Weekly Community Chat, May 24th @ 1pm PT - General Topics

[alan@ebay]

Hello! 🙌

Please join the Community team at 1pm Pacific this Wednesday 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. 

Last week I shared a link to a survey we're currently conducting regarding the weekly chat format. Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to give us feedback, we've received some great insights and suggestions for improvements already! If you haven't yet taken the survey, please do so via this link.

Talk to you tomorrow! 

[vrykalak]

bought insurance for a Media Mail package [ebay seller / process / shipping]

among other things, the "contract" said:
- void if any label on the box indicates what's in it

...useful, but not scary

- void if the carrier is not liable for damage or loss

...scary, because the insurance is not with USPS, and USPS is NOT liable for damage or loss of Media Mail.

Is that true: that buying eBay's insurance for Media Mail is a complete waste of money?

[carlmarxx]

Hello Trinton ,  I ran to some issues with search system even after I used a key word  for the item . After item came up  other stuff showed up  that  had not thing to do with the item i was looking for  when it came up .

[odditiesandantiquities1]

Same stuff I had happen last month. I had a fantastic weekend 10 days ago...then nada. Had it all documented. 

[Anonymous]

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@upscale_shop wrote:

Hi @Anonymous

#1 - I would like some clarification to the fairly new search option “Deals and Savings”, which were never explained when rolled out (at least to my knowledge). Deals and Savings, in my opinion, should display items that are either on sale, or are current hot deals.

When searching Nintendo Switch (apparently a hot item right now) and selecting Deals and Savings in search option, it comes up with pages of listings that are neither romoted, nor discounted.

When searching for a regular item, for example a J. Crew Sweater in Women’s clothing, and selecting Deals and Savings, it comes up with 1 low priced item, and 3 Sponsored listings.

As a seller, I would love to see the deals and savings search function synched with markdown manager and promotional tools, so when a seller has a sale, it would display under deals and savings.

As a buyer, I would love to see what is actually on sale by using the same search function, instead of Sponsored, Promoted, or other kinds of listings that are neither of value to me, nor a great deal.

I think both buyers and sellers would benefit from a Search option optimized to deliver current deals and savings, which would result in more income for eBay, more sales, and happier buyers.

For example, I ran a fairly significant sale for 48 hours, and none of the items appeared under Deals and Savings for any applicable category. Thus, the sale was displayed only to the people who actually visited my store.

#2 -  What is the purpose of using the Promotions tool in conjunction with Markdown Manager. I know Markdown changes the price, and the Promotions tool (Sale Event, specifically) should broadcast the sale to a wider audience. But does it really? Please clarify this.

Thank you.  

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Happy to clarify this search option! Results are filtered by an algorithm that searches for items that are below the average selling price on and off eBay for the product. This also displays items in the eBay Deals Program (http://www.ebay.com/deals). If an item that has been marked down with one of the promotion tools meets one of these two criteria, it may show up in this filter. This filter is designed to help buyers find great deals on the site and I will be sure to pass along your suggestions 🙂

Markdown Manager puts your items on sale and Promotions Manager amplifies a sale you are running with additional graphics. By using both, you maximize your visibility!

[odditiesandantiquities1]

I also have to add....after I contacted CS and he forwarded my information.....that was when I had the best weekend every...........lol.

[tyler@ebay]

---

@upscale_shop wrote:

There have been a few "connection Timeout" today using Firefox when listing, using Mobile Checker, or searching. Mostly around 12-2:00 PM EST. Other reports on Tech bords.

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Thanks for the heads up - is this just on Firefox or does it occur across other browsers as well? Have the basics (clear cache cookies/restart, etc) already been done? Happy to get it reported further if you'll get us more data. 

[upscale_shop]

Try searching for car parts (I don't sell car parts). Last time around, I got through 8 pages of search results that had nothing to do with my search query before seeing what I was looking for.

[victorjunkman55]

Why are political posts allowed on help boards ? When a newbie seller can't even find eBay's phone number, they somehow find the Community members board, Only to be greeted with Dark printed headlines such as "Hillary Having Trumps Baby" from this "soapbox". Or word games, or other non eBay stuff. These help boards should be used to help eBayers and not the lastest news from TV. Any comments on this Alan?

[vrykalak]

Another search issue:

If I use the "or" function (i.e., several keywords in parentheses), I often get far FEWER results than if I ask for just one of the keywords.
That makes no sense...but it keeps happening.

I have mentioned it to CS reps several times, and I'm sure others have as well.

Is eBay trying to fix this?

[alan@ebay]

---

@megadestroyers wrote:

There have been several, well-documented instances, over at least the last month or so, of very inappropriate material being added to sellers listings in the "people were also interested in...." section. This inappropriate material was of the very adult themed variety, including various adult magazines to very suggestive, sexually explicit material. Screen shots of several examples were emailed to Mr. Burke, raising the concern.

Checking today, one of the sellers very non-adult items with adult magazines attached previously, now doesn't have any other items attached to his listings, not even related. The second seller still has the objectionable items attached.

It appears the issue is being worked?  Any updates you can provide?

Thanks

---

Hi @megadestroyers

I just spoke with Brian. He sent your reports to the relevant team here at eBay and action was taken. If it is still occurring, Brian has asked that you send him more examples by email. 

Thank you! 

[carlmarxx]

---

@vrykalak wrote:

bought insurance for a Media Mail package [ebay seller / process / shipping]

among other things, the "contract" said:
- void if any label on the box indicates what's in it

...useful, but not scary

- void if the carrier is not liable for damage or loss

...scary, because the insurance is not with USPS, and USPS is NOT liable for damage or loss of Media Mail.

Is that true: that buying eBay's insurance for Media Mail is a complete waste of money?

---

---

@vrykalak wrote:

bought insurance for a Media Mail package [ebay seller / process / shipping]

among other things, the "contract" said:
- void if any label on the box indicates what's in it

...useful, but not scary

- void if the carrier is not liable for damage or loss

...scary, because the insurance is not with USPS, and USPS is NOT liable for damage or loss of Media Mail.

Is that true: that buying eBay's insurance for Media Mail is a complete waste of money?

---

The USPS is Liable  for lost or damge  for all parcels ,if you bought USPS shipping insurance .  As for the ship cover insurance offered by ebay,  I don't know their  policy's  for media mail  . 

[Anonymous]

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@odditiesandantiquities1 wrote:

Second item  I said to other sellers I would bring up is the problem with getting US eBay reps on Customer Service VS overseas US reps and the problems that occur, whether it's a problem with communication, understanding or generally just not beingpleasant.

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eBay is a global marketplace and as such you are likely to speak to our customer service agents around the globe when calling in. Some topics are the same from country to country and as such, are handled by all of our customer service teams around the world. Appropriate coaching can be provided for any specific issues if the sellers that voiced these concerns would like to reach out 🙂

[megadestroyers]

Will do. Thanks!

[upscale_shop]

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@Anonymous wrote:

---

 If an item that has been marked down with one of the promotion tools meets one of these two criteria, it may show up in this filter. This filter is designed to help buyers find great deals on the site and I will be sure to pass along your suggestions 🙂

---

Thanks, Trinton.

The keyword is "May" I'd assume. Not to sound cynical, but I tested it yesterday with prices below average selling price, and none of the items showed in the search using "deals and savings".

[Anonymous]

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@mg152 wrote:
What's going on with 0 or - views & watchers? Sales are nearly non existent. I had my store on vacation because of my father in law passing, I took it off to find views & watchers messed up. I've had a couple sales this week so I know there aren't 0 or - views. I'm not the only one either.

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I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and am here to help look into this for you. I've been working with your tech teams to investigate a negative number of watchers being displayed but have not yet received reports of negative views. I'll reach out via email to get specific examples from you here shortly.