Comics-scifi_collectibles Volunteer Community Mentor
Regards,
Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a specific topic this week, so feel free to share any general buying or selling questions you may have.
The chat thread will remain open until 2 PM PT at which point we'll close it from additional responses. After that time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that might still be unanswered.
To post your question, click Reply in the lower right corner of this post, type your question, and hit submit between 1-2 PM Pacific Time. The format of our chat mirrors the format of our Community Discussion Boards, where each post will appear in the thread chronologically. The Community Team will review each question as it comes in, and will quote the original question in our reply. This quote and the reply will appear later in the thread, so just keep scrolling down to see our answers.
Missed the chat? Send your questions to the podcast by calling 888-723-4630 or email us at podcast@ebay.com and maybe your questions will make it on the air! Or listen to past episodes while you wait for next Wednesday!
@ba849744 wrote:
My item listing title - "VINTAGE FEDERAL SIGNAL CORP SIREN ELECTRONICS CONTROL PART? CPA58H 12 VOLT WIRE?"
There are literally hundreds of Federal Signal sirens being sold & already sold on ebay, I have had this removed twice. Can anyone explain why mine is different? My first try I used the term police siren, I removed the term police, it is not an international listing.
This is the ebay policy;
"The following items can’t be listed for sale on eBay:
- Law enforcement and other government-issued uniforms, badges, or accessories such as hats, jackets, shirts, or replicas of these items
- Official emergency lighting systems or sirens, including lenses or LEDs for these systems"Yet there are thousands of these items currently on ebay, this is absolutely absurd. This can not be explained with any logic what so ever.
@ba849744 - Based on what you've provided it sounds like this item is not in compliance with our policies, because it's part of an official emergency lighting system.
If you are seeing other items listed that you feel violate policy, please report them using the 'Report item'.
@valueaddedresource wrote:@kyrailfan666 just FYI, in some situations a seller may already be choosing to offer additional shipping options like UPS and FedEx ground when they list the item......but eBay in their infinite wisdom will sometimes choose *not* to display all of the options the seller selected if in their estimation the lower service has a similar timeframe or offers a similar "value".
Their estimation of course being based on the same unrealistic ETAs that are causing issues for buyers and sellers in the first place. 🙄
Obviously if you contact the seller and their response is not satisfactory, then moving on to a different seller is probably the best choice, but it's also important to know in some cases that what is displayed on the listing itself may not be entirely controlled by the seller.
Personally, if we're going to ask for a "push" for anything, I would favor "pushing" eBay to go back to displaying all options the seller chooses to include at time of listing, and let buyers and sellers agree amongst themselves what service and price is the best fit.
brittanie@ebay. tyler@ebay I totally agree that eBay should stop hiding alternate shipping methods that a seller offers. A buyer may know that a particular shipping option has a faster delivery time in their area. The situation changes so frequently due to covid closures that eBay can not really keep up with estimated delivery dates.
@kyrailfan666 wrote:You must be lucky. Many of mine arrive weeks or months late, and its not just media mail priority is about as bad.
USPS is experiencing a volume of packages they have never dealt with before along with some facilities getting shut down. It is a recipe for issues. Significant issues. Then there is the workforce that some will contract the virus we are all trying to steer clear of. All these issues and more have created the current state of USPS, but they have NOT "collapsed".
You may be in an area harder hit than others. That is the most likely explanation for your specific issues. But asking your seller to upgrade shipping before you purchase and making sure that they get paid for that upgrade is likely your best option at this time. You certainly can ask your seller if they are willing to ship via a different method, again before purchase, but some of us can't offer that. Some of us live rurally and would have to drive a good chunk to get a package shipped out by lets say UPS. For me it is about 20 miles. Not to mention it is more expensive.
I might suggest that when you get the USPS tracking number on a package from your seller, go to USPS.com and file for Email updates on that package as it moves through the system. If at some point you notice a 2-3 day hiccup in movement, file for a trace on the package. That may help you to keep your packages moving.
I hope the new year brings you much better luck with this.
MANAGED PAYMENTS and Fees on Sales tax
I read a post today and realized it was time to bring this up on the Weekly Chat if it hasn't already been addressed. eBay should NOT be charging Sellers any Fees on Sales tax collected on transactions. When eBay collects and remits the sales tax it really was NEVER part of the Seller's transaction and therefore, should NOT be included in the MP Fee structure. Additionally, and here's the biggie, in our state those with a nexus for paying sales taxes AND pay them early get a discount ... YES, a discount on early Sales tax payment and get to keep some of the Sales tax collected.
On an individual account that's not a lot of money BUT with eBay collecting MILLIONS of dollars in my state and paying early THEY are keeping some of the money collected ... but are obviously NOT paying us back, there's no Sales Tax credit line on the monthly invoice ... maybe there should be right?
In any event, I think this is important enough to warrant being passed on the department that handles it ...
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Edit: a reply to your question can be found here
@mr_lincoln wrote:
This poor page layout is still live (for some strange reason) ... any feedback from the department that handles that on when they will either change it back OR give us the option to go back to the old layout? There is no TOTAL and i just don't understand why eBay is shielding us from that and making us do math when we didn't have to before?????????
@mr_lincoln this feedback has been shared, but we haven't heard if/when any changes will be coming. If you haven't already then please be sure to also share your feedback using the 'comments' option in the upper right side of that page. Thanks!
@haidaway wrote:The bank account number and the person identified in the seller profile match.
I have been attempting to get a call back, but the advice to call at 5 am PT seem ridiculous. Why should I have to do that to get a call back about an issue like this? It's pretty obvious that you are slow-paying people on purpose, as AMZ does, and as well, not making it a one-time option to have the postage taken out of the pending payments. Why should I have to check that box each time? So, I get to pay for the item, pay for the shipping (because I keep forgetting to tick the box), pay for the fees, do all the work, and then you hold my money for weeks (maybe forever)? And I will still be invoiced for my store fees? Why could that not be taken out of the pending payment? Why is Paypal, Mercari, and Amazon all able to put money into my bank account with little effort, but eBay cannot? And then I can't even email someone or open a help ticket? I guess you figure people don't have much other options?
That label issue is odd. Not sure why that is happening. For most of us once you check the box [whichever one you want], it defaults to that on all subsequent labels unless you change it.
@wooden_flower wrote:
Hi,
I happened to be looking at my own personal info to be able to answer a question for a member, and was surprised to be greeted with this banner -
Your account is out of compliance and payments may be held until you address these issues. You need to provide a primary contact.
Now, I'm retired, so I am in no hurry to add the info, but I would like to know exactly where this goes. My name appears in at least 3 places in my business account info, so I am curious where else can it possibly be needed?
Wouldn't it be good to send a message when you want more info?
thanks!
Sue
@wooden_flower - Hi Sue!
This sounds pretty similar to an ongoing technical issue with managed payments, but I would definitely suggest contacting a payments-trained teammate who can review your account just to make sure it's not something else, or get your account added to the open ticket if it is. Thanks!
@packrathoard wrote:
I just (12:45 p.m. EST, 1/20/21) received a call form someone claiming to be from eBay. They said that they wanted to discuss Managed Payments. In the conversation they said, "You know, you won't be able to use eBay if you don't sign up for Managed Payments" Is this true?
@packrathoard - eBay will require all sellers to register for managed payments in 2021. When you receive a notification, we encourage you to register before the deadline, to avoid any business interruption.
@ittybitnot wrote:
We allow sellers to select the courier and service of their choosing when selling items on our site. This includes USPS, UPS and FedEx as major carriers, as well as regional and freight shippers.
While that may be the case, is ebay still 'electing not to show' ALL the choices a seller will provide to the buyer on listing?
Hi @ittybitnot - we do still hide shipping service(s) that are costlier and are estimated to deliver on the same date or later date than other shipping services on the listing. Thanks!
@coffeebean832 wrote:
Brittanie- last week you and I were discussing an error with promotions where the additional categories promotion would not show which listings were applied.
The situation is worse because now the regular store promo counters are either off in the count or not working at all- along with several other problems. The entire promotions section is a mess on 2 accounts that I checked.
I sent an e-mail follow up to you an hour or two ago with specifics. I'm posting here in case others have the same problem and can provide more accounts for you to add to the ticket.
Here's a screenshot from one of my accounts- I know I'm close to having listed 1,000 this month but the counter says 0. I have no idea how many listings I have left this month which makes it difficult to determine which new items to list and when.
@coffeebean832 - I'm sorry that's happening! I really appreciate you doing that for me. I'll answer your e-mail after the chat and get it reported for you.
@mr_lincoln wrote:MANAGED PAYMENTS and Fees on Sales tax
I read a post today and realized it was time to bring this up on the Weekly Chat if it hasn't already been addressed. eBay should NOT be charging Sellers any Fees on Sales tax collected on transactions. When eBay collects and remits the sales tax it really was NEVER part of the Seller's transaction and therefore, should NOT be included in the MP Fee structure. Additionally, and here's the biggie, in our state those with a nexus for paying sales taxes AND pay them early get a discount ... YES, a discount on early Sales tax payment and get to keep some of the Sales tax collected.
On an individual account that's not a lot of money BUT with eBay collecting MILLIONS of dollars in my state and paying early THEY are keeping some of the money collected ... but are obviously NOT paying us back, there's no Sales Tax credit line on the monthly invoice ... maybe there should be right?
In any event, I think this is important enough to warrant being passed on the department that handles it ...
That isn't completely accurate. It is part of the $$ that go into MP and it is part of what ALL sellers have to account for if they get a 1099K. Ebay immediately removes the money to process it onto the appropriate state, but it is part of the money transaction processed through MP. Just as it was in PP and PP charged a fee on the sales tax for processing it. That is normal money processing procedures.
Now the FVF on sales tax can be a more iffy situation. But IMHO MP took care of that by reducing the FVF on the balance of the transaction. In most cases that reduction on the balance of the transaction actually neutralizes the FVF charged on just the sales tax portion of the money received. There are occasions that it doesn't quite neutralize it. But then if you review your fees for a month's period of time you will likely see you aren't seeing an increase in overall FVFs plus money processing fees.
Keeping in mind that we likely get some sales every month that don't have any sales tax on it at all so we benefit with the lower FVF for the entire amount received. It helps offset stuff.
I ran comparisons on this for 6 months. None of those months did I pay more fees in MP than I did before I entered MP and if fact the costs come in slightly less. Not enough to by a new home, but still it is slightly lower which sure beats an increase.
I've requested this MANY times for almost a full year now. But I'm going to try again. We need for some experienced and skilled Customer Service Reps to come to the Weekly Chat to answer questions. It is needed now more than ever since calling customer service is simply not viable and some sellers are told they will get a call back in two weeks. Some never get calls and others can't even get a scheduled call back window.
It is a mixed bag. One that simply should not be acceptable by anyone much less the sellers on Ebay.
We need them to come to the Weekly Chat and offer some help to so many sellers in peril right now for one reason or another. For those with account specific issues they can take down their IDs and help them after the Chat. For others they can answer policy questions on the chat.
It is WAY past time they show up and extend a helping hand.
I am not saying anything against the Community team here. You try very hard to help and we all appreciate it. There is however limitation outside your control.
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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here
@mr_lincoln wrote:
MANAGED PAYMENTS and Fees on Sales tax
I read a post today and realized it was time to bring this up on the Weekly Chat if it hasn't already been addressed. eBay should NOT be charging Sellers any Fees on Sales tax collected on transactions. When eBay collects and remits the sales tax it really was NEVER part of the Seller's transaction and therefore, should NOT be included in the MP Fee structure. Additionally, and here's the biggie, in our state those with a nexus for paying sales taxes AND pay them early get a discount ... YES, a discount on early Sales tax payment and get to keep some of the Sales tax collected.
On an individual account that's not a lot of money BUT with eBay collecting MILLIONS of dollars in my state and paying early THEY are keeping some of the money collected ... but are obviously NOT paying us back, there's no Sales Tax credit line on the monthly invoice ... maybe there should be right?
In any event, I think this is important enough to warrant being passed on the department that handles it ...
Hi @mr_lincoln - thanks for this input. I will share it with the appropriate team.
