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Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

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!

Jasmen,
Community Team

Message 1 of 60
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59 REPLIES 59

Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Topic: Item mis-categorization
Category: Art > Paintings

 

I just wanted to give you a heads-up that many sellers are describing their artworks as "ACEO" when they clearly are not. An ACEO is defined as having 2.5x3.5 inch dimensions. This size requirement is the ONLY attribute that defines what is known as an ACEO.

 

An ACEO can be created with any kind of art material, and can have any kind of subject matter, but the size must be 2.5x3.5 inches.

 

eBay should clean up the ACEO sub-category and insiste that sellers not misrepresent their items.

 

When I search on ACEO paintings, I see all kinds of things that do not have this required format.

 

With all these non-ACEO items listed, the sub-category becomes less attractive to serious buyers and sellers.

 

I have personally reported 3 of these improperly-listed items, but there are SO MANY that I thought it best to contact you and let you take it from there.

 

For example, check out 164212824441. The seller classifies his painting as an ACEO, but in the description, he reports that it's actually 3x4 FEET. 

 

Is it possible that he doesn't know or understand the defining characteristic of an ACEO? Sure... I guess anything is possible, but it's more likely that he knows this sub-category gets a lot of traffic, and he's hoping to divert a few of those visitors to his auction. If some are annoyed about his mis-representation, well... so what? He doesn't care about them.

 

There are many sellers who misuse the classification this way.

 

I recently sold an ACEO to a woman who has a collection of 1200 of them! (She told me so.) There are many such collectors, but it's much harder for people like her to find what she wants when the sub-category itself is littered with so much inappropriately-listed stuff.

 

Anyway, I appreciate whatever help eBay can offer. Thanks for your time.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that the eBay "cops" will do their thing!

 

Cheers, 

 

Steve Kobb

 

 

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

Message 2 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Is eBay planning to put late shipment protections in place for sellers in the Austin, TX area? We've already told our employees the shop will be closed tomorrow and depending on what the roads look like, we may stay closed on Friday as well. We'll probably put our store on vacation, but I'd rather not change the handling time on all our listings unless we'll be getting hit with late shipments.  Thanks.

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

The opinions expressed are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
Message 3 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

tyler@ebay  - there are several points from the Fall Seller Update that are *very* overdue at this point. I understand in the past you've said "no update available at this time" but considering we are all expecting a Spring update sometime in the next ~ month-ish, we really need a concrete update on these items.

 

 

Please escalate this to the appropriate teams and provide an update timeframe for these items as soon as possible or if they have been shelved or indefinitely delayed, please update us with that information.

 

 

1. Send discount offers to targeted buyer groups with coded coupons
Sending coded coupons to buyer groups is an easy way for you to encourage existing and potential customers to purchase your items. For example, use coded coupons to target specific buyer groups when your seasonal inventory has the greatest potential to sell.

 

The following coded coupons options will be available starting in October.
Launching in October

• Send a coded coupon to your previous buyers to encourage repeat business


Launching in the next few months
• Send a coded coupon to your followers on eBay
• Send a coded coupon to eligible buyers who have expressed an interest in the type of inventory you sell


2. Newsletter sign-up from your About tab

In the coming weeks, a new button will appear in your Store’s About tab to encourage buyers to sign up for your newsletters


3. Listing Quality Report

To keep improving the report, we’ve made some updates.


This month, the Listing Quality Report will be available to download in three formats:
• A PDF “one-page summary”
• An Excel “full report” with one tab per category
• A CSV “raw data” file, to be exported for further analysis


In the past, you could see the analysis of your 10 categories with the most live listings. You’ll now be in control of which categories will show up in the report. You’ll also have the option to keep the existing analysis, using the top 10 categories with the most live listings.

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Message 4 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@stevekobb_art wrote:

Topic: Item mis-categorization
Category: Art > Paintings

 

I just wanted to give you a heads-up that many sellers are describing their artworks as "ACEO" when they clearly are not. An ACEO is defined as having 2.5x3.5 inch dimensions. This size requirement is the ONLY attribute that defines what is known as an ACEO.

 

An ACEO can be created with any kind of art material, and can have any kind of subject matter, but the size must be 2.5x3.5 inches.

 

eBay should clean up the ACEO sub-category and insiste that sellers not misrepresent their items.

 

When I search on ACEO paintings, I see all kinds of things that do not have this required format.

 

With all these non-ACEO items listed, the sub-category becomes less attractive to serious buyers and sellers.

 

I have personally reported 3 of these improperly-listed items, but there are SO MANY that I thought it best to contact you and let you take it from there.

 

For example, check out 164212824441. The seller classifies his painting as an ACEO, but in the description, he reports that it's actually 3x4 FEET. 

 

Is it possible that he doesn't know or understand the defining characteristic of an ACEO? Sure... I guess anything is possible, but it's more likely that he knows this sub-category gets a lot of traffic, and he's hoping to divert a few of those visitors to his auction. If some are annoyed about his mis-representation, well... so what? He doesn't care about them.

 

There are many sellers who misuse the classification this way.

 

I recently sold an ACEO to a woman who has a collection of 1200 of them! (She told me so.) There are many such collectors, but it's much harder for people like her to find what she wants when the sub-category itself is littered with so much inappropriately-listed stuff.

 

Anyway, I appreciate whatever help eBay can offer. Thanks for your time.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that the eBay "cops" will do their thing!

 

Cheers, 

 

Steve Kobb


Hey @stevekobb_art this is interesting insight for sure and I'm happy to pass the feedback along. Thanks so much for your time! 

Jasmen,
Community Team

Message 5 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

A question was raised on the selling board this week regarding a buyer who wanted to change their method of delivery after purchase and payment.  I actually had the same thing happen last week. In both incidents the buyers were happy to pay the difference in the shipping costs. eBay routinely frowns or blocks the type of communication we need to get those payments cleared without cancelling and relisting the item just to have the same buyer purchase again.

 

Has the issue of being able to invoice for additional fees post-sale ever been raised? In my case, the buyer wanted expedited shipping and was happy to pay the difference, but getting that done was a way bigger hassle that if I could have just sent an additional invoice to the same buyer via eBay for the additional charges.

 

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Message 6 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Learn something new every day. Had no idea what an ACEO Painting was just Googled and now I know:  Art Cards, Editions and Originals

Message 7 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Greetings,

 

I’ve recently begun attempting to use the eBay Standard envelope option in providing an affordable shipping rate for postcards and coins that qualify for this service.

 

My most commonly used listing category is for “Collectibles / Disneyana”.

 

However, while the Disneyana category provides a “Coin” option that fully qualifies for the eBay Standard envelope special rates… the Disneyana category offers no equivalent “Postcard” option… thereby preventing any use of the special rate unless the Disneyana category is abandoned and the generic postcard category is used, as follows:

 

Collectibles > Postcards & Supplies > Postcards > Non-Topographical Postcards

or

Collectibles > Postcards & Supplies > Postcards > Topographical Postcards

 

As my customers primarily shop in the Disneyana category… I wanted to explore the possibility of an adjustment / addition in this regard.

 

Bottom line:  Since eBay has a qualifying “Collectibles > Disneyana > Contemporary (1968-Now) > Coins” category for eBay Standard Envelope… couldn't there be a qualifying category for “Collectibles > Disneyana > Contemporary (1968-Now) > Postcards? (and for the Disneyana / Vintage category as well?)

 

Just wondering if that’s something the eBay support team can take a look at??

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Message 8 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@glgenterprise wrote:

A question was raised on the selling board this week regarding a buyer who wanted to change their method of delivery after purchase and payment.  I actually had the same thing happen last week. In both incidents the buyers were happy to pay the difference in the shipping costs. eBay routinely frowns or blocks the type of communication we need to get those payments cleared without cancelling and relisting the item just to have the same buyer purchase again.

 

Has the issue of being able to invoice for additional fees post-sale ever been raised? In my case, the buyer wanted expedited shipping and was happy to pay the difference, but getting that done was a way bigger hassle that if I could have just sent an additional invoice to the same buyer via eBay for the additional charges.


@glgenterprise Thanks for bringing this up, in situations like this it's best to cancel and have them purchase again. The buyer can change their shipping address at any time before making payment. I totally get where you're coming from though and the process could be easier, I'm happy to pass it along! 

Jasmen,
Community Team

Message 9 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Why is eBay not honoring their seller protections for " The buyer did not recognize the transaction" payment disputes?  I have one that has been in limbo since the 15th.  This is my second one now.  The first one closed in my favor immediately once I uploaded tracking that eBay already had.  The current one is just chilling like it has nothing better to do despite being covered by my seller protection.

 

Never had this problem with PayPal.  It just fixed itself right away.  It's not my fault eBay and its users can't keep their accounts secure.  If you aren't going to honor the protection why offer it?

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Message 10 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

The buyer can change their shipping address at any time before making payment.

 

jasmen@ebay 

 

The question was not about changing the shipping address. 

 

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Message 11 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@ebuycdn wrote:

Is eBay planning to put late shipment protections in place for sellers in the Austin, TX area? We've already told our employees the shop will be closed tomorrow and depending on what the roads look like, we may stay closed on Friday as well. We'll probably put our store on vacation, but I'd rather not change the handling time on all our listings unless we'll be getting hit with late shipments.  Thanks.


Hi @ebuycdn - there hasn't been any announcement made about protections for Texas at this point in time, but I'd keep an eye on the Announcements page (link here) in the event that changes. I think your stated plan is good - although an alternative to changing handling time you could consider is utilizing the Time Away feature to remove your items from public view (and ability to be purchased) while you are temporarily closed. 

 

I hope that the impact isn't too bad, and that you and your employees are able to stay safe and warm!

Tyler,
eBay
Message 12 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@saturdaystoys wrote:

Greetings,

 

I’ve recently begun attempting to use the eBay Standard envelope option in providing an affordable shipping rate for postcards and coins that qualify for this service.

 

My most commonly used listing category is for “Collectibles / Disneyana”.

 

However, while the Disneyana category provides a “Coin” option that fully qualifies for the eBay Standard envelope special rates… the Disneyana category offers no equivalent “Postcard” option… thereby preventing any use of the special rate unless the Disneyana category is abandoned and the generic postcard category is used, as follows:

 

Collectibles > Postcards & Supplies > Postcards > Non-Topographical Postcards

or

Collectibles > Postcards & Supplies > Postcards > Topographical Postcards

 

As my customers primarily shop in the Disneyana category… I wanted to explore the possibility of an adjustment / addition in this regard.

 

Bottom line:  Since eBay has a qualifying “Collectibles > Disneyana > Contemporary (1968-Now) > Coins” category for eBay Standard Envelope… couldn't there be a qualifying category for “Collectibles > Disneyana > Contemporary (1968-Now) > Postcards? (and for the Disneyana / Vintage category as well?)

 

Just wondering if that’s something the eBay support team can take a look at??


Hi @saturdaystoys  - great suggestion! I'll make sure it gets to the shipping folks. 

Tyler,
eBay
Message 13 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@ittybitnot wrote:

The buyer can change their shipping address at any time before making payment.

 

jasmen@ebay 

 

The question was not about changing the shipping address. 


@ittybitnot Oh I'm so sorry, 🙃 you're totally right! 

 

If they want to change the delivery method and are willing to pay more that's totally something you guys can work out.  As long as all the messages are kept in eBay you guys will both be fine. If for any reason your account is actioned and we can see you guys were just working out shipping it won't be held against you. 

 

You can also cancel and relist with the option and price discussed as well, but I know you mentioned you were trying to avoid that. I'm happy to pass on some insight about after sale shipping offers. Thanks!

Jasmen,
Community Team

Message 14 of 60
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Re: Community Chat, February 2 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Item descriptions in listings have a short margin and therefore appear to be in a column. This has been the case for months.

 

 

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

 

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