Monthly Chat - August 2nd at 1:00 pm PST

[elizabeth@ebay]

We are excited to announce that our Shipping team will be joining us for the August monthly chat! Get your questions ready for our Shipping team on August 2nd at 1:00 pm PST, (one week earlier than our prior chats).

Edit: Thanks for joining us for the Monthly Chat with eBay Staff and Shipping Team.

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 Shipping Team and 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.

As a reminder, we want Shipping Team to be able to get to as many members as possible during the allotted hour, so we have a few things to ask of you:

• Keep on topic
• Scroll through the list of questions to see what has already been asked to decrease chances of redundancy 
• Keep the message/question simple and no more than one to two items. If you include multiple questions in a post, please be aware that they may not be addressed during the chat and Shipping Team will do their best to follow-up with it after the chat has closed 

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 month!

[dhbookds]

eBay will not take any action on listings with First-Class package service until after the end of 2023.

When/where will this be announced?

are investigating potential solutions,

Well, there is one available.........and you ought to BUY it........since you haven't be able to come up with one on your own........   This whole rollout has been an absolute disgrace...............

[deb@shipping]

Hi @shipscript eBay is not converting Retail Ground to Ground Advantage - listings with Retail Ground will need to be updated to Ground Advantage and won't automatically relist unless the update is made. There would be a reason not to update listings with Retail Ground to Ground Advantage.

[allthingssurplus]

Deb, please read my post I just left it is consistent with post #5.  Since I am spending thousands of dollars which should have been a simple IT fix on your side of the fence I think a real answers and apology is in order.

[wastingtime101]

Another EIS question:

Is eBay going to offer sellers the ability to enable/disable EIS at the listing level (and biz policy level) at any point in the foreseeable future?

-----

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

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

deb@shipping 

dhbookds correctly stated: "This whole rollout has been an absolute disgrace..............."

So, has the Shipping Team been told by the CEO that he no longer wants ebay to be "the platform of choice for sellers"? 

And that his "tech led reimagination of ecommerce" doesn't include providing prompt, simple fixes for problems that will cost sellers many man hours of work?

[metropolismarketplace]

Hello, and thanks for the chat. In regard to the new International Shipping Program, there seems to be conflicting information. Many things that I have read from eBay in various places state that all we have to do is "get the item to the hub", and that eBay handles any concerns from there.  That is to include any import regulations (including if the item can be imported to a specific country), the need for EORI numbers, VAT issues, the new packaging regulations required by some EU countries etc. Yet, the seller terms and conditions for this program say the opposite.  Please clarify.

I was considering adding a few EU countries back in that I previously excluded because of new laws regarding VAT, EORI numbers and the use of specific packaging, but after reading the information below, it still appears the seller is responsible for everything. This is not "Simply ship your item to our domestic shipping hub. eBay handles all the international details—including customs paperwork" as stated on many eBay pages. 

A sample of part 4 "Applicable Laws" from seller terms and conditions: 

You agree not to sell or export any EIS Items through the Program in violation of any applicable laws or regulations of the countries eligible for the Program. By not opting an EIS Item out of the Program, you are representing and warranting that your sale, transfer, export or import of the EIS Item does not violate any applicable laws or regulations of any eligible country and that you as a seller have taken all necessary steps to ensure you are in the position to export items outside of the United States including where applicable, obtaining an EORI number (Economic Operators Registration and Identification number) for export including to the European Union. You are responsible for ensuring that your sale and exportation of the EIS Items complies with all laws, regulations and requirements of the country from which it is being exported and in which it is being sold. You will provide to eBay all necessary information required by it regarding the EIS Items sold. You hereby represent and warrant that EIS Items posted do not require an export license to the ultimate destination country.

You agree to comply with all applicable export control laws, statutes, and regulations in your performance of this agreement

[deb@shipping]

---

@wastingtime101 wrote:

EIS question:

Does eBay plan to set up combined shipping rates for buyers? Is this being worked on for 2024 (or sooner)?

With GSP the domestic portion was combined if seller had their shipping preferences set up and I believe the international portion was not combined.

With EIS right now nothing is combined so buyer pays separate full ship cost (domestic + international) for each item even when they pay for items together in the cart.

---

Hi @wastingtime101  thank you for your question. We are aware of pain points around combined shipping and are working on a solution. Please be on the lookout for an announcement later this year.

[clarkphilatelics]

I have all but given up on international sales. I sell small lightweight items. An individual copyrighted color slide may sell for less than the cost of international shipping. The eBay shipping programs are not satisfactory because selling an undelivered slide could create copyright issues. I notice that sending items of minimal value by USPS First Class Mail International to the European Union is blocked by the USPS unless the item is valued at zero. Also, stamps for collectors are blocked by the new eBay Global Shipping program. Since there are two HS codes for stamps, why not allow shipping stamps that cannot be used for postage?

HS code 970400 for used postage stamps, no longer valid stamps, and first day covers is 970400. It should not be blocked by the eBay Global Shipping Program

HS code 490700 for current unused postage or revenue stamps may have to be blocked.

It would be helpful if eBay category help listed the most common HS codes for each major category tree.

-----

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

[deb@shipping]

---

@shipscript wrote:

deb@shipping 

This is going to be technical. When using the Shipping module of the Shopping API that returns items for eBay Partner Network, shoes destined to Authentication don't return a shipping option. Instead, an error is returned. That means Authenticated shoes can not be displayed in EPN marketing slots. 

---

Hi @shipscript thank you for your question. I believe you are referring to a 3rd party listing tool, if so you would need to contact them about the challenge. Authenticity guarantee for sneakers should have a free Fedex label provided with each order.

[shipscript]

---

@allthingssurplus wrote: Since I am spending thousands of dollars which should have been a simple IT fix on your side...

---

@allthingssurplus 

I'm rolling out a tool to help your fix those listings, but it is not yet ready for File Exchange, and it is still in progress. Contact me to discuss your shipping. The free tool may be able to fix groups of listings for you.

https://isdntek.com/ebaytools/BulkShippingScanner.htm

[clarkphilatelics]

How difficult would it for eBay to provide a means of caching frequently used envelope configurations including size, weight and shipping options like Signature Confirmation?

-----

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

[clarkphilatelics]

Combined shipping postage discounts have failed for international shipping on eBay as long as I can remember. Will it ever work? Is it possible that offering free domestic shipping triggers problems when combining international orders?

-----

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

[wastingtime101]

---

@clarkphilatelics wrote:

How difficult would it for eBay to provide a means of caching frequently used envelope configurations including size, weight and shipping options like Signature Confirmation?

---

I agree that it would be awesome if eBay expanded on Business Policies to include a "package dimensions" policy.

But in the meantime, you can set up listing templates to store package dimensions, weight and shipping options like sig conf and create your listings off those templates.

Options like sig conf you can also save if you use biz policies.

Hope that helps.

[elizabeth@ebay]

---

@clarkphilatelics wrote:

I believe that eBays shipping policies are fundamentally unfair to sellers of small, lightweight items. While the eBay standard envelope has provided some mitigation. The $20 limit on individual items and the $50 limit on combined shipments are too low. Rising rates for USPS First Class Package, now USPS Ground Advantage, continue to rise. Rates have more than doubled since I started selling on eBay. Prices of stamps for collectors or collectible color slides have not doubled. I am considering ending free shipping for items under $50, especially color slides which are not mailable with eBay standard envelopes. Unfortunately, combined shipping on eBay often results in overcharges requiring refunds, complicating accounting. I believe that separate labels are less secure than printing addresses and barcodes directly on the envelope.

 Recommendations:

1. Raise the eBay standard envelope limit to at least $75 for single or multiple items.
2. Add new categories like collectible color slides.
3. Allow sellers to combine orders paid for individually.
4. Provide a better definition of “not too rigid”.
5. Capability to print addresses and bar codes on various size envelopes.

---

Thank you @clarkphilatelics for the suggestions. The Shipping team will review these. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

deb@shipping  "Please be on the lookout for an announcement later this year."

I don't expect a precise date, but could you at least tell us whether "later this year" means "in time for the critical Q4 Holiday Season"?