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Community Chat, May 11 @ 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 37
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36 REPLIES 36

Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Can you please clarify why it is so complicated for a prohibited item to be removed site wide?

 

When a report is made by a user with report this item button is the report reviewed by a human or is left to a Bot?

 

This has been a ongoing complaint on the boards that these policies are not uniformly enforced and it creates quite a bit of anger and hostility among sellers.

 

I had an item removed yesterday (on a different account), yet when I did a general search across eBay hours later there were still dozens of them listed. I went through and reported a good chunk of them, most of which appear to have been removed today, but that is a terrible waste of my time when your policy is clear based on what was sent to me in the message and there is no room for some to remain while others are forcibly removed.

 

I continue to report items I did not yesterday, which seems like it should be eBay’s job and a fairly simple one at that to put in a simple search and anything that comes up with a fairly limited number of words would get the violation notice.

 

Can you please let me know if a item that violates policy is reviewed by a human or if it is left up to the Bots, and if it can be passed on that if you are removing one item that violates policy, that should trigger a search and removal for all like items across all sellers.

 

 

 

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Message 2 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

@glgenterprise 

 

As I'm sure you know this problem has been going on for YEARS.  Likely do to not staffing the affected department enough.  

 

I have personally spent a lot of time trying to get results when reporting a seller for continued and repeated misbehavior.  Clear and easy to see breaches of the Ebay rules.  I did this twice over the years.  Once it took about 8 months to get the proper attention to the problem and that was with Tyler checking in with the team every few weeks.  And this last one was better, still not good, it took 4-5 months.

 

Since these things cause BAD buyer experiences, it seems Ebay would want to pay attention to this stuff in a much more timely manner.  


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member
Message 3 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Good afternoon, I hope everyone is doing well today.

 

I was curious if you know of any plans to allow variations in any of the Coins & Paper Money categories? Or if it'll be considered in the future? Rather than list hundreds of separate listings for low value (under $10) coins, I'd love the ability to simply have a few dozen listings with variations. It would make life a whole lot easier and my store a lot more organized, lol.

 

Variations are allowed in the coin categories on the eBay UK website, but not on the US one, so I'm just wondering if that'll be added at some point.

 

Thank you!

 

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

Message 4 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@glgenterprise wrote:

Can you please clarify why it is so complicated for a prohibited item to be removed site wide?

 

When a report is made by a user with report this item button is the report reviewed by a human or is left to a Bot?

 

This has been a ongoing complaint on the boards that these policies are not uniformly enforced and it creates quite a bit of anger and hostility among sellers.

 

I had an item removed yesterday (on a different account), yet when I did a general search across eBay hours later there were still dozens of them listed. I went through and reported a good chunk of them, most of which appear to have been removed today, but that is a terrible waste of my time when your policy is clear based on what was sent to me in the message and there is no room for some to remain while others are forcibly removed.

 

I continue to report items I did not yesterday, which seems like it should be eBay’s job and a fairly simple one at that to put in a simple search and anything that comes up with a fairly limited number of words would get the violation notice.

 

Can you please let me know if a item that violates policy is reviewed by a human or if it is left up to the Bots, and if it can be passed on that if you are removing one item that violates policy, that should trigger a search and removal for all like items across all sellers.


Hey @glgenterprise listing removals are handled both by an automated system and by agents as well. If you feel your item was removed incorrectly you're welcome to reach out to CS to see what happened and if it can get reinstated. I appreciate your feedback for sure, and I'm happy to pass it along! 

Jasmen,
Community Team

Message 5 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Good afternoon. 

eBay has a category:  Other-Websites-Businesses-for-Sale

If one goes to that category, chooses "newly listed" it seems like only ONE in ten or fifteen items is actually a business or website for sale.  All the rest are PRODUCTS listed in the seemingly wrong category.  These include: shampoo, coffee, nuts/bolts/screws, hair extensions, fans,  switches, etc.  

Why is this allowed?  Are there no eBay filters that disallow  this practice? Or is it allowed?   It is not just this category but many others as well. 

https://www.ebay.com/b/Other-Websites-Businesses-for-Sale/2992/bn_7203511?rt=nc&_sop=10

Just curious.  P.S. reporting such things are basically useless.  The same "dinnerware" sets and "pet supplies"  etc. are still visible in "Other Travel" with more added every day.  

Thank you for your time. 

PS  The link to that category is not working right now....Gateway/timed out.  Should be back up later if you want to look. 


 

 

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Edit: A reply to your message can be found here

Message 6 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Do we have any updates on when the Available to ship page will be fixed.  

 

To recap I have two issues.  One is an item I shipped several days ago still shows on the Available to ship page even though it has a tracking number recorded on the sale.  I use to have 3 of them now I'm down to one.

 

On the main Seller Hub page and looking at the Order box, the above described issue does NOT show up as there being something in my Available to ship line item that needs to ship.  The count is zero since I completed all my shipping, yet if you click on Available to ship and go into the screen, the order above still appears.  The sale happened on May 2nd and was shipped on the same day.  The tracking shows delivered on May 7th.

 

The other thing is when there are items on this page that do need to be shipped, it no longer has the first option on the left at the head of the drop down list to Purchase shipping label.

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member
Message 7 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Suggestion due to the scam listing showing up under categories not covering buyers protection.

A page stating this and that the purchaser acknowledges it prior to accepting sale.

 

Would save every one a great deal of time...

 

Also thanks for doing this again. always worth the read...

 

 

 

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

Message 8 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Piggybacking on the questions about prohibited or restricted items - there is a major national shortage currently in baby formula, with 40-50% of formula products reportedly out of stock due to supply chain issues and a massive recall of some products back in February.

 

Yet, you can find these products listed on eBay for sometimes 4X+ retail price - here's just one example, normal price direct is ~$19, being sold on eBay for almost $100 with shipping.

 

formula4.png

 

formula2.png

 

I understand the answer will likely be "report the listings" and I have done that, but this is a very serious and concerning situation as parents are literally unable to feed their babies in some cases where they may need a special type of formula due to allergies or other issues, so it would seem to warrant more action than the standard "just report it" response.

 

I know baby formula was on the list of "essential items" that eBay was using automated systems to proactively either block or remove listings on for price gouging during peak pandemic and it is also listed in the price gouging policy pages as well.  I think I remember seeing somewhere where there may have been a multiplier used as well (like if the price was more than X times retail, it was automatically removed) but I can't find specifics about it now - if anyone does have that info, I'd' appreciate it!

 

Any way, my question is, is there any plan to address price gouging on baby formula during this current supply emergency in the same systemic way as was done during peak pandemic?

Message 9 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@donsdetour wrote:

Suggestion due to the scam listing showing up under categories not covering buyers protection.

A page stating this and that the purchaser acknowledges it prior to accepting sale.

 

Would save every one a great deal of time...

 

Also thanks for doing this again. always worth the read...



@donsdetour wrote:

Suggestion due to the scam listing showing up under categories not covering buyers protection.

A page stating this and that the purchaser acknowledges it prior to accepting sale.

 

Would save every one a great deal of time...

 

Also thanks for doing this again. always worth the read...


What I don't understand is that Ebay knows this is an issue, a serious issue, for weeks and weeks now.  Why isn't someone from Ebay delegated into looking closely at these categories and getting the listings that don't belong in these categories taken down.

 

I mean we all know the policy needs to be fixed, so we are all waiting for that.  I don't understand why it is taking Ebay so long to plug this hole, but they surely have their reasons for it.  But in the meantime they could prevent many buyers from having to suffer this site made loophole that is very serious.   

 

I've tried to help some of these buyers and most say they will never use Ebay again.  We don't want this happening as it is bad for Ebay and it is bad for sellers too.  We want our buyers to stay.  It is the sellers that are taking advantage of this issue that need to go.


mam98031  •  Volunteer Community Member
Message 10 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@ittybitnot wrote:

Good afternoon. 

eBay has a category:  Other-Websites-Businesses-for-Sale

If one goes to that category, chooses "newly listed" it seems like only ONE in ten or fifteen items is actually a business or website for sale.  All the rest are PRODUCTS listed in the seemingly wrong category.  These include: shampoo, coffee, nuts/bolts/screws, hair extensions, fans,  switches, etc.  

Why is this allowed?  Are there no eBay filters that disallow  this practice? Or is it allowed?   It is not just this category but many others as well. 

https://www.ebay.com/b/Other-Websites-Businesses-for-Sale/2992/bn_7203511?rt=nc&_sop=10

Just curious.  P.S. reporting such things are basically useless.  The same "dinnerware" sets and "pet supplies"  etc. are still visible in "Other Travel" with more added every day.  

Thank you for your time. 

PS  The link to that category is not working right now....Gateway/timed out.  Should be back up later if you want to look. 



Hey @ittybitnot it sounds like they are mis-categorizing their product which for sure is not allowed and it may make it harder for their buyer to find their items. I'm happy to pass this along to the relevant teams for sure! Thank you for your time! 

Jasmen,
Community Team

Message 11 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

Based on the policy that was provided with the removal notice, I understand that eBay is not allowing those products to be sold. Fair enough - eBay gets to decide what products are listed on their site.

 

I don't have an issue with the product being removed - I have an issue that dozens of the exact same item were still up for sale as of 5 hours after mine was removed. And this happens frequently enough across multiple products that it gets posted about probably on the average of once a week on the seller board.

 

There has got to  be a better way to manage the prohibited items - like when one is reported, reviewed, and removed it should automatically trigger a  platform search for the same item. We were all using essentially the same title and the photos.

Message 12 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@pnwdiecast wrote:

Good afternoon, I hope everyone is doing well today.

 

I was curious if you know of any plans to allow variations in any of the Coins & Paper Money categories? Or if it'll be considered in the future? Rather than list hundreds of separate listings for low value (under $10) coins, I'd love the ability to simply have a few dozen listings with variations. It would make life a whole lot easier and my store a lot more organized, lol.

 

Variations are allowed in the coin categories on the eBay UK website, but not on the US one, so I'm just wondering if that'll be added at some point.

 

Thank you!


Hi @pnwdiecast! I'll see what I can find out for you. 

Velvet,
eBay
Message 13 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics


@donsdetour wrote:

Suggestion due to the scam listing showing up under categories not covering buyers protection.

A page stating this and that the purchaser acknowledges it prior to accepting sale.

 

Would save every one a great deal of time...

 

Also thanks for doing this again. always worth the read...


We always appreciate you @donsdetour and your amazing feedback, I'm happy to get it in the right hands! Also, you're so welcome, thanks for letting us know you enjoy it! 

Jasmen,
Community Team

Message 14 of 37
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Re: Community Chat, May 11 @ 1:00 pm PT - General Topics

What does eBay have against capitalization?

 

Why do I  (and many others) have sold items listed under awaiting shipment?

 

Why is my selling data no longer showing as ending soonest, but instead a jumbled up mess?

 

 

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Edit: A reply to your question can be found here

Good Moms let you lick the Beaters.

Great Moms turn them off first.
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