eBay

Anonymous · ‎11-29-2017

Hi everyone!

Come join tyler@ebay, brian@ebay, doug@ebay and myself this afternoon for the weekly chat. No specific topic is planned for today, so feel free to bring your general buying & selling questions

tyler@ebay · ‎11-29-2017

@golfingaddict wrote:

Can a guest buyer leave feedback and detailed seller ratings?

I had a blocked buyer purchase an item with a guest ID. This was a buyer that I had previously done business with and chose to discontinue that business. When he found he could no longer purchase from me I got several emails from him and moments later, a purchase from a newly registered, random generated user ID and the exact NAME, ADDRESS, CITY, STATE from the buyer that inquired and was blocked.

Do I report the new ID or the old ID? Will it only appear to be a disruptive buyer if he leaves feedback?

What point is the Blocked bidder list if he can just user guest buyer to purchase?

Hi @golfingaddict - a guest account cannot leave Feedback. Please report the new id and include the blocked id in the report details. There are a number of criteria that could cause it to be considered disruptive, please use the 'report this buyer' or contact CS to report it.

The Blocked Bidder list allows you to not do business with a particular id. If, after they are blocked they utilize a guest account in order to circumvent your block with the intent to disrupt your business it's considered a policy violation.

Tyler,

Anonymous · ‎11-29-2017

@dtexley3 wrote:

Is anyone inside eBay following the VERY unhappy sellers in the threads about having Best Offer added to their listings? Not everyone will call CS and complain and I personally doubt that most of these complaints will be forwarded up to the appropriate departments. This appears to be a very unpopular change, will it be reconsidered (sp?) ?

Hi @dtexley3, while we have passed along feedback we have received on the Best Offer feature being added to listings, I do want to clarify that this is only automatically applied to a very small portion of sellers. New and occassional sellers (those with less than 10 transactions or no transactions in a very long time) who are using the Quick Listing Tool. Our goal is to increase the chance of success for our members, encourage new sellers with sales and introduce the Best Offer feature. Check out our announcement on this topic for more details.

brian_burke@ebay · ‎11-29-2017

@alcoforever wrote:

tyler@ebay wrote:

@alcoforever wrote:

In last weeks' Community Chat, post #41, brian denied a seller's request for relief from a buyer
circumventing a buyer block on the grounds that there was no clear evidence to ebay that the buyer was trying to disrupt the seller's business.

So, isn't the seller the sole judge of whether a buyer is disruptive? Ebay would have no knowledge of that buyer's past interactions with that seller, e.g. things such as unreasonable demands, fishing for a partial refund etc.

The policy clearly states that using a different id to circumvent a buyer block is a policy violation.

If ebay won't back a seller when a buyer circumvents a buyer block, then the whole BBL program might as well be scrapped.

Hi @alcoforever - you as a seller are definitely able to consider something disruptive. When it comes to what we consider unwelcome or malicious, if we have evidence that a buyer circumvented a block with intent to harm a listing or to leave negative or neutral feedback, or low DSRs we can work on an appeal of those.

We can definitely view previous interactions various members have had with you as a seller, and can then take any included details in the 'Report a buyer' section into account when investigating buyer activities.

Please utilize the 'Report a buyer' flow to report any members you feel are circumventing a Whyou have in place so that appropriate review and action can be taken. Thanks!

Why do you need evidence in these cases? You don't need evidence of any kind for a seller to put a buyer on his BBL in the first place. So blocking a sale that circumvents the BBL should be a no-brainer.

@alcoforever If the buyer used a different account to circumvent your blocked bidder list (which should be used with great restraint - your goal is to grow your buyer base, not shrink it), we will action the buyer. If there is no evidence that the two accounts are associated - and we use many factors to identify and link accounts, we will not take action against the buyer for circumventing your BBL. You may believe the accounts are the same person, but we actually have to use verifiable information, not just your POV.

We may take action against the buyer for other reasons if they are disrupting your business, but again this is a case by case basis.

Now, let's take your question "you don't need evidence in these cases" and apply the same logic to sellers - what if I took down your listings because a buyers told us you were keyword spamming without verifying that you were, or took action because a buyer claimed you had duplicate listings, etc. You would never want us to do that - why would we treat a buyer that way?

Just because you tell us a buyer circumvented your BBL doesn't make it fact. We investigate and take action when the buyer accounts are linked. When they are not linked, we don't take action - no matter what you believe.

Thanks for selling on eBay.

Brian

Join us at eBay Open this September! eBay.com/ebayopen

tyler@ebay · ‎11-29-2017

@buyselljack2016 wrote:

The Post Office is now allowing buyers to alter the delivery of items. (guess they want to be more like other carriers) (lots of wanting to be like others going on these days)

They allow for instructions as to where to leave the delivery at the original address (garage, porch, bushes, behind the house), option to deliver to the neighbor, and as I understand it, to change the delivery address completely.(like forwarding, with no official USPS forward order on file)

Are sellers going to be covered when the buyer selects to have the delivery sent to another address in that zip... another zip, another state ? Looks like another scammers "dream come true".

Hi @buyselljack2016 - customization options are definitely the way I see things trending too. However, in all situations, the tracking number itself would be updated with the information (think: 'delivered, left at side door' or 'redirected at receiver request'), and we would work to protect you as a seller in those situations.

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-29-2017

@carlmarxx wrote:

tyler@ebay wrote:

@carlmarxx wrote:

doug@ebay wrote:

Chat is now open! Looking forward to your questions!

Hi: Doug Yesterday on phone with A CSR uppermanger about why I was getting IPR On sellers items in check out that don't use IPR on their items ! IPR= Immedatie payment required . I was told I may have placed in the High risk buyer program that requires Buyers with UPI Strikes to pay by IPR, Or did to many cancellations of sell request . The Rep. said My Buying recored is clean . Rep. thinks the 5 sellers had that cancelled sales with out my request got me in . .

Hi @carlmarxx - glad to hear you reached out to CS on this issue! When it comes to account specific information they are the best source of information for you.

Tyler any chance you can do some reseacher on that new High risk buyers program ? Because sounds to me there issues in the program that can't catch seller 's that file transaction cancellation with phony claim to avoid defect.

Hi @carlmarxx - Happy to see if we can find any additional information, or resources we can provide. Thanks!

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-29-2017

@d-k_treasures wrote:

Still wondering that ~~since~~ if 'all sellers have to follow the same rules', why is a large toy seller allowed to have links to their own store shopping site in their listing?

Hi @d-k_treasures - links to an outside store wouldn't be allowed, regardless of size. If you use 'report this listing' it will send the listing, and seller, for review.

Tyler,

Anonymous · ‎11-29-2017

@buyselljack2016 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@mr_lincoln wrote:

Good afternoon eBay Team,

PO Box Delivery Confirmation Questions

If an item is shipped to a PO Box does Delivery Confirmation show delivered when the item is scanned at the Post Office where the PO Box resides? If the package is too big for the PO Box I understand from our local Post Office that a note will be placed in the PO Box and the package will sit in the Post Office waiting for the PO Box owner.

If Signature Confirmation is required on a PO Box address, does Delivery Confirmation occur ONLY when the Buyer signs for the item AND if it takes them a week or longer to get to the Post Office can an INR be processed prior to them signing for the package?

Hi @mr_lincoln, when signature requirement is purchased and the item is shipped to a PO box, the tracking will indicate it is available for pickup once it reaches the Post Office. For an item that requires signature confirmation (those over $750), we would instruct the buyer to go retreive the item and give them some time to take these steps before taking action on a claim.

For those items where Signature Confirmation is not required by eBay (items under $750), the tracking showing the item is available for pickup would be sufficient delivery confirmation to protect a seller in an item not received request.

I hope that someone is going to archive this answer for future reference to see if it holds up as an official policy in an INR case.

Hi @buyselljack2016, I can confirm that in our guidelines, tools, and training material that our Customer Service agents use to determine case decisions, "Available for Pickup" and "Notice Left" are both clearly listed as analogous for Delivery Confirmation (amongst a variety of other scans for various shipping carriers). If tracking indicates the item is delivered, that the buyer is able to retrieve the item or that the buyer is in some way responsible for the item not being delivered, the seller is protected.

To clarify, when we provide answers here on the boards we are referencing our official policy. When official policy does not cover a unique situation (often times referred to as a "use case") we will contact the appropriate teams for an official answer and also work to ensure that this information is posted publicly when possible. You are welcome to save any conversations here for your reference, but do keep in mind that policy changes ar a regular occurence and we can only confirm that the answers we provide are accurate at the time that they are given.

brian@ebay · ‎11-29-2017

@golfingaddict wrote:

Today I was looking at a list of sellers and a few of them had a URL as their user ID.

As I am a dinosaur, I recall when it was perfectly legitimate to have a URL as a user ID and I also recall when ebay banned this. I realize that some users were "grandfathered" into this and were allowed to keep that as their ID. (and just for kicks, I also remember email addresses as user IDs)

brian_burke@ebay

So what is the status on the URL as a user ID now? What is that magic date for grandfathered ID's?

And with all the changes to contact info and crack down on member to member messages that have any hint to contact info, is there a plan to ban those user ID's that are URL's?

Thank you.

Hi @golfingaddict, the policy changed in November 2001, so any accounts created prior to that date were grandfathered in. We don't have any plans in the foreseeable future to change the status of these grandfathered accounts.

Brian,
Community Team

sarahbru · ‎11-29-2017

@a_c_green wrote:

@sarahbru wrote:

@chrysylys wrote:

Post on the Selling board claims CS told them the no watermark policy has been rescinded:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Great-News-eBay-listened-they-will-not-make-us-remove-watermar...

Confirm? Refute?

@chrysylys: Thanks for the question - yes, we've seen the thread - and we know this is a topic with a lot of energy around it. We will be answering this question in greater detail later this week. Thanks! Sarah

Hello @sarahbru; thanks for acknowledging that. Where should we be looking later in the week for eBay's answers? (Please don't say "Facebook" ) Will someone post a response to that original thread above? Thanks...

@a_c_green It will be in Seller News....but we'll also try to circle back to this thread. Thanks! Sarah

brian@ebay · ‎11-30-2017

@mr_lincoln wrote:

brian@ebay

brian@ebay wrote:

@mr_lincoln wrote:

brian@ebay

Good afternoon Brian,

Two Chats ago (11/15) you were going to look into the Local Paick up questions I had and email me with some feedback, if you sent an email I did not see it. Here's the fer from 11/15 for your convenience.

@mr_lincoln wrote:

Local Pick up questions:

I recently had a local pick up sale and messaged the Buyer to ask if my address comes up for them to find me ... they said no and then included their cell phone number in the message. Fortunately, we have not received any messages about sharing personal info, selling off the site or account closures or restirctions. BUT, this begs the question, is it okay once a Local Pick up order has been placed for the Seller to 1) message the Buyer with personal contact info as well as the address, 2) mention Seller will send a letter in the mail with the contact info, etc..

2. On a non-Local Pickup sale the Buyer's email address is available in PayPal but on this recent one for me the Buyer's email did not appear in the PayPal transaction ... is that normal?

3. Paying cash: okay, a while ago I asked that when a Local Pick up order is placed that payment through paypal be blocked forcing cash at pick up ... since eBay has not effected that change (yet) is it permissible to cancel the PP order, refund the $4 and wait for pick up for the cashola? That is what I have read here in The Community that others recommend ... is that right and acceptable?

Hi @mr_lincoln, I'm going to get more clarification about questions 1 and 3. I'll send you an email when I have more details.

I believe PayPal is no longer providing contact information within PayPal transactions. You'll want to contact PayPal for a definitive answer, however.

Hi @mr_lincoln, thanks for following up with me. I actually received answers to these questions recently, though I hadn't sent an email to you just yet. If your listing has the local pickup option and the buyer has committed to buy the item (they use Buy It Now or use the Request total from seller option in the shopping cart) then it is OK and within policy to share contact information before the buyer goes through checkout. This means that paying cash on pickup can be facilitated as well, since checkout isn't required in order to share contact information.

If we see a full refund issued through PayPal and tracking isn't uploaded, a defect will be issued.For this reason, I don't recommend refunding buyers that pay through PayPal.

Regarding the buyers email address in PayPal, my understanding is that PayPal recently made a change and will no longer show the buyers email address. PayPal will have more concrete information about this, however.

Hey Brian, first, sorry that the copy and paste re-numbered the original post today so all items were No 1 ...

In response to your comment (in red above) ... the advice received here in The Community on Local Pick up is just to have the Buyer pay Cash ... and other members have stated to Fully Refund the order and wait for the Buyer to pay cash at pick up ... there is NO Way to create the Listing so the Buyer is FORCED to pay cash at pick up and NOT through PayPal ... no check box for it, does not exist and THAT is really what is needed for Local Pick up sales. Your explanation above makes it sound like if Sellers take that advice they will receive a defect. I know the eBay Team has previously stated they want the Buyer to be covered for Buyer protection but I contend that the Buyer inspects the item when they pick it up and if they don't like it they walk away but if they leave with it they own it, no return or refund available to them at that point.

I have only had a few Local Pickup sales but every ... single ... one of them was paid through PayPal ... nothing I could do to prevent it and there in lies the problem.

Hi @mr_lincoln, in most situations, you are 100 % correct - however, there are items sold via local pickup that would reasonably need to be tested at the buyer's location (refrigerators, pizza ovens, etc.) and these kinds of items would still be protected through the eBay Money Back Guarantee. They would be entitled to a return or a refund in some very specific situations. Because of this, a seller asking a buyer to change their payment to cash after they have already paid only serves to benefit the seller and potentially causes harm to the buyer if there are further issues. Additionally, unless a buyer requests to change their payment method, having to repurchase is a hassle best avoided for our customers.

Ultimately, we are happy to review any potential defects for a seller who has worked to meet a buyer's requests, but would not offer the same courtesy if it is clear the seller has made a request of the buyer that in any way diminishes their experience. Proactively asking a buyer to change their payment method and loose their eBay Money Back Guarantee coverage is not something we would support.

Brian,
Community Team