eBay

brian@ebay · ‎10-08-2019

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on October 9th 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

dhbookds · ‎10-09-2019

So.............do ya'll have electricity or are you answering by candlelight????

hope all is ok with you personally, lol........I would ~~bet~~ hope ebay can cope..........

Anonymous · ‎10-09-2019

@nc-daydreamer wrote:

I'd like to know why Volume Discounts cannot apply to buyers who order more than one item number from the same seller? It seems as if a buyer must buy 2 or more of the same item to qualify. What about ordering different items? Thanks.

Hi @nc-daydreamer, Volume Discounts are specifically for when a buyer is purchasing more than a single quantity of the same item. This is a feature that sellers have been asking for, as it is much easier to control your profit margin when setting item specific discounts. If a seller would like to provide discounts for purchasing multiple items, they can do so through the other promotional tools available on eBay (such as Promotions Manager).

inthewoodspam · ‎10-09-2019

tyler@ebay wrote:
@inthewoodspam wrote:
I would like to know if ebay will honor a $10.00 promotion for selling, that I activated on one of my IDs, which has now disappeared? I cannot find the email, the promotion, or any sign of it now and would like to know where it went. It was supposed to be good through the 13th if I sold $30.00 worth per the rules.
Hi @inthewoodspam - I'm happy to check it out - can you give me any more detail about what the promotion was and which account received it?

This is the ID I received it on and it was titled something like "Give selling a try and earn a $10.00 coupon".

There is a thread about this offer on the selling board:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Give-selling-a-try-and-earn-a-10-coupon/td-p/30294822/jump-to/...

tyler@ebay · ‎10-09-2019

@nc-daydreamer wrote:

2nd question...

Exactly what does it mean when the message "eBay note:This listing hasn't had any sales in at least 16 months. Please consider updating it" appears on a listing? As it does not mean what it says and is very misleading. One can change the title, pictures, condition, description, price, promote level, etc... and that message remains even though the listing HAS been updated. The only way to make it go away is to end it (which breaks links to watchers) and do a relist. So why is the message not that a relisting is needed instead of an update?

Thanks.

Hi @nc-daydreamer - thanks for this question! I was under a similar impression as yourself, so I don't have a ready answer for you. I'll send this to the Seller Hub team and see if they can get us more detail about exactly what this message is meant to advise. Thanks!

Tyler,

pursesbrasplusmore · ‎10-09-2019

Ebay auto adding INCORRECT item specifics. Please, please, please, stop auto adding them. Let the seller add what applies. Easy for seller to miss then item is not as described & it’s ebay’s fault.
Way too many duplicate/conflicting item specifics ie. For a woman’s top, ie. FEATURES – knit, knit top; High-Low, Hi-Lo. ACCENTS – knit, knitted; High Low, Hi-Lo, High-Low. What is the buyer supposed to check? What is the seller supposed to check? My sales dropped 50% since ebay started adding more & more item specifics.
Please add “regular” OR “normal” under sleeve style, but not both.
Need to be able to choose more than blouse/top/shirt style - I have many items that could be considered three different styles.
Sales down 50% since ebay’s last “improvements” . 😞 😞

heckofagame · ‎10-09-2019

Sales tax is applied at the location of purchase. With purchases from eBay, that location is the buyer's computer. If the buyer's state requires that sales tax be collected, then any purchases destined for that location will have tax applied.

mam98031 · ‎10-09-2019

brian@ebay wrote:
@golfingaddict wrote:
My question is about seller protection:

This happens frequently, just last week.

I send brand new in package undergarments.

Buyer receives exactly what they order but says "wore them, don't fit well, are uncomfortable, bigger than I thought (or smaller) I need to return them" In about half the cases they claim Not as described because they do not fit. In about 100% of the cases, the items are essentially ruined and I cannot resell them. (worn, out of package, no packaging included with return etc..)

Does the new seller protections offer me any recourse? Protections? Am I just expected to take the loss because the buyer doesn't like them, they don't fit, they are uncomfortable or other (not my problem) issues?

Thank you.
Hi @golfingaddict, the enhanced protections for Top Rated Sellers give sellers the option to give a partial refund if an item is returned damaged, used, or altered. Doing a partial refund also comes with feedback, defect, and seller metric protection for the seller. You can view the partial refund guideline table here to see when and how much of a partial refund can be given in different circumstances. Additionally, if a buyer falsely reports an item is Not As Described, sellers can report the buyer to us and received a $6 credit on their monthly invoice, along with feedback, defect, and seller metrics protections.

The Seller Protections team will be here for next weeks Weekly Chat, so be sure to join us then if you have further questions

Ebay use to have a policy on Altered or items not in the condition in which they were sent. So this means Ebay is doing away with that completely. The best situation Ebay will allow is for the seller to lose 50% [using the partial refund option]?? So sellers now need to accept anything the buyer chooses to ship back to us in any condition?

What happened to the policies on items must be returned in the same condition as sent?

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

autopiacarcare · ‎10-09-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
@autopiacarcare wrote:
Are there any current known issues going on with Promotions Manager? There seems to be a long delay a lot of times between scheduled start and end times and actual start and end times.

For example, I had 2 markdown promotions running over the weekend that were both scheduled to end at 11:30 PM Pacific Sunday Night. However, when I came in to work at 8 AM Eastern Monday (about 5.5 hours past the scheduled end time), they were both still active. They eventually ended on their own a few hours later.

When I create markdown promotions, I usually select the "start now" option. However, sometimes it takes several hours for them to actually start. For example, I started one markdown promotion at about 2:30 PM Eastern today (1 hour and 40 minutes ago) and it still is "pending".

I've also seen several posts on the community boards this week that have been experiencing issues as well, so I don't believe it is just limited to me.

I would imagine that just like us, many sellers plan out their promotions and target specific times/days for a reason. it is frustrating when the promotions don't run as scheduled and it also makes it very difficult to do any kind of testing/analysis to use for planning future promotional strategies.
Hi @autopiacarcare, most of the time these promotions will go live immediately. In some situations (such as when a large number of items are included in the promotion or within certain categories), there can be a delay as the request is processed. If you can give some additional details/examples we'll be happy to look into this further and investigate any technical issues that may be present.

Thanks @Anonymous . It's been several months since I've had a promotion that went live "immediately". I have 1 from today that only had 9 items in it and even that one took about 30 minutes. Most of my promotions have 300-400 products at any given time, but sometimes they are smaller.

Considering that eBay allows for up to 500 items to be selected individually when creating a sale and allows for a file upload with thousands of items at a time, I would think eBay would have planned to have the resources available to handle the basic promotional functions that they offer. In fact, up until a few months ago I ran promotions with that many items and they did start and end exactly when I wanted them to.

It seems that in the last few months either something has changed on eBay's side or your servers just can't keep up.

nc-daydreamer · ‎10-09-2019

@3r_technology_solutions wrote:
golfingaddict
Vacation Settings
in reply to brian.t@ebay 10-09-2019 01:19:44 PM

I have used vacation settings for years In my store. I understand how they work. Usually I just set it to block purchases and then have nothing to worry about.

Recently I went away from Saturday to Wednesday with expected ship date on Thursday, which is 4 day handling time for anything that sold over the days I was gone.
Because the listings no longer show handling time UNLESS you put 10 day handling time or longer, I set my handling time to 10 days.

So I had my listings with 10 day handling time showing right next to the buy now button and I had my vacation settings set to "away" returning on Thursday (with a note)

And a buyer purchased an item on Sunday and became irate and sent me a blistering email complaining that he "just saw that I had 10 days handling" and wanted to know why I couldn't ship immediately.

I explained, offered to cancel/refund but wondered why the buyer did not seem to notice prior to purchase that I had extended handling time or that I was on vacation.

Does it show the same on all devices? For example, I rarely use the APP and I use edge or IE for my browser. Am I seeing it differently than my buyers?

Was I out of line to change my handling time and put my store on vacation that way? I figured that I would be able to ship by Thursday so it wasn't that prolonged a wait to ship.

What do you suggest?

Buyers rarely read past the title and the pictures. 90% of all buyer related issues is because they dont bother to read the descriptions or anything else past those 2 things. At least this has been my experience.

Why is there not a check box at checkout asking buyer to confirm they have read and understand the listing and the item purchase is properly authorized?

I am a founding member of the eBay Community Expert Group: a USA volunteer mentor with over a decade of experience. I am not an eBay employee.

Live simply. Care deeply. Love generously. Speak kindly. Laugh loudly. Act responsibly. Rejoice daily. Help cheerfully. Plan carefully. Criticize sparingly. Invest wisely. Forgive willingly. Shop seriously. Play fairly. Learn graciously.

mam98031 · ‎10-09-2019

@heckofagame wrote:
Sales tax is applied at the location of purchase. With purchases from eBay, that location is the buyer's computer. If the buyer's state requires that sales tax be collected, then any purchases destined for that location will have tax applied.

NO. Sales tax is applied for the location of DELIVERY. The location of purchase can be different. For example, I'm in Washington, I may purchase something for delivery to my Niece in California. Because it is being delivered to a California address, sales tax is due for California.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

3r_technology_solutions · ‎10-09-2019

brian@ebay wrote:
@3r_technology_solutions wrote:
I would like to know why ebay makes it to easy for the buyer to just click INAD or damaged and force a seller to take a return resulting in loss of any profit and in some cases lose money on a transaction? I hade a case of a toner cartridge that was bought from me and the buyer clicked item damaged and in the comment section put seller sent a damaged box? Was then told by multiple Ebay reps that in this case the box isn’t the item the toner inside is. IMHO this should have then been closed as an improper return, but was told that since the buyer opened the case they then had to follow return policy. Apon contacting Ebay was told there are certain criteria that must be met for me to then appeal and get return shipping credited to me once item is received. But I as a seller cant be told what that criteria is. What is Ebay trying to hide from us sellers?
Hi @3r_technology_solutions, if a buyer receives an item that doesn't match the listings description then we want it to be easy to resolve the matter. That being said, we do place return reasons that would be considered "not as described" reasons at the bottom of the list, and the buyer has to expand the list to see these. This is done to help minimize the number of returns where the incorrect return reason is selected. Ultimately, we look at the reason the buyer selected when they opened the return, such as damaged or not as described.

As for specific criteria, I'm certain you can understand how detailing this kind of information would lead to abuse of the protection you are seeking. If you qualify for this protection, we will be happy to provide compensation. If you do not, we may not be able to go into detail as to why this is not possible to ensure those who seek to abuse our protections are not given information they could use to manipulate or circumvent our policies.

OK then could you please answer why ebay would force a return when the buyer opens the return for damaged item. Then in comments says the boxis damaged. Then asked to provide pictures and state condition of the damage. Then does not reply. When I as the seller then ask ebay to step in and within 10 minutes get the message from ebay that they decided in the buyers favor? How does this make any sense? A computer made that choice for me and allows the buyer to abuse the return policy. My recourse report them and take the loss?

Anonymous · ‎10-09-2019

@mam98031 wrote:

@mam98031 wrote:

@captb_54 wrote:

Just a suggestion for the future. Don't do FALL UPDATE or mess with things right before 4th qtr ever. Do everything in winter and summer and stop the Fall. You know that even though IT guys tell you no problems there are always bugs, Always. And 4th qtr is not time to deal with them.

I agree as I'm confident many others do as well when it has to do with the structure or data contained in a listing. Every year sellers ask Ebay to please be more considerate of our needs to be working on sourcing inventory and creating listings for the holiday season. But every year we have the Fall Update since at least 2014, it could be further back than that.

I don't mine changes in cosmetic things or the addition of Seller Protections, but when it affects the design, layout or functionality of a listing, sellers need time to work with that and not take away from the needs of the Holiday season. Both Ebay and seller would be stronger for it and make a little more money IMHO.

My vote is Winter and Spring. Keeping in mine when those seasons actually start.

Let me revisit my suggestion. It should have said Winter and Summer so there is a bit more space in between and more like twice a year. Which was agreed to years ago that we would only have two seller updates a year. However in 2018 we had 3 and 2019 so far we have had 3.

Hi @mam98031, can you direct me to what you are referencing? I recall that years ago we committed to having fewer and more consolidated Seller Updates, with a minimum of 2 a year. I remember there was a time where Seller Updates were smaller and more frequent, and we received feedback from the Community that fewer and larger updates would be better. I want to double check if there are any resources out there that need to be updated, so feel free to share any links you may have available

tyler@ebay · ‎10-09-2019

@zenng_0 wrote:

Hello. Why does the zip code on eBay differ from the zip code on USPS sometimes?

Hi @zenng_0 - the ZIP code on eBay is usually the one input by the buyer at checkout, which is typically verified by USPS when/if you print a label with them. There are situations in which a ZIP code may be changed to a more specific one if a buyer's address is along a border between two ZIP codes.

Feel free to page me to a thread with more details!

Tyler,

countrybreakfast · ‎10-09-2019

Hi Brian.

I saw your response in this forum, that you were looking into the issue for multiple ebay members. https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Huh-10-Business-Day-Handling-Time-Equals-August-01-quot/m-p/29...

I am having a similar issue, except I am offering 1 business day handling time. I've tried changing my handling and then changing it back. I've tried unenrolling from guaranteed delivery and re enrolling. I'm top rated seller, with 1.4% late shipment. I only have 10 late shipments out of 690 orders, and had four removed last night by the defects team. They said that even with the 10 I should be qualifying for Fast N' Free and Guaranteed Delivery on my listings as I offer free First Class Package or Priority Mail depending on item size/value. When instead I have an estimated delivery time of Saturday October 18th when today is Wednesday October 9th, with either mailing service. They defects team have sent my issue to a technical team, but I'm told it could take 5 days. This has been going on for a few weeks now, and honestly I've lost thousands in sales. I'm full time self employed and ebay is my main selling platform. If you were looking into this before, I'm hoping you have found an answer since and can help me get this fixed, because it needs to be fixed. Please, anything you can do would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Nick.

If anyone else has information on this issue, would appreciate any help.

Anonymous · ‎10-09-2019

@usga-state wrote:

On this ID I have my site preferences set to "not allow buyers to ask questions"

I have my reasons (don't judge) because I have found that the vast majority of questions involve buyers asking me for lower prices, best offers or my least favorite "what is the lowest you will take for this item?"

(answer: the price listed)

However, it seems that this site preference setting doesn't always work. Yesterday an ebay user was able to ask me a couple of times to lower the price or give her a deal on an item.

I checked my settings and they look fine, as I intend. The question included the item name/number etc.. so she didn't just ask a random question without using a specific item.

Can you tell me why this function does not always work? Has something changed? Thank you.

Hi @usga-state, I'll take a look at the message you received recently to determine what may have happened. I'll update the chat once I have more info and touch base with you via email if there are personal account details I can't share here.