mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us for the Weekly Chat with eBay Staff. This week our topic is the eBay Fall Seller Update. We'll be joined by an expert to address your questions. If you need to catch up on the Update you can review it in detail here.
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@hknumismatics wrote:
@mam98031 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Hi mam98031,
Thank you for the questions and apologies that it didn't get addressed in the other board. I am going to answer to the best of my knowledge and have also reached out to the product team in charge of this to get the definitive answers.
The alias email address will serve as the buyer & seller email address for the transaction. You will still be able to contact the buyer through the alias email address and it will ultimately get to their registered email address. The member to member communications policy states that exchange of personal information (except names) is not allowed. That includes email, phone, and other contact information.
The alias email addresses are tied to buyer and seller in a transaction for 1 year. If you need to send an invoice or communicate with the buyer, send directly to the buyer alias email address and it will be forwarded to their registered email address. You can send attachments up to 10mb, and that supports file types PDF, DOC, TXT, JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF.
That is not entirely correct. When we have an active transaction we are able to get access to names, physical addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. Or we were unless this policy has now changed. And if that is the case, then we need that conveyed to all of us. The Seller Update did not say that the policy on this has changed.
So you are saying if we use the alias email address in PP [for an invoice], it will work and reach the buyer? The policy page update is silent on this but it use to be that we could get info through emailing inside of Ebay on a current transaction without getting a warning. Has this now changed? If so, then how are sellers going to be able to invoice a buyer for after sale issues such as I described in my original post?
As far as I understood the policy has been that member to member exchanges on details such as phone numbers and email addresses are allowed through messages post-transaction, just not before.
If any change to this is being made it must be made very very clear!
That has always been my understanding too, but the policy page has been updated and it was not addressed in the Fall Seller Update, so I was trying to get some clarification on this.
@hknumismatics wrote:
3) The other day I had a buyer whom is on my blocked buyer list buy something with their secondary account. The reason they are on my BBL is an INR claim in accordance with point 2) above and they never repaid me or shipped the items back. Now they have bought and paid for a new item. As it was an auction and they paid almost immediately I never had a chance to block them from buying it.
They messaged me with a shipping request - to which I quickly replied that nothing will be shipped until they fulfil their payment or return of the last goods that they bought. Clearly they are unwilling to try to make it right (despite almost 2000 feedback on their main account and being a dealer themselves!).
As far as I understand I am meant to be able to void this sale and be protected from any repercussions according to this policy https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2020-spring/service.html.
Is this correct? And more importantly, how do I cancel this sale to not get a defect or any fees coming out of my sale?
I asked here on the forums a couple of days ago and did not receive any advise as what steps to take to cancel this sale.
@hknumismatics The weekly chat is a great place to ask these types of questions. Most weeks are 'General Topic' weeks where you can bring anything. This week was a topic-specific chat based on the eBay Fall Seller Update, which is why your question didn't get addressed right away (we prioritized answering on-topic questions). Thanks for your patience!
If a blocked buyer uses another account to circumvent that block then you can cancel the transaction using the 'issue with buyer's address' reason. This will ensure you do not get a defect and credit final value fees.
@hknumismatics wrote:
2) The INR debacle just continues and continues without an end in sight. Different sellers have different specific issues with carriers and geographical areas, but I believe my bottom line comments and suggestions are relevant regardless of situation.
The reply given to my question about it on Aug 26 thread by Tyler was not satisfactory as shipping estimates are not affected by handling times and cannot at all be affected by sellers (apart from different shipping options rendering different estimates).
I ship some stuff international surface mail (with buyer knowing so either through acceptance in messages, or as a personal comment on the invoice which they may or may not have read), which is the only possible shipping method to a lot of destinations right now. Expected delivery time is generally 60-90 days, but eBay helpfully "estimates" delivery within 3-6 weeks, mostly within 4 weeks. This means that by the time a buyer can open an INR it gets decided for them by eBay. (as if I refund them manually/willingly there is no chance to appeal and recover fund if it is later delivered - This is a serious issue as eBay policy states that sellers should volontarily refund the buyers, but in doing so we have even less chance to recover our funds) Mostly even the appeal period of 30 days expires before the item is even scheduled to be delivered by postal authorities. It is a real problem that sellers have to ship out items with long expected delivery times that are not reflected in the eBay estimates.
There are several possible fixes that can be made independently or jointly.
*Further extending automatic estimated delivery times [I do not think this is particularily meaningful as it will not be very accurate anyway, and it does nothing to items already sent or cases opened/closed]
*Introducing an delivery option called "International surface mail" or similar with a 60 or 90 day expected delivery time window, which I suggested 3 weeks ago. I believe and Brian fed onto the suggestion sheet; but this is needed NOW (or even better 6 months ago when this mess started as an international based seller!)
*Extending the appeal period to for example 60 days, preferrably retroactively back to the spring when these issues started.
*Introducing an appeal/repayment function for refunds that have been made volontarily by sellers in accordance with eBay policy.
The bottom line is that I, as a seller, have zero protection against loss (of funds/item) right now when I sell something that ends up being delivered long after eBay's estimated delivery date, despite in almost all cases having made it clear to the buyer before shipping what the real estimated delivery time is. Even if I have an acknowledgement from the buyer that they accept a delivery time up to 90 days they still file INR after 30 days and get their item for free after 70 days when my appeal period has run out. Similar applies to US sellers that have issues with mail stuck for weeks in sorting facilities.As a seller I realise that some purchases are time sensitive for buyers, and it would not be fair to the buyer to simply hold them to a purchase that is delivered 2 months late (and they are not as they quickly get refunded once an INR is started). However it makes no sense as a seller to risk losing both your item and the money!
The current protections in place do an ok job for protecting sellers from account defects - but there is virtually nothing being done to protect sellers from losing their goods/money. Now we get paid, ship the items, get our money refunded to the buyer (volontarily or by eBay) and then the items are delivered to the buyer. Of course with couriers and some methods it is possible to intercept items, but for the vast majority it is not possible.
Hi @hknumismatics - the weekly chat is a great place to ask these types of questions. Most weeks are 'General Topic' weeks where you can bring anything. This week was a topic-specific chat based on the eBay Fall Seller Update, which is why your question didn't get addressed right away (we prioritized answering on-topic questions). Thanks for your patience!
Thanks for sharing your frustrations on the INR processes. I'll make sure your feedback and input is shared!
@mam98031 wrote:
Hey, WELCOME back, how was the VACA??????????
Hi @mam98031 - thanks so much! I'm sorry I missed all the fun last week, but it was SO NICE to get away for a bit. We went camping and it was great to disconnect and have a breather.
It's always nice to come back though, as funny as that sounds. 🙂
@renegade-chance wrote:
Tyler, Rebecca or Brian ... Please tell me where I can find the guide that explains the different classification for user ids? Example - Trailblazer, Guide, Rock Star, Adventurer, etc. What the levels and what do they mean?
Thanks! Renegade
Howdy @renegade-chance - we don't have a guide that explains the differences (it's a mystery to me too). I know that looking at the levels and badges to make sure they're clear is on Rebecca's radar though!
@justsc92 wrote:
Selling Question
I own a “Patrick Mahomes 2017 Panini Cracked Ice Autographed Sports Card”.
The card is numbered # 20 of 25.
It is printed on the Front “Authentic Signature” and is printed on the back “The autograph is guaranteed by Panini America, Inc.”
But I see there are currently 23 eBay listings for this same # 20 of 25 card. My card nor any of those on sale stated anywhere that they are a reprint on the card itself. But, all are for sale as a reprint or “RP”? Why?
So since the card is not printed anywhere on it that is a reprint, can I assume I have the real thing.
It seems wrong to be to sell it as a reprint, since it states nowhere on the card that it is such.
Maybe Panini America, Inc. made a mistake and printed hundreds of this same # 20 of 25 and they are all real?
If it is not printed “reprint” on the card, I can call it an original, correct? And selling it as a reprint without being printed as a reprint could be violating eBay policy for accuracy?
@justsc92 I'm not an expert on these cards. It sounds like you'll need to do some research before you list the item to ensure you have accurate information in the listing. We have great sellers on these boards that may be able to help guide you on how best to research this, just go here and create a new discussion. You can also consider contacting Panini America, Inc. to get more details from them about the autograph and card.
@gogglesandgumptionguy wrote:
Hello Tyler, or whomever else may be be chiming in from the ebay team
In relation to Terapeak mentioned for the update and its increase capability
This might be somewhat off the main topic, but feel hopefully it still relates
unusual_retail touched somewhat on this and I would like to expand upon that
Limiting “completed listing” history for non-ebay store subscribers to increase the profitability for committed ebay Members.
Knowledge is power, and in the eBay world that means money. For the seasoned eBayer, we are willing to pay to have extra knowledge over infrequent or non-ebay users for intel on past sales. While "stores" subscriptions offer minor tools, past history access is hands down the most important. Terapeak however is much less informative than it was in years past, so much so now that many times you can find more history in the now standard 3 month history than a year search on terapeak. This has diminished the power of seasoned eBayers.
Many people are using ebay intel to price the items they intend to sell through other venues (estate sales, Mercari, Facebook, etc.). This of course is crippling to people who use ebay to sell on a regular basis as we are trying to acquire inventory from places that don't use ebay.
In the past eBay had only allowed a "taste" of its past sales history limiting it to a week. I noticed when ebay moved away from that is when ebay sales plummeted.
Some points on what such a long "past history" influences and why it is not only bad for the user, but also ebay itself:
It makes getting items at a decent price for resale much more difficult as it lowers the profit potential
It encourages people to use other medians to sell through… they can get a good pulse of resale value from eBay and then sell it through whatever resale vehicle they chose that may have lower fees or no need to ship. Some may argue that garage sales (which is actually only a small part of this) people only look at currently selling items to price, but that still provides ebay re-sellers with benefits as there are many items that do not show up in current and only a weeks time frame as compared to showing up in the long 3 month period it shows now.
It discourages potential buyers from buying your items, if they can go back so far in the sales history they may see that items could sell for 50 percent less if they have just a little patience to wait to see if it comes up for less and may even decide not to buy at all
It actually discourages people from getting more involved in eBay while simultaneously driving up the cost for items if you use non-ebay auctions to acquire your inventory… Non-ebay auction houses love ebay even though they don't use it, they depend upon people to look on ebay to get their price point on what they are willing to pay. A lot of profit for the seasoned eBay seller are items that don't sell every week (ergo if they pay for "stores" and get terapeak they can see a longer history and see items that other wouldn't who are limited to a week) while non-ebay regulars might get excited to see an item sell for a certain amount they will artificially drive up the price only to discover it doesn't sell for a while and get discouraged from using ebay to sell through.
It limits ebay profit in general which impacts our fees and less investment in tools we pay for… if everyone gets such a long and reliable history for free, why pay for a store and if store subscriptions are down why invest money in improving a tool for longer search history? If ebay limited the search history to a week, more people would be willing to buy a store subscription for longer search history which provides ebay with more money which may allow for lower percentage charges when our items sell.
Even if terapeak was more reliable and provided better results In a year, you really wouldn't want to buy items that don't show up in a 3 month period anyways - so again no advantage for the committed eBay user unless the free standard past listings history was less time.
Right now other resale sites and outlets and the people who sell through them all profit from the tools eBay provides non-commited members for free. If those people didn’t have access to that information they would profit less from those having no meter to set their prices… this either instills buyers on those sites to convert to buying from ebay or provides other outlets for committed ebay users to get inventory from or forces those people to join ebay paid stores to have access to ebay tools which means more money for ebay and potentially lowering selling fees. And the circle continues.
Having such a powerful tool available to only to committed ebay members willing to pay helps the feeling of belonging and loyalty
While there may be some advantages that I am not seeing to having such a long completed listing history everyone can see, those are far outweighed by the disadvantages.
Some people might argue that committed ebayers who are mainly buyers and not sellers would suffer, but that is not true... they would be also allowed to of course buy into the program to do research on past history to make an informed buying decision, it would just cost to have that ability and they would be not taking advantage of the full benefits as sellers... which may actually encourage them to sell which of course mean s more money for ebay and them.
One detailed solution might be to have “tiers” where the higher level store you have the longer history you can see (“free” users - 1 week, Tier 1 - 2 months, Tier 2 - 6 months, tier 3 - 1 year)
To summarize: decrease free “completed listings” history significantly, improve terapeak search power. This improves life for all committed ebay members and ebay itself while reducing power of competing mediums.
Anyone who is making ebay a major part of their income life and agrees either in part or full, please help promote this movement with ebay. Of course general thoughts, suggestions is greatly encourage to see how all of you logically think through this and your own experiences.
@gogglesandgumptionguy I'm not aware of any upcoming changes to completed listings search results. Thanks for sharing your suggestions and feedback with us!
