07-18-2020 11:17 AM - edited 07-18-2020 11:21 AM
😃
This is what happened: While still using my VPN this morning, I was connected to a location about 1,200 miles from home. (Note that the fact it was me and that I was using a VPN is not really, should not be relevant to what I am about to describe, because it could have been any person who lives at the location my VPN showed as the location from which I was browsing eBay. But it is relevant when considering the FALSE information exhibited by eBay).
What I did was, I was reading one of the threads on this Seller discussion board. In that particular thread, my ID prettywoman-2012 came up as one of the posters. So, out of curiosity, I clicked on my own posting name and then Profile, like someone from that location would perhaps want to do, to see who this person is, and what she is selling.
The first surprise came when I then clicked, from my profile, on the link "Listings." This is what eBay showed me (or would have showed to the person following the same steps):
Items for sale from prettywoman-2012 prettywoman-2012 (966 Purple star icon for feedback score in between 500 to 999)
About Me | Save this seller
All Listings- Current page
Auction Buy It Now 0 results
This means that, a person searching for my listings from that particular location would think I have no listings whatsoever, when in fact, per my own Seller Hub page, I have 138 active listings!
I said to myself, O.K. calm down, this must be some glitch, surely, ebay would not engage in deceptive tactics to cut down on the ability of a seller to sell her goods, despite some critically voiced opinions on eBay, earlier on these discussion boards. So, as the next step, I have logged off my VPN and as usual, logged in to this eBay account.
The Seller Hub showed
Active listings: 137
I had one message from another seller whom I have asked a question earlier, about a pair of Calvin Klein shoes, I needed more measurements. I have clicked on that message and read it, then clicked on My eBay and this is what awaited me in Seller Hub:
Uh-oh, something went wrong and we can’t customize Overview.
We’re showing the default view while we iron things out. If you’ve made customizations, you’ll see them again in a bit.
Right below that, some information popped up which I have never before seen on eBay in 22 years+ of selling. It looked like this:
Get Started opens in a new window or tab
Set up your account
New business seller guide opens in a new window or tab
Choose your store subscription opens in a new window or tab
Create your listings
Hear from experts and eBay sellers on how to create good listings.
On the right side, however, contrary to the above which would imply I have NO listings yet and I am a new seller - the following link was exhibited:
Listings eligible to send offers: 3
If there is anybody who STILL believes eBay is not retaliating against vocal sellers posting their opinion per their constitutional right on eBay discussion boards, I still have a bridge to sell you in the Kalahari Desert.
eBay has, in shape or form, notified me of my Active listings (137 currently) not being shown to people searching for my listings on eBay. eBay has not informed me that not having enrolled in Managed Payment by the 15th of July would result in my listings to not be exhibited to potential buyers from any part of this country (I only sell domestically). eBay has me believe that all 137 listings of mine are alive and well, given the listings clearly being visible when I first logged in to Seller Hub. eBay further did not specify what the "you will see them in a bit" part of their message means, particularly, whether "a bit" means minutes, hours, days or weeks, or as long as all the items expire?
Note that 130 of the 137 listings are Fixed Price, with a total value of 5,525.93 so this is probably just peanuts for eBay - they would earn around 600.00 in fees, if that. But if they do these things to 1,000 other sellers, they lose 600,000 in revenue, so besides the above phenomenon being inexplicable (eBay did say that you cannot create NEW listings if you do not enroll in Managed Payments - but it never stated your listings will not be exhibited to potential buyers), it can also cost eBay significant monetary losses, kind of like shooting themselves in the foot.
Without any further ado, I have saved all these pieces of information and will not hesitate to show it to appropriate instances, as proof of silencing critical posters and interfering with their ability to sell their inventory on this marketplace, as they feel fit.
In case all of the above is just a temporary technical glitch: I did not see any announcement relevant to that. It is 12:15 p.m. July 18, 2020 and a screen shot was taken of this post, would it be mysteriously made to "disappear."
PW🐘
Solved! Go to Best Answer
07-18-2020 08:53 PM
Well, your post should get you a better rating with eBay now. 🙄 Honest eBay, I don't know this person. Never saw this person before in my life. I LOVE eBay! 😎
07-18-2020 09:04 PM
That’s been going on at least a year or two. Maybe more. I don’t know if it’s a board glitch or a mobile phone problem.
But incompetent programming does the trick for me - no need to make it a plot against vocal posters. That’s just silly.
07-19-2020 03:07 AM
Pants down!
07-19-2020 07:47 AM
@pburn wrote:
eBay is not targeting your account based on your discussion-board posts. Your posts are not all that controversial, and most of them are discounted by other community members within the thread. I'm sure eBay doesn't find any of your content very threatening. I don't think your posts have as much impact as you think they do. I think you're over-inflating their importance.
07-19-2020 07:48 AM
@vintage-car-magazines wrote:
@pburn wrote:
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:Without any further ado, I have saved all these pieces of information and will not hesitate to show it to appropriate instances, as proof of silencing critical posters and interfering with their ability to sell their inventory on this marketplace, as they feel fit.
eBay is not targeting your account based on your discussion-board posts. Your posts are not all that controversial, and most of them are discounted by other community members within the thread. I'm sure eBay doesn't find any of your content very threatening. I don't think your posts have as much impact as you think they do. I think you're over-inflating their importance.
Nailed it.
Watch that hammer so as to avoid nailing IT to your thumb or other precious body parts.
PW🤣🐘
07-19-2020 07:50 AM
07-19-2020 08:25 AM - edited 07-19-2020 08:26 AM
@glorybells wrote:I can see all of your listings.
But thanks for giving me something to laugh about this evening.
Making a comment about seeing my listings at 08:33:19 PM - after I have already posted at 06:26:40 PM that they are visible again - does not seem to lead to any useful new piece of information, don't you think?
But thanks for giving me something to laugh about this morning.
PW😂🐿
07-19-2020 10:48 AM
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:I have no intention to do so here, at this time. Not registering for the Managed Payment system, for obvious reasons. I do not want intrusive cookies like the ones from eBay, etsy and other nice websites, to cross-track my ports.
Well you should be happy now, Ebay can no longer hide your stuff. 😀 Good luck wherever it is you are moving to.
07-19-2020 12:30 PM
Hello everyone,
This thread is getting a bit heated. Please remember that it’s fine to disagree with others, but discussion should always remain courteous and respectful.
Thank you for your cooperation.
07-19-2020 04:20 PM
My sales have all but disappeared after I posted a concern about managed payments.
I know were are in a pandemic and some people do have limited funds; however I have a lot of Sellers on my watch list and I do not see a stop in their sales, these Sellers and I sell similar goods. Something is just no right! I am looking for a full time job tomorrow.
07-19-2020 06:09 PM - edited 07-19-2020 06:11 PM
@getitright1234 wrote:My sales have all but disappeared after I posted a concern about managed payments.
I know were are in a pandemic and some people do have limited funds; however I have a lot of Sellers on my watch list and I do not see a stop in their sales, these Sellers and I sell similar goods. Something is just no right! I am looking for a full time job tomorrow.
Something tells me, we haven't seen it all - just yet. I am culling my listings, most have already been downloaded anyways. The last thing I need is, eBay forcefully enrolling me into MP and then holding MY money, kind of trying to cajole me into signing up or else, losing all $$$.
And as mentioned by me, repeatedly: I will not hand over any picture ID or similar personal document to eBay. Not even the IRS is asking for it. eBay must have some hidden reason for wanting the photo IDs, and perhaps collect this information for some other purpose, but definitely does not need it to collect sales taxes on our behalf.
Another concern is the repeated misinformation that sellers will save with the MP system. That is not correct. While a small fraction of the payment processing fee may be saved in comparison with what PayPal charges for processing the order, that saving will be wiped out plus we pay more, because now we will have to pay 12.39% of the sales tax, too - even though we sellers do not ever sell or keep that part of the buyer's payment. So, no worries, this little seller with the items so undesirable that nobody wants them (as per another poster on this thread)😄, has a different plan.
https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2020/7/1595102820.html
Good luck with your job search!
PW
07-19-2020 09:33 PM
You bet ebay hides listings. I called customer service one time about an issue. While I was on the phone I complained about poor sales. Funny thing happened - I had 4 auctions for shower curtains that had been listed for weeks. Within 2 days of the phone call all four sold -another funny thing they all sold to the east coast. Yes, ebay hides listings.
08-02-2020 02:45 PM - edited 08-02-2020 02:46 PM
@monty1964 wrote:You bet ebay hides listings. I called customer service one time about an issue. While I was on the phone I complained about poor sales. Funny thing happened - I had 4 auctions for shower curtains that had been listed for weeks. Within 2 days of the phone call all four sold -another funny thing they all sold to the east coast. Yes, ebay hides listings.
Not only do they hide listings, but I now have proof that they are actually hiding the entire account of some sellers, as they feel fit. I posted about on another thread of mine that the question on an item asked on Friday was immediately answered by me as I happened to be logged in at the time - yet 2 days later (today is Sunday) the Seller Hub reminder to respond to a question is still there!
Just now, I also checked the traffic report to my Active listings. It says: External site views 100% down.
It is literally impossible for 156 or so active listings to not receive a SINGLE view from somebody searching for an item. I have items for sale in multiple categories, from apparel to jewelry to handbags and DVDs, Pet clothing, etc. etc. Organic search down by almost 30% - and if I am correct, organic means, searches conducted by those for example reading these boards while logged in to eBay. This number can fluctuate greatly, but the external view count being 100% down means, zero views.
Question: How nice is this?
Answer: Not at all.
This is, after I have ended and relisted all FP items 2-3 days ago, with the "Sell similar" option, which means, new listings, technically. And, before the cheerleaders jump at me again (you know who you are): a friend of mine on the East Coast just checked, and once again, received zero (0) listings showing under my user ID.
We can continue to play these games for a while.... but in the end, the truth will come out. So, stop with the throttle now, eBay!
PW🐿
08-02-2020 02:50 PM
And, in case someone would check and tell me, "Oh, but I am in TX, Washington, Honolulu, whatever - and I can see all your listings!" it does not matter, because you are directly clicking on my page - whereas a potential buyer would just do a search for an item and my listings won't even be shown to him.
08-02-2020 04:03 PM - edited 08-02-2020 04:06 PM
@prettywoman-2012 wrote:And, in case someone would check and tell me, "Oh, but I am in TX, Washington, Honolulu, whatever - and I can see all your listings!" it does not matter, because you are directly clicking on my page - whereas a potential buyer would just do a search for an item and my listings won't even be shown to him.
Well, for what it's worth, I did a search for Kenneth Jay Lane clothing (to pick one example at random) and your listings popped right up. Other tests are similar. If you can come up with a reproducible test in which your listings will not appear when they should in a search that any of us can perform, please do, as that will help to show the problem.
I know that eBay has said that not all listings will appear all the time, but the sheer quantity of search results that come back from a search for, say, "Kenneth Jay Lane" in the Clothing. Shoes & Accessories category (my test just now returned 110 listings, including yours) suggests that selectively excluding some listings, if that is what they're doing, doesn't seem to make a lot of difference in the firehose of search results that do get delivered.
In other words, I don't know why they would bother to deliberately cap the results -- what's the difference between 110 matches and 130, when you're already into triple digits, after all -- but as has been suggested in the past, it may more likely be that if some server is responding slower than others, the system may not wait for it to return its results, and instead go with whatever hits it has already gathered in the past few nanoseconds.