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

[Anonymous]

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.

[brian@ebay]

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@creativecrisis wrote:

On July 15, I received a notice to register for Managed Payments. It stated that I would be enrolled by "late July."

Here are my questions.

1. Why such short notice and why the lack of specificity as to the enrollment date? Like many sellers, I prefer to set up a separate bank account for receiving eBay payments. Not only do I have very little time to do that, I don't even know what the enrollment date will be.

2. How can I contact the Managed Payments team for questions? I've started the registration process, yet I see no way to contact MP to get my questions answered. Telephone support has not been available when I've checked.

3. Why is eBay enrolling more sellers when there's insufficient customer support? This is a large change, and one that doesn't necessarily benefit us as sellers. I think providing support to help us make the transition is the least eBay could do.

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@creativecrisis you can speak with the payments team by going to this page and selecting 'Have us call you' at the bottom. They'll be happy to go over these questions with you and get them answered.

[vrykalak]

The first time I list an item, I want to list it as an auction. After that, I set it to fixed price. I don't recall auction listings in stores being limited to Fashion and Collectibles categories before. But the page about the new limits claims they have always been limited to those few categories. ?.

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Edit: A Reply to your question can be found here. 

[brian@ebay]

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@carlqsportscards wrote:

This morning I noticed my seller hub said "ship within 24 hours" on the tasks tab. But that wasn't true. I have one day handling, so I needed a scan by midnight tonight. If I shipped tomorrow morning it would be late even though it was within 24 hours.

That wording should be changed to "must ship today to be on time" or something similar.

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Thanks for the suggestion @carlqsportscards !

[easterbasset]

Good afternoon Trinton & Selling Community. I find this Weekly Chat to be the single most useful source of reliable info.

Other sellers bring up great examples of concerns, that the "Help" articles are unable to address. No Cookie-Cutter or Scripted answers is why I try to read the Chat every week!

And I think that is because the Staff that host this Chat almost invariably dig into issues, give answers that are specific to a post, and rarely give in to sounding snarky or exasperated. Can't say I could be as diplomatic!

That being said, (you knew this would have to have a grumble attached..) I would like it if once the Chat is closed, and Staff has followed up on the last of the posts (Thanks, btw), could it be offered in add'l format with thread grouped together? It can be a bit ADHD-ish to follow, when read at a time after the realtime Chat.

The answer to this question can be found here

[mam98031]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@randomsl wrote:

With the radical changes to the number of free listings offered to store subscriptions starting August 1, will we have the option to downgrade yearly store subscriptions without penalty?

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Hi @randomsl  - there has been no announced change to the store subscription model itself. If you are in a yearly agreement there is not an option to downgrade without paying a termination fee. Thanks!

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Respectfully I think you will find that many sellers disagree with that statement.  One of the primary things we look at when we select what store level will work best for us is the amount of the free listing allotment.  That is significantly changing for certain categories.  Today if I [as many sellers] were to be reviewing the store options, we would not pick the option we currently have due to this.  

Yes there are other benefits on the various store levels that should be considered when selecting the store level, all that is absolutely correct.  But primary is the free listing allotment which is significantly changing.

I personally think it is unfair of Ebay not to give a window of opportunity to downgrade a store due to the new changes coming next month.  Ebay could limit the change to just one step down and no more.  I would find that reasonable.  

We may see things differently, but these are big changes to stores next month and unfair IMHO to lock us into a subscription without consideration of the new changes.  Ebay can change the store benefits at any time during the subscription contract, but sellers can not.  A bit one sided wouldn't you think.

Ebay defines "subscriptions" a bit differently than the rest of the world that uses the word.  Typically a subscription locks both parties into the terms of the Subscription at the time of acceptance.  On Ebay that isn't true.  The only one locked in is the seller.

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Edit: A reply to your comment can be found here. 

[inceptions]

Hi Trinton,

I’m inquiring about an issue I’ve reported to customer support, on the technical boards, and here in the weekly chat multiple times for a year and that other sellers have been reporting for longer than that.

The issue is that the estimated delivery dates on my listings are not only over-stated, they make no sense. I’ve supplied customer support, Brian, and you with multiple examples, and the last time I inquired, I was told everything had been passed along and you didn’t need more. I’ve waited several months since last reaching out to you, but still no fix…

To refresh your memory, I have a one-day handling time on my listings. I always ship same or next day. I never fail to meet top-rated metrics.

Here are examples from today:

Priority Mail

• To my own zip code, the estimated delivery date is Tuesday, 7/28.
• To the furthest zone, the estimated delivery date is Tuesday, 7/28.

First Class

• To my own zip code, the estimated delivery date is Monday, 7/27 – Wednesday 7/29.
• To the furthest zone, the estimated delivery date is Monday, 7/27.

In all cases the estimated dates are incorrect and don’t even make sense. It does not take the same length of time to mail a package to myself as it does to mail one across the country and in all cases, the estimated delivery is over-stated. It does not take longer to ship Priority than it does First Class.

This bug does not occur with every seller, and so puts me at a disadvantage against my competitors. It is harming my livelihood.

I would like to hear the explanation from eBay as to why this is OK not to fix after all of these reports from me and others. Can you provide an update? Again, I will happily make myself available to answer questions if dev cannot understand the problem or cannot understand how to fix it.

Thank you!

Edit: Reply to post can be found here

[rock4best]

We are located in NYC and we have terrible situation with our post office. They don't have anybody to work so they close the office at random time. They don't have enough people to deliver mail which mean we need to wait for days until somebody will pick up our items. Nobody pick the phone at the post office at all. It is not going to change overnight as NYC was hit very hard with pandemia and some people isn't here anymore and some just afraid to work. I am taking care about disable person so for 5 month I am not going outside.

I think eBay stopped seller protection for late deliveries while USPS taking longer and longer to deliver even Priority Mail and forget about other type of mailing. Do you think eBay can help sellers with this serious situation? If we can't control situation how we can change it on order to keep up with unrealistic delivery estimates?

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here.

[go-bad-chicken]

With regards to the International Fee (cross boarder trading fee) which is charged to sellers enrolled in Managed Payments.

Why are Canadian sellers charged 0.4% for an international transaction when the buyer is located within the USA, but the US seller is charged 1.65% when the buyer is located in Canada?

An answer to this question could not be provided by MP customer service.

This does not make sense as both payments are processed by the same payment processor (Adyen). Why are US sellers expected to pay 1.25% MORE than Canadian sellers for the same exact service?

From eBay.ca - For Canadian sellers

International fee:

If your registered address is in Canada, we charge an international fee of 0.4% to the US and 1% to all other countries if either the buyer's registered address or the delivery address for the item is located outside of Canada. This fee is automatically deducted and is calculated based on the total amount of the sale.

From eBay.com - For US Sellers

International fee

If your registered address is in the US, we charge an International fee if either the buyer's registered address or the delivery address for the item is located outside of the US. This fee is calculated as 1.65% of the total amount of the sale and is automatically deducted from your sales.

[golfingaddict]

I sent the community email examples  of late shipments/delays by the USPS.  Checking on news sources, I have found that last week the new Postmaster of the US enacted a new rules regarding how the post office runs and the post office is now leaving mail behind, not using overtime and in general, "Not finishing business" like they have in the past.

Well sure enough, starting last week, I have noticed that the majority (and I'm talking over 100 packages) are now "arriving late" according the the USPS tracking system and although I met my one day handling time, had tracking validated on time, and have done what has always worked for me for years, my business is suddenly in danger because of a change that the post office enacted.

It's pretty frightening to look at 100 tracking numbers and seeing the majority of them showing "arriving late"  I am trying to appeal to my buyers to understand the delay, I spoke with ebay customer service and they said they were aware of the issue but no decisions have been made.

I am appealing to the ebay employees on this chat to encourage the shipping team to look into this issue (not just my issue) but the USPS late shipping issues in general.

The late mail/delays have been reported in the news and a quick google search will bring up many articles explaining the problem.

My business, as well as others that depend on mail delivery are going to be damaged severely by the delays if ebay insists on counting INR and late deliveries against sellers.

It's time for ebay to step up and help sellers.  Quit forcing unreasonable estimated delivery times and realize that there is a serious damaging change going on with the post office.

Thank you.

[mam98031]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

tyler,

I was asking for a friend. I'm registered and supposedly will be onboarded sometime this evening. I just figured, given that an ebay exec has put this out there publicly, and given that ebay is now onboarding sellers, maybe ebay could inform the Community Team of some of these little details, or at least permit you to inquire on our behalf? But I guess not. This stonewall eBay has erected to make it difficult for sellers to find even basic information like this is simply incomprehensible to me. It certainly isn't winning ebay any points with the Seller Community, I can tell you that.

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Just to add to this.  I know it is hard on the guys here on the chat too.  It is frustrating for us all.

And this is all made even more unfortunate when you actually do ask the right people and you still can't get complete answers for weeks and even months in some cases.  To say this is frustrating is such an understatement.  

We are expected to launch ourselves into this program without benefit of knowing the details of the program.  Not because we have the information and just need to do our homework but because trying to get the information out of Ebay is worse than pulling teeth.

[Anonymous]

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@gwzcomps wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@gwzcomps wrote:

Also wanted to follow up with the whole eBay deliberately misrepresenting our handling times thing.  Since there is no solution yet my only option is to take longer to ship my items in the hopes to get the system to quit lying to my buyers.

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Hi @gwzcomps, we're looking into the examples that have been provided. No update to provide currently and while we do not always receive new information to provide on the boards, we will let you know if anything changes.

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Ok thanks.  It is very irritating that many of my items are selling as fast and free despite my 5 day handling time.  If I understand from last week with "late" deliveries eBay covers the return shipping costs, but I am still on the hook for the original label.  That is unacceptable.

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Hi @gwzcomps, as we discussed last week, the eBay Guaranteed Delivery date would not place any additional responsibility on your part - a seller is always responsible for late delivery, and Fast N' Free is shown when the the delivery date falls within the time frame for that program. While I understand you are concerned that the estimated delivery dates themselves are not correct, I must stress that your listings showing Fast N' Free is separate from the concerns you have about the delivery dates provided to the buyer and this program only serves to benefit you by providing additional protections. Without this being shown in your listings, you would still be expected to accept a return for an item that was delivered late if your buyer wanted to return the item, and you would be responsible for a full refund along with covering the cost of return shipping. 

Estimated delivery dates take into account your historical shipping behavior to provide a more accurate delivery estimate - if you say you take 5 business days to ship out orders but you almost always ship out within 2 days, then this will impact the estimated delivery date shown to your buyers. If you say you take 5 business days to ship out orders and you regularly take 5 business days to ship out your orders, then this will be regularly included in the calculations for delivery estimates shown to your buyers. 

This doesn't mean we won't look into the examples that have been provided, I just wanted to provide some context as to how we work to provide accurate shipping estimates for our buyers and how that may not be calculated in the way you expect.

[tyler@ebay]

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@vrykalak wrote:

The first time I list an item, I want to list it as an auction. After that, I set it to fixed price. I don't recall auction listings in stores being limited to Fashion and Collectibles categories before. But the page about the new limits claims they have always been limited to those few categories. ?.

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Hi @vrykalak - the free insertion fees for auction-style listings for Basic store and above are limited to the following categories (link here😞

• Antiques
• Art
• Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
• Coins & Paper Money
• Collectibles
• Dolls & Bears
• Entertainment Memorabilia
• Health & Beauty
• Jewelry & Watches
• Pottery & Glass
• Sports Memorabilia, Fan Shop & Sports Cards
• Stamps
• Toys & Hobbies

The Seller Center page does seem to abbreviate that in their announcement, I'll see if I can get more clarification. Thanks!

[tyler@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@randomsl wrote:

With the radical changes to the number of free listings offered to store subscriptions starting August 1, will we have the option to downgrade yearly store subscriptions without penalty?

---

Hi @randomsl  - there has been no announced change to the store subscription model itself. If you are in a yearly agreement there is not an option to downgrade without paying a termination fee. Thanks!

---

Respectfully I think you will find that many sellers disagree with that statement.  One of the primary things we look at when we select what store level will work best for us is the amount of the free listing allotment.  That is significantly changing for certain categories.  Today if I [as many sellers] were to be reviewing the store options, we would not pick the option we currently have due to this.  

Yes there are other benefits on the various store levels that should be considered when selecting the store level, all that is absolutely correct.  But primary is the free listing allotment which is significantly changing.

I personally think it is unfair of Ebay not to give a window of opportunity to downgrade a store due to the new changes coming next month.  Ebay could limit the change to just one step down and no more.  I would find that reasonable.  

We may see things differently, but these are big changes to stores next month and unfair IMHO to lock us into a subscription without consideration of the new changes.  Ebay can change the store benefits at any time during the subscription contract, but sellers can not.  A bit one sided wouldn't you think.

Ebay defines "subscriptions" a bit differently than the rest of the world that uses the word.  Typically a subscription locks both parties into the terms of the Subscription at the time of acceptance.  On Ebay that isn't true.  The only one locked in is the seller.

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Thanks for your input @mam98031!

[nc-daydreamer]

@randomsl 

I must have fallen off the turnip truck - I have heard nothing about a decrease in listings for stores. This is a shock. Please explain or provide a link to wherever you got this detail from? Thanks. - And a VERY good question by-the-way.

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here. 

[golfingaddict]

Is there a team or manager at ebay that works with the carriers?  Is there a manager or a team that looks into these issues?  (Estimated delivery, delays, changes with carriers?)

Edit: Reply to post can be found here