy. You just need to decide what you want to promote, how much you want to promote it for. And then we kind of take over from there.
So promotions for promoted listings or PL are these temporary, or are these ongoing?
This is going to end. This is just for Q4. So make sure if you want to take advantage of it, do it now. "
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - I'm unaware of any announcement made about this benefit of being Top Rated going away. I will see if there's more to the story that I can find out!
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Some years back, I was terribly disappointed to hear that ebay had basically done away with the Stores Team, and since then, Stores have been largely ignored by ebay, to the detriment of ebay and sellers. Now I'm hearing that ebay is finally realizing the value of stores. However, I still have not been able to find a store on the ebay App (I'm using Android). I can find a list of a seller's items, but not a seller's store. I thought an ebay exec had said a while ago that stores were now in the App. Am I not looking in the right place? Or are stores still not in the App? If they aren't, is there any timeline for their appearance? And by the way I did see Bradford Shellhammer's mock ups of what stores in the App might eventually look like, but did I understand him correctly, we won't see these designs (or similar) until next year some time? (For the mock-ups, go here at about 30:00: Holiday marketing and customer support | October Seller Check-In Webinar
Holiday marketing and customer support | October Seller Check-In WebinarI'm happy to see the mock-ups include things I've mentioned in the past: video ability, links to our Social Media pages, etc.....so I think the new Stores team is headed in the right direction. (Finally). Maybe you could have the team drop by here at some point?
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - you haven't missed anything, stores still aren't accessible via the mobile app. I'm glad to hear you liked Bradford's presentation and mockups! From what I understand the plan is to have these available sometime next year. As it gets closer to release I definitely think it would be great to have them on for a weekly chat! I'll start pitching them now. 🙂
@avi_m_s wrote:
These are some questions I had, primarily for the eBay US Labels team.
1. What happened to the "FREE Co-branded eBay and USPS Priority Mail Shipping Boxes"?
Site: uspssupplies.ebay.com/uspsweb/catalog
The site seems to have gone offline after March 2020 with no signs of returning.
Mentioned here and here: pages.ebay.com/USPS/preparingitems-flatrate.html
2. Will eBay Labels be adding support for UPS Declared Value? UPS Carbon Neutral? UPS Store Label QR Code? Et. al.?
3. Will eBay Labels be adding support for UPS SurePost (same service tier as FedEx SmartPost)?
4. Will eBay Labels be adding support for USPS Priority Mail Express (PME) Flat Rate Padded Envelope(s)?
I only see the PME Legal Flat Rate Envelope (15″ x 9 1/2″) and PME Flat Rate Envelope (12 1/2″ x 9 1/2″) - which are generally meant for documents and manuscripts as opposed to the more commonly sold clothing, books, and jewelry that only fit in the PME Padded Envelope - on the eBay Labels platform as of now.
The PayPal Labels platform has had this option for a while.
Might be a repost since my last reply disappeared.
@avi_m_s it sounds like the co-branded boxes have been discontinued, but I'm not sure on it. I'll get that help page reported to the right team for review! The good news is Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes are free at many post office locations.
For questions 2 - 4, there hasn't been any official communication on this and it's not something I'm aware of happening. I'll send your suggestions to the shipping team though 🙂
@renegade-chance wrote:
Will eBay management be endorsing USPS back to good standing after the election ballots are all mailed in and service improves, after stating FedEx and UPS are better option currently?
Howdy @renegade-chance - we're regularly in touch with carriers about their delivery performance and estimates and will make sure that we update you as those change. Hoping that we see them continue to improve as we get further into the Holiday Season!
@mr_lincoln wrote:
🙂
brian@ebay wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:
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 …
@mr_lincoln this appears to be the topic of todays weekly chat 😉 Both of these issues have been reported and our tech team is aware. Thank you for these screenshots! Our tech teams love examples and screenshots so I'll get these added to the ticket 🙂
brian@ebay Hey Brian, I know you have no control over the "tech teams" but what did they do with the screen shots they got weeks ago on the dimension issue on the single label and little arrows on the Bulk label flow? With the rearrangement of the dimensions I am thinking these are off shore programmers not familiar with package (box) dimensions here in the US. That or they are from the lumber industry where boards are measured by cross section then length (like 2 x 4s ... 2 x 4 x 8'). Anyway, I know you are trying and I appreciate that ...
Mr. L
@mr_lincoln they acknowledged that they got the screenshots and and that'd work on getting is changed. I haven't received any new information since then.
@moonbloodstone wrote:
I wished eBay would work on the Jewelry Section.
- When purchasing Jewelry many times the color Gold and Silver that are only gold-toned say just gold. It works the same with Silver. Most of the time it is gold filled or plated. This decit
- Many different stones that are Identified by color show up in search as the actual stone when in fact they are only colored the particular color. For example Ruby is identified as a color and not a stone it shows up as a genuine stone.
- Many simulated stones are listed as an authentic stone Instead of cut glass or Faceted glass ( crystal) are plastic.
- All jewelry should be listed on whether it is hypoallergenic.
- Many things listed as cloisonné are just painted.
- Some items that are new are listed as antiques or Old when they are in fact “New.”
- Multiple listings that have a cheap leader of .99 with an odd or very cheap item and on most multiple listings the .99 shows up as the price. Some listing will show the low and the high price. Example .99-3.99.
As a buyer it gets harder and harder sorting out what I am looking for. I think jewelry is #1 in listing errors and switch and bait.
Is it possible for eBay to do this? Putting hypo-allergenic would open Sales for most Buyers. Thank You for listening and replying.
Hi @moonbloodstone - thanks for sharing your thoughts and suggestions on the Jewelry category. As I'm sure you know, if you receive an item that isn't as described you are covered by the seller's stated return policy as well as our eBay Money Back Guarantee. You can use the drop down options in your purchase history to request a return.
I'll make sure that your general observations are shared with the proper teams, but when it comes to the 'Hypoallergenic' search box, you can email that request directly to sdsupport@ebay.com. They'd love to hear your suggestion!
brittanie@ebay wrote:
@a_c_green wrote:
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?
Hi @a_c_green I'm going to need some time to dig into this. I'll provide you with an update here when I know more.
@a_c_green We’ve reported the issue with the dimensions order, but at this time don’t have an update. The issue with the default shipping service selection on the labels page has also been reported and is being worked on. I really appreciate your screenshots as this did help me provide this to the tech team.
- As our team isn’t on the product side, we don’t have a weekly sync up with the team over shipping. We do have processes in place to report tech issues and prioritize those fixes but we are not part of that world.
- Because of the amount of processes/tools that go into eBay, tech issues are prioritized based on several factors, such type of impact and amount of members affected.
- Working with our product teams, I know that they rigorously go through tests and checks on anything we release; however, nothing is perfect and sometimes things go wrong that just weren’t expected. We have open reports for the two issues you mentioned and they are being worked on.
As mentioned, we have internal processes to report issues like this to the correct team, to make sure it’s handled in a timely manner according to the priority. Sending us examples like the above helps us with the reports with the tech team.
@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Some weeks ago a buyer filed a dispute with their credit card company (not with ebay), claiming they had not received their item. In Managed Payments, the entry for the buyers payment was placed on "Hold" and a dispute number given. ebay asked me to provide proof of delivery (USPS) and I did so. A couple days ago, the Managed Payments entry went from "Hold" to "released", which I assume means ebay has put the money back into MPs. Which is great. What confuses me is this: when I go to the page with the actual dispute information, it still indicates "Payment institution reviewing" rather than "outcome decided" If this is still under review, why did ebay release the payment to me? On the other hand, if the dispute has been decided, why doesn't it show that?
Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques definitely seems to be a little confusing. Unfortunately, I’m not able to provide a lot of detail because of it being a Managed Payments dispute. In this situation, you’re going to be best served by using the 'Have us call option' to reach the Payments team to confirm what to expect with the dispute here.
