mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Join the Community team here at 1 PM PT on July 31st 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 on buying or selling.
The chat will be open for questions from 1-2 pm PT, at which point we'll close thread. While no additional questions can be submitted after this time, we'll continue to work on responding to any queries that may 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 with you 
1 BEST ANSWER
Accepted Solutions
Below you will find a recap of our Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team for July 31st, 2019. We hope to see you at our next chat!
Technical Issues
When are they planning to fix the inability to hide purchases with multiple items?
While we don't have an estimated time of resolution, we can confirm this is a known issue still being worked on.
Are "Sales Report Plus" being discontinued? They have not updated since May and I need to print them for my records.
No plans to discontinue them at this point in time, but there is an open investigation on reports of them not updating.
New Seller Protections
I have some questions related to the PDF document shared with the recent Seller Protection announcements:
Excerpt:
We provide protections when:
- An item arrives late that you shipped on time
- An item is returned after it was opened, used, or damaged when you offer free returns
- You delivered on your service promises, but you received feedback or a defect that was not accurate
- A buyer changes their order or demands extras
What does the bolded portion mean? Who decides if it is accurate? What factors are taken into consideration?
This portion of the FAQ is an overview list and the specific instances where negative or neutral feedback are outlined in the remainder of the FAQ (here). To summarize, we will remove negative or neutral feedback for Top rated sellers in the United states who offer 30-day returns that listed their item on eBay.com when; a buyer falsely claims an item was not as described; a buyer returns an item that they opened, used, damaged, or retained a portion of; your item arrived later than your shipping promise due to factors outside of your control (ie. inclement weather or natural disasters); the buyer claims the item was not received but you have provided tracking that confirms successful delivery; and when a seller reports a buyer for abusive activity.
Excerpt:
You’ll receive a credit for returns shipping cost when the buyer falsely says the item is not as described
- Report the buyer when you issue the refund through the eBay returns flow
- You will receive a credit on your invoice for the amount of the return shipping cost up to $6
- We will automatically remove any feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics
Does reporting a buyer regarding a Return Request the same as opening an appeal? Or is that two separate functions?
Reporting a buyer is separate from appealing the return request.
What is an “open case” in the Service Metrics? Is there an update to the Service Metrics coming that makes a distinction between Open and Closed return requests?
Open cases refers to cases that were opened - we record return requests that were opened for not as described reasons in your service metrics, and these would be removed as a part of the outlined protections. When and how the request is closed would not impact if it is recorded, so we used the term open cases because that is when they are recorded - when they are opened.
How will the process of removing feedback, defects and Service Metrics marks against our accounts transpire?
A seller just needs to report concerns of abusive behavior and the appropriate protections will be applied. We will apply these protections for sellers in good standing who meet the requirements outlined previously when a report is filed. For sellers who are not Top Rated, the protections discussed in the Seller Update earlier this year would apply when eBay can confirm abusive behavior. For those who are Top Rated, you just need to report the buyer to us and we will take appropriate action right away. A distinction between what is available to Top Rated sellers and what is provided to all sellers starting on October 1st can be found in our updated Seller Protections help page (here). This page also outlines what protections will be applied for various situations.
What if it takes a month for Ebay to rule on the report the seller submitted about the buyer? Will Ebay be removing the defects, FB and SM dings at that time, or is it too late?
We are able to take action on defects and feedback for up to 90 days from payment. That being said, we aim to take action on the reports filed for these protections within 48 hours, with most being reviewed within 8 hours.
Will Ebay send the seller a notification of their findings?
Sellers will be able to review the decision made on their reports and the action taken within the Seller Help section of their account that we announced at eBay Open and will be rolling out shortly.
Excerpt:
Abusive buying activity:
- A buyer falsely claims an item was not as described or wasn’t received
- A buyer returns an item after it was opened, used, damaged or missing parts
- A buyer retracted their bid or didn’t pay
- A buyer changed their order, requested a discount or something extra
- A buyer asked to take the sale off eBay
- A buyer sent threatening or abusive messaging
How is it determined that it was a False Claim? Through reporting the buyer and waiting for an Ebay determination or by some other means?
For the Top Rated Seller specific protections being discussed here, a report from a seller regarding a false claim is all that would be needed. Once received, we will apply the protections outlined in the resources we’ve shared for eligible transactions.
Excerpt:
I received a false claim — what should I do?
- Offer 30 day or longer returns to be protected from item not as described claims on eligible transactions.
- If a buyer makes a false claim, please accept the return and report the buyer to us. You will receive a return shipping label subsidy on your invoice. We will also automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.
- Provide ship tracking to avoid item not as described claims. When tracking shows on-time item delivery, you are protected.
What constitutes an “eligible transaction” beyond having a 30 day or longer return policy?
Eligible transactions refers to the eligibility requirements listed in the FAQ (ie. 30 day returns, listed on eBay.com) and the eligibility requirements for protections in general (seller in good standing, seller upheld their promises (such as honoring their return policy), the item is eligible for the eBay Money Back Guarantee).
A pain point for many sellers is the Return Rate metric. eBay counts returns against a seller even if an INR is found to have been delivered, or a seller wins a case for a not as described return request. Will this be changing now with the recent announcements?
Service Metrics look at your rate of Item Not Received (INR) requests as well as return requests for not as described (SNAD) reasons that you receive. The outcome of these requests are not considered in that calculation, with a few exceptions:
For INR:
- If it was sent through one of eBay's intermediated shipping programs such as the global shipping program, or eBay Managed Delivery.
- If you ship your item within your stated handling time but it arrives late due to carrier disruptions, site bugs, natural disasters or severe weather, this will not negatively affect your seller metrics.
For SNAD returns:
- Your item won't be counted in your service metrics if it was sold in a category which isn't covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee.
- A return request won’t be counted if you had an UPI/cancel transaction.
There are some announced protections associated with Service Metrics coming in October (PDF here). These will be available for Top Rated Sellers on eligible transactions.
In a situation where a buyer falsely claims an item wasn’t received; if tracking shows item received, does that constitute "a false claim"? And therefore would negative/neutral feedback, defects, or service metric misses be removed? We know items can be/are misdelivered and buyers find an item after opening the case. Previously these were counted against us, and I want to check if this is still true or is presentation of tracking enough to wipe both out. Also, do we have to present the tracking if it is uploaded to the transaction already?
Our Help Page (here) states that false Not As Described claims will have the Service Metric case removed if the seller is Top Rated. If the seller ships the item on time, but it is delivered late then defects and feedback can be removed. Service Metrics are not mentioned as part of this protection. We haven't announced any changes for Service Metrics related to Item Not Received requests, but I'm happy to pass along your feedback!
Why did Ebay choose to make the start date for these new protections October 1st?
A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to get the correct processes in place, train our Customer Service teams, and run testing before we roll out changes to the site. The short answer that applies to almost everything regarding timing is this: that is the date we picked to be ready 
As you know, if a buyer asks a seller to hold off on shipping an item, and the seller agrees to do so, the seller ends up with two dings for shipping late. One of these (the late shipment defect) can be (eventually) removed by contacting eBay and pointing to the buyers request. The other (the on-time shipping metric for Top Rated Sellers) is not removed, and remains until the seller is actually in jeopardy of losing his Top Rated Seller status.
Though we do offer protection for this situation and support a seller who is meeting customer requests like this, we will touch base with the team to see if the process is changing starting after October 1st
Coupons
Any update on when/if we will be getting coded coupons?
We were crossing my fingers that we'd hear more about it this year, but unfortunately nothing quite yet.
Good ‘Til Cancelled
Are there any plans "in the works" to make any further improvements (of any kind) to the Good ‘Til Cancelled listing duration?
There aren't any upcoming changes that we’re aware of. You are welcome to share suggestions or specific concerns with us anytime.
Best Offer
I have a couple questions about the 'send an offer' to buyers.
- Let's say I have 9 watchers, but the offer only goes to 1 or 2 'interested' people. What determines who is interested and who isn't? I realize you can opt out of this, but it's hard to believe that I can have as many as 8 out of 9 people opted out on 1 item. I sell a variety of 1 quantity items and I never have the same number of interested people compared to watchers.
- I sent offers and they expired with no sale. What I want to know is if I send offers again on the same item, will it go to the same people as the first offer? Or are they excluded and it goes to new watchers. I don't want to keep bugging the same people time after time.
Happy to clarify!
- Only buyers who have chosen to receive promotions (in their My eBay Communication preferences) will receive these offers. If they have chosen to not receive promotions then they are considered to be not interested.
- Offers are sent watchers and/or buyers with the item in the cart only one time. If they do not accept the offer or if it expires then another offer will not be sent that those buyers again. Instead, only new watchers and/or buyers with the item in their cart will receive the offer.
Do the items have to be in someone's cart to be considered "interested" or just on their watch list?
The buyer is considered interested if it is in their cart or if they have it in their watch list. However, they are not interested if they have selected to not receive promotions via their My eBay settings, even if they are watching it or have it in their cart.
Listing Issues
In the past few months, I have repeatedly reported changes to my listings that I didn't make: shipping mode changed from package to letter, "best offer" turned off, "local pickup" being shown as the only shipping option, etc. A couple of weeks ago, the answer was: "sometimes things get changed if you relist an item a lot." How am I supposed to protect myself when "sometimes things get changed if you relist an item a lot"?
The relist and sell similar processes are not designed to be used without limitation, and you would need to either utilize the Fixed Price format (as it comes with the Good 'Til Cancelled duration and thus avoids these issues) or you will need to create new listings. Ultimately, some of your listing data is becoming corrupt due to the length of time you have been using the relist or sell similar features in ways they were not designed to be used.
Vacation Advice
I am going on vacation for a couple of weeks, and need to protect myself from late shipping dings while I'm gone. What I have done in the past is to set the handing time to skip over the time I'm away, but I believe the maximum I can set is 10 days, which isn't enough. What should I do?
If the handling time duration available is not long enough, you would need to end your listings while away. With that in mind, the maximum duration for a handling time is actually 30 days, as pictured below:
Shipping
I have an issue with Ebay reflecting FEDEX INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY SHIPPING with an outrageously extended, false transit time. We’ve used this same Fedex service for International shipments and delivery generally takes one business day to Canada and 2-3 business days for the other International countries we ship to. Why are my international buyers being shown much longer estimates recently?
We will have to look into this further to see if everything is working correctly. We’ll report it to the shipping team to get some clarification.
We're coming up on two months now since the latest update (here) on the problem of Shipping confirmation emails having lost all their data in an unexpected revision. As the sale record ages off the eBay site, there is now no permanent record in the seller's email files for later reference. Have you received any more updates on progress towards a fix?
We unfortunately do not have an update on this. We'll bring it up again with the shipping team though.
eBay Open
Why do sellers have to pay to attend eBay Open?
Great question! The cost to attend eBay Open allows us to provide sellers with numerous workshops, catered meals (breakfast, lunch, snacks, drinks, and some dinners), staff for a variety of eBay tools and initiatives, staff to provide one on one support sessions to go over your account and discuss improvements that could be made, and much, much more! The term open could be interpreted in many ways, but we can clarify it isn't meant to imply "free" I strongly encourage you to check it out next year and consider attending! Additionally, if you are looking for a free event focused on eBay, keep an eye on our eBay UpFront schedule for something near you!
Welcome BACK !!! We missed all of you!! I hope you all had a great time at the Open.
I am encouraged by the Seller protections that were announced at the Ebay Open event. But you all know me and I’ve got some questions. This is a bit long, so I apologize in advance, but I did try to include portions of the announcement to make my questions a bit easier to follow. At the bottom of my post will be a link to the document that I reference throughout my post.
Excerpt:
We provide protections when:
- An item arrives late that you shipped on time
- An item is returned after it was opened, used, or damaged when you offer free returns
- You delivered on your service promises, but you received feedback or a defect that was not accurate
- A buyer changes their order or demands extras
What does that mean? Who decides if it is accurate? What factors are taken into consideration?
Excerpt:
You’ll receive a credit for returns shipping cost when the buyer falsely says the item is not as described
- Report the buyer when you issue the refund through the eBay returns flow
- You will receive a credit on your invoice for the amount of the return shipping cost up to $6
- We will automatically remove any feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics
Does reporting a buyer regarding a Return Request the same as appealing the RR? Or is that two separate functions?
What is an “open case” in the Service Metrics? I have not heard that term before. Is there an update to the Service Metrics coming that makes a distinction between Open and Closed RRs?
How will the process of removing FB, defects and SM marks against our accounts transpire? I’m assuming this is predicated on us reporting the buyer for misuse of the system. So if that is the case, what makes this different than the Seller Protection announced in the Spring Seller Update? Unless Ebay rules right away or in a timely manner that the buyer is “abusive”, none of that will be removed. Having the transaction ruled abusive isn’t the same as having the buyer ruled abusive by Ebay.
Just throwing this out there: What if it takes a month for Ebay to rule on the report the seller submitted about the buyer? Will Ebay be removing the defects, FB and SM dings at that time or is it too late?
In a nutshell, how long is this process for reporting the buyer suppose to take normally? Will Ebay send the seller a notification of their findings? Or is this particular portion of this announcement actually the same process as the Spring Seller Update announcement or is it a new enhanced process.
Excerpt:
Abusive buying activity:
- A buyer falsely claims an item was not as described or wasn’t received
- A buyer returns an item after it was opened, used, damaged or missing parts
- A buyer retracted their bid or didn’t pay
- A buyer changed their order, requested a discount or something extra • A buyer asked to take the sale off eBay
- A buyer sent threatening or abusive messaging
How is it determined that it was a False Claim? Through reporting the buyer and waiting for an Ebay determination or by some other means?
Excerpt:
I received a false claim — what should I do?
- Offer 30 day or longer returns to be protected from item not as described claims on eligible transactions.
- If a buyer makes a false claim, please accept the return and report the buyer to us. You will receive a return shipping label subsidy on your invoice. We will also automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.
- Provide ship tracking to avoid item not as described claims. When tracking shows on-time item delivery, you are protected.
What constitutes an “eligible transaction” beyond having a 30 day or longer return policy?
@mangorunner wrote:
Your link in your original post opens a different thread.
Hi @mangorunner, fixed! Thanks for letting me know 
@papermoneyforme wrote:
When are they planning to fix the inability to hide purchases with multiple items?
It is a pain as the purchase lists just keep growing for no good reason.
This has been brought up on the chats before!
Hi @papermoneyforme - while we don't have an estimated time of resolution, this is a known issue still being worked on. Happy to get you added to the open ticket if it hasn't been added already!
@bookollections wrote:
Greetings...Are there any plans "in the works" to make any further improvements (of any kind) to GTC? Thanks...
Hi @bookollections, there aren't any upcoming changes that I'm aware of. Is there a specific enhancements that you have in mind?
@mam98031 wrote:
Welcome BACK !!! We missed all of you!! I hope you all had a great time at the Open.
Hi @mam98031,
Great to see you again! We had a wonderful time, and so did the sellers in attendance. It was an action-packed couple of days.
Our latest podcast has all the info:https://community.ebay.com/t5/The-eBay-for-Business-Podcast/Episode-51-Live-From-eBay-Open-2019/ba-p...
Give it a listen!
Thanks 
