Tired of eBay BLATANTLY lying to sellers. No waiver of store early termination fees!

[revenue-collector]

Based upon what was posted by seller_update@ebay  here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fees-Financials/Will-we-get-an-opportunity-to-change-our-store-subscri...

I contacted eBay to downgrade my store from Premium to Basic. I went through two different overseas reps, and no, eBay is *NOT* waiving early termination fees for annual stores subscribers who opt to downgrade during this period. Early termination fees still apply.

Whether it's the staff member above or the overseas phone reps who are lying, the bottom line is that eBay has no consistent guidelines, and they are not honoring what was posted above, or at least they would not allow me to downgrade without paying an early termination penalty.

Thanks for nothing, eBay.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Did you point the rep to the thread in which an ebay blue states fees will be waived?

I don't think anyone is lying...I think some reps haven't gotten the message. This was never put out as a formal announcement by ebay , and so some reps probably aren't aware of it. You will probably need to be persistent to get the waiver. I know others have received it.

[revenue-collector]

Yes I did. They didn't care because it's "not in their system".

As some had feared, a board posting is not considered authoritative. By NOT formally publishing this so-called policy, eBay is actively disincentivizing downgrades.

It's underhanded and seller-hostile... in other words everything I would expect from this corrupt company.

[epowerbargains]

I noticed the 3/3/21 posting from an eBay representative as well - so I followed up. I called several times and received two responses 1) Yes we will do this call  eBay customer service on 4/1/21 to have us process this store subscription and credit fees.  2) No that will not be done by another CSR. So, I tired eBay Facebook and was told no. Then I tried eBay chat and now I have chats by different representatives that state 1) Yes you can do this and 2) No you can't do this......... 

My fear is that some representatives are confusing the mechanics of accomplishing a store reduction - ie: yes you can do this ( oh and there will be penalty fees- but they don't come out and say this clearly)  -vs- an eBay sanctioned direction (the 3/3/21 discussion message) policy.  There is no clarity on this and the conflicting messages are concerning and confusing. 

My concern is that sellers will downgrade their store subscription and find out that there will not be any immediate store subscription reduction - that will only happen when their subscription term ends. 

I have mentioned several times to eBay representatives the following:

1) If some sellers are being allowed to reduce their store subscriptions and get a fee reduction early prior to the normal end of their subscription term & others are not being given this opportunity - well the equity and fairness issue is obvious. 

2) If seller follow the direction in the 3/3/21 community message - there are going to be some very disappointed and possibly very upset sellers. 

So, I am asking the Board Mod's to once and for all settle this question. Can sellers reduce their store subscription effective 4/1/21 and receive a credit for April fees and a reduction in store fees going forward? It would be good to get this information out there to avoid confusion and frustration. 

And finally - if a store subscription reduction/credit is not allowed or going to happen, could somebody please remove the 3/3/21 community message and post a clarification. 

[revenue-collector]

Also, I noticed that when I tried to just downgrade my subscription plan online, there is only an oblique "there may be termination fees" message, nothing definitive as to whether any termination fees apply to the selected change. The only way to find out whether there are any termination fees is to actually make the change... at which point it's too late.

If eBay actually gave two hoots about their customers (sellers), there would be some sort of confirmation prior to submission, e.g., "By making this change you are agreeing to early termination fees of $XX.XX. Do you wish to continue?"

What a miserably hostile system.

[epowerbargains]

I really hope that someone at eBay responds to this issue - I suspect that there will be some very disappointed sellers out there who took the 3/3/21 eBay representative posting at face value and/or who followed the direction by customer services representatives who state that this can be done and that  the penalty will be waived & credits issued. 

As you point out  - once the seller does the downgrade the damage is done and will probably not be reversed.  And, I have chat messages that state that I can do this and I suspect that even with that evidence plus the 3/3/21 message that actually doing a store subscription reduction would be a very bad idea. 

I agree, a warning about fees would be helpful.  I would add that the $4 bold fee should also have a BIG warning as well - just accidently passing a curser over that box sometimes triggers it and I would never want to pay $4 to Bold List my items.  And while I am on a roll here - the shipping defaults to Priority often and is really error prone when you really want to do First Class. 

Hope springs eternal - but I have learned that one must verify then trust.......LOL

[valueaddedresource]

---

@revenue-collector wrote:

Based upon what was posted by seller_update@ebay  here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fees-Financials/Will-we-get-an-opportunity-to-change-our-store-subscri...

I contacted eBay to downgrade my store from Premium to Basic. I went through two different overseas reps, and no, eBay is *NOT* waiving early termination fees for annual stores subscribers who opt to downgrade during this period. Early termination fees still apply.

Whether it's the staff member above or the overseas phone reps who are lying, the bottom line is that eBay has no consistent guidelines, and they are not honoring what was posted above, or at least they would not allow me to downgrade without paying an early termination penalty.

Thanks for nothing, eBay.

---

@revenue-collector I've seen reports on Twitter from sellers who have had the early termination fee waived, which @epowerbargains pointed out raises some serious questions about fairness.

If you are active on social media, I'd suggest reaching out to @askebay on Twitter.

If not, the weekly chat here in the community with eBay staff starts in about an hour and you may be able to get clarification there as well.

[epowerbargains]

Hi - others have received a downgrade with reversal of fees for April 2021 and a subscription reduction going forward? Has this been confirmed? If you are positive about this then eBay needs to allow all sellers this option. 

[go-bad-chicken]

---

@revenue-collector wrote:

Based upon what was posted by seller_update@ebay  here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fees-Financials/Will-we-get-an-opportunity-to-change-our-store-subscri...

I contacted eBay to downgrade my store from Premium to Basic. I went through two different overseas reps, and no, eBay is *NOT* waiving early termination fees for annual stores subscribers who opt to downgrade during this period. Early termination fees still apply.

Whether it's the staff member above or the overseas phone reps who are lying, the bottom line is that eBay has no consistent guidelines, and they are not honoring what was posted above, or at least they would not allow me to downgrade without paying an early termination penalty.

Thanks for nothing, eBay.

---

@seller_update@ebay

@revenue-collector @epowerbargains @my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

Is there any chance that you can help some of the sellers here in this thread who are attempting to downgrade their eBay store's annual subscription without incurring early termination fees. It appears that eBay CS representatives need some counseling and to be made aware of eBay's policy announcement made by you, and which was stated on post #3 in the thread provided below regarding the window that is now open allowing sellers to cancel or downgrade their annual store subscriptions.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Fees-Financials/Will-we-get-an-opportunity-to-change-our-store-subscri... 

[epowerbargains]

That was very helpful & asks exactly what we all want to know - Thank you for posting that!!!!

[go-bad-chicken]

---

@epowerbargains wrote:

That was very helpful & asks exactly what we all want to know - Thank you for posting that!!!!

---

You are very welcome.

@epowerbargains @revenue-collector @valueaddedresource @my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

It might be a good opportunity to also bring up this issue in today's community chat session which starts in a little more that 30 minutes from now.

Here is the link to where today's chat will take place. It will not go live until 1pm pst.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/bd-p/weekly-chat 

"Join the Community team this Wednesday, 03.31.2021 at 1 PM PT for the Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. There is no set topic for this chat so feel free to bring any general buying or selling questions you may have.

The chat thread will be posted here at 1 PM PT and remain open until 2 PM PT, at which point the thread will be closed from additional responses. After that time, the team will continue to work on responding to any queries that might still be unanswered."

[dhbookds]

If you check, the Blues on wkly chat confirm that the waiver will be automatic, that there is no need to contact CS..............

[go-bad-chicken]

---

@dhbookds wrote:

If you check, the Blues on wkly chat confirm that the waiver will be automatic, that there is no need to contact CS..............

---

Thank you. I just noticed what Tyler stated in post #33 as well.

And for the benefit of any other sellers who come to this thread looking for answers regarding the early cancellation of store subscriptions until 04/30/2021 here is what Tyler stated in today's community chat.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Weekly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Community-Chat-March-31-1-00-pm-PT-General... 

Post #33

"Hi..........you can manage your store level via the Subscription section of your Account settings (link here). Choose the 'change subscription' button and select your preferred store level and then complete the flow.

All store changes are future dated to the beginning of the next month. This means if you want your Basic store subscription to take effect as of tomorrow you must make this change today.

I can confirm that downgrading your store subscription in this manner (today) will automatically credit any termination fee that would otherwise be charged. Thanks!"