Average Message Response Time Shown In Feedback Module - Another Test?

[valueaddedresource]

Noticed today that on the View Item page in the Feedback module for some sellers eBay is showing an average message response rate.

It's not showing for all sellers and I'm not sure what the criteria is - I don't think it's only for sellers that are particularly fast because I'm seeing anywhere from 1 hr to 24 hrs.

devon@ebay kyle@ebay  - any insights on this you can share?

[valueaddedresource]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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@gurlcat wrote:

I absolutely agree, it's stupid.  These "usually responds in ___" messages are normally on on websites of WHOLE BUSINESSES with employees, and even still its time frames of at least 24 hours.  

If someone in a far off time zone writes (Europe, Asia, Australia, etc) then it's more than likely I'm asleep.  

I was just celebrating that (at this time) mine says 12 hours, rather than 1 or 6.  I'd rather people NOT expect me to be a 24/7 email responding machine, ha.  

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@gurlcat I blurred out the names in those screenshots but I was actually surprised that many of the large major brand names that sell directly on eBay had the longest times of any that I saw - many of them were at 24 hours.

Like you, I would have expected larger multi-channel businesses that likely have customer service teams operating during business hours to have a lower average.

Not sure what, if anything, my small sample size really says - while larger companies do tend to have more staff, I also think many small sellers in general probably care more about being responsive and providing excellent service, so maybe those trends make sense.

Either way, I think the weight of concern for having to respond quickly and keep up with new buyer expectations this may set is going to fall disproportionately on smaller sellers for sure.

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Edit to add - I just found one large well known brand with a 48 hour response time displayed.

[fern*wood]

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@gymbo_limbo wrote:

What if you've already answered the buyer and they were the last one to respond to the thread not needing a further response? Is that going to somehow make it look poorly on you like you don't answer questions?

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That's what I was wondering about.  If my potential buyer says thank you, do I have to write back with "No, thank you" or something?   I don't see this yet.  What is my response time?

[valueaddedresource]

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@gymbo_limbo wrote:

What if you've already answered the buyer and they were the last one to respond to the thread not needing a further response? Is that going to somehow make it look poorly on you like you don't answer questions?

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That's what I was wondering about.  If my potential buyer says thank you, do I have to write back with "No, thank you" or something?   I don't see this yet.  What is my response time?

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@fern*wood it says your response time is 3 hours.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Here's my take:

Buyers don't read.

But all of a sudden, buyers will be reading this and paying scrupulous attention to it?

I don't think so.

A relatively small percentage of buyers will read this estimate.

Of those who DO read it:

Most won't care very much one way or the other.

In some cases---especially if the buyer is buying a gift, looking for a very necessary part to make a repair, trying to choose between the same item from Seller A or Seller B---the time mentioned will matter. In most of those cases, anything from an hour to , let's just say, five or 6 hours, will be fine. 48 hours? Buyer might move on to another seller.

Many buyers have seen this sort of thing on other sites (not just ecommerce sites) and most will, in fact, have relatively realistic expectations. If they ask a question at 3AM, they won't actually expect an answer within the estimated hour.

A few buyers, unfortunately, will treat the estimate as some sort of ironclad promise. But for the most part, these will be the same people who expect a prompt response even when no estimate is shown them. There are difficult, demanding people in this world, and this isn't going to suddenly add legions to that number.

So far, I haven't seen that ebay has indicated that response time is going to be considered as a factor in Seller Performance, so I'm not worried about that.

As to whether it is a factor in search placement or not:

1. If it is, I don't think it carries a lot of weight. Just one minor factor.

2. Whether it is or isn't, I will continue to answer as promptly as I reasonably can, just as I always do. I do so as a courtesy to my customers, not as a way to improve my search placement.

So, basically, this just adds something that many people probably expect to see these days, it does help quick responders to be competitive, at least in a small way, and it might actually push some sellers to provide better response times, which would be good for the site and for sellers overall. So, this is one of those changes I say: do it or don't do it, doesn't bother me much either way.

[fern*wood]

Will it be clear to buyers that see this what it even refers to?   I can see some thinking it means something other than communication.   Heck, some may think items will be shipped in 3 hours or whatever.

[evry1nositswindy]

I can't find it on mine.  What about the time you are sleeping?  I got a message at 1:04 this morning, but answered it around 8 when I got up.  That would look bad with such a long time in between.  Does this take time zone and night into consideration?

Also, some messages do NOT need responses, especially harassing ones.

[valueaddedresource]

devon@ebay kyle@ebay  - if you could please check with the team on this one and find out for us:

A.) Over what time frame is the average calculated?

B.) Do messages that are not responded to count against a seller for this stat and if so, what is the proper way to mark when a message does not require a response to avoid having it counted?

C.) If a seller has working days/hours set for the purposes of shipping cut offs, will those settings also apply to messages for this stat (ie. only counting "business hours" for response time).

Thanks!

[evry1nositswindy]

Did you find one that says "never responds to messages"?  

[valueaddedresource]

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@evry1nositswindy wrote:

Did you find one that says "never responds to messages"?  

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@evry1nositswindy not yet 😂 So far the longest I've seen is 48 hours.

[lux-libri]

Don't see it now, but mine was 3 hours. I do answer anything important pretty promptly, but there are a lot of variables here.

I sometimes respond directly from e-mail, and the message still shows up as unanswered on eBay. I'm not diligent about going back and clicking 'mark as answered.' There are other occasions where I don't respond at all, usually when there has been a back and forth, and the buyer's message get to the "thanks again" stage or something similar.

[devon@ebay]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

Noticed today that on the View Item page in the Feedback module for some sellers eBay is showing an average message response rate.

It's not showing for all sellers and I'm not sure what the criteria is - I don't think it's only for sellers that are particularly fast because I'm seeing anywhere from 1 hr to 24 hrs.

devon@ebay kyle@ebay  - any insights on this you can share?

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Hey @valueaddedresource! What we can share is this is testing that is being done on select accounts and any feedback will be shared with the product team in charge of this! 

[valueaddedresource]

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

Noticed today that on the View Item page in the Feedback module for some sellers eBay is showing an average message response rate.

It's not showing for all sellers and I'm not sure what the criteria is - I don't think it's only for sellers that are particularly fast because I'm seeing anywhere from 1 hr to 24 hrs.

devon@ebay kyle@ebay  - any insights on this you can share?

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Hey @valueaddedresource! What we can share is this is testing that is being done on select accounts and any feedback will be shared with the product team in charge of this! 

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Thanks devon@ebay - I take it that means the team is not willing to share detailed answers to the specific questions I asked?

I understand why eBay is typically tight lipped about testing so as not to influence the test, but as you can see there are some legitimate concerns from sellers about how this information is being counted and how it might impact buyer expectations and their businesses....proactively addressing those questions would certainly go a long way toward calming seller concerns.

[devon@ebay]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

Noticed today that on the View Item page in the Feedback module for some sellers eBay is showing an average message response rate.

It's not showing for all sellers and I'm not sure what the criteria is - I don't think it's only for sellers that are particularly fast because I'm seeing anywhere from 1 hr to 24 hrs.

devon@ebay kyle@ebay  - any insights on this you can share?

---

Hey @valueaddedresource! What we can share is this is testing that is being done on select accounts and any feedback will be shared with the product team in charge of this! 

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Thanks devon@ebay - I take it that means the team is not willing to share detailed answers to the specific questions I asked?

I understand why eBay is typically tight lipped about testing so as not to influence the test, but as you can see there are some legitimate concerns from sellers about how this information is being counted and how it might impact buyer expectations and their businesses....proactively addressing those questions would certainly go a long way toward calming seller concerns.

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@valueaddedresource  We have sent the questions over but have not heard back as of now. We are also getting clarification for which product team owns this testing so once we know more we will be sure to share the information that we can.

[valueaddedresource]

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

Noticed today that on the View Item page in the Feedback module for some sellers eBay is showing an average message response rate.

It's not showing for all sellers and I'm not sure what the criteria is - I don't think it's only for sellers that are particularly fast because I'm seeing anywhere from 1 hr to 24 hrs.

devon@ebay kyle@ebay  - any insights on this you can share?

---

Hey @valueaddedresource! What we can share is this is testing that is being done on select accounts and any feedback will be shared with the product team in charge of this! 

---

Thanks devon@ebay - I take it that means the team is not willing to share detailed answers to the specific questions I asked?

I understand why eBay is typically tight lipped about testing so as not to influence the test, but as you can see there are some legitimate concerns from sellers about how this information is being counted and how it might impact buyer expectations and their businesses....proactively addressing those questions would certainly go a long way toward calming seller concerns.

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@valueaddedresource  We have sent the questions over but have not heard back as of now. We are also getting clarification for which product team owns this testing so once we know more we will be sure to share the information that we can.

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Thanks devon@ebay  - appreciate your efforts!

[whatamisellingtoday]

I think it's a good idea. I pride myself on my communication with the customer, so them knowing about it or having that expectation of me is fine. I am a small seller though, so I can see how a much bigger store might have an issue. Then again, maybe if you've gotten that big, and can't communicate efficiently with customers, you should hire some people to do that kind of thing for you!