Why in the world would eBay change the email subject and format for items sold???

[seibertron]

ebay recently changed the format of the emails they send us when an item sells, as well as the subject line. At first, I didn't think much of the change, but as it I sell more items, it becomes more obvious that this is a serious issue. The subject line is now truncated so if I sell a lot of similar items, they all come grouped together in Gmail. For example, the following similar but very distinct items sold tonight but their subject line is now the exact same (which means they're grouped together now in Gmail and can no longer figure out what item I'm selling is hot from a quick glance at my email).

GI JOE Real American Hero #273 Cvr A IDW Comics 2020 DEC190671 273A (CA) Atkins

GI JOE Real American Hero #274 2nd ptg IDW Comics 2020 JUL208886 (A)Diaz (W)Hama

GI JOE Real American Hero #277 RI 1:10 IDW Comics 2020 277RI SEP200479 (CA)Royle

GI JOE Real American Hero #274 RI 1:10 IDW Comics 2020 274RI JAN200741 (CA)Royle

GI JOE Real American Hero #276 RI 1:10 IDW Comics 2020 AUG200590 276RI (CA)Royle

The subject line is truncated now "Your item has sold: GI JOE Real American..." which is really unfortunate. 

In addition, the body of the email is much lengthier now with a lot of instructions at the top of the listing informing me what I need to do now that I sold an item instead of just showing me the relevant information about the item sold along with the buyer's information. I had 2,490 orders in the past 90 days ... I don't need ebay to tell me how to ship an item. I just need the relevant information for the item sold as it has been for who knows how long. 

These changes are really frustrating to a long time seller who does this for a living. Really wish their tech team would consult with some full time sellers before making changes like this which were counter-productive to the selling process.

[seibertron]

Here's a screenshot of my "ebay item has sold" search in my email account to demonstrate what I'm talking about in regards to the various GI Joe comics I sold today.

[im-poor]

Ebay claims that the changes are "To enhance the sellers experience"

[gjs_16]

I don't have that problem, my issue is that it bypasses filters I've set up to DELETE all the useless SPAM eaby sends out daily.

[gjs_16]

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@im-poor wrote:

Ebay claims that the changes are "To enhance the sellers experience"

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That it does.

[hga_performance]

I posted the same subject yesterday and haven't gotten any responses or info from eBay. It is ridiculous... the subject title, that is. I need my old subject format and titles back ASAP!

[barclays_curious]

Ebay is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE for sellers now.    I have never seen it this bad in 18 years.
You can't reach anyone in support, anywhere.... just automated emails.
Just spent over two weeks trying to get an item broken by the post office resolved, and never once was able to reach or speak to anyone.   Finally got a 'decision' rendered where they billed me and issued a refund without even having the buyer submit a claim to the post office.
Pack up and run is all I can advise.   As for me if anyone has suggestions on other places to sell let me know.

[gibsonbk]

I agree I really dislike these new emails.  I have to wade through a page of useless info just to see what I sold.  I am not sure what ebay's endgame is but they are making it less and less user friendly. 

[wrong66]

Buyers don't have to submit a claim to the PO. That's YOUR responsibility.

[wecansellthat]

I understand what is happening but I’m not sure I understand the issue.  I hate all the emails I get.  I haven’t looked at one in years.  Honest genuine question.  Why do you need to look in your email when you can just go to your my eBay page or use the app?  It is much easier to view your sold items there than it is to go into individual emails for that information.  I do agree though that it seems like they don’t consult a single full time seller when they make ridiculous “enhancements” no one asked for.  

[kensgiftshop]

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@barclays_curious wrote:

Finally got a 'decision' rendered where they billed me and issued a refund without even having the buyer submit a claim to the post office.

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Buyers don't have to file a claim with USPS, they are covered by the MBG.

If the package was insured, you refund the buyer and you file a claim with USPS.

[kensgiftshop]

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@gibsonbk wrote:

I agree I really dislike these new emails.  I have to wade through a page of useless info just to see what I sold.  I am not sure what ebay's endgame is but they are making it less and less user friendly. 

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If you're in the Seller Hub, one click will get you to your sold items or items waiting to be shipped.

[seibertron]

Yep, Seller Hub is another way to view the items. But I'm in my email way more often because of my business so losing one of the major tools that I used to see at a glance what I'm selling right away is really frustrating. We're just using the tools differently. I definitely use the seller hub all day long, but only when I need to manage my orders for today. I've currently got 82 orders that I need to ship out from the past 48 hours on Monday. I use the email notifications I receive throughout the day to know when I need to adjust prices based on how quickly items are selling. Gmail groups the emails together that have the same subject line, so if I see that I sold 4 of the same item that I just listed within a few hours, I may need to adjust the price accordingly due to market demand.  eBay's Seller Hub doesn't show how many of an item I sold to different buyers. 

Regardless, it's a tool I used and need to be able to adjust my prices as needed. eBay took that tool away by changing the subject line which has made it more complicated to determine how quickly items are selling. Using Gmail like I was using it became more helpful as my inventory levels grew with not just the number of unique items I have in my store (approximately 4,000 currently) but also as the quantities of those unique items has increased (instead of selling lots of individual items, I now have many items that have quantities of 5 to 50 now). 

[seibertron]

The time to edit messages is way to short. I went to edit my previous message, but ebay wouldn't allow me to submit the changes and clarifications. Rather than losing all of that, I thought it'd be better to repost my message with all of the changes. Here it is ...

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Yep, Seller Hub is another way to view the items. But I'm in my email way more often because of my business so losing one of the major tools that I used to see at a glance what I'm selling right away is really frustrating. We're just using the tools differently. I definitely use the seller hub all day long, but only when I need to manage my orders that need to be shipped for the day (for example, I currently have 82 orders from the past 48 hours that need to ship tomorrow on Monday). I use the email notifications I receive throughout the day to know when I need to adjust prices based on how quickly items are selling. Gmail groups the emails together that have the same subject line, so if I see that I sold 4 of the same item that I just listed within a few hours, I may need to adjust the price accordingly due to market demand. This is especially true with items that are considered hot or popular which are selling rapidly.  eBay's Seller Hub doesn't show how many of an item I sold to multiple buyers (though it'd be awesome if there was something that said "you sold 3 of these items in the past 24 hours" or something comparable.

Regardless, it's a tool I used that was very helpful with my business as I needed to adjust my prices. eBay took that tool away by changing the subject line which has made it more complicated to determine how quickly items are selling. I'm sure they don't understand how that was being used by some sellers (I'm sure the change they made was not intentional to make things difficult for us, they just didn't know how we were using that information). Using Gmail like I was using it became more helpful as my inventory levels grew with not just the number of unique items I have in my store (approximately 4,000 currently) but also as the quantities of those unique items has increased (instead of selling lots of individual items, I now have many items that have quantities of 5 to 50 now). 

[pk33463]

I agree, totally stupid, I just about missed a sale.