Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 01.11.23 @2pm
Hi everybody!
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The Community Chat will open at 2pm and will remain open until 3pm on Wednesday. After that it will be closed for further questions. Of course, we will continue to take care of answering any questions that may still be unanswered—We’ll get to everything as quickly as possible.Â
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Please ask your questions in the thread below. In order to be able to answer your questions as quickly as possible, we ask you to have one question per post. Of course, you can make as many posts as you like in the Chat- the more the merrier!
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Our eBay Community Team is made up of @marco@ebay @katie@ebay and @anita@ebay. Between us, we have knowledge in Buying, Selling, Fulfilment, Payments, and the Community itself. Anything we aren’t sure on we’ll know the people who will be! Please ask us any questions you may have and we’ll do all we can to support.Â
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To ask your question, click Reply in the lower-right corner of this post, type your question, and click Reply between 2pm and 3pm. The community team will answer each incoming question in chronological order, and will quote the original question in each answer.Â
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Please note that any reply without a question to the community team or discussion replies may be removed from the chat. We want to keep on track to get through as many questions as possible. We welcome all discussion to be moved to the discussion boards.Â
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If you missed the weekly chat time, please ask your question in the community boards and tag us or we will be back next week with another chat!Â
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Many thanks,
Your eBay Community Team

rlotech
·2 years agoThere is an issue with Sevice metrics which seems not to be being looked at. I have had a call again with support regarding this. If a return is opened (for whatever the reason) and the buyer does not return the item, the return case s closed, in my favour. Yet the ding in my service metrics is still remaining.Â
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Should a case closed in the sellers favour still be reflected in Srevice Metrics? I would think not, but they are.Â
marco@ebay
Hi @rlotech, thanks for your post.
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Once a case is filed, you will still see that return reflected in your service metrics. However, if the case is closed in your favor, that is not a defect and it won't count against your performance, but the service metric will reimain.
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Thank you,
Marco
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zoomingmouse
·2 years agoHi,
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the new page layout seems to have altered the way the zoom function works when wanting to see up close details of the pictures.
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I am finding it more awkward too use as you now have to click on each picture & then move the cursor about for an enlarged section view that is contained within the same picture window.Â
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The previous way, where you got a larger window view that was not contained within the picture box & without the need to click was somehow easier to use/move around.
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Is this new version here to stay or just a trial?
Thanks
anita@ebay
@zoomingmouse, thanks for your post.
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I'd be happy to look into this. Since we're closing the chat now, so can you please create a new thread with your question and elaborate more on what page layout is it and share the screnshot showing the issue.
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Thanks,
Anita
bojangled
·2 years agoI know .com community boards work differently but given the amount of times the EDD questions arise on the forum would it be helpful if the community chat team had some sort of head of dept team on this weekly to visit and answer these questions ?
They do this on the .com with various departments.Â
No disrespect to the team but communication directly from these sources would be appreciated.
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Jo
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katie@ebay
Hi Jo,
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I've seen this and it works great on the US community. I've spoken to teams in the past about this and do think it would be a great addition for topical conversations we see.
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Some differences in how our teams are set up etc but I'll take this feedback on board.
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Thanks,
KatieÂ
returns_andexdisplay
·2 years agoRecently had a return opened for a duvet and then closed straight away. Upon checking the return the reason for the return was due to handle falling off the grill pan. Return ID 5247168428Â
It has been mentioned on here in the past that if a buyer closes a return it won't affect a sellers service metrics. Yet when checking the latest service metrics it is showing as indicated in rate calculation.Â
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Another return buyer opens return claming not as described when the reason exactly matches how the item was listed. Point this out to the buyer who admits did not read the listing and pays to send the item back. Refunded the buyer and reported them in the hope ebay might take the defect off the service metric calculation but again punished when done nothing wrong.Â
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I spoke to two agents last week who assured me they would be taken off but as of yet both are still on the spreadsheet when I download it. Will these be removed at any point?Â
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Also when are ebay going to come up with a fair system that does not punish sellers when they have done absoloutly nothing wrong and not have to waste time and effort tying to get them removed.Â
lincolnshiremarine
·2 years agoGood afternoon
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Will ebay please please please acknowlege there is an issue with estimated delivery dates you are showing to buyers.
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My ebay shop was put on holiday (TIME AWAY) 30th up to and including 31st October 2023.
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A buyer brought something on 30th in the afternoon and the buyer would of seen the banner at the top of the page etc.
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I have returned today and sent the parcel off 1st November , the courier collects mid morning, only for the estimated delivery to be 2nd November. The buyer HAS NOT paid for next day delivery and there is no way it will be delivered to them on the 2nd November which ebay tracking states. It is a free, 3 day delivery service. Furthermore the shop was on holiday.
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I spoke to ebay today, and they say there is nothing wrong and despite me having the shop on ebay holiday the delivery date is correct? How does ebay work that one out, when the shop has been put on holiday by the seller but the delivery dates are not correct.
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 The estimated delivery dates are now becoming a nightmare on here, there are posts about this, but this situation has really put the nail in the coffin.
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Please do not give me the explanation of we calculate it on your seller performance, I have heard all of that, and for the life of me still cannot get my head around your reasoning. Can we not base it on realtime postage delivery times, I would of thought that was the best way to base it on?
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In a nutshell, If we do well on performance , then you give us even shorter time scales to get the parcels out, with un realistic delivery dates, then the buyer is upset and makes a case, then you refuse to back the seller.
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Thank youÂ
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marco@ebay
Hi @lincolnshiremarine, thanks for your post.
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As of now, we cannot see any issues affecting EDD's. We have addressed this query multiple times now, and we have double check it as well, and everything is working as designed.Â
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Thank you,
Marco
lincolnshiremarine
·2 years agomarco@ebay
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With respect, I know that is the script you have been told to tell us sellers, but, ALL seller cannot all be wrong on this. You are making us look incompetent when it comes to offering our buyers good customer service with the delivery dates.Â
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The estimated delivery times are not correct. How can they be correct, if my shop was on holiday (TIME AWAY) how can the delivery dates be right, they are not even right when we are not on holiday. Â
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The only way I can see this postage issue is by the common sense, calculate it on the actual real time delivery dates given by the people that deliver the parcels.
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When I print off the ebay postage label for Yodel it states 72 hours (3 days delivery).Â
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Best wishes
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pg_kicks
·2 years agoÂ
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I seem to have lost top rated seller status on some listings, this in turn means I lose the badge and the discounts. I have lost this due to eBay forcing the charge on postage for all customers, we were told this would have no negative effects on sellers but it not only have a reputational effect it also has an economical effect. Any reason why this has happened as its not me charging the money but eBay, I'd still be happy to offer free postage.
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This is due to the new postage method on all items going to authentication centre.
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Regards
anita@ebay
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Hi @pg_kicks, thanks for your post.
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Some businesses build the cost of the postage in the item cost and offer free postage. However, it is up to the seller to decide their business plan.
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Thanks,
Anita
pg_kicks
·2 years agoHi anita@ebay that would be great but it does not answer what I questioned, I may have typed in out in such a way you didn't understand so I will try again with more detail.
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eBay have changed the shipping options for all and any items going to the authentication centre (owned by eBay and no way to bypass) prior to this businesses could set their own price, I set mine at £0.00 so all my items were included in TRS programme and I received the discount.
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Now eBay have changed this and forced all sellers (we can not not build this into our plan if its forced) to have it as £8.49 charged to the buyer but we were told there would be no charge to sellers, and no negatives to this scheme, infact it would be better. Now it has come into play not only do we not have the TRS badge on our listing we dont get the discount for being a TRS. So I will ask again, is there any plan to change this as its eBays decision to force sellers to have the charge on the listing (we dont get this fee it goes direct to eBay).
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If you dont know what I'm talking about please just let me know and I will try and find out myself as it may be quicker than waiting for a reply if you are having to ask other team members. I just thought I'd ask here before doing all the work myself.
anita@ebay
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@pg_kicks, thanks for your reply and sharing more details.
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If you're selling using our Authenticity Guarantee program, we do have a specialized team looking after it, so I won't be an expert on this topic. However, I'm happy to reach out to them and clarify this, and reply back here once I have more information.
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Thanks,
Anita
pg_kicks
·2 years agoHi,
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You can do if you like but from past experience of waiting to hear anything coming back it will be a exceptionally long wait, I have a few emails from other staff members in eBay so I will fire off a few emails, was hoping it would just be an error (one of hundreds currently on the site) that you know of.
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Thanks though.
anita@ebay
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@pg_kicks, thanks for your reply.
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I have reached out to them for more info. Either way, you'll hear from me by the end of the week.
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Thanks,
Anita
anita@ebay
Hi @pg_kicks,
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Just wanted to let you know I am communicating with the Authenticity Guarantee team, and I will keep you posted more on this next week.
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Thanks,
Anita
welshdragon-antiques
·2 years agoI have global shipping enabled on all my listings, if I view my shop on ebay.co.uk I have 522 items, if I view it from ebay.com I have 32 items.
Could you please explain why this is
marco@ebay
Hi , thanks for your post.
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There are a number of things that could be happening here, based on the type of items you sell, some of the items might not be eligible to be sent abroad as they might be customs restricted. If you wish, we can send this for review to make sure everything is ok.
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Thank you,
Marco
welshdragon-antiques
·2 years agoHi Marco
Thanks for your response, my items are mainly pottery & glass and therefore not customs restricted. If you could have a look I would be grateful
marco@ebay
Thanks for your reply, @welshdragon-antiques.
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Yes, no problem, we will send that for review now, and will update you here once we get an update on this.
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Thank you,
Marco
marco@ebay
Hi @welshdragon-antiques,
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Just a quick update on this, our technical team has reviewed this for you and they found no issue at all, so this wouldn't be considered a technical issue as it is working as designed. This is because the number of items that appear in the storefront page depends on several scenarios like Item Quantity Availability, Item Visibility, Seller or Item Blocked, Some Categories might Block Items on Specific Regions.
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Thank you,
Marco
louisianna
·2 years agoHi,
please can I put forward the suggestion that buyers are required to make contact with the seller and a small window of time allowed for a response, before they can leave negative feedback.
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I've received 2 negatives in the last 2 weeks due to Royal Mail delivering late or not delivering at all. Â In neither case has the buyer 1. let me know and 2. given me the chance to put things right. The first one (non arrival) was most apologetic and more than happy to revise when I contacted them. The other one only happened today and I havent heard back.Â
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If contact is required before leaving a negative then most sellers would work to put things right - then its up to the customer if they still want to leave a negative.
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anita@ebay
Hi @louisianna, thanks for your post.
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We always welcome suggestions, and I will make sure to pass it on to the relevant teams, so it can be taken into consideration for future updates.
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Having said that, we do have a pop message recommending buyers to reach out to the seller first before leaving the feedback. If you feel that feedback may be violating our policies, you're also welcome to send a feedback appeal for a review and if it falls under any removal reasons, it will be removed.
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Thanks,
Anita
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louisianna
·2 years agoThank you Anita,Â
I would appreciate it if you would forward it. Â
I know I can appeal, but its highly unlikely to be removed because its the buyers 'opinion'.
But I do think that some buyers presume most sellers are bad or dont offer good customer service,Â
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Thanks again
anita@ebay
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@louisianna, you are very welcome, and I will make sure it's passed on. However, please note that while we pass on all the feedback, we may not guarantee it will be implemented.
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Thanks,
Anita
darth_baggins
·2 years agoWhat's going on with feedback? Why is it not showing feedback left for others? Why is it showing seemingly random order and not the most recent?
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Is this a glitch or a deliberate change?
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Discussed here https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Business-Seller-Board/Feedback-rearranged/m-p/7504810#M302970
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Side point - why IS eBay so full of glitches? Do you need to hire more competent programmers?
anita@ebay
@darth_baggins, thanks for your post.
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We have a known issue in relation to feedback not reflecting on the feedback profile and our tech team is working on the fix. As for the feedback replies, thanks for flagging it, our teams are aware of it and looking into it.
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Thanks,
Anita
contessa35
·2 years agoHello. Is eBay aware (I assume so) of the issue for buyers in the UK where US-based sellers who ship to the UK (often using eBay International Shipping) are now widely affected by a glitch that prevents any shipping to the UK? I first saw it about 2 months ago, on occasional new listings that corrected themselves shortly after going live, but now it permanently affects nearly all new listings, plus any that were previously OK once they renew for a further term or have any editing applied to them.
It seems to be category-specific – the categories Dolls & Bears and Toys & Hobbies are seriously affected, but maybe other areas are too.
When it happens, all shipping to UK prices disappear and on contacting the sellers, they cannot correct it as the UK now doesn’t appear in their list of countries to ship to, but also isn’t in the excluded countries (or anywhere else) either. Many aren’t even aware of the issue until then, as they hadn’t caused it (even experienced power sellers). When sellers are unaware, UK buyers can’t bid, buy or make offers. A couple of sellers said they’ve been told by eBay to add UK buyers to an exemption list – this seems to work, but on the first try for one I’ve bought from, it removed eBay International Shipping, which wasn’t ideal for either of us.
Is there any news on fixing this? Thanks!
marco@ebay
Hi @contessa35, thanks for your post.
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What is the issue you are referring to exactly? As in the seller in the US is unable to ship to the UK using GSP? If so, could you please confirm an item number, so we can review that for you?
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Thank you,
Marco
contessa35
·2 years agoIt's really widespread now - US sellers now have the new eBay International Shipping program which has replaced the Global Shipping Program for them. I don't know if it affects sellers who use other methods of international shipping. I've checked with several US sellers who are affected (but there are many more) and all are either aware of it, or see it after it's pointed out, and other UK buyers like me see it too. I'll dig up an affected listing for you - bear with me, please!
marco@ebay
Thanks for your reply, @contessa35.
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Thanks for flagging that with us, we are happy to send this for review, so if you confirm an item number, we will look into it.
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Thank you,
Marco
contessa35
·2 years agoThanks very much, Marco. I actually watched this one go wrong live, as it auto-renewed for a new term - it was fine before. This particular one is not an item I'm trying to buy, but I have spoken to the seller about another of their items. The only solution they thought they could use themselves at the time was to try to relist an affected item in a different, unaffected category.Â
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Most sellers I've discussed this with have contacted eBay's general help agents many times, and have received encouraging responses, but the agents tend to assume it's an individual error by the seller or some technical issue affecting just them, or else the buyer. But actually, it's massively widespread now in the categories I look at - it's hard to find any eBay International Shipping to the UK - most say "Shipping not specified" now, and other UK buyers see it too.
marco@ebay
Thanks for your reply, @contessa35.
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No problem at all, happy to help. I will update you here as soon as I get an update on this.
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Thank you,
Marco
contessa35
·2 years agoThank you so much!
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Another of the posts here reminded me of a different, but related and more long-standing issue, at least 6 months now, I think. I can only see all items on offer to the UK from overseas if I leave eBay.co.uk and go to eBay.com (or the relevant overseas eBay site, but eBay.com seems to work for all of them). For example, I've an Australian seller in my saved sellers list. Around 6 months ago, as her items ended, her entry on my Saved Sellers list gradually emptied and stayed empty ever since. Eventually, I asked her why she'd decided to stop selling to the UK - she was surprised, as she hadn't decided that at all! I then found that if I view my Saved Sellers list on eBay.com instead, all her stuff is there, and once I put things into my Watch List whilst I'm still on eBay.com, those particular items will then be on my eBay.co.uk Watch List too, and will work normally.
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Similarly, searches on overseas items available to the UK usually give incomplete results if the search is done on eBay.co.uk. This is all quite generalised - again, other UK friends are finding exactly the same two problems, so all I can say for sure is it's not just me affected!
contessa35
·2 years agoHere's an affected item as an example:
204473980780
Its seller was aware of the problem and unable to fix it themselves. They are a very experienced power seller.
marco@ebay
Thanks for that, @contessa35.
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I will send that for review now, and I will post back here with an update once I get one.
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Thank you,
Marco
marco@ebay
Hi @contessa35,
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Just updating you on this, after reviewing this for you, we can see that the listing in question for the item 204473980780 seems to be ok from our end. The reason why you might not be able to see this item or to purchase is because there is no shipping method to the UK, as in the UK is not listed as one of the countries they ship to.
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In this scenario, the seller would need to add the UK, and you will be able to see the item and purchase it in case you wish to do so. If the seller in question is unable to do this, the seller would need to contact us directly for further review.
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Thank you,
Marco