Weekly Community Chat, June 7th @ 1pm PT - General Topics

[alan@ebay]

Hi Community 🙌

Please join the Community team at 1 pm Pacific today for our weekly chat. We do not have a set topic this week so feel free to ask us your buying or selling questions or share what's on your eBay mind. 

For the last couple of weeks, we've been sharing a survey that we're currently conducting regarding the weekly chat format. We'll be closing the survey this week, so please take a minute to share your thoughts if you haven't done so yet. 

Talk to you at 1 pm!

[alan@ebay]

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@dansteinke972 wrote:

Hi there, I just got off the most attrocious call with Ebay customer service that involved me being passed arounnd to "supervisors" and "managers" of increasing rank yet none of them were able to provide me any additional info, and did not even have my account info pulled up. Clearly I was getting passed around a call center to see who could get rid of me. First I was escalated to  a supervisor who said they were going to submit my issue for "review", when I asked that agent to send me an email confirming as much they all of a sudden had computer issues and needed to call me back in 5-10 minutes when their computer "came back up." I offered to wait on the line and did not want to be placed on hold, at which point I heard the representative take off their head set and set it on the desk, leaving me asking "Hello?" for a least two minutes. I finally got this "supervisor" to get their "manager" who was able to get the "supervisor" to send an email with vague details about my case being reviewed. Not inspiring confidence here, so I asked again for the manager of the call center or contact info for the director.

The last guy I was passed to, Kelly, "Manager of All Sales for North America"  (later in the call he said it was just "Operating Manager"), gave me eBay HQ's number, 408 376 7400. I used my desk phone to call that number with Kelly still on my cell phone. That number asks for a five digit extension to connect or tells callers to use the contact me form on eBay. When I asked Kelly what extension I should dial, they said "17400" which, you might notice is the same extension for the main number, 408 376 7400. When you put in that extension it just hangs up on you! Obviously not the right number, obviously still getting the run around. At this point I had wasted nearly an hour on the call and still zero confidence my request is being reviewed as they stated.

This type of service is really disappointing from a company like eBay. How can I get in contact with someone that will actually be able to assist? Where do I forward this info to get the call reviewed? Surely this is not how eBay wants their users treated.

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Hi @dansteinke972

I am so sorry to hear about this experience, we will definitely have this call reviewed. To confirm, was it the ID dansteinke972 you were calling about today? 

Thanks. 

[upscale_shop]

Thanks, Alan.

[automotivepartsrecyclrs]

There was a link to check your listings for the active content. We used it yesterday to verify all are listings. Now the link is gone. It was under seller announcements.

We are finding some of the apps on Ebay are good to use but are in violation of the active content policy

[dansteinke972]

Hi there, I just got off the most attrocious call with Ebay customer service that involved me being passed arounnd to "supervisors" and "managers" of increasing rank yet none of them were able to provide me any additional info, and did not even have my account info pulled up. Clearly I was getting passed around a call center to see who could get rid of me. First I was escalated to  a supervisor who said they were going to submit my issue for "review", when I asked that agent to send me an email confirming as much they all of a sudden had computer issues and needed to call me back in 5-10 minutes when their computer "came back up." I offered to wait on the line and did not want to be placed on hold, at which point I heard the representative take off their head set and set it on the desk, leaving me asking "Hello?" for a least two minutes. I finally got this "supervisor" to get their "manager" who was able to get the "supervisor" to send an email with vague details about my case being reviewed. Not inspiring confidence here, so I asked again for the manager of the call center or contact info for the director.

The last guy I was passed to, Kelly, "Manager of All Sales for North America"  (later in the call he said it was just "Operating Manager"), gave me eBay HQ's number, 408 376 7400. I used my desk phone to call that number with Kelly still on my cell phone. That number asks for a five digit extension to connect or tells callers to use the contact me form on eBay. When I asked Kelly what extension I should dial, they said "17400" which, you might notice is the same extension for the main number, 408 376 7400. When you put in that extension it just hangs up on you! Obviously not the right number, obviously still getting the run around. At this point I had wasted nearly an hour on the call and still zero confidence my request is being reviewed as they stated.

This type of service is really disappointing from a company like eBay. How can I get in contact with someone that will actually be able to assist? Where do I forward this info to get the call reviewed? Surely this is not how eBay wants their users treated?

[tyler@ebay]

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@coinslabz26 wrote:
My question is for the ebay shipping team regarding priority mail express padded flat rate envelopes. With the most recent postage increase USPS raised their rates higher for the padded envelopes then they did for the flat document mailers. Given that they are no longer the same price we now don't have that as a shipping option anymore.

Will ebay ever consider giving us the option to use priority mail padded flat rate envelopes from ebay shipping or do they plan to bring it back? In the mean time can I add a stamp to the flat rate envelope package? What is the difference in postage cost with the ebay discount if I wanted to use a stamp in the mean time?

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Great question - I will get this to the Shipping team and update you when I hear back.

I know that in general (from when I worked at USPS) it was frowned upon to do a combination of stamp and label, as the label states the specific service, but it's been a few years and things may have changed. Thanks! 

[coinslabz26]

This question is regarding the coin category and listing categories.

For years it seems to have eluded ebay that the US coins section needs a section for US mint produced pattern coins. Pattern coins are usually list by judd and pollock numbers such as "J-000" or "P-000" format making them difficult to search for. These coins are extremely popular and were experimental issues struck at the US mint mostly in the late 1800's but also exist from 1792 up to present.

The catalogue number of these coins makes them difficult to search for and many are lost in other and miscellaneous categories. A quick search for "judd" in the coin category reveals about 200 misplaced listings right now and that is only from the sellers savvy enough to use the term to be found. These coins are expensive and in high demand. A pattern coins subcategory in US coins would bring great value to both ebay and it's buyers, as well as provide a home for these lost coins!

[dansteinke972]

That is correct.

[alan@ebay]

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@sockmonkeydave wrote:

alan@ebay

Any update on what is happening with Turbo Lister.

I love the program, as do many others.

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Hi @sockmonkeydave

We understand from our conversations and surveys that for some of you, a few of the Turbo Lister features you rely on are not yet available in Seller Hub. In keeping with our promise, Turbo Lister will continue to be available beyond June with limited support.

However, Turbo Lister is no longer available to new users and we will not be making any product updates beyond support for category changes.

Meanwhile, we continue to add functionality to Seller Hub to make it the most convenient and powerful way to manage your selling from one convenient location. For example, you can upload listings in bulk with File Exchange, as well as create and manage listings from the Seller Hub listings tab. Regardless of how you list, we encourage you to take advantage of the unique competitive features in Seller Hub including performance reports, marketing tools, and growth and inventory guidance.

We will continue to enhance Seller Hub and will keep you posted, as new features are available.

Thank you!

[mam98031]

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@vrykalak wrote:

Had a listing removed because it mentioned velcro.
I have posted the identical listing several times in the last few years.
Suddenly, it's a copyright (or some such) violation.
Threatened with being suspended if I make such a mistake again,
A search shows there are 31K listings that mention velcro in the title.
Is Velcro Corp going to take down all those listings?

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I've had this happen before as well.  Vero take downs are darn hard to battle and usually result in Vero getting their way.  

I once had to deal with using the word jaccuzi in the title of a fashion doll pattern.  The company called Jaccuzi was ridiculous about this.  I tried to explain to the company's lawyer that "jaccuzi" is commonly used by many and in my case it was to describe a patter for an 11 1/2" doll.  There was no way someone was going to confuse it with an adult size jacuzzi.  They insisted that it could and mostly like would.  I got no where with them.

I also years ago had any of my fashion doll pattern listings taken down for having the word Barbie in the title.  I tried to fight it without a positive outcome.  None of the other sellers of these patterns EVER had this happen and to this day the patterns are all over Ebay with the word Barbie in the title.

Same as with the Barbie thing, I got in trouble the the fragrance manufacturer Bond No. 9 for the pics I used on my listings.  They were stock photos widely used on the internet.  For some reason I can't use them, but there are plenty of sellers on Ebay that used them and still do.

Vero is spotty at best and often times get it wrong but it is extremely difficult to get it reversed.

[alan@ebay]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

alan@ebay  Survey?  Survey?  Do you mean you attach a Survey at the end of each Chat for us to reply to?  If so then yours truly has totally missed that.  Most Surveys I get come through eBay Messaging.

Thank you Alan!

PS: Anyone who wants to say "Mr Lincoln, where have you been?" then I deserve that!

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Here's a direct link to the survey I've been promoting the last couple of weeks: https://connect.ebay.com/srv/survey/a/community.weekly.chat

Thanks! 

[mg152]

First of all thank you Alan for caring about us & our families. That means a whole lot.

I'm not listing too much right now because of my family issues however, last month before my FIL passed I started an experiment of shortening my titles only not the description & I had at least a sale a day for a week. That's a lot for me right now considering I only have about 40 items listed. I had to cut my experiment short but I will try it again.

I saw all these sellers selling selling selling & I'd look & see things like "Men's blue tie" or "Woman's purse" so I decided to try it & it looks like it might work. When I'm searching I use 2-3 words usually. If your sales are slow, it wouldn't hurt to try. Again, that's the title only. My description is still the same. Have a great rest of the week & continue to pray for us please! Thanks!

[automotivepartsrecyclrs]

The app Webstore was the one with active content on all our items. Webstore says they fixed it but I had to have someone sit here all day and use the ebay tool thatremoved active content which was only webstore.

[mr_lincoln]

Trademark, VERO or other Listing Violation process

I have had one listing removed and summarily deleted for a Trademark Violation when in fact the item was not in violation of Trademark. During a Relist I changed some verbiage and then learned through The Community what my mistake was. I have read numerous threads on folks with the same issue. What I think might be more beneficial is rather than simply deep-sixing the listing, move it to the Unsold file with a note and requirement to schedule a call with eBay Support to go over the listing and explain why it was thought to be in violation and have it blocked from being Relisted until the issue is resolved.

I never relisted my item because the advice that I received here was I might risk my account being permanently closed or severely restricted if the computers picked the item off again as a violation.

[coinslabz26]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@coinslabz26 wrote:
My question is for the ebay shipping team regarding priority mail express padded flat rate envelopes. With the most recent postage increase USPS raised their rates higher for the padded envelopes then they did for the flat document mailers. Given that they are no longer the same price we now don't have that as a shipping option anymore.

Will ebay ever consider giving us the option to use priority mail padded flat rate envelopes from ebay shipping or do they plan to bring it back? In the mean time can I add a stamp to the flat rate envelope package? What is the difference in postage cost with the ebay discount if I wanted to use a stamp in the mean time?

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Great question - I will get this to the Shipping team and update you when I hear back.

I know that in general (from when I worked at USPS) it was frowned upon to do a combination of stamp and label, as the label states the specific service, but it's been a few years and things may have changed. Thanks! 

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Oh it is still frowned upon and so is stuffing a flat. I was just looking for any sort of temporary fix. I sell many multi thousand dollar coins and express mail has proven the safest method. So please urge the shipping team to get us the ability to ship padded flat rate! Why they would offer Legal Flat Rate Express mail and not Padded Flat Rate labels is beyond me.

[mg152]

So sorry! Thank you to Trinton, Heidi & everyone else that has thought of us during this difficult time!