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!
@c.b. wrote:
Some sellers will buy on ebay for resale, and our seller's group has been trying to find the answer to this question...
When we save a personal Search that we do, Is there any way to be notified AT THE TIME a new item is listed? I know ebay batches their notifications to us, telling us that there are new items that match our search. But, some people seem to be getting info at the time items are listed. maybe it's just coincidence that they did a manual search at the time those items were listed, but it seems to happen a lot to some resellers. maybe the batch notifications are staggered and some people get notified at different times -- corresponding to getting notified about a listing before other batches come through? What can you tell me?
Thank you.
@c.b. - Great question! There isn't a way to change the timing of when your notifications are sent currently, though you can check where and when they are sent. If you're using the app, you can check 'Notification' settings for 'Saved Searches' or go here https://commspreferences.ebay.com/commsprefs to review what you have set up.
@coffeebean832 wrote:
Every year there are different categories majorly impacted by changes such as the ones rolled out yesterday (FYI the clothing & accessories categories still aren't fixed from that last major update). I know that there is a lot of manual work involved for sellers when these changes roll out, however I think there are things eBay can and should do to make the process less painful.
Some examples-
- Instead of wiping out a seller's item specifics, carry them over to the new category. If the specifics don't match up with the new category's designated specifics- eBay should still transfer them as if they're custom added. eBay has done this frequently in the past so there's no reason for them to stop the process. I'm reading lots of posts saying that even the brand name has been wiped from their listings. That's a sloppy/lazy transfer.
- When categories are eliminated and merged, see books, comics, etc- eBay can alleviate some of the work by updating the subcategory within the specifics. Like comics and graphic novels were merged into one category and eBay is now going to rely on the Type filter for search. How about filling out that Type field with graphic novel when you eliminate the graphic novel category? How about filling out the Era field with the Era (Golden Age, etc) when eliminating the individual Era categories?
Things like this would lessen the manual work for sellers. It would also make the transition easier for buyers because items would already have the necessary info to use search filters.
Hi @coffeebean832 - thanks for these suggestions! I will make sure they are passed to the right stakeholders.
@inceptions wrote:
Have you seen reports about the new bulk feedback window bugs? Clearing cache and cookies doesn't resolve them, and they will be hard to replicate as it doesn't happen all the time, but here is my example from today:
- From the Leave Feedback list, I selected several transactions to leave feedback for, and clicked Leave Feedback.
- The bulk feedback window opened and displayed a message that feedback had already been left for the transactions (which was not the case).
- I closed the window and and on the list, clicked Leave Feedback again.
- The bulk feedback window opened and this time displayed what I should be seeing, but it was in German. (What???😀)
- I repeated a third time, and everything worked as it should.
I see variations of these issues periodically so it's hard to pinpoint what could trigger this, but wondered if the issue has been reported by others.
@inceptions I haven't seen any reports on this yet. German huh? That's odd haha. If you're able to get me a screenshot then I can add it to my report, just tag me in a thread. Thanks 🙂
@disneyshopper wrote:
The Chat is ending soon, so no time to review if this question has been asked or not.
There are several messages on the Member to Member board stating that the OP is unable to post a counteroffer when an offer has been received.
I know when I send out offers to those listings that are eligible to receive them, I can select to either accept or not accept counteroffers. However, from the way the OP is posting, it sounds like they are receiving an offer as a seller, and want to submit a counteroffer, but they are unable to do so.
Any other reports of this? OK. Ten minutes left for the chat, and I do have to make it to the post office!
Hi @disneyshopper - Yes, we are aware of the issue and it's being worked on urgently. We posted about it here and we'll post an update once we have more information.
@clarkphilatelics wrote:
Does eBay have a corporate mission statement? If so, does it say anything about treatment of sellers?
@clarkphilatelics you'll find information like that about eBay Inc. here.
@dhbookds wrote:
@cowtown-cards my understanding was that filled out items specifics should remain
There are NUMEROUS reports on the selling board that the previous IS are wiped out............
@dhbookds feel free to tag me, Tyler, and Brittanie in those threads so we can take a look. Thanks!
@auctionpet wrote:
Just an opinion. But I find ebay's Free Shipping statements of "Free 4 day Shipping" or "Free 2 day Shipping" (for example) to be misleading. When I'm buying and I see those statements in the search results, I conclude that the SHIPPING itself takes 2 days or 4 days from when I make my purchase, NOT that the Seller takes that amount of time just to ship the item, PLUS the transit/delivery time! It's highly misleading, why would someone who takes 4 days just to ship my package be an attractive reason to buy?!
Hi @auctionpet - I just want to clarify - when we announced this change it wasn't to replace estimated delivery date with a seller's stated handling time. You should only be seeing this on items where we feel strongly that you will receive the item within the mentioned time.
@clarkphilatelics wrote:
Why is there no link in the Community Chat announcement in selling and this board? Why does search not find the current community chat?
@clarkphilatelics - Because the thread for the chat itself is not posted until right before it goes live, we do not have a link to the chat in the reminder post that is posted in the Selling Board, although we do have a link directly to the weekly chat board:
I was able to find this weeks chat in search, by changing the Sort to 'Date' so I'm not sure if there was just a delay when you tried, but it is there now.
@arrowhead10-7 wrote:
Here is the message I get when trying to update based on the new required item specifics
Hi @arrowhead10-7 - this is exactly what I needed, thank you so much for sharing! I will get this reported and let you know as I hear back.
Thanks!
@go-bad-chicken wrote:
Hello
Any answers yet as to why American Express is not a payment option for certain categories and listings that are enrolled in Managed Payments?
I asked about this issue here about 4 weeks ago.
@go-bad-chicken - I'm sorry for the delay. This is still being looking into. I've asked for a follow up.
@c.b. wrote:
brian@ebay - I received an ebay survey with what are sorta like N/A or even "wife-beating" type questions - do you still answer emails?
@c.b. I can send you an email that you can reply to with more details about this survey. Thanks!
@clarkphilatelics wrote:
Has eBay made any changes stemming from Community Chat posts? If so, what?
Hi @clarkphilatelics - that's an interesting question! Sharing member input, feedback, suggestions and complaints is what we do. This happens on an ad-hoc basis from comments like this chat, as well as formally on a weekly basis. This is distributed to product teams, dev teams and upper management, who use it when considering new features, content, programs and campaigns.
As far as a 1:1 "The chat said X and so we then changed Y" I don't have a list of accomplishments to share with you, but I can tell you that input from members like you touches all areas of eBay from Help Page corrections, to future Seller Updates and broader policy changes.
@go-bad-chicken - I heard back on your question. The answer I received was the following:
"Buyers will see supported payment methods compatible with the their device or browser automatically in checkout. Not all payment methods are supported in all categories."
I know it's not a lot of detail, but I hope it helps explain what you're seeing.
