Weekly Community Chat, July 19th @ 1pm PT - General Topics

[alan@ebay]

Hi Community, 

Please join us here for our weekly Community chat at 1 pm Pacific on Wednesday 7/19. There isn't a set topic this week so feel free to ask us your eBay buying & selling questions. 

Talk to you then!

[alan@ebay]

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@mg152 wrote:

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alan@ebay wrote:

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@timemachine777 wrote:

I believe it is long past due about having a major community discussion about revamping the Community Guidelines as they are very Draconian, and many of the individual rules are ambiguous and vague at the least. We as a community are affected by these rules that have little interpretation. And any appeal process is pretty well none exist.

So too protect members there should be checks and balances, or some measure of a stop gap, to prevent over reach and an abuse of power. These rules have shed the boards of many good members in the past, and just sends them to post on private forums about eBay issues and out of the reach of any retaliation due too their unwelcome views by a few.

Posting accounts should not be able to be severed due to minor back and forth squabbling, baiting into and argument, joking around, etc. They should be only for severe offenses. Like blatant none stop stalking of members, disgusting and filthy posts that are blatantly vile and vulgar in a more extreme context. An not from a basically tasteless and or contentious position.

Because, if the latter were truly the rule of thumb here, then I could cite close to a 1000 recent posts over the last couple of months that would qualify for removal, and board banning. It just seems that all is not equal when these ambiguous rules are applied or executed. There needs to some form of semblance.

Great examples of Ambiguity and Draconian measures:

4. Be respectful. Content that is harmful, hostile, threatening, abusive, baiting, vulgar, defamatory, harassing, or includes hate or racist speech, name calling or profanity will be edited or removed. Read more about our Profanity policy here; information on our Threats of Bodily Harm policy is available here.

7. No naming and shaming. We will not tolerate posting about listing or member violations. Item numbers, auction links, negative/neutral feedback scores, other members ID or contact information posted for the purpose of shaming another member will be edited or removed. Read more about this policy here. (Note: The wrong link is embedded here. The link is in relation to "contact info".) http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/identity-contact.html

10. Do not discuss or post about moderation actions. Discussion of moderation actions, reposting of deleted posts or discussion of suspended or no longer registered members. It is not permitted to discuss or repost removed content. It is inappropriate to talk about others who are suspended from the community or eBay.

These are the primary topics though the other rules have issues within their group also. I just wanted to highlight the ones that affect the most posts here. If all these rules were enforced equally on these boards. There wouldn't be any members left to post. We'd all be banned forever in less than a month, as the violations would stack up in a good day of posting here, or one good argument,which happens all the time.

There really is no definition as too how any of rules even apply to the context of a typical post. Nothing is defined. Example: Content that is baiting...Define baiting. Same with harmful, hostile, threatening, abusive, vulgar, defamatory, harassing.There are all levels of these examples from minor to extreme that are passed over in loads of posts, by both members and mods, without a care less. Is what defines which terms violate the rules and in what context?

We need to remove the draconian heavy handedness elements of these rules and the ambiguity surrounding the implementation rules and punishment and the terms themselves. I can't even find a reference as to the time frames for each ban in succession.

If a new member or one just not familiar with site gets banned they can't even access the guidelines in the link provided within the ban, nor the announcements pages, which everyone should have 24/7 access too, regardless of being currently banned from posting. The announcements can effect members business choices at the moment of release, and should have no connection with board usage.

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Hi @timemachine777

We completely rewrote our guidelines in October 2016; there are no current plans to rewrite them again. 

I wouldn't agree that they're "draconian." We have thousands of active users in our Community each day who do not experience post removal or moderator action.

Our team has a duty to keep all users in the Community safe, and posters in the Community have a duty to ensure that they adhere to our usage guidelines when posting. 

The eBay Community Team regularly meets with the Lithium moderation team to review all moderation action taken. 

We do not enjoy moderating, but having a safe and enjoyable environment is very important to us. 

If you ever have concerns with moderation action taken on your ID, you can contact me via Private Message, and I will personally review the situation. 

Thanks. 

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I rarely get a warning but when I do, I know I deserve it. I make a point of thanking the mods for the work they do, I tell them to have a good day every now & then (I know they're super busy) wish them happy holidays etc... They are always grateful & I appreciate them but some posters are way too rude & mean. Something needs to be done about it. What can be done about the people that are reported over & over? I can think of a few people that don't belong within a mile of this community. I won't rat them out but I do report them every time they are rude or mean. It runs people off.

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You can report individual posts via the 'Option' link on each post in the top right corner. If you have concerns about a person's behavior, in general, we can look into it - you can PM me the details. 

Thanks. 

[tyler@ebay]

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@automotivepartsrecyclrs wrote:

When is Ebay gonna test something ALL sellers would like to see:

Having to communicate with a seller to make things right or atleast be known of a problem with a order prior to leaving neutral or negative feedback?

We got a neutral the other day and all it said was did not fit and they made it fit. 51 days after delivery!!!

Another cussed us like a dog and then the usps actually took the package to him/her and handed it to them telling them it was their fault.

Buyers need to reach out to a seller prior to bad feedback to make it right then if its not corrected yes bad feedback but feedback is the total sale.

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Hi @automotivepartsrecyclrs - thanks for this suggestion! Currently we do encourage communication prior to leaving negative feedback, and buyers are required to wait for 7 days prior to leaving neutral or negative for PowerSellers, but we don't require the communication. I'll get it submitted. 

[Anonymous]

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@vrykalak wrote:

related to the post on GSP: Have a setting in International Shipping that selects exactly and only the countries where International First Class and small Priority Mail packages can be tracked.
Right now, a seller has to search the USPS site to see what the 15-20 countries are where IFC can be tracked right now, then go to eBay and turn OFF international shipping to the 200 or so countries where no tracking is allowed. This is monumentally annoying.
Two possible solutions:
1. have a switch that turns off shipping to all the countries that do not have IFC tracking, or
2. turn off shipping to ALL 200+ countries, and let sellers turn back on the ones that allow tracking.

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Hi @vrykalak - I can see where you're coming from and appreciate the suggestion! In the meantime, I find this page here: https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc2_022.htm helpful to reference on countries that offer IFC tracking internationally. Thank you for sharing this with us & I'll pass it along to the team! 

[Anonymous]

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@caesars_ghost wrote:
The seller Hub update last week removed view of the "Automation Rule" from the Manage Active Listings Page. Can no longer see at a glance what items have automation rules and what they are. Not a good idea! Please restore!

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You can submit suggestions and feedback directly via the "Tell us what you think?" link in the upper right hand corner of Seller Hub. The team in charge of this tool reviews these suggestions regularly and would love to hear about your experience.

[alan@ebay]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

I find it funny that one of the ones who likes to stir the pot is posting a thread about the community. Your friend with 5 or 6 different posting IDs - who would kudo your posts under every ID as well as promote his own negative posts by kudoing them was a disruption to the community.

The discussion boards are no longer discussion boards but Ebay Bash boards. Memebers who try to help people with their problems are accused of stalking when all they are trying to do are help a post formulate their listings so they'll be picked up in search or we try to help them rethink their business policies which may not make them as attractive to buyers.

The purpose of the boards is to help sellers with problems - not to make them feel good about their rants when we know many times they themselves are causing their own problems.

A suggestion may be to have a board where posters can ask questions concerning the tin foil hat theories like regional sales, blackouts ect... and maybe the blues stopping by to explain the situations and either why they occur or explain why they are nonsence.

We have lost many good posters due to some on the boards attacking them because they didn't follow the blame Ebay for everything train of thought. Copper has left due to being attacked. Castlemagic has left after an altercation - and I'm on my last leg as my patience is wearing thin.

I was one of these negative nellies a few years back until I smartened up - took advice from the supposed Ebay plants and changed my listings to get better views in search and be more appealing to a buyer. Too much time is lost complaining instead of trying to do something - often simple steps - to make things better. 

Every business has faults, every business does what they have to do to make money - every other venue has it's share of problems and dissatisfied sellers if you look at their discussion forums. Ebay is no better and no worse - but it's where I have sales because I have learned to adapt and listen instead of complain about everything.

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Hi @tunicaslot

I love hearing that the Community helped you make updates to your listings to be more successful. 

What I do not love hearing is that some members have been driven away by others, that is something that we will not tolerate, I'll send you a PM. 

Thank you. 

[Anonymous]

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@timemachine777 wrote:

Before time runs out here. What's up with the new seller to-do page that is replacing the active sell page (My selling page)? Now you have to use 3 to 5 diffwerent pages to get work done vs one page.

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I believe you are reference a portion of Seller Hub. I recommend you provide your feedback using the "Tell us what you think?" link in the upper right corner of the screen. Our Seller Hub team would love to hear from you!

[Anonymous]

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@vrykalak wrote:

another question about using the product catalog: If I'm selling several items in a series, can I pick one of the items and use it's catalog info? or is that misrepresentation?

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Hi @vrykalak - If the lot you're selling it's an official lot with it's own product info, you would want to select the most relevant item. For example, you're selling an Xbox ONE with controllers and a microphone. You would select the Xbox ONE match from the catalog.

We're also working on allowing "lots" in listings where you can add all of the specifics you need for the different items you're posting.

[Anonymous]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Trinton,
There are now going to be two ways for IPR to appear , I choose it or ebay forces it if the criteria are met. I get that. Fine. My question is: If ebay forces it, will I still have to remove it for the buyer to be able to request a total?

In other words, you are going to require IPR on most if not all of my FP listings, but you are NOT going to alter the shipping cart to provide an easy way for the buyer to get a combined shipping invoice? (I do not use "Combined shipping rules" as they are impractical for most of my stuff)

I do not see this as an improvement. IF you add the ability for the buyer to request the invoice from the shopping cart, yes. But otherwise? This change will just be counter-productive.

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Sorry for the confusion, I'll try to clarify! If we require immediate payment on the listing, then the buyer would still have the option of adding the item to their cart and requesting a total. If you require immediate payment on your listing, then the buyer would not be able to request a total from the cart.

[tyler@ebay]

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@vrykalak wrote:

searching the product catalog for a box set of books. The series is named "felicity". Even though I say "Felicity" and that its a box set of books, not even ONE of the 15 results I get contains that name. This is really annoying. can anything be done?
BTW, when I do a basic search with the same keywords I see 54 entries for the book set I have for sale.

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Hi @vrykalak, sorry to hear that Felicity wasn't in the catalog when you searched for it. Please let the catalog team know what you're looking for: sdsupport@ebay.com. They work on getting incorrect information removed and edited and suggestions edited as quick as they can. Thanks!

[alan@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

YES !!!

"I find it funny that one of the ones who likes to stir the pot is posting a thread about the community. Your friend with 5 or 6 different posting IDs - who would kudo your posts under every ID as well as promote his own negative posts by kudoing them was a disruption to the community."

I've brought this up before.  It use to be in the rules that posting with multiple IDs on any given thread was against the rules.  Yet you see it from time to time on threads.  Usually when no one is agreeing with that they are say, so they have the need to agree with themselves to get any traction because it makes it seem as if multiple posters are agreeing.  This behavior is often used by those that are just trying to stir things up and/or create friction on a thread.  I say bring back the rule that you aren't suppose to do this.

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That's definitely not allowed. 

You can report that behavior to the moderation team referencing this part of the guidelines: 

'Avoid duplicate, repetitive or disruptive threads and posts.  Members should only post one thread per topic on the most relevant board for the issue or question.  Topics or posts that are duplicative or disruptive may be removed without notice.'

Thanks. 

[tyler@ebay]

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@scribe.adept13 wrote:

Thanks for sharing! There will still be other listings visible (say the seller is running a promotion on similar items, a Markdown Manager sale cross-selling etc) as well as sponsored listings for other sellers below the description itself. Ultimately we want you to find what you're looking for and getting the information on the item you're looking at in a clear, concise way. 

If that is the case, you are failing.  The screen was so full of the other sponsored listings - and I'm talking 4 tiers of listing boxes at the top(ish) and several below the description!!! (wish I'd gotten a screenshot now) - that I almost clicked out of the listing altogether although that would not have been fair to the seller who was simply trying to sell something.  It's not his/her fault that eBay has decided that using his/her listing is a wonderful and acceptable way to advertise other people's stuff.

There's a local store that I began refusing to shop at when their weekly flyer began looking like a really bad collage created by sugared-up kindergarteners.  It was busy, considerably too much crammed on each page and very difficult to read.  The ad wasn't even just things on sale.   I mean, the sheer amount of stuff listed made it physically uncomfortable to view.  I actually complained to upper management (they're a chain grocer) - and so had many others.  They learned through a decline in sales that their brilliant idea of advertising to the max regardless of buyers' reactions wasn't so brilliant.  Their ad is now better and considerably moderated.

If I am having that kind of a reaction to eBay - and I work for a business which does eBay sales as a living, what must the average Joe who comes along for a quick shopping think?

~M

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Good insight, I'll get it shared. 🙂

[Anonymous]

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@outofroom wrote:

I use Seller Sourcebook for many of my listings. These all contain borders and interesting graphics of some kind, framing my descriptions and other information about my offerings.  The code is in HTML, which eBay supports.  To the best of my knowledge, this is not in violation of any eBay policy. I feel it enhances my listings and would hate to stop using it.

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Hi @outofroom - As long as these borders are in HTML format and is aligned with our new Active Content enforcement: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/fallupdate16/active-content.html#tab=what-you-need-to-d... you should be safe. Keep in mind though that some of these features aren't necessarily mobile friendly and could potentially be impacting your performance there.

[alan@ebay]

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@bigmotormania wrote:

alan@ebay

Hopefully I type this and get it out before the chat ends.

I had a suggestion I had been thinking about and wanted to see what you thought. I think on top of the weekly chat there should be a post where a person can ask a question at any time of the week but can only post once every xx hours or whatever, and you guys can reply to it if necessary. 

Then the weekly chat would be for more specific Q&A discussion, as opposed to simple "ask question, get answer, no discussion" type setup.

I hope you know what I'm getting at, just a thought.

Would allow for more specific answers to more complex questions, without interfering with the way the weekly chat works, in my opinion.

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Interesting suggestion, not one I've seen before. 

We recently ran a survey for feedback on the chat so we'll add it to that list. 

Thanks.