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?

[gurlcat]

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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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Yeah I was wondering about that too.  Like any time a buyer says "Thank you so much"  are we being non-responsive by not saying "You're welcome"?  

[mam98031]

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@evry1nositswindy wrote:

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.

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I brought that up and other thing much earlier in the thread.  I'm not sure Ebay could further penalize a seller if they didn't respond in the time they are now say unless they also change the Policy pages which gives us 48 hours to respond.

IMHO the damage will come from the buyers that get disappointed and even upset if we don't meet the expectation.  What if they go ahead and buy, then hit our feedback.

I also don't see this on my listing, but I'm unclear as to where to find it.

[mam98031]

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@whatamisellingtoday wrote:

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!

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What if you got sick, called away on a personal emergency, took a day off, went to visit friends, simply life got in the way, you were sleeping, etc.  What then?  Some are so short with no stated time of the day.  The buyer gets mad, disappointed or upset because they didn't get their question answered in the timeframe stated.  Should the seller be penalized?  What would be the outcome of that?  What if the buyer went ahead and bought the item then voiced their disappointment on you feedback?  Would you still think it is a good idea then?

[gloryglorygifts]

Yes, I've noticed that on a few sellers that I've seen too and I don't like it. I'm disabled and have set work hours, yet I sleep with my tablet next to my head because I VERY often get messages at 1 and 2:30 in the a.m. People that text expect immediate responses, I think. It's just extra pressure to perform on here and a bit ridiculous if you ask me. I don't have people in India covering my phones at night. SMH

[gloryglorygifts]

I see that in feedback many times. 

[valueaddedresource]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@evry1nositswindy wrote:

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.

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I brought that up and other thing much earlier in the thread.  I'm not sure Ebay could further penalize a seller if they didn't respond in the time they are now say unless they also change the Policy pages which gives us 48 hours to respond.

IMHO the damage will come from the buyers that get disappointed and even upset if we don't meet the expectation.  What if they go ahead and buy, then hit our feedback.

I also don't see this on my listing, but I'm unclear as to where to find it.

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@mam98031 it's being displayed in the big feedback module below the description on the View Item page, but it seems to be browser and/or user dependent. I'm currently only seeing it in FireFox when logged in, but not seeing it in FireFox incognito or in Chrome either logged in or incognito.

Currently it's showing that you respond within 6 hours.

[greatmidwestcoin]

I'm guessing that eBay will begin adding this to the TRS requirements.  It's just another hoop to jump through and cut down on eBay having to fork back a few bucks via the TRS program.  Good luck to sellers who go on vacation and receive questions.

[valueaddedresource]

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@greatmidwestcoin wrote:

I'm guessing that eBay will begin adding this to the TRS requirements.  It's just another hoop to jump through and cut down on eBay having to fork back a few bucks via the TRS program.  Good luck to sellers who go on vacation and receive questions.

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@greatmidwestcoin not sure what if any plans there may be to tie this in to TRS - it's certainly possible but I'll wait and see before being too concerned about that.

As to going on vacation, I would think (hope) if you have Time Away active and have engaged the automatic response setting, that should count.

[legalbeagle52]

Hi @mam98031,

I'm on a desktop using Chrome.

To find your response time:

- Go to one of your listings

- Scroll down to your store name 

Right under your store name - to the far left - it says seller's response time - it's pretty small.

It's right BEFORE the detailed seller feedback.

Yours is 6 hours. 

-----------------------------------

I agree with all the points you made. Just not realistic. Mine is 1 hour, YIKES! ~like I said "no pressure there"  and while I do answer very quickly, I'm just not always online. As you said sleeping, vacation, sick or just plain busy, why create unrealistic expectations.  I often have to put my listings on "time away" due to schedule changes.

Anyways, I hope they don't keep this one. But it is what it is.  Luckily most buyers are reasonable & probably (hopefully)  won't pay attention.  We've lived through all the other changes, we'll get though this one as well. 😊

[mam98031]

Thank you.  I can't see my own as I use Chrome.  That is a weird test.  Many sellers won't even know it is there.

[mam98031]

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@greatmidwestcoin wrote:

I'm guessing that eBay will begin adding this to the TRS requirements.  It's just another hoop to jump through and cut down on eBay having to fork back a few bucks via the TRS program.  Good luck to sellers who go on vacation and receive questions.

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Don't give them any ideas!!!  Besides I don't think they can do that.  The policy clearly states we have 48 hours to respond.

I also don't agree that Ebay makes us jump through hoops to become TRS.  I've been TRS since the beginning of the program.  What they require for the program is simply what I require of myself as a seller.  So I just do my job and I think there was only once a very long time ago that I got close to losing it, but I don't remember why.

As to the TRS discount.  I don't participate.  It isn't big enough IMHO to warrant the shipping in 1 day and free returns.  I likely save more by having properly filed Buyer Remorse returns pay their own shipping.  If not, it just makes me feel better having that option.

[chapeau-noir]

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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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I actually expect large brand name stores to have a long response time - they probably treat email queries the same here as they do on their website, and 24+ hours seems to be pretty average. I don't see them spending extra money to detail CSRs to specifically answer questions from their eBay channel - we get in line just like everybody else.

Yet another benefit of shopping with we little guys is we have more personalised CS.

[gurlcat]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@greatmidwestcoin wrote:

I'm guessing that eBay will begin adding this to the TRS requirements.  It's just another hoop to jump through and cut down on eBay having to fork back a few bucks via the TRS program.  Good luck to sellers who go on vacation and receive questions.

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Don't give them any ideas!!!  Besides I don't think they can do that.  The policy clearly states we have 48 hours to respond.

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When you say "we" do you mean all sellers or just TRS?  And exactly what happens if (either kind of seller) doesn't respond to a message in 48 hours?   I've tried to find the policy you're talking about -where are you seeing it?  

And as for what ebay "can" or "can't" do because of a stated policy, who's to say they aren't thinking of changing the policy?  I mean it's not the U.S. Constitution or anything so immutable.  

[evry1nositswindy]

I have no idea why this is needed.  Buyers already judge us on communication, you can see the stars right there.  Seems redundant and stupid to me.

[mam98031]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@greatmidwestcoin wrote:

I'm guessing that eBay will begin adding this to the TRS requirements.  It's just another hoop to jump through and cut down on eBay having to fork back a few bucks via the TRS program.  Good luck to sellers who go on vacation and receive questions.

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Don't give them any ideas!!!  Besides I don't think they can do that.  The policy clearly states we have 48 hours to respond.

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When you say "we" do you mean all sellers or just TRS?  And exactly what happens if (either kind of seller) doesn't respond to a message in 48 hours?   I've tried to find the policy you're talking about -where are you seeing it?  

And as for what ebay "can" or "can't" do because of a stated policy, who's to say they aren't thinking of changing the policy?  I mean it's not the U.S. Constitution or anything so immutable.  

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Not sure that it matters.  I don't see this as a good change for anyone.

I'm really not currently concerned about Ebay penalizing the seller, but the buyers doing it when leaving feedback.  As I stated in more detail a couple times on this thread.

As for an Ebay policy, it use to be there, but they have been changing policies without notice for quite a while now, so it would not surprise me if it was gone.