Regards,
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!
@somanypostcards wrote:
Currently when someone goes to a store there is a store Search option that says "Search all nnn items" (i.e. in the store.) Is it possible to keep this in store search on the search result pages? At present if someone does a store search, the results of the search are show and there is also only a search field for all of eBay; the in store search field has disappeared. The only way they can do another in store search is to hit the back tab. Many buyers might not know this, so a second search takes them out of the store.
Hey @somanypostcards! I was able to replicate this and I'll pass your feedback on. Thank you!
@gwzcomps wrote:
Still don't have an appropriate way to report said accounts. Especially since Trust and Safety refuses to do their job.
The bulk of these accounts in question are older unused ones. Maybe rather than being reactive eBay should be proactive. Seems like there should be some sort of verification required if a 5 year old account starts buying high risk items out of the blue. eBay is plenty fast at attacking seller accounts, but I guess eBay can't profit off fraud as easily on the selling side of things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hi @gwzcomps - we definitely review accounts proactively if there is unusual behavior, we also review reports from sellers as transactions come through.
@stuff4divas wrote:
Hello
On Dec 7 I had an auto approved free return shipping of gloves for reason ‘does not fit’
The buyer returned them without the retail hangtag. I messaged her about it and she told me to just return the gloves back to her instead of refunding. I did so, but there was no ‘button’ to indicate i was returning instead of refunding.
I did a chat and the agent said he would put the notation on the case for the next agent to see what I was doing and to view the buyer’s request to return instead of refund. Soon after, eBay fully refunded the buyer.
I messaged the buyer about it, she apologized and told me she’d pay me back, which she did thru a PayPal invoice (so refreshing to have an honest buyer). Tracking shows she received the gloves back.
Should I do anything else? The agent said that once the gloves showed ‘delivered’ to let them know. Do I do this? I don’t want to receive a defect.
Thank you
Hi @stuff4divas - this is definitely a unique situation! The simplest way to address this in the rare event it happens again is to issue a refund through the return and then list it again for them to purchase.
I'm glad that you and the buyer were able to get things worked out (and you repaid)! There shouldn't be anything else for you to do.
@a_c_green wrote:
I've got a new issue to report involving the confirmation emails we receive when buying our Shipping labels through eBay. Normally I would report this using the Comments link on the problem page, but in this case it involves a generated email from a generic eBay return address, so I thought I would spell it out here instead and let you start the ball rolling on a fix.
In the past, going back at least a couple of years now, eBay dumbed-down the Shipping confirmation email by removing the data about what was shipped and (in particular) where it went, as the buyer's name and address had vanished. Following an ungodly delay, eBay finally and quietly restored most of the missing data to the confirmation email, so we can once again search our Shipping email if we ever need to refer to old shipment info.
The only problem remaining is that the buyer's City, State and ZIP are slightly bollixed-up, with the ZIP listed before the City, and the State abbreviation missing altogether. (I do know why it's doing this; see below.) I have to run the ZIP code through USPS.com if I want to find out what State my buyer is in, as what I'm receiving looks like this:
Buyer: my_buyers_ID
Tracking: 9400xxxxxxxxxxxxxx6831
Deliver to: John Smith
123 Main St.
45678-9012 Springfield
United States
The apparent reason for this, as the presence of "United States" suggests, is that this is European software that someone at eBay has brought over here to reuse for American shipments (or else your programmer is working from home in Outer Franistan someplace 😁). That format of postal code first, followed by City and Country, is standard European address format, but of course there's no field for the State, nor are the visible fields in the order in which we use them in this country.
Can you please ask whoever's responsible to follow through and get the email template revised to restore the missing data and use the American address format?
Thanks for the detail on this @a_c_green - I'll get it reported!
tyler@ebay wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:
Happy Holidays eBay Support Team!
Subject: Multiple item return - questions & comments
I am in the middle of a multiple item return, it is the first one that I can remember doing.
Scenario:
1. Buyer purchased 2 items via winning Auctions and they were combined on ONE invoice, shipping was combined and adjusted for the Buyer. ONE invoice sent, ONE payment made by the Buyer.
2. The Buyer processed a return but TWO separate returns appeared on my account. I had to Accept them separately and Send pre-paid labels separtely
3. I advised the Buyer to use ONLY ONE of the labels if they used the original package the TWO items came in and to use BOTH labels if they were sending them back separately.
4. As of this writing I am waiting for the claim process to update that the items have been shipped back.
QUESTIONS - COMMENTS
A. Why wouldn't the Buyer's Purchase history allow them to file ONE return claim so I could issue ONE return label and avoid the potential for TWO return defects on my account?
B. Is this the new process that allows a Buyer to return "part" of a multiple purchase? If so it at least addresses the past issue where a multiple item return could NOT be broken up (all or nothing) ... if this has been in place for a while I was not aware of it ... mainly because I haven't done a multiple item return that I can remember.
C. How will eBay handle the return defect situation in this instance?
Hi @mr_lincoln!
A. If it had been a single item number, quantity two, it would have worked that way. Combining shipment and payment isn't quite the same thing. Returns are tied to the items themselves, not the shipment.
B. As far as I am aware, that is correct (when it's a multi-item-number-order).
C. From a defect perspective there is no impact as long we aren't asked to step into the returns. From a Service Metrics perspective this would be considered 2 returns opened for not as described reasons (if that was the reason for the return). However, when it comes to your level being 'High' or 'Very High' it would be considered only 1 unique return as it pertains to the threshold.
Hi tyler@ebay Thanks for clarifying item C above ... in this case both items were listed with Free Returns BUT, the Buyer did select the "Missing parts or pieces" choice. The problem with that is due to the Buyer's lack of knowledge the items are exactly AS DESCRIBED and are NOT MISSING ANY PIECES. This sadly points to the subjective nature of the Seller defect system with regard to replying on a Buyer to either be accurate or honest.
Since both items we sold with the 30 Day Free Returns setting don't I have protection AGAINST the Seller Metric and a defects?
-----
Edit: A reply to your question can be found here
@gwzcomps wrote:
As I stated we literally have no way to properly report them.
Hi @gwzcomps - if you are in a transaction with a buyer you believe to come from a compromised account please report the buyer via this Help Page.
If you are trying to report an account you are not in a transaction with there is not a way to do so that I'm aware of.
Thanks for joining this week's chat. It's closed from further replies, but we will keep working through to ensure that questions receive a reply.
@mr_lincoln wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:
Happy Holidays eBay Support Team!
Subject: Multiple item return - questions & comments
I am in the middle of a multiple item return, it is the first one that I can remember doing.
Scenario:
1. Buyer purchased 2 items via winning Auctions and they were combined on ONE invoice, shipping was combined and adjusted for the Buyer. ONE invoice sent, ONE payment made by the Buyer.
2. The Buyer processed a return but TWO separate returns appeared on my account. I had to Accept them separately and Send pre-paid labels separtely
3. I advised the Buyer to use ONLY ONE of the labels if they used the original package the TWO items came in and to use BOTH labels if they were sending them back separately.
4. As of this writing I am waiting for the claim process to update that the items have been shipped back.
QUESTIONS - COMMENTS
A. Why wouldn't the Buyer's Purchase history allow them to file ONE return claim so I could issue ONE return label and avoid the potential for TWO return defects on my account?
B. Is this the new process that allows a Buyer to return "part" of a multiple purchase? If so it at least addresses the past issue where a multiple item return could NOT be broken up (all or nothing) ... if this has been in place for a while I was not aware of it ... mainly because I haven't done a multiple item return that I can remember.
C. How will eBay handle the return defect situation in this instance?
Hi @mr_lincoln!
A. If it had been a single item number, quantity two, it would have worked that way. Combining shipment and payment isn't quite the same thing. Returns are tied to the items themselves, not the shipment.
B. As far as I am aware, that is correct (when it's a multi-item-number-order).
C. From a defect perspective there is no impact as long we aren't asked to step into the returns. From a Service Metrics perspective this would be considered 2 returns opened for not as described reasons (if that was the reason for the return). However, when it comes to your level being 'High' or 'Very High' it would be considered only 1 unique return as it pertains to the threshold.
Hi tyler@ebay Thanks for clarifying item C above ... in this case both items were listed with Free Returns BUT, the Buyer did select the "Missing parts or pieces" choice. The problem with that is due to the Buyer's lack of knowledge the items are exactly AS DESCRIBED and are NOT MISSING ANY PIECES. This sadly points to the subjective nature of the Seller defect system with regard to replying on a Buyer to either be accurate or honest.
Since both items we sold with the 30 Day Free Returns setting don't I have protection AGAINST the Seller Metric and a defects?
Hi @mr_lincoln - as long as you accepted the return, report the buyer and issue a refund you should qualify (details on this page).
