eBay

velvet@ebay · ‎09-22-2021

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!

Velvet,

dentalsales4u · ‎09-22-2021

What is the deal with the number of feedback and avatars disappearing every afternoon??

In place of the number of feedback in seller hub, it just has (view feedback). In the forum, it's totally gone.

In place of the avatar is a blue marble circle in the forums, but remains ok on the feedback page.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

jasmen@ebay · ‎09-22-2021

@dhbookds wrote:

A question regarding where to post information. Today there's a pretty informative announcement concerning Postal rates for the holidays......USPS, UPS, FedEx......... I started to post about it to the selling board......... But I'm pretty sure it would be moved to the Shipping Board, despite the importance to sellers.......... Don't want to get into trouble questioning moderators.....but is there any way to figure this out? Are there key words we could use to insure it STAYS on the selling board?

Hi @dhbookds if it's going to be super helpful feel free to tag us and we can review if it's possible to have it in both places!

Jasmen,
Community Team

saturdaystoys · ‎09-22-2021

Our ability to ship via Media Mail should depend only on the Media Mail qualifications for the item being listed... and should be completely disconnected from any limitation resulting from the CATEGORY we list in. For eBay to block our ability to select Media Mail shipping... even though we configured the listing to allow for that option... is punative, frustrating and intrusive. We acknowledge that we are obligated not to use Media Mail service if the item does not qualify... but that's between the seller and USPS... and eBay should have no authority to block an item otherwise qualified for Media Mail postage... regardless of the category where it is listed.

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Edit: A reply to your comment can be found here

somanypcs · ‎09-22-2021

I am extremely concerned with the number of technical issues, the length of time it takes to fix them, and the almost total lack of comments by eBay on the status or even existence of these technical issues. Here are just a few examples:

1. My Seller Hub bell says I need to ship 22 items. The truth is I need to ship 21 items.

2. When I am in Purchase History and do a search on an Order number, a Nov. 6, 2019 order with a different order number is displayed. This search has needed to be fixed for a long time now.

3. eBay sends error messages that are untrue. Currently eBay is telling buyers who get offers that the seller does not ship to that address, when the seller DOES ship to the address. I no longer am sending out auction 2nd chance offers due to this error which has existed for well over a month.

4. When I make a payment for multiple items in my shopping cart all to the same seller, eBay collects just 1 payment but sometimes generates additional order number(s). In my case this results in additional shipping costs (i.e. $1/order), and I'm guessing it results in the seller paying additional $.30 transaction fees.

When will eBay address it's technical issues in a professional manner?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

tyler@ebay · ‎09-22-2021

@ittybitnot wrote:

Good afternoon!

In reviewing information about the Global Shipping Program, in the policy pages with regards to seller protection is this:

If an item is lost or broken during international shipping, eBay Money Back Guarantee cases will be resolved in your favour, and your seller performance standards won't be affected

Link to full page: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/global-shipping-program?id...

On this page the words eBay Money Back Guarantee are also underlined and the phrase is a link to the general information on the MBG.

The question, therefore, is the seller protection only offered for MBG claims? If a buyer should bypass the eBay claim system and file a Payment Dispute from missing or broken items are sellers subject to what the credit card company decides?

Apparently, customer service is telling sellers the usual "ebay has no control, and it is the credit card company and nothing can be done."

Hi @ittybitnot - the protections associated with a Global Shipping Program shipment are for eMBG requests only.

A payment dispute opened directly with a financial institution has different protections that are offered (listed here), and while some could overlap (for example, a buyer opens a payment dispute after an eMBG request for a GSP item is found in favor of the Seller) sending an item via GSP in and of itself will not offer protection in the event a buyer chooses to open a dispute without utilizing any other eBay-provided avenue for resolution.

Tyler,

clarkphilatelics · ‎09-22-2021

When is eBay going to help with international sales? How can sellers ship inexpensive items if the least costly option is more than ten dollar? How many sellers know that sending inexpensive lightweight items by First Class mail from the United States is prohibited by UPU rules. Does this rule apply to other countries like China? What about listing likely HS codes for each category in eBay help? The problem in the Stamps category is that items selling for less than fifty to one hundred dollars cannot be mailed or shipped at a reasonable cost. More expensive items are often risky to ship, even using various international flat services. eBay Global shipping is too risky. Why would anyone ship a unique or copyrighted item and risk losing the item if it cannot be delivered?

When will eBay start advocating and assisting sellers who are attempting to sell internationally?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

tincan630 · ‎09-22-2021

If I'm on any page other than advanced search and click the search bar I get a drop down list of 5 recent searches preceded with a little clock icon. If I type the first letter of a word I Get a drop down list of 2 recent searches preceded by the clock icon plus 10 "ebay suggested searches" that I have no interest in.

If I go to advance search and click the search box I get a drop down list of MY previous searches that have been retained for years. If I type the first letter of a word I get a drop down list of My previous searches retained for years that begin with that letter. No clock icons and no ebay nonsense suggestions. I've encountered this problem in previous years and the drop down list had an option to Hide ebay suggestions which solved the problem. This option no longer exists!

jasmen@ebay · ‎09-22-2021

@dentalsales4u wrote:

What is the deal with the number of feedback and avatars disappearing every afternoon??

In place of the number of feedback in seller hub, it just has (view feedback). In the forum, it's totally gone.

In place of the avatar is a blue marble circle in the forums, but remains ok on the feedback page.

@dentalsales4u we're fully aware this is happening, and we're working on getting it resolved ASAP!

Jasmen,
Community Team

mam98031 · ‎09-22-2021

@saturdaystoys

Actually USPS has directed Ebay to be a bit more restrictive as too many sellers were using MM when they should not be. It is unfortunate, but Ebay when making these changes only looked at the parent category and did not take into consideration the sub categories.

I know it sounds reasonable for this issue to be between the seller and USPS, but it just isn't on this site or others like it. Amazon has restricted certain categories for years from using MM. As have other sites.

The problem here is how Ebay implemented the change WITHOUT doing their due diligence and research stuff BEFORE making these changes. That is why we have the problems we do today and Ebay has been in no rush to fix them.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

ittybitnot · ‎09-22-2021

sending an item via GSP in and of itself will not offer protection in the event a buyer chooses to open a dispute without utilizing any other eBay-provided avenue for resolution.

tyler@ebay

Thanks for the response. I will make note for the next time the issue comes up.

valueaddedresource · ‎09-22-2021

I know usually it's @my-cottage-books-and-antiques asking you guys about this one, but I'll take a turn this week. 😊

Any updates on if we're going to see that 2.5% social sharing fee feature for Q4?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

tyler@ebay · ‎09-22-2021

@clarkphilatelics wrote:

Please make Community Chat easier to find. Please add links from general posts to the chat and find a way for sellers to post in advance. The date and times of weekly chats is awkward for many sellers. Why not set up a message queue with some reasonable limits for sellers who cannot be present and may wish to check in later?

Hi @clarkphilatelics - thanks for this input! We'll always have a reminder post on the Selling board posted on Tuesdays that will have a link to this board, or you could bookmark/favorite the chat board itself (url: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Discussion-with-eBay/bd-p/weekly-chat).

Currently we do not have the staffing support to offer a queued message or 'in advance' option which is why we ask you to post your questions live. As we continue to grow and expand our offerings with Community that is subject to change, but for the time being this is the format that will continue.

Thanks!

Tyler,

velvet@ebay · ‎09-22-2021

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

Again, with Q4 almost here, can you confirm that we will have the new store tools (announced in the Fall Update) before October 1st?

While I can't confirm a specific date, I can reiterate what was stated in the update here; and that is they will be taking place over the coming weeks. Thanks @my-cottage-books-and-antiques!

Velvet,

babclassics · ‎09-22-2021

Hi,

In last weeks chat I asked a question about the new Jewelry category changes and item specifics. I never saw an answer to that question that Tyler stated would be answered by the Category Team? Please check on the status of that promised answer.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Discussion-with-eBay/Community-Chat-September-15-1-00-pm-PT-202...

To add to my original question, on further reflection, the consolidation of the jewelry categories and eliminating categories like "precious metal without stones" for example will make it harder to get good search results via a search phrase when you are looking for a "solid precious base metal bracelet". Who searches on that?

That is, not plated, not "over", not filled, but solid precious base metal. The only way I can think that could work now after new and eliminated categories go online would be to search on "negative" keywords like "not plated", "not over", "not filled", "not hollow". Nobody is going to know to or want to do that.

Newly consolidated categories that require negative search keywords to find what you are looking for need to be re-thought. Not too many people search via the category tree, most search by entering a search phrase IMO. eBay's new approach does not work well for every category and creates other redundancies further down in the category tree that had a real needed purpose (like listing creation time warnings about are you sure you should be listing in this category?). Otherwise the already over-the-top keyword spamming in jewelry (and now promoting) will surely give things like "18K Gold Over" [copper / zinc] for example as the top results every time. There are no good "positive" keywords I know of that will get a clean "not plated, not over, not filled" result. This may be why they have not answered yet?

Anyway, please check on an answer to the original post last week and add this additional thinking to that if it is not too late.

Thanks.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

mam98031 · ‎09-22-2021

tyler@ebay wrote:

@ittybitnot wrote:

Good afternoon!

In reviewing information about the Global Shipping Program, in the policy pages with regards to seller protection is this:

If an item is lost or broken during international shipping, eBay Money Back Guarantee cases will be resolved in your favour, and your seller performance standards won't be affected

Link to full page: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/global-shipping-program?id...

On this page the words eBay Money Back Guarantee are also underlined and the phrase is a link to the general information on the MBG.

The question, therefore, is the seller protection only offered for MBG claims? If a buyer should bypass the eBay claim system and file a Payment Dispute from missing or broken items are sellers subject to what the credit card company decides?

Apparently, customer service is telling sellers the usual "ebay has no control, and it is the credit card company and nothing can be done."

Hi @ittybitnot - the protections associated with a Global Shipping Program shipment are for eMBG requests only.

A payment dispute opened directly with a financial institution has different protections that are offered (listed here), and while some could overlap (for example, a buyer opens a payment dispute after an eMBG request for a GSP item is found in favor of the Seller) sending an item via GSP in and of itself will not offer protection in the event a buyer chooses to open a dispute without utilizing any other eBay-provided avenue for resolution.