Community Chat, Sept 20th @ 2pm PT - General Topics

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone,

We will be holding a special eBay for Business Facebook broadcast this week from 1pm to 2pm, so we've adjusted our chat time so that you are free to watch. This broadcast will be focused on our 2017 Fall Seller Update and will have Brian Burke and some of our staff experts in attendance. Be sure to check it out and then join us from 2pm to 3pm to discuss general topics with Community Staff.

[alan@ebay]

---

@lacemaker3 wrote:

Hi alan@ebay and @Anonymous and everybody!

I dropped in to watch for a while. Good luck to you all!

---

Happy Wednesday! 

[papermoneyforme]

---

alan@ebay wrote:

The thread is now open. 

---

With all the make work projects and no sales, why does Ebay not be honest enough to say many of us are no longer wanted on Ebay and pay us to go way?

[vrykalak]

I just finished reading through the Facebook comments on the new Watermark rule.
I got angrier and angrier as I continued reading, because the "answers" given by (apparently) eBay staff members were total **bleep**, and didn't address the issue at all.
As far as I can tell, the policy against watermarks--exactly OPPOSITE from what eBay told sellers to do in the past--serves NO PURPOSE other than to let eBay (and other sellers) steal the photos we have worked so hard to perfect for our listings. 
There is no other purpose for the order, besides wasting our time and eliminating our copyright protection. That was made obvious by the answer given to someone who asked if they could physically put a sign in the picture to identify the store: sie was told that would "violate the spirit of the rule."

Sellers have had to waste vast amounts of time and effort in the recent past to prove to eBay's bots that they had no contact information, active content, off-eBay links, etc. in their listings. Now this!

[llllady]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@llllady wrote:

Hi, Alan (and anyone else who enters the lion's den)!

Why is there no way to make a partial refund (purchase price, less shipping) when a buyer purchases, seller ships, package is returned to seller as “Moved, Left no Address”?

This is what happened in a transaction that I got so entangled in that I’m not really thrilled right now with eBay.  Wasted time with PP, eBay CS, wasted money, can’t relist because the person might open up yet a third I.D. and circumvent my BBL and try to buy again.  You get the picture here?

---

Hey @llllady, a partial refund would not be an option within an item not received case. If the item is delivered or the buyer is at fault for it's failed delivery, no refund is expected. If the item was not delivered successfully, a refund is expected. If you and the buyer would like to work out a partial refund, you can provide this directly through PayPal.

Additionally, if a buyer circumvents your BBL, we do not expect you to ship the item. Feel free to reach out to customer service in the future if this comes up so we can take actions to protect you.

---

Wrong. The only option through PayPal was to send them a new invoice for the shipping charges, which they are not forced to pay.  eBay needs to have an avenue for a partial refund under the circumstances cited.  eBay knows who paid for the shipping and how much. eBay knows through tracking that the package was returned to the seller. 

This is on eBay's shoulders, and eBay is shirking it's responsibility to its SELLERS under these circumstances. 

I did not ship the second time and cancelled/refunded immediately. I did contact CS. Basically nothing more was done than to put the buyer on eBay's radar in case she pulls this stunt with someone else and then MAYBE something will be done.  More shirking of responsibility.

[lacemaker3]

@dtexley3

There's no set topic for the chat today.

[leo*spride]

Hi, everyone!

I didn't have access to the Facebook meet-up, so sorry if I'm asking questions that have already been answered re the Fall Seller Update.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The watermark prohibition caught me off guard… as someone who always took the time to meticulously clean my amateur photos so they looked more professional, I began watermarking my eBay item photos after several lazy sellers pirated them.  Not just irritating, but it violated copyright laws.

My initial thought… it must have something to do with eBay’s clamp down on off-eBay contact info, since watermarks might contain this type of data.

Then I read conflicting theories… eBay’s updated UA includes the right for eBay to use seller photos (royalty free), and comments that Google can’t handle embedded watermarks.

Question, part #1… what is eBay’s real purpose for this new policy?

Question, part #2… if this is to deter sellers from providing off-eBay contact info, what’s to stop sellers from posting photos with their business cards that clearly show websites, personal email addresses, phone numbers, etc.?

Question, part #3… will eBay consider the scenario in query #2 a policy violation, and if so, how does eBay intend to police it?

[alan@ebay]

---

@golfingaddict wrote:

I have been trying for weeks to get my listings compliant and working with Guaranteed Delivery.

I have received several emails telling me that none of my listings qualify and yet, none of the emails give me any reasons why they would not qualify.

Today I received an email to do a "sneak peek" at what buyers see, with a link and info on how to search. 

I did the search and none of my listings would show up, no matter what I did.

I have always had one day handling.  I also state the exact shipping service and give two choices, one expedited.  I always use ebay labels.  I always use my zip code.  I have 30 day returns.  Every single thing that is on the list of requirements are things that I have always done and used.  This should not be an issue.

There is no way to see how or why they don't qualify.  With a few hundred listings there is no way to determine which ones are the culprit or which requirement is the culprit.  Just nothing shows up in the search.  Gregg/shipping told me that most of them are qualified and yet, today when I search NONE of them are qualified.

I called CS two weeks ago and after being transferred a few times, they told me that they had to reach out to the right team and would get back to me.  I am not holding my breath..

Why is it so difficult to get help on this?  Now the site has announced more changes and more things to worry about.  But I just want my items included in the GD search.

Will someone actually help me and not just pass it off or give me a passive answer? I want to know what I can do to get my listings included.

Thank you.

---

Hi @golfingaddict, 

I'll ask a member of our Shipping team contact you to talk through any issues. 

Keep an eye on your registered email address. 

Thank you. 

[Anonymous]

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

60 Day Return Policy

Last month I changed most listings to 60 day returns … my question is how does eBay facilitate a return after 30 days which is the current Resolution Center time limit?   While I will honor and work with Buyers between the 30 & 60 day marks please advise if there is a specific procedure to follow in order to get FVFs back as well as facilitate the Buyer’s request.

---

Hey @mr_lincoln, while we are only able to enforce a return policy for up to 30 days beyond delivery, the buyer has up to 180 days through PayPal. If a seller is consistantly not facilitating returns from day 31-60 as they promise, a buyer can leave appropriate feedback and this will quickly prove harmful for the seller's business. As for the FVFs from the sale, Customer Service will be happy to review the fees for potential credits. Returns after the 30 day mark are much less common, but we are happy to review them when they do come up!

[tunicaslot]

Despite having the Fall Seller Update convo on Facebook - those not on facebook expected someone from the team to be at chat today to address their questions. Hopefully they will be available at some point this week as auumptions and rumors are running rampant about the Fall Update. 

Will Ebay make blues available on the Update Discussion board?

[aluvz2shop]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@re: Community Chat, Sept 6th @ 1pm PT - General Topics  Message 94 of 95

Hey trinton@ebay,

Never did hear from you!  

[golfingaddict]

We need tools to help us meet all these new requirements.

For example, removing watermarks in the photos. 

Why is there no tool to identify listings that will be "blackballed" in March because they contain a photo with a watermark?  I have 250 listings on this ID and some of them have 40 or more photos in one listings!   

second example: Guaranteed delivery.

Why can't we have a tool that identifies which listings need to be updated to insure that they are ready for GD and why not a tool that tells us why they do not qualify.  As it is now, I am just flailing trying to figure out what the listings are missing or what they need or why they do not qualify.  REVISE REVISE REVISE REVISE and it could be all for nothing if I am not targeting the correct items or the specific issues.

eBay apparently has a tool to do this.  Why can't they tell us?  Why keep it a secret?

And lastly, in Seller Hub under Seller dashboard there is a part that tells me how many listings qualify for TRSplus discounts.  Today for some reason I had "two listings" that apparently do not qualify. 

There is a link to "edit and revise" but it just loops back to the same page.  No indication which two listings do not qualify.   I viewed all of my listings in a search page and all of them have the TRSplus logo.  ALL of them.  So where is eBay giving me this "two do not qualify" information ?

I feel like I am going in circles. What is the deal?

[mr_lincoln]

@Anonymous

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

60 Day Return Policy

Last month I changed most listings to 60 day returns … my question is how does eBay facilitate a return after 30 days which is the current Resolution Center time limit?   While I will honor and work with Buyers between the 30 & 60 day marks please advise if there is a specific procedure to follow in order to get FVFs back as well as facilitate the Buyer’s request.

---

Hey @mr_lincoln, while we are only able to enforce a return policy for up to 30 days beyond delivery, the buyer has up to 180 days through PayPal. If a seller is consistantly not facilitating returns from day 31-60 as they promise, a buyer can leave appropriate feedback and this will quickly prove harmful for the seller's business. As for the FVFs from the sale, Customer Service will be happy to review the fees for potential credits. Returns after the 30 day mark are much less common, but we are happy to review them when they do come up!

---

Yes, I understand all of that but that was not the question.  The question was if  I offer 60 Returns and a Buyer wants a return from me through eBay (not PayPal) on day 51 how is that processed?  Does the item they purchased have a 60 day return link that generates a message to me and then I accept and issue a lable (or they pay shipping), and tracking is added to teh return file, etc.?  In essence, what is the step by step procedure to handle a return through eBay between days 31-60?  Or is eBay saying a return during that period has to go through PayPal and if it does how does eBay know so I can recover FVFs?

[a_c_green]

---

alan@ebay wrote:

---

papermoneyforme wrote: 
Are Burke and the gang here or were they only on Facebook?

If they are not here, why not?

---

Not sure I understand the question. 

---

As Trinton wrote at the outset of this discussion, "This broadcast will be focused on our 2017 Fall Seller Update and will have Brian Burke and some of our staff experts in attendance. " papermoneyforme's question is whether those same people will be here, within eBay's own forum, to continue the same discussion.

[mam98031]

---

@vrykalak wrote:

I just finished reading through the Facebook comments on the new Watermark rule.
I got angrier and angrier as I continued reading, because the "answers" given by (apparently) eBay staff members were total **bleep**, and didn't address the issue at all.
As far as I can tell, the policy against watermarks--exactly OPPOSITE from what eBay told sellers to do in the past--serves NO PURPOSE other than to let eBay (and other sellers) steal the photos we have worked so hard to perfect for our listings. 
There is no other purpose for the order, besides wasting our time and eliminating our copyright protection. That was made obvious by the answer given to someone who asked if they could physically put a sign in the picture to identify the store: sie was told that would "violate the spirit of the rule."

Sellers have had to waste vast amounts of time and effort in the recent past to prove to eBay's bots that they had no contact information, active content, off-eBay links, etc. in their listings. Now this!

---

Google is on a push for clean pictures, could be one reason.  Another one that I can think of is so that Ebay can use the pics in their catalog.  Just my observation.  I don't like having to remove all those watermarks myself.

[alan@ebay]

---

@dtexley3 wrote:

I'm confused, I thought todays chat was about the fall seller update and the guy who wrote the announcement would be present to answer questions?

---

Hi @dtexley3, 

Today's chat is with the Community team on general topics. We kicked off an hour later than usual as the eBay for Business team were holding a special broadcast for Seller Update. 

Thanks.