eBay

jasmen@ebay · ‎03-02-2022

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

inceptions · ‎03-02-2022

@creativecrisis

You can have the scan form scanned at the PO as well.

For years and years, sellers have reported that their particular post office won't scan individual packages - they will only scan the scan forms. So it's not new. If anything is new, it may just be a standardization...or you're hearing from sellers whose own PO has put their foot down.

The scan form was introduced 16 years ago to eliminate the need to scan individual packages. There isn't any reason not to be using them.

Inceptions
Volunteer Community Mentor, buying and selling on eBay since 2004

tyler@ebay · ‎03-02-2022

@dhbookds wrote:

There have been a couple of complaints about not being able to find where to schedule listings on (I think) the NEW listing form......... I can't find it there.......can any of you?

Hi @dhbookds - I'm not seeing it on my end either. Basic troubleshooting for this particular field is to add or re-submit credit card information in your payment information screen (link here). If that does not work will you let me know so I can get it reported further?

Thanks!

Tyler,

pburn · ‎03-02-2022

@jach_6789 wrote:
Hello I am a journalist currently working on a story. I'm inquiring about a long time member that was recently banned from the site. My understanding is this action was based on an act of racism committed by an eBay employee. I was hoping to get eBay's side of the story. What is the best media contact for this type of inquiry? Thanks.

@jach_6789

I'm just curious as heck why you wouldn't just Google that information? It would have to have been a lot faster than finding the Community, somehow becoming aware of the Weekly Chat thread, locating the Weekly Chat thread, creating a brand new account, and waiting for the Weekly Chat to launch . . .

That was one of the first research tools we used when I was a Journalism major . . .

creativecrisis · ‎03-02-2022

@inceptions

Right, I use the scan form when necessary. No issues there.

My concern is that we, as sellers who use eBay shipping services, aren't getting updated information from eBay about a possible shipping-related change.

dhbookds · ‎03-02-2022

tyler@ebay wrote:

@dhbookds wrote:

There have been a couple of complaints about not being able to find where to schedule listings on (I think) the NEW listing form......... I can't find it there.......can any of you?

Hi @dhbookds - I'm not seeing it on my end either. Basic troubleshooting for this particular field is to add or re-submit credit card information in your payment information screen (link here). If that does not work will you let me know so I can get it reported further?

Thanks!

errrrrrr...........Tyler, hope you understand that over the years, I've learned NOT to mess with stuff that's working on Ebay............it's just an invitation to disaster........ I don't need the ability to schedule was just trying to help people so will pass the honor of finding out if that works to someone else.........

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Edit: A reply to your comment can be found here

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎03-02-2022

I just checked and this wording is still in the Winter Seller Update:

"Per-order fee credit for cancelled transactions
Currently, eBay keeps a $0.30 per-order fee when an order is cancelled due to a buyer request. This is in line with fees that other marketplaces and third-party payment processors apply in similar buyer cancellation cases. We're excited to announce that starting March 1, 2022, eBay will refund the entire final value fee, including the $0.30 per-order fee, when you approve a buyer’s cancellation request. We recognize that buyers may cancel transactions for various reasons at no fault of the seller and we want to support you by refunding 100% of the final value fee."

You have since confirmed that this does not mean anything like what it appears to mean. It refers ONLY to buyer cancel requests made within one hour. PLEASE read that announcement carefully. NO WHERE does it mention the one hour limitation. NO WHERE does it use a word other than "request"....the exact same word ebay uses when referring to requests made AFTER one hour. And the rationale for providing the seller a refund of the 30 cent fee applies to requests made within one hour or after one hour.

In short, the only thing clear in that announcement is that it does NOT say what it is intended to say. Either ebay deliberately engaged in obfuscation designed to lead sellers to believe the refund would apply to any request made by a buyer to cancel...which is exactly the way it is written...or this is so poorly written someone should be forced to sign up for a Remedial Communications 101 class.

Either way, ebay's continued failure to amend the Announcement and/or post a clarification AND apology to the seller community on the Announcement Board, is a slap in the face to sellers and gives the lie to ebay's claimed desire for transparency and seller engagement.

So, please tell me, WHEN can we expect to see the original Announcement amended and an Apology and Clarification posted?

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

tyler@ebay · ‎03-02-2022

@tsme35 wrote:

There's no hope, this isn't going to be a small increase, it'll be 100-150% shipping increase, that's HUGE. Its hard enough to sell fishing rods when shipping jumped to $10-$15 but in April that will be $25 to $30, it would be 2-3 times the cost of most of the rods I sell.

Hi @tsme35 - I'm really sorry to hear that. I'll make sure the shipping team knows the real impact this is going to have on you.

Tyler,

clarkphilatelics · ‎03-02-2022

Conflicting advice - or is forum shopping necessary?

Why is it that eBay staff or contractors answering help calls cannot get their story straight? I encountered a web page error in Managed Payments. The field for the owner's ITIN or social security number (SSN) is accompanied by text indicating that the field should contain an SSN. I know that this is not true because the web page accepted an ITIN as a valid entry. One eBay help person insisted that the number must be the owner's SSN. A second eBay person knew that was not true.

Why are eBay messages about Managed Payments setup for 1099-K not more specific, and possibly more accurate? Why is staff training so uneven? It is bad enough to be talking to individuals who have never filed a Schedule C in a US Federal Income Tax return. Will eBay be able to clean up its act and treat sellers with more respect?

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Edit: A reply to your questions can be found here

tsme35 · ‎03-02-2022

Plus you have to print a scan that night and then again the next morning, not to mention more lost time and money, printing up scan sheets. The USPS couriers have passed this along, I actually read my mail lady's pick up sheet, says right on bottom "if a pick up was not put in they only have to scan 5 parcels". Just seems to me with all the road blocks and rate increases, the PO is just trying to go out of business.

tyler@ebay · ‎03-02-2022

@dhbookds wrote:

tyler@ebay wrote:

@dhbookds wrote:

There have been a couple of complaints about not being able to find where to schedule listings on (I think) the NEW listing form......... I can't find it there.......can any of you?

Hi @dhbookds - I'm not seeing it on my end either. Basic troubleshooting for this particular field is to add or re-submit credit card information in your payment information screen (link here). If that does not work will you let me know so I can get it reported further?

Thanks!

errrrrrr...........Tyler, hope you understand that over the years, I've learned NOT to mess with stuff that's working on Ebay............it's just an invitation to disaster........ I don't need the ability to schedule was just trying to help people so will pass the honor of finding out if that works to someone else.........

Thanks @dhbookds - if that changes and you do need the feature will you give it a try and let me know?

Tyler,

jasmen@ebay · ‎03-02-2022

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

I just checked and this wording is still in the Winter Seller Update:

"Per-order fee credit for cancelled transactions
Currently, eBay keeps a $0.30 per-order fee when an order is cancelled due to a buyer request. This is in line with fees that other marketplaces and third-party payment processors apply in similar buyer cancellation cases. We're excited to announce that starting March 1, 2022, eBay will refund the entire final value fee, including the $0.30 per-order fee, when you approve a buyer’s cancellation request. We recognize that buyers may cancel transactions for various reasons at no fault of the seller and we want to support you by refunding 100% of the final value fee."

You have since confirmed that this does not mean anything like what it appears to mean. It refers ONLY to buyer cancel requests made within one hour. PLEASE read that announcement carefully. NO WHERE does it mention the one hour limitation. NO WHERE does it use a word other than "request"....the exact same word ebay uses when referring to requests made AFTER one hour. And the rationale for providing the seller a refund of the 30 cent fee applies to requests made within one hour or after one hour.

In short, the only thing clear in that announcement is that it does NOT say what it is intended to say. Either ebay deliberately engaged in obfuscation designed to lead sellers to believe the refund would apply to any request made by a buyer to cancel...which is exactly the way it is written...or this is so poorly written someone should be forced to sign up for a Remedial Communications 101 class.

Either way, ebay's continued failure to amend the Announcement and/or post a clarification AND apology to the seller community on the Announcement Board, is a slap in the face to sellers and gives the lie to ebay's claimed desire for transparency and seller engagement.

So, please tell me, WHEN can we expect to see the original Announcement amended and an Apology and Clarification posted?

Hi @my-cottage-books-and-antiques thanks so much for the feedback on this, I don't have an answer for you but I'll make sure this gets in the right hands!

Jasmen,
Community Team

my-cottage-books-and-antiques · ‎03-02-2022

Thanks velvet@ebay That will make about the 1000th time this type of complaint about announcements has been passed on. And that's probably just the complaints made by me. I suspect I can rest assured that absolutely nothing will change , as passing this along has never changed the failure to announce these things in the past.

tsme35 · ‎03-02-2022

thanks I only brought it up 2 months ago and lucky it was extended to April 3rd

clarkphilatelics · ‎03-02-2022

@tsme35 wrote:
I posted this on the boards and thought ebay should know but the USPS has passed on a new policy that they only have to randomly scan 5 packages when they do a pick up. This could be a huge hit on our late shipment defects.

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

What if the packages are high value and happen to "disappear" before reaching the post office and maybe fail to qualify for insurance coverage? My carrier scans packages when picked up.

a_c_green · ‎03-02-2022

@dhbookds wrote:
tyler@ebay wrote:
@dhbookds wrote:
There have been a couple of complaints about not being able to find where to schedule listings on (I think) the NEW listing form......... I can't find it there.......can any of you?
Hi @dhbookds - I'm not seeing it on my end either. Basic troubleshooting for this particular field is to add or re-submit credit card information in your payment information screen (link here). If that does not work will you let me know so I can get it reported further?

Thanks!
errrrrrr...........Tyler, hope you understand that over the years, I've learned NOT to mess with stuff that's working on Ebay............it's just an invitation to disaster........ I don't need the ability to schedule was just trying to help people so will pass the honor of finding out if that works to someone else.........

I schedule every single one of my listings, so I do expect to see the Scheduled Listing Start Time remain in any upcoming revisions to the Selling form. (I don't see how troubleshooting that field should involve credit card info, but whatever...)

I've seen screenshots of what appears to be a new form in postings to the Selling page of the Community, but until I can get that to appear in my own session, I can't do any troubleshooting. I really, really hope that I don't have to do any troubleshooting, because having to debug something that should have been tested before its release is a never-ending source of annoyance for me.