Community Chat, January 22 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

[brian@ebay]

Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on January 22nd for our Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. We don't have a set topic this week, so please bring any general questions you may have about buying or selling.

The chat will be open for questions from 1-2 pm PT, at which point we'll close thread from additional responses. After this time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that might still be unanswered.

If you're new to the chat, welcome!  Simply Reply to this post with your question from 1-2 PM Pacific Time and we'll be happy to look into it for you.

*Please note that we're not able to address account-specific queries. Questions regarding your account should be directed to eBay Customer Service.

[Anonymous]

Happy Wednesday, everyone! The chat is now open for replies 🙂

[medallion-trading-company]

Hello, so I've spent a lot of my time on this and I am pretty frustrated with the lack of effort regarding my concerns.

In addition to spending numerous hours (yes hours) with customer support and literally receiving a different, inconclusive response every time I spoke to somebody new, my efforts through them ended witth 'somebody will call you back in 24 hours with an answer' only to get a message from eBay saying that my contact information is not up to date. That was an obviously just a tactive to end further communication because my account is up to date and has been for years. It's just such a slap in the face to be treated like I am unimportant and worse, stupid.

Two weeks ago I brought it to these community chats only to be told that my issue would be resolved at the next evaluation. I asked direct questions that were not answered and again got zero support regarding my concern. Of course the issue WAS NOT resolved when the evaluation occurred on January 20th. Of course it wasn't. I was unwilling to keep pressing for answers at that time, knowing that I was being dismissed, in the hopes that the information I was given was correct. It wasn't. In fact, it was again pretty insulting. And in the end, nothing was resolved. AGAIN.

I am hoping you can actually help me resolve this. I am hoping somebody will take the time and effort to do what needs to be done, and the right thing. All I am asking is for eBay to do what eBay has promised me as a Top Rated seller, nothing more.

So my issue is this...

I have two SNAD cases counting against me in my SERVICE METRICS (not seller performance) despite the fact that I have a commitment from eBay per their own seller protections that I would not.

The first open return for not as described, the buyer indicated that the necklace was not the same length as described in the auction. I would have accepted the return regardless, I offer free returns. When I refunded, I uploaded a picture showing that the necklace is the exact length described using a measuring tape. I also sent a picture of that in the messages to the buyer. So, this return was opened as not as described 'falsely' and according to eBay protections will not count against me in my service metrics. Yet, it is.

The second open return for not as described, the buyer thought the item was not authentic but then took it to a jeweler and discovered it was. She never returned the item. I escalated it and this was closed out in my favor. The buyer left positive feedback. This is also counting against me in my service metrics despite obviously being innacurately opened as not as described.

This matters because, as of my next evaluation, I will be in the 'very high' range and paying 5% more on selling fees erroneously. At this point, it is important for somebody to look into it and have these returns removed from my seller service metrics as promised by eBay.

Thank you


*Edited post to remove personally identifiable information ~ alan@ebay

[thepackratspalace]

I am selling a $600 cell phone on eBay (perfect condition). It will be unlocked upon payment.

I am scared someone will buy it and return it saying it wasn’t as described and send back a $100 different phone or box of rocks. Should I videotape myself packing the item before I send it to the customer in front of a notary or postal worker? If a return comes and I can’t be home when it is delivered, should I go to post office and record myself opening it in front of a postal worker? Or should I do this in front of a notary? How do I prevent fraudulent returns?

[greg213213]

Are there any plans to fix the search? I was searching for an item and used the "ending soonest" and when it came up it had multiple items that were mixed in that didn't end for 10 to 20 days. Someone needs to check this out as it will drive buyers away if it shows items that are all over the end time.

[Anonymous]

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@greg213213 wrote:

Are there any plans to fix the search? I was searching for an item and used the "ending soonest" and when it came up it had multiple items that were mixed in that didn't end for 10 to 20 days. Someone needs to check this out as it will drive buyers away if it shows items that are all over the end time.

---

Hi @greg213213, it is likely that you were seeing Promoted Listings in search results that would not have any filters you used applied. I'll be happy to double check this if you can provide me with the URL for the search results you were looking at.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Harry Temkin recently noted that there are 3 situations in which a buyer might receive a Seller Initiated Offer:

1. Buyer has item on watch list

2. Buyer has item in cart

3. Buyer has viewed item probably at least 3 times.

My question is about this last one, the newest addition to the SIO program. Can you provide more detailed criteria? How exactly does ebay conclude that someone who simply looked at an item is interest enough to merit a SIO?

[gwzcomps]

tyler@ebay 

Followup from last week and your statement:

"From an order of operations standpoint, an eBay Money Back Guarantee request is going to trump a stated return policy. While a buyer is not allowed to make a false claim, without evidence that they have abused our system we'd see this as an assumption and wouldn't invalidate their coverage from our protection program. "

If this is true then why aren't we still protected on blatantly obvious false claims regardless of return policies?

In my eyes these mishandling of policies consistently demonstrate one thing. eBay only cares about what the buyers do if it hurts eBay's bottom line. eBay is not concerned with the seller's losses despite what lines we are spoon-fed. Despite what eBay wants to think, the sellers are the ones paying the fees and keeping your lights on.

If eBay is actually committed to improving the quality of buyers then prove it by enforcing your polices in these situations:

1. Dealing with buyers that make multiple accounts to circumvent blocks.
2. Dealing with buyers that make multiple accounts to circumvent site policy violations.
3. Dealing with buyers that somehow are magically able to circumvent buyer requirements settings.
4. Dealing with buyers that file false claims.

#1 & #2 Do the same account verification and linking you do to buyers as you do sellers. Make it so we only have to block one ID to block all linked accounts.
#3 Never got an answer from CS but I don't know how some buyers are getting around people's buyer requirements without changing to a different account.
#4 Yes I know you guys have claimed buyers who file false claims get dealt with. Give us proof. Either give us a way to use the buyer requirements to stop them from making purchases from us or remove the strikes on our service metrics on all provable false claims.

In the middle of being sick so hopefully this is coherent and intelligible.

[greg213213]

I was looking at laptop computers and very few of the items had been promoted listings, but just regular listings.

[gwzcomps]

Yes the search sorting habits are super annoying. I get that some of these results are sponsored listings, but if I am doing price lowest first I don't want to see $100 items mixed in with $10-20 items. Luckily adblock plus still helps hide some of that.

[vrykalak]

@greg213213 wrote:

Are there any plans to fix the search? I was searching for an item and used the "ending soonest" and when it came up it had multiple items that were mixed in that didn't end for 10 to 20 days. Someone needs to check this out as it will drive buyers away if it shows items that are all over the end time.

Hi @greg213213, it is likely that you were seeing Promoted Listings in search results that would not have any filters you used applied. I'll be happy to double check this if you can provide me with the URL for the search results you were looking at.

[krys888]

Checking in again to see if there are any plans yet to add the Combined Total request feature to the ebay app since the feature encourages multiple item sales. Thank you.

[gwzcomps]

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@thepackratspalace wrote:

I am selling a $600 cell phone on eBay (perfect condition). It will be unlocked upon payment.

I am scared someone will buy it and return it saying it wasn’t as described and send back a $100 different phone or box of rocks. Should I videotape myself packing the item before I send it to the customer in front of a notary or postal worker? If a return comes and I can’t be home when it is delivered, should I go to post office and record myself opening it in front of a postal worker? Or should I do this in front of a notary? How do I prevent fraudulent returns?

---

I ask myself this question so often.  There is no level of proof possible to get eBay to back you up in fraud cases.  Best you can do is accept returns like you are doing and let the scammers rip you off for half your item's value.  I have a nice stack of gaming laptops worth $1500 each I will throw away before I list them on eBay.

[Anonymous]

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@vrykalak wrote:

@greg213213 wrote:

Are there any plans to fix the search? I was searching for an item and used the "ending soonest" and when it came up it had multiple items that were mixed in that didn't end for 10 to 20 days. Someone needs to check this out as it will drive buyers away if it shows items that are all over the end time.

Hi @greg213213, it is likely that you were seeing Promoted Listings in search results that would not have any filters you used applied. I'll be happy to double check this if you can provide me with the URL for the search results you were looking at.

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Hi @vrykalak, I did not say anything about keywords. Promoted listings will be related to the keywords you used, they just do not currently apply any filters that are used to further refine search beyond the initial keyword results.

[alan@ebay]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

Harry Temkin recently noted that there are 3 situations in which a buyer might receive a Seller Initiated Offer:

1. Buyer has item on watch list

2. Buyer has item in cart

3. Buyer has viewed item probably at least 3 times.

My question is about this last one, the newest addition to the SIO program. Can you provide more detailed criteria? How exactly does ebay conclude that someone who simply looked at an item is interest enough to merit a SIO?

---

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques, 

Good question. Did you hear this on the podcast? Let me reach out to Harry's team and find out more information on this for you. 

Thanks.