User Agreement Update - Winter 2022

[coffeebean832]

eBay didn't create a dedicated thread for the UA update on the Seller Update forum like they usually do so I'm starting a discussion here.

If you don't want to go through the painstaking process of comparing old and new versions side by side- I recommend reading the below linked article which has a detailed breakdown of the changes. It shows you both the exact changed text redlined and a readable summary of those changes.

https://www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-user-agreement-update-2-9-22/ 

There are more things to note than eBay's e-mailed summary indicate- including some implied (but not confirmed / unannounced) future changes to things like cancellation windows. Time will tell if that change comes later.

tyler@ebay velvet@ebay jasmen@ebay 

Here are my questions for eBay-

1- Per the UA, eBay is to give 30 days notice for UA changes. They have done that- published on 2/9, effective 3/11 according to the UA page. So why does the e-mail eBay sent say the changes take effect 2/9 instead of saying they take effect 3/11 and will be published for review 2/9?

2- Regarding the changes about not sharing login credentials-

          How does that impact sellers that set up emergency plans in the event of illness, injury or other unforeseen events? Are they allowed to share login credentials with a family/friend in those situations?

          What about sellers that have a partnership and sell under a single ID (husband-wife, mother-daughter, brothers, etc)- are they not allowed to both use the same login credentials?

User Agreement-

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-agreement 

E-mail from eBay-

[casuallyattractive]

Your point?

I would think you would have seen the 200000000000+ listings about this.

I myself posted one and I would think you would have seen it.

[coffeebean832]

What listings are you talking about? Discussion threads? I searched the first 2 pages of this forum and didn't see any discussions about the User Agreement.

I had questions about it and someone from the eBay team told me to start a thread here since they were not going to add one to the Seller Update board.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Share-Community-Platform/Winter-update-thread-will-be-buried-soon/m-p/...

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@coffeebean832  Obviously, I'm not from ebay officialdom, and I agree, the ebay message is a little confusing, but I think the answer is: If you are a NEW seller, signing the User Agreement for the first time on Feb 9th or later, the Feb 9th agreement IS effective for you. The 30 days applies only to sellers who had "signed" the previous UA.  There's no need to give 30 days notice of a change to someone who had not already signed the first agreement, because , for them, there is no change...they start out with the Feb 9th agreement.

So, for you and I, the new UA is effective on 3.11. For a newbie signing up today, it is already effective.

[stainlessenginecovers]

I think the OP point is obvious and this thread is much better than any other thread about the Policy Changes because

a.) the link provides changes in red making understanding the verbiage changes VERY clear where, as posted, is clear as muc

b.) asks a very good question from a few of the ebay folks that do respond here quite often

[coffeebean832]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques- I know that and you know that- but the e-mail went out to existing users, not new users. So it appears eBay's e-mail had incorrect information/wording about the effective date and that's what I asked eBay to clarify with one of my questions.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@coffeebean832  OK. 

[coffeebean832]

tyler@ebay velvet@ebay jasmen@ebay 

I have a few additional questions.

1- None of the MUAA pages say anything about access to Time Away settings. Does MUAA include access to Time Away? If so- which exact permission would need to be enabled?

2- MUAA says authorized users can "print" shipping labels- but it says nothing about "purchasing" shipping labels. Please clarify if MUAA users can purchase labels through eBay.

3- These 2 MUAA pages show different access info. One mentions refunds and disputes while the other does not. One mentions needing a subscription to Terapeak while the other does not. Can you submit these pages for updates?

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/run-your-store/multi-user-account-access.html#how-can-i-start-u...

https://www.ebay.com/help/account/multiuser-account-access/multiuser-account-access?id=5197

[jasmen@ebay]

Thanks for tagging us @coffeebean832 I will try to get you more details on this ASAP! 

[jasmen@ebay]

Hi @coffeebean832 here's the info I got.

"For existing users, the User Agreement will be effective on March 11, 2022, to accommodate the 30 day notice period.

User security is paramount to eBay, so users are not permitted to share account credentials. To help our users with account management, we have launched Multi-User Account Access where a user can designate another person to act on their behalf.  Users (or their family members) can also reach out to eBay’s customer service if there is an unexpected life event.” 

You can learn more about MUAA with that link, but it's up to you which permissions you give them. If something isn't working as designed please make sure to reach out to CS so it's reported right away! 

[coffeebean832]

jasmen@ebay- Thanks for the reply, however many of my questions are still unanswered.

UA Questions-

1- I’m aware of the UA effective date, but reinforcing the date does not answer my question about why the e-mail sent had different information. If it was worded in error, can’t you just let us know that it was an error and eBay will address that with the next UA update to avoid a repeat of mis-communication?

You can refer back to the e-mail we got in September for the October changes- that one was clear that changes would take effect in October.

2- OK- this one was answered by saying we cannot share login credentials with business partners or spouses and that we have to use MUAA.

MUAA Questions from post 8-

I asked 3 specific questions after reading the MUAA pages. Your response was to tell me to refer back to the MUAA pages. Can you please revisit this?

[jasmen@ebay]

Hey @coffeebean832 

I will pass along the feedback for number 1 for sure!

With the other's 

1. MUAA Delegatees cannot change their Delegators’ (Sellers’) account settings. 

Delegatees only have access to a Seller’s Seller Hub tabs/pages tied to the permissions they have been granted.  If it doesn’t appear on a Seller Hub page, they don’t have access to it.  Some of the pages have removed or provided read-only access to sensitive business and payments fields, depending on what is applicable to protect the Seller’s information from their employees.

2. Yes, the permission includes the ability to purchase labels as well. 

3. I will pass this along as well and get it in the right hands! 

[coffeebean832]

Thanks jasmen@ebay.

About Time Away settings- your post indicates that MUAA users cannot access that setting. In the event that another person (business partner, employee, etc) needs to enable Time Away settings for an account holder because they're not able to do it themselves (loss of internet, emergency travel, in hospital, etc)- how can that task be accomplished?

You mentioned above calling CS but that only family members- not business associates- can do that. I also wonder if CS even has the ability to enable Time Away or if all they can do is end listings.

How can a business associate enable Time Away settings when an unforeseen event prevents the account holder from doing so?

A lot of sellers have an emergency plan in place in the event something happens- and I'm sure the majority of those plans involve sharing credentials with someone when the account holder is unable to access the account themselves. With the UA updates going into effect next month, those emergency plans will need to be adjusted- but I'm not seeing how one can accomplish granting access for someone else to activate Time Away settings if they can't share login credentials.

[jasmen@ebay]

@coffeebean832 we do handle everything case by case, so i's hard to answer "what if" type questions. If something like that happens and the store goes a few days without time away, we're always happy to look into the details and go from there. I'm happy to pass along any feedback you have, thanks! 

[coffeebean832]

jasmen@ebay- It's not a what if question. Sellers need to have plans in place.

"How can a business associate enable Time Away settings when an unforeseen event prevents the account holder from doing so?"

That's a pretty direct question. If eBay's answer is that it's not currently possible (and apparently not even in the works)- then it seems to me that the UA updates are premature because the MUAA system is not set up to handle Time Away.

eBay is really tying sellers' hands here.

There have been so many posts on this forum from sellers affected by Covid and in the hospital for weeks (not days). That's a very real situation right now.