Community Chat, April 17 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone 

Join us here at 1 PM PT on Wednesday, April 17 for the Weekly Community Chat with eBay Staff. There is no set topic this week, so bring your general eBay buying and selling questions to discuss. 

See you this afternoon!

[brian@ebay]

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@mendelsons wrote:

AUTO ACCEPTING RETURNS

We are getting more problems than solutions for eBay's now handling auto accepting returns.

We are sending messages outside of the returns console as directed by eBay CS to handle the return prior to accepting the return to get more clarification from the buyer if they would like a replacement or how to handle it.

I must say this is causing more problems than solutions and cannot understand how or why eBay would take communication away between the buyer and seller.  Why are we being forced to communicate outside the return case ? 

Not happy with the auto accepting feature at all.  

Please advise.

Rick

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Hi @mendelsons, after a return is accepted or auto accepted it isn't necessary to continue communication in the majority of situations. Further communication can delay the resolution of a return and create complications or confusion for buyers. Sellers can set up their return policy to include refunds or exchanges. If the buyer chooses a return for refund option instead of an exchange then the system will honor this. If replacement or exchange is selected by the buyer then the return will not auto accept, which will allow communication within the return prior to the seller accepting the return.

[alan@ebay]

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@mg152 wrote:

A huge Thank You to brian@ebay  for spending the last week looking into my tracking problem and for being so patient with me while I’ve been back and forth to the doctors. I’ve been very slow to reply to him but I do appreciate all his hard work.

It looks like it was my dumb error with the tracking but that’s ok. A lesson learned. 😀

I hope Ebay realizes they have some very good employees over there.

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We're very lucky to have him on our team! 

[brian@ebay]

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@mg152 wrote:

A huge Thank You to brian@ebay  for spending the last week looking into my tracking problem and for being so patient with me while I’ve been back and forth to the doctors. I’ve been very slow to reply to him but I do appreciate all his hard work.

It looks like it was my dumb error with the tracking but that’s ok. A lesson learned. 😀

I hope Ebay realizes they have some very good employees over there.

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Thank you, @mg152! I'm happy to help 

[eden-7010]

@Anonymous 

Will do, and very VERY much appreciated! As an aside - I'll be going to pick up my Jeep from the shop around 4:30CST (which was what prompted this whole mess to begin with - attempting to purchase parts). I live on the dark side of the moon, so if it takes me a bit to respond, my apologies!

[tyler@ebay]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Tyler, Thanks, and just to be clear. I'm also asking in what context do the auto relists occur? I gather there are two different contexts:

1. When using the Simple form (but not the Advanced form) on a PC.

2. When using the Mobile App, regardless of whether the seller is a "business seller" or "non business seller"

Can you confirm if this is correct?

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Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques - on the same page with you on this about the scope of your question, and I don't have specific answers on those clarifications, but I know who to ask! 

[vrykalak]

Had a problem last week, that eBay's system altered an invoice I sent to a buyer, and told her she had to pay a few dollars more for shipping than had been stated on the invoice I sent (and she received).
I called CS, and the agent and I tried to fix the invoice, but it kept reverting to the higher number.
So she said she would send the buyer a coupon for the difference.
Super cool!
But it hasn't happened yet.
What should I do?

[forgottenape]

one other question

does being in managed payments boost you in search?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

OK, thanks Tyler....looking forward to a definitive answer.

[mg152]

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alan@ebay wrote:

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@mg152 wrote:

A huge Thank You to brian@ebay  for spending the last week looking into my tracking problem and for being so patient with me while I’ve been back and forth to the doctors. I’ve been very slow to reply to him but I do appreciate all his hard work.

It looks like it was my dumb error with the tracking but that’s ok. A lesson learned. 😀

I hope Ebay realizes they have some very good employees over there.

---

We're very lucky to have him on our team! 

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Ebay is lucky to have all of you on their team! Not just the employees that show up here every week but all the employees that deal with us and our problems including customer service. Thank you all!

[tyler@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

Just for some clarity for myself, how many listing forms does Ebay have?

I thought there was the QLT [quick list tool] and ALF [advanced listing form].

But I see things referred to the non Business form, the mobile app form, etc.

Are the Non business form and the Mobile App form the same as the QLT?

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Hi @mam98031 - there are 2 main listing forms, called different things over the years but in its simplest terms can be called 'basic' and 'advanced'. There are variants of both of those forms (ie: the mobile app form is technically different than the other two, but is designed to mimic the basic form, etc). I'll see if I can get a formal answer with more detail and loop back with you when I hear!

Hi @mam98031 - I got more info on this!

There are three listing flows: the Quick Listing Tool on PC, Quick Listing Tool on mobile, and the Advanced Form/Business Tool. 

The Advanced Form is also known as the Business Tool, but will eventually be transitioned over to Business Tool exclusively. 

Clicking on 'Create a listing', 'Sell' or another button to make a listing will always point a member to one of those three forms. I hope that helps!

[brian@ebay]

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@fern*wood wrote:

Any hope that since GTC has thrown many sellers off their normal listing game that ebay may drop the requirement for auction store listings be in certain categories to qualify without extra fees?  Also the extra fee for BIN on auctions makes the store less appealing.

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Hi @fern*wood, we don't currently have any plans to change how free listings work with a Store subscription, but I'm happy to send your feedback over for consideration 

[mg152]

I just wanna say we gotta give GTC a chance. The new requirement is not even a month old but my sales have really gone up recently. Well, until I had to go on vacation because I’ve been so ill. Anyway I’m back open and I expect to get more sales. I use GTC anyway, I love it!

[mam98031]

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brian@ebay wrote:

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@mendelsons wrote:

AUTO ACCEPTING RETURNS

We are getting more problems than solutions for eBay's now handling auto accepting returns.

We are sending messages outside of the returns console as directed by eBay CS to handle the return prior to accepting the return to get more clarification from the buyer if they would like a replacement or how to handle it.

I must say this is causing more problems than solutions and cannot understand how or why eBay would take communication away between the buyer and seller.  Why are we being forced to communicate outside the return case ? 

Not happy with the auto accepting feature at all.  

Please advise.

Rick

---

Hi @mendelsons, after a return is accepted or auto accepted it isn't necessary to continue communication in the majority of situations. Further communication can delay the resolution of a return and create complications or confusion for buyers. Sellers can set up their return policy to include refunds or exchanges. If the buyer chooses a return for refund option instead of an exchange then the system will honor this. If replacement or exchange is selected by the buyer then the return will not auto accept, which will allow communication within the return prior to the seller accepting the return.

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This is actually part of the problem.  Ebay determining for us when we need to communicate with our customer and when we don't.  Simply put, giving back the ability to communicate with our customer within the claims process just should NOT be an issue.

There are many reasons why trading partners may need to communicate along the path of getting a return completed.  Trouble printing labels, delays by the buyer for whatever reason they may have, weather related issues, questions about what to put in the package, questions on how to package or just anything that the customer may need to ask or bring to the seller's attention.  It happens all the time.  And it should be allowed to keep all the communication regarding a specific claim in the claim.

There just isn't a good reason to restrict us from communicating with our customers as the need arises.  Communication is the 1st single most important thing in the customer service process.  Why does Ebay see the need to restrict us in any way from accomplishing that and taking the best care we can of our customers?  It just makes no sense.

Honestly it doesn't really matter if Ebay doesn't see the need for trading partners to communicate, what is important is that the trading partners see the need to communicate.  There is no harm in this and it promotes GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!

[mendelsons]

@mendelsons wrote:

AUTO ACCEPTING RETURNS

We are getting more problems than solutions for eBay's now handling auto accepting returns.

We are sending messages outside of the returns console as directed by eBay CS to handle the return prior to accepting the return to get more clarification from the buyer if they would like a replacement or how to handle it.

I must say this is causing more problems than solutions and cannot understand how or why eBay would take communication away between the buyer and seller.  Why are we being forced to communicate outside the return case ? 

Not happy with the auto accepting feature at all.  

Please advise.

Rick

Hi @mendelsons, after a return is accepted or auto accepted it isn't necessary to continue communication in the majority of situations. Further communication can delay the resolution of a return and create complications or confusion for buyers. Sellers can set up their return policy to include refunds or exchanges. If the buyer chooses a return for refund option instead of an exchange then the system will honor this. If replacement or exchange is selected by the buyer then the return will not auto accept, which will allow communication within the return prior to the seller accepting the return.

_____

So if the buyer make a  mistake and selects the wrong option to return and it auto accepts even though they wanted a replacement - this is what causes problems not all buyers understand how to use the return console let alone sending messages outside the console which shows up in another location.

My point is that sellers are perfectly capable of handling these situations that eBay has removed out ability to take care of the customers problems and causing more problems.

On another note with the return process we had one today where the the return label if I purchased it from eBay would be $30 for shipping an item back to us.  It cost the buyer $15 to send it to them using the same method.  This is retail UPS Ground - both ways.  We get a pretty good discount from UPS and I assume eBays is better than ours so I'm wondering why is eBay gouging sellers for return shipping cost ?  Seems like the return business must be producing better profits than in other areas.

[sisterhoodofthejewel]

Sorry to tag onto this thread, but am unable to join the weekly chat. Have contacted eBay cs 3 times asking for help & am unable to access. Please help. SisterhoodoftheJewel.