Ep 238 || eBay International Shipping Explained

[podcast_team]

eBay Director of Exports Chad Stewart explains the workings of the new eBay International Shipping program. Griff and Brian answer questions about Packing Slips, Time Away & Best Offers, giving account access to your family, and busting another listing myth.

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Brian: Hi, I'm Brian.

Griff: Hi, I'm Griff and this is the eBay for Business Podcast. Your source for the information and inspiration to help you. Yes, you start, manage and grow your business on the world's most powerful marketplace. And this is episode 238 and with me in the studio A is Brian. Hi Brian.

Brian: Hello Griff. Happy Friday.

Griff: Happy Friday to you.

Brian: Griff?

Griff: Yes?

Brian: How's your selling going with your big move?

Griff: That's true. I have listed quite a few things on eBay and I've learned a few things.

Brian: Uh oh. What have you learned?

Griff: Well, if you're gonna sell film of any kind, you know I have a huge collection of film.

Brian: Like film, film?

Griff: Unexposed film. It's all expired, but there's still a big market and collectors who want old Polaroid film. And I have a collection I've stored very well that I can't carry around with me. So I've been selling pieces of it off. But I started last month and I sold some through the International Shipping Program. And it was a rare box. It's actually Fuji film, not Polaroid. And the guy got it and he said, thanks so much. You know, it was obviously in good shape, the box was sealed, but when I loaded it up, all of the images were exposed. And I think I know why. They ran it through an x-ray machine.

Brian: Oh. Like as it was going through shipping, I would never have thought of that.

Griff: I talked to Chad and I asked How does that work at the Hub? And he said most boxes will be opened and examined cuz they have to examine almost everything. Right. But some smaller boxes get shunted off to the x-ray machine. And I said, well we need a way of that not happening cause it ruins some things like unexposed film or any film or even if it was exposed. So I sold two boxes of old Polaroid film to somebody in the International Shipping Program and all over the box on the outside I wrote and I didn't have the stickers. You can get stickers for these, but I didn't have them. I don't have that much film so I wasn't gonna invest in stickers. I just said film do not X-ray. Film do not X-ray.

Brian: I'm hoping somebody reads it.

Griff: I'm hoping somebody reads it. If they don't, the buyer will get a refund from eBay.

Brian: Right. I mean it's basically been exposed to the x-ray machine.

Griff: Yeah. X-rays will destroy unexposed film. Whether it's an old instant film or instant film that's new. Fuji makes Fuji film. They have established a huge worldwide market mostly with young people with their Instax mini cameras.

Brian: Okay.

Griff: And it's kind of the magic of instant film like Polaroids.

Brian: W.hen they first came out

Griff: And Polaroid's still around but it's a much different company now. So there's that. That's my selling this week was the film issue.

Brian: And Chad in International Shipping.

Griff: He is our guest this week.

Brian: I heard.

Griff: Because we have a lot of questions people had about the program itself.

Brian: It's gonna be really informational.

Griff: Yeah. He'll shed some light on that I think.

Brian: That's fantastic.

Griff: The news is on hiatus still.

Brian: It is.

Griff: Brian, in lieu of the news, we were talking a little bit before we started the program today about maybe you can contribute some stuff around Community like we used to do four years ago when we first started with Alan Aisbitt.

Brian: But, so there's a couple things that I can touch on but I wanna lead with every month the Community Team does a monthly chat. If you go to the community info tab within Community, there's a monthly chat tab. It's once a month on the second Wednesday of the month. And we sometimes will be topic oriented. We've had the International Shipping Team and Promoted Listings and stuff. Other times it's just general. And this last one was general but there were actually some interesting topics that came out of it. I'll just highlight two of 'em. One was someone brought up the importance of social media and being able to link back to your social media. And that I think was prompted partly because of the email that was sent out recently. But it's also one where it's just a normal thing that our sellers want do is to be able to promote. And then another topic that came up was about eBay and being transparent and not so much transparent about, hey a change is coming but rather, hey you announced that you were gonna do X but then we don't hear from you again. And sometimes it can be six months, nine months, 10 months until a change happens. And they said they understand if it's 30 days or 60 days and then we're gonna roll out the change. That's one thing. But if we're announcing something and saying, Hey we're gonna work on this big issue or this project and then we just don't ever say anything again. They're going, it'd be kind of nice to come out maybe once in a while and tell us where you are with it.

Griff: It would, wouldn't it?

Brian: It would.

Griff: It's the great eBay unresolved tease.

Brian: Yes. Um, one of the things that we do, if you want your voice heard, come out and post in the eBay Community because every week we do capture topics from the community and we send out a report and that report goes to the C E O on down. So Jamie Iannone sees this and those two that I just highlighted are some things that we're gonna talk about in this week's report that goes out to Jamie.

Griff: Fantastic.

Brian: So join us in the community if you don't wanna join us daily or weekly, pop in for the monthly chat.

Griff: Excellent advice. Brian, I think it's time to meet Chad.

Brian: Yes.

Griff: We'll circle back with you when we're done and we'll answer a few questions.

Brian: Sounds good.

Griff: Most of you are already aware of the recent changes to shipping options for sending packages to buyers outside of the United States. You most likely know about the recent rollout of the official eBay International Shipping Program. We've talked a lot about it in recent episodes, but maybe you still have a few questions about the program. Oh, I knew you would and you're in luck cuz joining us this week is eBay Director of Exports Chad Stewart. He's gonna help answer your questions. Welcome Chad.

Chad: Thanks for having me Griff.

Griff: So let's start right off in case we do have someone who's never heard of the program. What is eBay International Shipping?

Chad: eBay International Shipping is our latest international shipping solution to make it as simple as possible for sellers to be able to expand their buyer base to millions of buyers worldwide without having to worry about all of the hassles of international returns, customs international shipping, or any of the other challenges that may come. It's our attempt to make it as simple as possible for you such that it feels just like selling domestically.

Griff: You mentioned a few of the benefits, sort of like the Global Shipping Program or the International Standard Delivery Program. How does eBay International Shipping differ from these legacy programs?

Chad: Yeah, definitely. In fact there are a lot of the benefits that carry through. So for example, in the Global Shipping Program and in eBay International Shipping or international delivery, you're shipping your items to a domestic hub where we handle the transportation or the international shipping on your behalf. And we're dealing with a lot of the complexities in eBay International Shipping. What we've tried to do is take the benefits that you love as a seller for each of those programs, roll them into a single program and expand upon that. And so one way to look at it would be Global Shipping Program on steroids, Global Shipping Program Plus where in addition to the normal benefits you're familiar with on Global Shipping Program, you're now also getting not just protection once the item comes to the hub and protection from an item that may be lost or damaged in transit, you're also getting protection on once it reaches the hub, that transaction is done for you. We handle all of the logistics including returns thereafter. We have also streamlined the program. As I said, we try to make it look and feel like domestic transaction for you. And so to that end, we've also made the fee structure look like a domestic transaction. So we've waived any international selling fees for you. We've really tried to beef up the value for you as a seller such that there is really no reason you would want not to use this program. It's an opportunity to expand to millions of buyers with no downside.

Griff: Well Chad, I've been following the online seller conversations on eBay Community and in social channels and the most popular topic about eBay International Shipping is the no return hassles feature. Many sellers are quite frankly a little incredulous. I think it's a lot to take in. Could you take us through how the no return hassle feature for eBay International Shipping works?

Chad: Yeah, and let me just say too, as we look at the community and we look for feedback from sellers, we're hearing the same thing. It's sometimes a little bit too good to be true is what we're hearing. But let tell you it's true. So once an item comes to our hub, from that moment on the sale is complete for you. You as a seller no longer have to worry about an international return from your buyer and that includes the item and the international shipping. Just to give you some context of how this works, when a buyer opens up a return request and that information comes to us, we'll accept a return. We offer 30 days global returns. Those items come back to our hub in Chicago, at which point we are then preparing those items to be sold again on the site. So those items will not be destroyed unless obviously they're somehow come back to us destroyed. But the vast majority of these items end up just finding another home with a buyer within the United States as we try to list those items on the site as well.

Griff: So when you say the site, you mean eBay?

Chad: eBay.

Griff: So my international return, I could buy it back if I wanted to.

Chad: You could.

Griff: Not that I do, but I know some sellers, we've talked a little bit about this in the past about how some sellers have this emotional connection to the items they listed. Even though they've made the sale and they've got the money and there's no risk of them having to recoup a return, they want to know, well what about the item? What about the item? Can I get it back? It's important to me. There's always that possibility.

Chad: Yeah, definitely there, you know, sellers have an emotional attachment to some of the things they sell. They invest their livelihood in this and their time. That is an option that we're looking at as a future enhancement. Like I said, right now all of those items are coming back to the United States. We are then selling those items on eBay in the future. One of the options we're looking at is can a seller tell us that they actually would like to get the item back instead? At which point we would send the item back to the seller rather than essentially liquidating the item on their behalf.

Griff: But in that kind of option in the future, I'm sure there's an expense for the seller. It should be right?

Chad: Correct. Yeah, so we, we need to work out the details. I don't have the full picture but the cost structure would look a little bit different because there's additional shipping and they're getting the item as opposed to us. So as we get more information, we'll share that. I don't anticipate something quickly but watch for future updates.

Griff: I can see a the case where a seller might not necessarily have an emotional attachment to an item but maybe they offered it for too little Buy It Now or maybe it went for less money than they would've hoped to at an auction and they're thinking I can redo this and make some money. Because that would be the true mindset, right? You're always looking at how can I make this work for money? But for now, just having this no return hassle is just brilliant. We wanna assure you that no, you're not dreaming. It's actually a part of the program. If I'm a seller, Chad, and I'm not sure if I'm enrolled, how do I enroll in the eBay International Shipping Program

Chad: Right now? eBay International Shipping is available through invitations. So we're rolling it out as we do a couple of different things. So number one, we previously shared that we're going to be migrating sellers from the Global Shipping Program and from eBay International Standard Delivery. That process is in flex right now or is ongoing right now in the coming months, we're gonna share more information on when that will be complete. I hope to have an announcement out here soon. And then from there it becomes more expanding the program to new sellers, making sellers eligible. And when we bring you into the program, we do a couple of things. So number one, we send you an email both to your email as well as your message center on eBay letting you know that you're, you're now enrolled or that it's going to be soon. So number one, you get an email about a week in advance, say it's coming, you get another email when you are enrolled, day of from there. If you want to leverage the benefits of the program, there are some things that you need to do. If you're currently leveraging Global Shipping Program, we automatically bring your listings in. So we essentially flop out, switch out Global Shipping Program for eBay International Shipping. So nothing you need to do in those circumstances.

Griff: That's what happened to me by the way. It was painless. It was seamless.

Chad: Well that that's what we like, right? But if you're using other shipping options such as maybe the United States Postal Service or even eBay National Standard Delivery till we sunset it, until we sunset that program, you will need to update your listings eventually as we sunset the program though, or sunset eBay International Standard Delivery, those listings will auto migrate as well. But if you're using other services, self ship services, what you need to actually do is update your listings to remove any of those self ship services from your listing and that will make your listing eligible for eBay International Shipping. There's actually tutorials on how to do all of this across all of the various options that eBay offers you from just on the listing to business policies through the bulk edit flow. It's down on our webpage within the Seller Center. So look for eBay International shipping, the Seller Center page and from there you can walk through both PDF guides in videos.

Griff: Chad, what should I do if a buyer, an international buyer and I just happened to have a case I can give you, contacts me and either asks where the item is after it's been shipped from the hub or they want a refund?

Chad: So in that circumstance what I would tell the buyer to do is reach out to eBay. They can reach out to eBay both via the customer service channels or through chat. From there. What we're going to do in, in the circumstance where they haven't received their item, we're obviously looking at when it was estimated to be delivered and relative to where we are in that timeline. And then from there we'll be able to coach the buyer through what to expect and what the time lines are. And if there is an issue, we'll actually also take care of the buyer. There's nothing you need to do in those circumstances. We are going to provide a refund of the buyer if we can't get that item to the buyer.

Griff: Right. And as a seller, I just need to inform the buyer, Hey, sorry to hear about this. You need to open what's called open a case or ask eBay to step in.

Chad: Yep.

Griff: And they can do that where?

Chad: For that they just need to go to their purchase history, identify the transaction, and then it's just Ask A Question and then from there they can open up Where Is My Item? And they can process a refund.

Griff: I just had an interesting case, I hope you don't mind if I share it and maybe you could provide some insight where a person in Canada buyer, desperately wanted something I had. We reached an agreement, it shipped through the eBay International Shipping Program and followed tracking, although the buyer, well the buyer has access to the tracking as well. And then about a week and a half ago emailed me to say, Hey, it's stuck in customs and it hasn't moved and it hasn't moved yet as of this morning. And I didn't know what to tell them. I said, look, I tried to as nicely as possible explain, well look, it's kind of outta my hands cuz they wanted me to contact Canadian customs or the courier. And I said, well I actually at this point can't even if I wanted to because I'm no longer the "shipper" of record. Once it's shipped to the international hub within the US once it's ships from there, eBay is the shipper of record. So you'll need to contact them. And so I'd like to be able to respond to her. So what's going on there? I thought when you shipped an item through like the Global Shipping Program for example, customs and taxes were paid by the buyer up front and it went directly to their location. Is that not the case for eBay International shipments that go to Canada?

Chad: So let me ask you your question, but I just wanna make one comment first, which is your response to the buyer is the right one. It is perfect. This is a situation eBay's best in position to deal with. We're the ones managing the transportation and we're the ones managing the logistics. We own the relationships with the carriers and with customs. And so when a at a situation or issue occurs, we try to proactively identify those from the buyer's communication and be able to practically address those and prevent those. But obviously things happen, we aren't able to identify those in this circumstance. So yes, historically the Global Shipping Program was what's called a Duties Paid Delivered Program where buyers were always paying duties and taxes upfront. And then other services on eBay have historically been a duties paid undelivered program such as that's what eBay international standard delivery is. That's what you do when you ship at the post office as part of the lead up to building eBay International Shipping, understanding the buyer base and what they're looking for and what they need and how we be able to facilitate a better experience for them. We've looked at a bunch of different options, did research on what buyers are looking for from a logistics solution to be able to drive more desire for them to purchase your items. And as part of that, what we've done is essentially try to create within the program different shipping experiences that tailor to the item and the transaction value and the best way to get it to the buyer to get them to convert and get their item as quickly as possible. In this circumstance, yes, Global Shipping Program was always duties paid, delivered, but what we've done is on low value transactions, we are actually showing those to the buyers as duties paid undelivered because we see significantly higher likelihood for them to convert. And then from there on the high value transactions, we're really trying to make sure, reinforce its, it's a high value transaction. It has to be white glove, has to be a totally seamless experience. And for those transactions, we're continuing to do the duty paid delivered solution. Right now, those two experiences are tailored to the country and to the item value. So it may be slightly different from Canada to Australia, but in the long term what we're trying to do and, and let me back up, eBay picks that. So eBay sets whether it's going to be a duty paid, delivered or duty paid undelivered. But what we're trying to do is over the summer introduce a new experience where we enhance this and the buyer at the checkout experience is going to be the one picking what they want to do. And so they're allowed to optimize for the experience they want and obviously there will be a slight difference in cost, a slight, slight difference in speed, but the desire for your specific circumstance, the research essentially showed Canadian buyers prefer to receive their items as duties paid undelivered because they're less likely to get charged duties and taxes. And so conversion wise, that's what they're asking us to do on these transactions. And obviously there's some challenges where sometimes certain items get stuck in customs, duties will get applied and the buyer may not have been expecting it or wanting that. And that's why we have these other protections in place for you as a seller where when an item does get stuck or doesn't get received by the buyer, we still protect you. We manage that relationship with the buyer to make sure that they're getting what they need and want.

Griff: Right. So in a case like that, you have to the buyer, once again, you need to contact eBay. I don't think many of us as sellers have the the bandwidth to be responding to a bunch of these. However, personally I have to say, and I think our audience would back you up on the research, what I've heard for years ever since the Global Shipping program was in place was from sellers saying, yeah, I don't use it for selling to Canada because Canadian buyers just complain about having to pay that. And they say, if I just send it, it'll get there. And I suppose the vast majority of parcels that do go through the border in in Canada do go directly without having to go through customs. But there is a percentage of apparently that will get stopped. Unfortunately my buyer , their purchase got stopped in customs and they're gonna have to wait till it's been assessed and then delivered to them. And there'll also be I'm sure a cost, although hopefully not too much.

Chad: We don't want sellers having to field a lot of these questions. So we're also trying to augment our flows we're buyers are reaching out to sellers, ask questions where we're putting in frequently asked questions for eBay International Shipping transactions to say, Hey, my item is stuck or I haven't received it yet and we've tried to provide more information such that the buyers can be satisfied without having to reach out to you. And then also do some sort of intermediation where you don't have to deal with all those questions. We're positioned to hand answer them, not you. So how can we facilitate ease for sellers?

Griff: So like many programs at eBay, it's dynamically changing and being updated as it goes along and we learn more about what it is that buyers and sellers need. I just thought of something I would encourage sellers to do. Consider the same years ago we introduced the seller answered questions or seller FAQs. I'm going to create one in my shipping section and just say I'm an international buyer, it hasn't arrived yet. And then just put this information in that answer so they can get it upfront. That's a great idea. Thanks Chad for giving me that idea! Perhaps you should try it too. If you're a seller on eBay, you mentioned at the outset that the cost for International Shipping through the International Shipping Program will be less than with G S P or with International Standard Delivery. I just wanna be clear about there's no additional fees with the new program.

Chad: Correct. We control all of the costs for the international shipping side. All of those fees go to buyers. We're trying to competitively price the fees to buyers such that they're lower than the competitive services out on the market. Obviously over time things change and so we anticipate some movement in what those prices look like. But from a seller standpoint, the fees to you only look like the standard final value fee fee. And that final value fee is only applied to the item and the domestic shipping. It is not applied to the international shipping in the tax.

Griff: Chad, one other question on a different topic. Starting last year when suddenly this topic came out of the blue, for a lot of us, we've had a lot of questions about the German Packaging Act, which quite frankly it's been a confusing mess for most of us who sell with the new International Shipping Program. Do I need to enroll? Do I need to make changes to my packaging and what happens if I don't enroll? And all these questions? How does the eBay International Shipping program work when it comes to shipments to Germany?

Chad: For that particular regulation, Just gonna call it E P R cause that's what most people know it as at this point.

Griff: E P R. So you've heard it here. We're trying to make our audiences acronym savvy as internal eBay employees. So we'll call it E P R.

Chad: Enterprise Packaging Regulation E P R. There you go. For that regulation, we're actually facilitating compliance on your behalf. You do not need to go out to any sites and sign up for a packaging regulation ID, pay those fees. We're doing that on your behalf. Any packages that come through the hub going to Germany, we're looking at, okay, relative to this size and the dimensions and what the package is, what is the payment that needs to happen to the German authorities? Handling all of that for you such that you don't need to do any of that. Let me also add the German EPR isn't going to be the only E P R.

Griff: We can see this happening.

Chad: In classic fashion. It the domino has started to hit others and as a result there's additional E P R regulations coming throughout all of Europe and soon into the uk we're already on those and looking at those and trying to facilitate compliance on your behalf for those countries as well. My expectation is again, that because this isn't a US domestic theme for you, we try to facilitate and streamline and get out all of that complexity such that you don't have to worry about it. It truly is a domestic transaction. You don't need to worry about German regulations.

Griff: Except you do need to worry about one thing. If you're a listener to the podcast and you know I'm a stickler for this because it's become my ongoing rant, we want to use sustainable materials when we package. My latest rant, as you know, is about styrofoam, peanuts, don't use them. Find something else that's compostable and or recyclable. Styrofoam. Peanuts are probably one of the worst things that you can put in a landfill. They just last longer than thousands of years. They never degrade just because eBay is covering for the Packaging Act in Germany and then the upcoming similar pieces of legislation in Europe and the uk And who knows beyond doesn't mean you should suddenly not use sustainable packaging materials rant off. I have to get that in all the time. Another question I I wanted to ask before I let you go. Chad is about getting paid. Do I get paid differently on an international order through the eBay International Shipping program?

Chad: Yeah. Short answer is no. However you get paid on your standard domestic transactions is how you're gonna be paid on eBay. International shipping, your funds should be released on the same schedule. No friction or no difference for this program.

Griff: Excellent. Well Chad, I want to thank you so much. This has been revealing to say the least. And if you have questions that you would like to be addressed, you can always send them to podcast@ebay.com and we'll do our best to either answer them or get them to someone on Chad's team who can provide you an answer. Again, that's podcast@ebay.com. Chad Stewart is the eBay Director of Exports and you can read more about the new eBay International Shipping Program on the eBay International Shipping page. The link to which you can find by searching Google on eBay International Shipping. But we'll also include a link directly to the page in the summary overview for the transcript of episode 238. Thanks again, Chad.

Chad: Thank you. Appreciate it.

Griff: Hey Brian.

Brian: Hey Griff.

Griff: Many listeners to this podcast consider you and I to be the ultimate eBay experts.

Brian: Really? I think they're talking about you Griff, not me.

Griff: Oh, no, no, no, no. They include you as well Always.

Brian: But you're the real expert.

Griff: I'm not as expert as you might think, Brian. eBay is an exciting and effective platform for starting an online business. We all know that. But there's no getting around the fact that it can be very complicated.

Brian: It is, what with all the tools, features, services, and policies. But you always have the answers. So I've always assumed that you have all that info stored in your noggin.

Griff: Oh Brian, please. There's simply no way that my old and frail brain could hold all that information. That's why eBay's Help Pages are my daily go-to when looking for answers to seller questions.

Chad: Ah. But anyone can visit the eBay Help Pages to find answers to their questions. Are you trying to make our podcast irrelevant?

Griff: Absolutely not. So many sellers actually don't use the help pages to find answers to their questions. And I thought we should tell them about it cuz it would be a disservice to all sellers if we didn't encourage them to use them.

Brian: And it's so easy to do. Mm-hmm , just click help and contact at the top of any eBay page, then search by category or enter a keyword that relates to your query. Scroll through the return page titles and click the one that matches your question.

Griff: Exactly. The help pages should be your first choice. When you have a question, why not try it right now and see for yourself.

Brian: eBay's Help and Contact Pages... Griff &

Brian: a mother load of eBay knowledge at your fingertips!

Brian: You got questions?

Griff: We've got answers. Yes we do. Our first question this week, Brian is from John Myers. Hey, do you remember John?

Brian: Yeah, I do.

Griff: He sent us a short novel a few weeks back in the form of a question.

Brian: So what uh, tone has he uh, sent us, uh, this time?

Griff: Well, I'm gonna let you read it. It's not as long as the last, last time, John. You know, we're just pulling your leg.

Brian: It was long but every part of it was relevant.

Griff: Oh yeah, it was relevant but it was

Brian: Hello to my favorite podcasters for whom, since I have a cold this week, there are no adequate adjectives I can think of to describe you. This is your long-winded reseller. John. This is a question I hope you can add to a future episode on listing myths that keeps haunting me. . Oh no. A listing myth. This one is from Advice Given by a YouTuber and I cannot flush it out of my head. This person says that one must repeat verbatim the product title of a listing as the very first body text line in that listing before saying anything else. So I'm gonna repeat that. So it's the product title of a listing as the very first body text line in the listing before saying anything else.

Griff: He means in the description.

Brian: In the description, correct. Then he further says, somehow this proves to the algorithm that the listing matches the title. So that is the myth. And John says, I say bah, balder dash! This seems a waste of space to me in a listing and is a one-to-one repetition of texts that outside search engine spiders aren't going to care for. Could you address this? And in his opinion, hogwash and a future myths list. Your ever faithful listener John Myers Step Books. Well John, thank you for that.

Griff: He's given his user ID, right?

Brian: Yes. His user ID is Step Books.

Griff: Well John, I we can reassure you that not only is it Balderdash, but it is utter nonsense. Horse feathers, poppycock and bull hockey.

Brian: Yeah and I agree with them. It's kind of like if it's already in the title, it's gonna be getting the most visibility through search to repeat it as the first part of the item description...

Griff: It's not a bad thing to do.

Brian: It's not a bad thing to do, but it doesn't, I do it. It doesn't gain anything. Maybe that's where the YouTuber got it from. They looked at your listings and said, Griff does this.

Griff: I'm not the only one. Lots of people do it, but we don't do it for that reason. We just do it because the title has nice information and it makes a nice header in the description. A lot of sellers also don't do it, they just go right in and say something about the condition and that's it. Been doing it for years. But I do it that way because of habit and because I like it but I don't do it because it's absolutely important to do that because of some algorithm, you know what my drag name is?

Brian: What is your drag name?

Griff: Al Gorythm?

Brian: Al Gorythm. That's rather clever.

Chad: That's my car mechanic drag name. But yeah, so your instinct John is correct. This is utter nonsense and it's a, you know, it's a good indication to always take some of what others say on the inner webs when it comes to being an expert to take it with a grain of salt. And I'm not one to point fingers because we all know that in the last four years and even before that, I've done it myself unintentionally in the past. And I tried to correct any misinformation when possible. But yeah, no this is one of those, John that your instinct was spot on.

Brian: It is definitely a myth. What was the old show on PBS that was MythBusters.

Griff: MythBusters. MythBusters.

Brian: So it was busted or confirmed or something. This myth is confirmed.

Griff: As a myth.

Brian: As a myth.

Griff: Right. Not as not as truth. We busted that myth. And we want to thank John for providing the opportunity for us to do so. Our next question is from seller Tammy who sent this to podcast@ebay.com. I've been selling on the platform for over 20 years. I have really ramped it up the past few years. I'm now at 2,300 plus active listings.

Brian: Congrats Tammy. That's Great.

Griff: Just finishing listening to your April 4th podcast. And my question on thermal printers for labels, do you print out the packing slip on a regular printer then? I always include a packing slip because that's how I pull my product. Then I include it in the buyer's package. Another packing slip question. When I print out one order, the format for my packing slip is brief and doesn't include any itemization. When I have multiple orders, when I choose to print the packing slip, it's never in a brief format, always the itemized one. Am I missing some kind of setting? And finally I ask about legacy accounts. I'm the only one that handles my eBay store. If something should happen to me, how would my survivors notify eBay? All that work. Couldn't a survivor take over the account? And that's Tammy and her eBay ID is Tam_Goza and her store is just three letters. GOA. Pretty cool. I don't know about you Brian, but I always print out a packing slip and I use my second printer. You can have more than one printer set up. So I have my laser jet printer here and I have a thermal printer next to it and I just have them connected into my fantastic Mac and I just print. If it's a label it goes to the thermal printer and if it's the packing slip that goes to the laser jet.

Brian: That makes sense.

Griff: And as for packing slips, Tammy, you kind of have two options. So I know that at the point of label purchase and printing, there's an option on this page for printing out a packing slip. And if you do, that's the short version. It's only half a page and it has the bare minimum of information. In fact, it really is kind of a true packing slip because it doesn't have anything like about cost or a picture of the item. But the second interruption is accessible from the orders page. If you're on the orders page from the dropdown menu in the actions column for any one or more listings, you can check the box and then you can select from actions, print, packing, slip and more. And one of the options when you get to the next screen is to print a full page packing sheet that you can actually customize to show or not show things like your store logo, an image of the item as well as a message to the buyer. And this is the version that also shows the itemization you're talking about, which is the price of the item, the price of shipping and sales tax. Some people prefer that half sheet. I like to print out the full sheet. I think it looks nice. Plus I don't want to ever make the assumption that the buyer doesn't want a record with a picture. I want those, I need those for my records because I may resell the item and I need that. It's easier to keep track of that.

Brian: Makes sense. And Tammy, as far as legacy accounts, there are a few options. You could use the eBay multi-user account access feature, also known as M U A A to assign someone to your account. You would set up the level of access so that the second person could take over your eBay account in your absence. The various permissions a seller can assign to a designated account are create and edit drafts. Publish and revise listings, research products using Terapeak, view orders, download order report, add shipping tracking, print shipping labels, manage refunds, requests and disputes. Create and manage promotions, buyer groups.

Griff: And though it's not recommended, Tammy, you could also provide an assigned person with your eBay user ID and password. Just make sure it's kept in a safe place. And I suppose you could also include them in your estate plan for after you have shuffled off this mortal coil. You have joined the Feather choir, you have written a check and purchased the farm.

Brian: You have kicked the bucket.

Griff: You have gently tapped the bucket with your toe.

Brian: Yes.

Griff: But this, Brian, this all brings up something that's really interesting because there's a larger question just beyond eBay about designating someone in the event of your untimely and unlikely demise to handle all of your online accounts. Like for example, I've told people who've asked me this question in the past that you might want to talk to an estate planner and it's not just about eBay. Think about your bank accounts, think about your insurances. You wanna have all that stuff in a place where your air or your survivors can designated that you know, you trust with the information can easily access it. It's gonna make their lives so much easier. I remember after Howie died that it was not an easy thing getting all that information together. He did not leave a clean easy, here's everything. Rob on the other hand created a folder called After Rob's Gone. And everything I need to know about it is in that folder. Ask me if I've created the folder yet.

Brian: Probably the same answer as me.

Griff: No, I haven't and I feel very guilty about it, but I promise I will.

Brian: She does raise an interesting question and, and maybe other listeners have other ways to handle that as well.

Griff: We'd love to hear from you if you do. I'm always leery about telling people to write down their password and put it in a safe. There's a product and I don't get paid for using it, but I do use it. It's called One Password. There's several password products like this where you can actually create a whole vault with all your logins, all that information and you can give access to another person. And that way if they need to have your bank logs and all that.

Brian: It's there.

Griff: It's there. It's easy to find and it's really secure.

Brian: Instead of on a an Excel spreadsheet on your laptop.

Griff: Not so sure that's wise.

Brian: No it is not.

Griff: We have one last question and it's a call in question and the caller is an old friend of the podcast. Her name is Suzanne of Distal Think Antiques. Remember her?

Brian: I do.

Griff: Well Suzanne called in and let's listen to what she had to say.

Suzanne: Hello gentlemen, this is Suzanne from Distal Think Antiques and I'm back with another question and lucky you, I'm calling it in. I've been trying to locate this answer and I have had no luck so far. So here we go. I'm planning on taking a two week vacation and I love the Time Away feature. My query is even though I'm on vacation, I can't seem to not take a peek at sending Best Offers. So if I send a best offer while I'm Time Away and it's accepted, is Time Away set up to handle this? In other words, will I be able to ship without penalties until I get back and Time Away is over? Or do I just need to break this bad habit of peaking? I was hopeless at Christmas gifts as a kid always had to peak. Anyway, thank you for your, all your help over the years. And I have to say your podcast certainly works. Cause yesterday I got a call from a friend who needed help and it was regarding the exact same question I had a couple of months ago about buyers wanting to ship to a different location. I was able to talking through the entire process. Thank you very much again, Suzanne Sherman who is going on vacation. Yay. So thanks again for all your help. Bye now.

Brian: Well Suzanne, thanks for those questions or that question. Anne, I'm glad we were able to help you earlier, but brace yourself. We have some bad news. Best Offer is not covered by Time Away. Nope. If you send a Best Offer for any item while you are on time away and the offers accepted, you'll be expected to ship that item within the stated handling time. Time Away doesn't extend that handling time.

Brian: And that means for Best Offers made that you send out while you're on so-called vacation or before that you sent out that are still haven't expired yet. If you're going on vacation and you have a Best Offer out there, you wanna wait till they expire. Don't send any new ones and make sure there are no Best Offers pending. And Suzanne wake up. Our advice is to you disconnect. You're on vacation girl! be on vacation. Don't dip into your account and start sending offers. That's work. You shouldn't be working during a vacation. Suzanne, work-life balance, please. You're on a vacation, put that out of your mind, disconnect and don't think of work and stop sending Best Offers and don't do it.

Griff: Just stop. It drives me nuts when people go on vacation. So they still take their phones with them. I'm on time away, but I gotta see what's going on eBay.

Brian: Did I make a sale? They turn off the notification when you make a sale too.

Griff: Now I don't know if you go on vacation alone and if you do, you're not bothering anyone. But I gotta tell you, if you're traveling with friends or family, the last thing they want to see is you sneaking on your phone to do a little biz while you're on your time away.

Brian: And Suzanne, I was thinking, you know, you may wanna purchase a dictionary on eBay, try Websters and look up the word vacation . I'm joking, I'm kidding. But no, seriously, like the analogy that I always use on this with best offer or not with best offer, but with time away is consider if you had a brick and mortar store on Main Street, then you went away for vacation and you locked that door and you were gonna be gone for a week and somebody came by while you were a thousand miles away and they reached at the handle to open the door because they really liked what you had displayed in, in your window and they couldn't come in, you wouldn't fly back a thousand miles to open the door for them and let them in. So don't do that when you're on vacation. Do disconnect. It's healthy for you and it'll make your, probably give you more energy to sell more stuff when you come back. Anyway,

Griff: I love that metaphor. You know why? Because it's so you and it's so fifties. Think about it. If I had a brick and mortar store with stuff in the window and I was a thousand miles away and someone wanted to buy something, all they need is a sledgehammer problem solved, merchandise obtained. Nice try, Brian, I can't I can't fault you for trying, by the way, that's all the questions this week.

Brian: I wasn't born in the fifties. You gotta go up at least one decade. All right? They'll make me older than I already am.

Griff: Yeah, but you lived in a nice neighborhood. Well, Brian, that's all the questions we have this week.

Brian: Well, do you have a question you want us to answer? It's easy. Call us on (888) 723-4630.

Griff: That's (888) 723-4630. Call that hotline anytime of the day, any day of the week, leave a question and a comment or a comment and we just like put it on the air. You never know.

Brian: And if you're not a call the phone person, you can email us at podcast@ebay.com. That's podcast@ebay.com.

Griff: Now it's time for your three point podcast checklist. Get out those pencils and make sure they are sharp.

Brian: Check the announcement board at ebay.com/announcements for UpToDate Seller News every day.

Griff: The date for filing taxes for 2022 has passed. And I'm sure you all got your taxes in on time, but it's never too late to start setting up for next April for your 2023 taxes. Think about a system implemented so that you're not rushing around. And all through March and the first two weeks of April trying to get all that paperwork together. Do it now.

Brian: Need to review anything in this episode. It's easy. Check the transcript for this and all episodes for follow up on what you've heard and define the links we referenced during the episode.

Griff: And on our next episode, we'll welcome two guests, eBay, Director of Sustainability, Renee Warren, and an eBay seller that we all know and love. Joe DeMarco of Hubcap Joe. And they're gonna talk about the importance of sustainability when running a business on eBay.

Brian: We'd like to again thank our guests this week. eBay Director of Exports, Chad Stewart.

Griff: The eBay for Business Podcast is produced and distributed by Libsyn and podCast411.