mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@Anonymous wrote:
@autopiacarcare wrote:Please address the confusion over eBay collecting sales tax in Washington state. We started a thread yesterday regarding a message we are seeing in our tax rate table that says eBay is now collecting and remitting tax for Washington. We have attempted to get answers from eBay team members here and CS over the phone and email but have not gotten a straight answer.
Hi @autopiacarcare, we are working on getting some more information on this topic. While we work on providing an update, rest assured that eBay is in active discussions with the Washington State Department of Revenue to determine the impacts of the recently enacted marketplace tax law. We will provide sellers with additional details when further information and guidance is available. In the meantime, if you are required to collect and/or remit Washington sales or use tax on your eBay sales or purchases, you should continue to do so. As always, we recommend that you discuss this and other tax matters with your tax adviser.
Hi @Anonymous,
We are quite familiar with the Washington state sales tax law.
The question is about what eBay is doing, because that is not clear at this time. Please answer:
- is eBay collecting Washington state sales tax from buyers at this time?
- When did eBay start doing this?
- If not, when is eBay going to start doing this?
*** These are new questions, this is not a repeat of an earlier question. Please don't ignore it, as has been done sometimes in the past.***
More info: The eBay Sales Tax Table has been modified (see below), at least for sellers who are not based in Washington (it's not yet clear what the tax table shows for sellers who are based in Washington).
The tax table now says that eBay collects the sales tax, and the seller does not need to collect it or remit it to the state. Sellers can not edit or change this. But, it is not clear when eBay started or will start to collect the tax, and that leaves the sellers high and dry with knowing what is going on. Washington state holds the sellers responsible for the tax if the marketplace (eBay) doesn't collect it, so this is dumping the responsibility on the sellers without any warning or information, and with no way to find out or confirm if the sales tax has been collected or not.
@coffeebean832 wrote:
brian@ebay, I'm wondering if you ever heard back on this topic in light of the last post added to the thread.
Hi @coffeebean832, thanks for reminding me of this! I've just checked the Retail Calendar and it appears to be updated. It no longer gives specific dates but instead offers general timeframes.
@Anonymous
I posted this in the other group and did not tag you ... but I am getting questions like this from other sellers
Could you please let me know if this is a glitch or steps this seller and others need to take to have this resolved! TIA
"I just discovered some of my items were put on sale, some as much as 50% off that I did not put on sale. Some of them are for an odd amount like 53% off. They seem to be on higher priced items. I run sales for 25% off but I never do sales for higher than that. Has anyone else had this issue? I also just noticed the listings that have the error have the price and the 53% off written in red bold. The ones I put on sale is written in black no bold lettering. I'm positive I did not mark down these items. There are four I found in the 700+ items I have listed."
@Anonymous wrote:
Hello. I would like to know where to go to get questions answered about Promotions Manager. Is there an e-mail address I can contact?
I called CS and they said they would research and call me back. That was almost 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard back.
I have questions about shipping promotions and there is no info within the help pages or the tool itself that addresses the questions I have.
I also have questions about the new volume discount tool which I posted yesterday. https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Promotions-Manager-New-Option-Volume-Price-Discount/m-p/28956718
I did test out the volume/tiered discount and it says "active" on my promotions manager page, but it's not visible on the listing itself - and I did log out, use different browsers, etc. It's just not showing up.
Hi @Anonymous, if you can let us know what your questions are about promotions manager then we'll be happy to take a look. There isn't a specific team to contact in regard to promotions manager questions. Customer support can assist with this tool. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get a call back. If you let me know the day and time you called then we can ensure the agent receives coaching.
I can look at the other thread later today and get back to you with the information I have. Thanks!
@Anonymous wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:There was a recent thread that Trinton came to in an effort to shed some light on the subject of a buyer returning an items as being not as described when it was clear that the buyer didn’t read the title, look at the picture, read the ISBs nor did they read the description. The buyer purchased a trampoline cover, but they actually wanted a trampoline. Not sure how they thought they were going to get a brand new 14’ trampoline for $59.95, but the buyer apparently thought this.
The seller did a great job in describing the item, had a very good title and even had noted in the pic that it was for the cover only.
Trinton stopped in and explained that even though the buyer may have had a misunderstanding about what they were purchasing that Ebay is now only going by whichever box they check off on the SNAD for the reason of the request for return. What they write in words inside the request are not considered at all.
Trinton did a great job and explained everything I have no question about that at all. I just want to voice my complete and utter disappointment that Ebay would actively do something like this to its sellers. I do understand that we need buyer satisfaction for sales and growth of the site. I respect that. Ebay wants us creating clear and concise listings, but when we do and the buyer doesn’t even look at the title or comprehend the title, we are still held responsible.
Ebay is willing to change a Request for return filed by a buyer from a Buyer’s remorse to a SNAD if the buyer explains their mistake to Ebay on how they filed the claim. So if Ebay is willing to do this for a buyer without any impute from the seller, why won’t Ebay listen to a seller when a buyer misfiles a request for return and in their own words inside the claim they state it is for BR reasons.
I can only shake my head at this one. I do understand that we need to go to great lengths at keeping buyers happy and it is my practice as a seller to do so. But I have to say that once word of this starts getting around to buyers, it will be open season on some of your sellers. The sellers will be paying the price if buyers are allowed to do whatever they want within the return system and sellers just have to accept it, process the request and refund money whether partial or in full. Ebay is enabling bad behavior by buyers.
I know we can report the buyer if the abuse the system. But why should we believe that Ebay will actually do anything to the buyer when the buyer is allowed to do and say pretty much whatever they want in regards to a return? And if Ebay actually does sanction buyers for bad behavior, how many sellers have to be in the wake of the buyer’s bad behavior before Ebay steps in and does something to stop them?
I know you guys don't write the rules, so please if I've come across as being upset with any of you, I assure you that is not the case, I just feel this is a very important subject and I'm a bit upset by it.
Hi @mam98031, thank you for the feedback on this topic! We sincerely appreciate hearing from our Community on subjects like this and will be sure to pass along your comments. I do want to elaborate a little and confirm that if a buyer contacted eBay to state they selected the wrong reason for the return, we would work to protect a seller from any negative impact. Depending on the situation, what steps we take can vary, but ultimately we have found that changing the return reason based on electronic communication leads to incorrect resolutions more often than not. We also track claim reasons and buyer behavior to take action and protect our sellers. I know these kinds of returns can be frustrating and I don't mean to diminish that at all, just want to clarify that our current process is aiming for the highest level of accuracy possible.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts and I assure you, we will get this over to the appropriate teams for consideration.
I do understand the goals. But if Ebay allows the CSRs to listen and adjust a Request due to whatever that buyer says to them, yet the same benefit is not offered to a seller. That is one inadequacy that I see.
When I buyer types inside the Request for return that they want to return the item because it is not a trampoline like they ordered [just continuing with my prior example], but they check the box that it is not as described, then that is CLEARLY a BR request that is being inappropriately filed as a SNAD. There is no way to misunderstand that statement. The buyer couldn't be much clearer and then a quick review of the listing tells you that the seller was NOT selling a trampoline to begin with.
This comes back to examples like when my dining room table is in my pics. I'm not selling my dining room table. Just because something is in the pic doesn't mean it is part of the item or items being sold in that listing. Anymore than a seller selling a dress and in the pic they have a model wearing the dress. The model is not considered part of the purchase if someone buys the item just because the model is in the pic. In cases like this you don't even need to qualify it, as it is common sense.
The trampoline cover seller could not have done a better job of structuring their listing. It was well thought out and well labeled.
I know Ebay will track buyers for bad behaviors. I'm glad Ebay is going to be doing that. But what I'd like Ebay to understand that the buyer can do a whole lot of financial damage to the sellers in their wake before Ebay even gets close to sanctioning them.
There needs to be a more level way of dealing with this stuff. I have no desire to chase away buyers or get in conflicts over every single return request. I select my battles carefully, but if I feel I have real, clear, tangible evidence that the buyer is completely incorrect, Ebay should allow us a way to present this and actually listen to what we have to say and read what we present. And when a buyer uses their own words to tell us in a request for return itself that they are not filing it with the proper reason, that should be heard too IMHO.
@vrykalak wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@vrykalak wrote:
When I do a Sell Similar, the only information that comes across from the other listing is the title (which I don't want) and the category (which I do want).
Why can't the shipping size, weight, and options come across, too? If I'm selling the same item, that information should also apply to my listing. (instead, what I get, is whatever those options are for the previous item I listed...totally useless.)Hi @vrykalak, can you give us item numbers for examples on this? A few examples would be great as many factors could affect what data is brought over and we would need to test and compare the information provided.
This is true for ALL Sell Similar listings, and always has been.
I've been making this request off-and-on for years.
The most recent one was a Pokemon Baseball Cap (item 382562124673)
Hi @vrykalak, thank you for the example. Also, love the hat! I have one very much like it but with Eevee instead of Pikachu 
