eBay

brian@ebay · ‎10-07-2020

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,
Community Team

carolynnq · ‎10-07-2020

@sillage wrote:
Thanks, Brian. People have been selling and buying used fragrances for literally years and years on eBay. It wasn't until last year's temporary disappearance of the "used" category that there was any perception that eBay might not want these items to be bought and sold in the Fragrances category.

There are some very rare, discontinued fragrances that are hard to find, period. Sometimes the only ones available for sale on the entire Internet are preowned. If eBay bans them from Fragrances and also from Vanity, Perfume, and Shaving, then all the serious collectors and dealers will move to Etsy and other sites where these items are still allowable. So I'm hoping that we will at least be allowed to buy and sell them in Vanity, Perfume, and Shaving, if not in Fragrances. Thank you.

I hope so too. I've both bought and sold used fragrances on eBay - more bought than sold. One I always look for myself from the '60s. But my favorite purchase was for my MIL. She mentioned a fragrance from the '40s she used to wear and how she would love to smell it again. When I finally found one on eBay, I purchased it for her, and she was ecstatic. These are the kinds of things that make eBay eBay - it's nice being able to purchase new commodities here too, but those commodities can be purchased in many other places.

inceptions · ‎10-07-2020

Here are more issues with shipping labels using bulk shipping:

Instead of having the free-form field for dimensions, recently up/down arrows have been added. To use them for a package with no dimensions defined, you have to spend time clicking and clicking to get to the correct numbers. Fortunately you can type in a new value, but since the arrows cover up the second digit in many cases, you can't easily read them. I would prefer you put back the free-form field because these arrows add zero value, but if not, at least enlarge the boxes so the data can be seem.

Another issue is the customs form. If the buyer purchased multiples of an item, the customs form is incorrect. When the seller fills it out, eBay shows the correctly-extended total cost and weight for the number of units. He then checks the box swearing to the accuracy of the information he's entered. However when the form actually prints, it shows the cost and weight for a single unit. The result is that the seller has inadvertently falsified the information on the form, and the buyer pays the wrong customs duty/taxes. I've been reporting this all year and still nothing has been done.

Every few weeks I create an international label to see if it's still broken and if so, I have to void the label and create a new one (waiting two weeks for my refund). To create a correct label, the seller must monkey around with the description, quantity, and price...this is not exactly an acceptable workaround. 🙂

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Edit: A reply to your comments can be found here

Inceptions
Volunteer Community Mentor, buying and selling on eBay since 2004

valueaddedresource · ‎10-07-2020

brian@ebay - that announcement was posted at 9:51 AM yesterday. At 10:52 AM yesterday tyler@ebay replied to my post here and said that a "communications plan was being reviewed", which would seem to indicate eBay was working on a plan for communication beyond just that basic announcement that had already been posted.

I sincerely hope eBay plans to communicate something beyond that announcement. If that is the entire communications plan, it is woefully inadequate. It does nothing to address what the cause of the issues was, what steps were taken to resolve the issues (or if they even have been resolved) and most importantly what steps are being taken to prevent those issues from happening again.

eBay can and must do better than this.

Edit: Reply to this thread can be read here

mam98031 · ‎10-07-2020

tyler@ebay wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

This issue I ran across is MP related, but I thought you guys might be able to pass it along. There are two policy pages that don't completely agree with each other or lack detail to explain things better.

I'll have to give the info in a pic as I still can't seem to copy from the policy pages into a post on the forums. Such an annoying problem that I sure wish would get fixed.

Hi @mam98031 - would you mind helping me understand the disparity so I can get it to the payments team? The way I'm reading it the top one indicates what the Dispute Fee is, and the second indicates when it may be charged. But also it's been a long day and I may be missing something.

IMHO they should match. When there is additional info in one policy over another about the exact same thing, it is hard to be sure that we have all the info we need on any given subject. And this is a clear example of that.

If I were to call up the first policy and not look for other policies that may pertain to the question I was seeking an answer for, I wouldn't know that if I accepted the chargeback and voluntarily refunded that the dispute fee would be forgiven.

I don't understand why they wouldn't read exactly the same on both the policy pages. What am I missing? What makes them different between policy pages?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

mdw13 · ‎10-07-2020

tyler@ebay wrote:
@golfingaddict wrote:
I am having an ongoing issue with faulty tracking updates showing in the orders I have shipped.
1. I use ebay shipping
2. The tracking is updated to ebay automatically.
3. My packages are packed and taken to the post office usually the same day as I print the labels but I occasionally print and pack labels the night before, but always ship on the date of the label.

This is what is shown when I look at tracking on the ebay site. The second photo shows the tracking when I look at the USPS site. Notice that on the ebay side I see an extra update that says that the pre-shipment is sent to USPS and is awaiting item. This is after the post office has the item and it is on it's way
THe way the ebay site shows, the package is picked up, sent to sorting center 120 miles away and then leaves the sorting center in Kent WA and is on it's way, only for it to show "pre-shipment" the day after it is shipped and accepted. I have numerous examples of this, on numerous days. Where is ebay getting that additional (wrong) tracking update?
Hi @golfingaddict - not certain what's happening there, it looks like the scan normally associated with when you purchase postage on eBay is showing up in the tracking info much later.

I will get this reported as a potential technical issue. Thanks!

I can confirm that I have seen this exact thing happen on multiple items I've bought in the last week as well.

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎10-07-2020

This is the most recent Announcement from ebay , posted yesterday.:

"We are aware of the technical issues occurring in Seller Hub within the Orders and Payments tabs.

The eBay team is actively engaged in resolving this issue with the greatest urgency. Please check back on this post, as we will update sellers here when the issue is resolved.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. As always, thank you for selling on eBay."

As far as I can tell, the issue has indeed been resolved. If that is correct, then shouldn't the Announcement be updated as promised?

Edit: Reply to this post can be read here

glgenterprise · ‎10-07-2020

Apparently the site ate my long question, so here I go again.

Last week, I raised my concern about a shipping module zip code issue that has been going on for the better part of 18 months, and I was not clear enough for Tyler to understand what I was asking.

Up until about 18-24 months ago, the eBay shipping module had the same ability that the USPS site still has where you could select "ship for a different zip code". You could use your actual address, but there would be the option to change the ship from zip that printed separately, that would correctly credit the drop off post office and get the proper zone rates for packages, particularly first class packages. This disappeared during one of the updates, and at the time we were told that it was a USPS mandate - but it does not make a ton of sense since it is still available on their own site.

The work-around has been to change the ship from address in eBay to something like this:

John Doe

General Delivery

123 Main St

Anywhere, USA 00100

where the city and zip matched the PO you were mailing from. This is a problem on a couple of levels, including looking sketchy to buyers, and more so - if a package is undeliverable or refused, there is little chance the seller will get it back.

In my case, my "official" post office is a 25 mile round trip. The local one is 3 miles round trip. It is a waste of time and resources for me to have to make that trip each day. While I could request a pick-up, our delivery person is very undependable no matter how many complaints are made. Because of the odd boundaries, the local office does not have the same 3 digit prefix as my official address.

is there any movement at all to correct this or add functionality back in?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

brian@ebay · ‎10-07-2020

@mam98031 wrote:

I know we have visited this a few times, but I'd like to go over it again as we have seen no improvement in this and it has been going on for a long time. So either the engineering team on the shipping labels don't see the importance or there is no intention to fix this.

The oldest issue is the order in which the package size appears. On a listing it appears this way.

But then when you go to the label it will appear in a different order which is confusion none of us needs. Consistency is so important in many walks of life and this is just another one. Frankly I don't know why it was ever done differently than the listings. If they want to keep this order on a shipping label, then change the order on the listing forms. But make them the same.

Now another problem that persists on the shipping label program is the various shipping options. We finally got rid of that silly Buyer Choice Icon beside the most expensive shipping a while back. Even when there were no choices on the listing. But old problem and it is now gone.

But we are left with what you see above which is also a problem. If you want to see only USPS rates, you have to do two clicks to get there, you must click the UPS and the Fedx buttons to turn them off and just leave you with USPS. Or you can do one click and click on "compare all services" and then weed through those to find the actual class you want to use.

I'm unsure as to what benefit it is to add more clicks and/or confusion to the label process. It use to be so darn easy and for some reason there seems to be this need to make it more complicated or they just aren't thinking this stuff through.

I should be able to click on the carrier I want to use and let it stay my default unless I choose to change it. This is just nonsense and a waste of time.

@mam98031 the shipping team is aware of the dimensions fields order and the requests to have the order changed. No update on that right now.

Thanks for the feedback about ow services are displayed. That's something I can pass along 🙂

Brian,
Community Team

tyler@ebay · ‎10-07-2020

@mam98031 wrote:

In case it hasn't been reported, the bell in the community, which is the only way we have right now of knowing if a thread we are following has been updated either isn't working at all or its extremely hit and miss. Likely more miss than hit.

Hi @mam98031 - it doesn't look like something we've seen reports of yet (though it may be related to the mysterious 101 notifications bug from last month), so thanks for bringing this up. Would you mind also posting it on the Community Platform Feedback board so Brian and I can work on it after the chat? It also lets others who are seeing similar things chime in too. Thanks!

Tyler,

mam98031 · ‎10-07-2020

brian@ebay wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
I know we have visited this a few times, but I'd like to go over it again as we have seen no improvement in this and it has been going on for a long time. So either the engineering team on the shipping labels don't see the importance or there is no intention to fix this.

The oldest issue is the order in which the package size appears. On a listing it appears this way.

But then when you go to the label it will appear in a different order which is confusion none of us needs. Consistency is so important in many walks of life and this is just another one. Frankly I don't know why it was ever done differently than the listings. If they want to keep this order on a shipping label, then change the order on the listing forms. But make them the same.

Now another problem that persists on the shipping label program is the various shipping options. We finally got rid of that silly Buyer Choice Icon beside the most expensive shipping a while back. Even when there were no choices on the listing. But old problem and it is now gone.

But we are left with what you see above which is also a problem. If you want to see only USPS rates, you have to do two clicks to get there, you must click the UPS and the Fedx buttons to turn them off and just leave you with USPS. Or you can do one click and click on "compare all services" and then weed through those to find the actual class you want to use.

I'm unsure as to what benefit it is to add more clicks and/or confusion to the label process. It use to be so darn easy and for some reason there seems to be this need to make it more complicated or they just aren't thinking this stuff through.

I should be able to click on the carrier I want to use and let it stay my default unless I choose to change it. This is just nonsense and a waste of time.
@mam98031 the shipping team is aware of the dimensions fields order and the requests to have the order changed. No update on that right now.

Thanks for the feedback about ow services are displayed. That's something I can pass along 🙂

I know you are the messenger. It has been months since I first reported the dimension problems on the chat. There have been updates to the label program since that time. So it appears to me that the team handling this doesn't seem to believe this is or should be an issue. I know that isn't you nor am I trying to say it is. It is just how it comes across.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

bimmerpc1 · ‎10-07-2020

Two questions:

1) What is eBay's policy on buyers refusing package delivery and a seller's subsequent liability? We offer (free) returns. A buyer provided a vacant address with no forwarding. When the USPS attempted to deliver they marked it refused. Historically, if a buyer then opened an INR request, eBay would close it in the seller's favor as it's the buyer's responsibility to receive the package and provide a valid address. This seems to be consistent with recent eBay community staff messaging . Is that still the case? And what happens if the buyer subsequently opens an INAD for the same item when they refused it - is the seller covered for that?

2) A buyer started a return and we provided a shipping label using eBay's return labels. The buyer shipped the item, USPS seems to have lost it as there has been no tracking movement for the past few weeks. Today eBay messaged us and said that the item MAY have been delivered by now (it hasn't). Viewing the return in the console now, the tracking info for the parcel has disappeared and eBay says "it looks like the item may have been delivered, inspect and refund within 2 business days". We haven't received back the item. We no longer have access to the tracking info indicating where it might be. What happens after eBay's deadline, assuming we don't have the item back? Is eBay going to turn this into a seller-fault defect and issue the buyer a full refund on our dime?

Edit: Reply to this post can be read here

brian@ebay · ‎10-07-2020

@donsdetour wrote:

Just a notice:

Users on Manged Pay selling clothing are being told they can no:, I have yet to ascertain if category (is in one case) or key word blocking such listings.

My best guess is the adult item restriction on MP is the cause of this, and the box having been indexed to the wrong category.

@donsdetour thanks so much for letting me know about this. Can you tag me in a thread and provide more details (such as a screenshot if you can one) showing the error? Thank you!

Brian,
Community Team

mam98031 · ‎10-07-2020

tyler@ebay wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

In case it hasn't been reported, the bell in the community, which is the only way we have right now of knowing if a thread we are following has been updated either isn't working at all or its extremely hit and miss. Likely more miss than hit.

Hi @mam98031 - it doesn't look like something we've seen reports of yet (though it may be related to the mysterious 101 notifications bug from last month), so thanks for bringing this up. Would you mind also posting it on the Community Platform Feedback board so Brian and I can work on it after the chat? It also lets others who are seeing similar things chime in too. Thanks!

I will do that. It appears the bell is starting to work again. It stopped for me about 10:40AM this morning and started getting entries from this chat at about 1:40PM.

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Edit: A reply to your comment can be found here

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you." Quote from Edward I Koch

brian@ebay · ‎10-07-2020

@sillage wrote:

Thanks, Brian. People have been selling and buying used fragrances for literally years and years on eBay. It wasn't until last year's temporary disappearance of the "used" category that there was any perception that eBay might not want these items to be bought and sold in the Fragrances category.

There are some very rare, discontinued fragrances that are hard to find, period. Sometimes the only ones available for sale on the entire Internet are preowned. If eBay bans them from Fragrances and also from Vanity, Perfume, and Shaving, then all the serious collectors and dealers will move to Etsy and other sites where these items are still allowable. So I'm hoping that we will at least be allowed to buy and sell them in Vanity, Perfume, and Shaving, if not in Fragrances. Thank you.

@sillage I'm gonna look into more and let you know what I find out 🙂

Brian,
Community Team