Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 05.03.25 @2pm
Hi everybody!
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.
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!
Our eBay Community Team is made up of @kat@ebay , @dave@ebay and @marco@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. We understand that certain topics, such as concerns about businesses possibly using private accounts, can be frustrating and important to you. Please refrain from asking the same question repeatedly in our weekly live chats. We assure you that we carefully review all posts in the forum and ensure that your concerns are communicated to the relevant teams for appropriate action.
To maintain a constructive and community environment, posts that repeatedly breach this guideline may be removed. Continued violations could result in further action against your community account. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in helping us keep our community focused and respectful.
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.
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.
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!
Many thanks,
Your eBay Community Team

technthread
·1 year agoWill eBay consider feedback notifications? I would find it useful and it should increase feedback participation. Anyone who doesn’t want it could just turn it off. Thanks
dave@ebay
Hi @technthread
The system sends messages to buyers if they haven't left feedback for a completed transaction. Notifications could help as a way to encourage buyers to leave some more regularly. I've sent this over to the team to review.
Thanks,
Dave
lincolnshiremarine
·1 year ago@marco@ebay
You will see that Dave had been given examples with this issue from @ruby*ryan, and I did provide a transaction number.
We have just wasted another week, when we thought someone was looking into this and they are not.
Do eBay now want us to put one transaction item, in one box, and then put another transaction item in another box and buy two separate postage labels when it is going to the same seller? This is not very environmentally friendly nor cost effective is it? Please do not say that sellers have not been able to add tracking numbers onto multiple orders, they have.
Thank you and best wishes
marco@ebay
Thanks for your reply, .
Yes, I can see that the user in question has said that above, and Dave has acknowledged it. However, reports are sent separately, but don't worry as we report everything you flag with us straightaway. Once we find out more about this, we will let you know.
Thank you,
Marco
returns_andexdisplay
·1 year agoWhy can't ebay itemize return credits as recently noticed a increase in false item not as described return claims where there is nothing wrong with the item. But the report buyer for false claim does not match the return credit.
marco@ebay
Hi , thanks for your input.
I can see what you mean, so I will pass this on to the relevant team as feedback, so this can be taken into consideration. However, please note that this doesn't necessarily means that it would be implemented.
Thank you,
Marco
lincolnshiremarine
·1 year agoPlease can I ask why this listing has been removed. I cannot see what is not allowed it is a plastic fuel filter kit (with no fuel in it), it is new.
Item 196893937180
ID: 2-191296577882
Please can you explain in detail why this is not allowed, and I would be grateful not to receive a generic eBay response.
Best wishes
kat@ebay
Hi @lincolnshiremarine ,
The item removal seems to be due to product safety so is likely a recall. As I am unable to check the exact details for your account due to this being public you would need to reach out to customer support. They can review the removal.
Thank you,
Kat
ccla3379
·1 year agoHi there,
I had a good, fast, response to a phishing message circulating inside the eBay messaging system and was wondering if it might be at all possible for the system which scans and recognises exchange of personal details between buyers and sellers could also be trained to pickup when people are pretending to be the eBay support team?
Just a thought. Keep up the great work.
dave@ebay
Hi @ccla3379
I'll pass this suggestion on to the site team. To be honest I'm not sure how that system works to identify the exchanges on PMs but there might be the possibility it's something they can utilise in the future.
Thanks,
Dave
custom-giftsuk
·1 year agoLast for today - I asked a question earlier about seller company details & I asked last week about sellers having multiple accounts and selling the same items on those accounts and Marco was extremely helpful in answering stating that “That would be duplicating listings, basically. So, this wouldn't be allowed.” And Kat stating today that sellers with false or incorrect business details should be reported and that certain words are not permitted and should be checked manually by CS staff.
Is there a route to report these sellers, apart from the report seller tool, which like the report item tool is pretty much a waste of time. I’ve spoken to members of eBay CS as well as a member of the management team this morning and, I’m shortening it here and paraphrasing, they all without exception shrugged their shoulders and said “and what do you want us to do about it?”.
Is there any way to actually be able to place a report/complain that would actually be effective or actioned? When reporting items these days, every report will come back with “Computer says no” and I do mean that literally as the AI bots will just refuse any report, no matter in what aspect a report is issued – it’ll come back no. For example I reported an two items that literally had swastikas and people doing a seig heil salute and I reported it and the AI bot came back and said no it didn’t breach rules despite the items being a breach of eBay rules not to mention illegal in certain parts of Europe where they sell to. Several reports have gone out against items with offensive text in the title and items yet every report came back as a “no”, even speaking to members of eBay CS who wont even repeat the words used on the items – they issue reports and nothing is done.
In fact when I asked this morning in regards an issue I was told that if these sellers have been doing it for years, it pretty much means that they have gotten away with the rule breaches and when I asked if I could do the same as these sellers to even the playing field, I was told no because it’s a breach of eBay rules.
So is there an effective way to report items/sellers that will actually result in action being taken and if so would you care to let us know?
marco@ebay
Hi @custom-giftsuk, thanks for your reply.
Last week, you've asked "Can I also ask if its allowable to have 2 different accounts, with the same VAT number, same company number, same business name selling the exact same items as each other but with a slightly different email address?" and I replied saying "That would be duplicating listings, basically. So, this wouldn't be allowed."
Today, you've asked Kat "what information is required to show on their listings?". Which is different a different question, and Kat replied with the information you need to provide.
So to clarify your question, is not allowed to duplicate listings. However, you are required to enter your business information as per our policies in order to be in compliance.
Thank you,
Marco
british-ceramics-and-paintings
·1 year agoGood afternoon,
For those of us who are moving our business onto other platforms etc can you offer us any hope that there will be any good news for business sellers in the very near future ?
dave@ebay
Hi @british-ceramics-and-paintings
The Announcements board is kept up to date with any sharable information that we have on upcoming releases. At the moment there is nothing extra that I can share but as soon as we have more will let you know.
Thanks,
Dave
bojangled
·1 year agoHello community team
Why is there such disparity between private sellers and business sellers with shop listing allowance?
If I’m on a basic shop subscription as a business my BIN allowance is 3,000 listings.
Yet private sellers get a rotating 400 BIN, equivalent to 4,800.
Jo
kat@ebay
Hi @bojangled ,
I appreciate the listing allowance can work out like that with automatic renewals. Private sellers listing allowance was decreased in 2024. The 400 is the set allowance for the basic shop at the moment. While we don't have any details of this being changed I will share this feedback with our policy team.
Thank you,
Kat
pauuk.35za36
·1 year agoThere is currently a major issue in that GSP is not working for all private sellers - why has there been no announcement regarding this? Especially given that it has been going on for weeks now. This will be having a major impact upon sales transactions so I am surprised that it has not been immediately resolved.
dave@ebay
Hi @pauuk.35za36
There is an open tech issue for this at the moment but I don't have an update yet. If you have any examples, you can PM me the item numbers and I'll add them to the tech report.
Thanks,
Dave
sellingmystuff642
·1 year agoThe buyer protection fee and delay in issuing payments are ruining ebay for private sellers - interest in items and sales are well down in previous months - yet ebay seem oblivious to this and don't seem to care. There is no incentive to list items if they aren't selling and no smooth process for receiving funds for postag when they are being held on to. Is ebay likely to change its policies if they prove unpopular?
marco@ebay
Hi thanks for your question.
While I understand where you're coming from, it is unlikely that this would be changed. At least not for the moment, should this change, we would let you know. However, I see you're not happy with the recent changes, so I will pass on your thoughts on it.
Thank you,
Marco
a45heaven
·1 year agoWhat is ebays stance on Combined Postage?
The 4 day and Strike, and now the inability to send combined invoices, appear to suggest one item per package.
The work around suggested by Mentors of relisting all items as one lot and seeing if the original buyer could buy the combined lot, is rather time consuming and messy, and not least a long way from a smooth transaction to the buyer - the same definitely can be said of paying a multiple postage for the items, only to have the seller refund.
Doesn't sound very professional, and leaving the buyer having to lay out trust on the Seller performing the refund in a timely manner.
marco@ebay
Hi @a45heaven, thanks for your question.
I was actually looking into it this morning, but I'm afraid that we still have no further updates. However, I can assure you that we're currently working towards it. I understand this is not ideal for sellers, so I will pass on your thoughts on this as well.
Thank you,
Marco
a45heaven
·1 year agoThanks for replying -
It's as much if not a greater problem to the Buyers - whose confidence in ebay is greatly eroded with the inability to buy something they desire- who get strikes for none payment, and have their wins / multi buys cancelled waiting on the system being repaired.
Most suitable sellers have narratives regarding Combining Postage as you would know.
I am assuming it is a system 'break down' and not a trial, or future direction for ebay?
marco@ebay
Thanks for your reply, @a45heaven.
We haven't been confirmed about any changes around this, but again as usual, we would let you know in advance if this is something we are changing. For the moment, it is an issue from our end, and as advised before, we are working towards it to have it resolved.
Thank you,
Marco
custom-giftsuk
·1 year agoA small question – there used to be a restriction on obscene or offensive items – I know that there still is as per eBay rules, but when typing in an item description to sell an item it wouldn’t allow certain words, understandably. Is this restriction still in force and if so its only certain words that aren’t allowed – ie American English offensive words but not British English words offensive words? For example using the word A**HOLE would be removed if it was in the title but the word AR*EHOLE would be ok (without the asterix but the actual words).
As a connected question – does eBay have an automatic tool that looks at the images and deems if they contain offensive images/phrases or is that a manual thing?
kat@ebay
Hi @custom-giftsuk ,
Such words should be picked up and blocked from being used in descriptions as well as titles. However it may be the case that not everyway a word is typed/spelt gets picked up and for that there is manual reviews.
Similar for offensive images/phrases would be picked up and blocked but not everyway they are inputted may be picked up and for that manual reviews would be done.
Thank you,
Kat
custom-giftsuk
·1 year agoThank you Kat for clarifying that, because we know of several dozen listings that violate that guidance you have just given us but I think its because it'll pick up American phrases and not UK phrases, because I can point you in the direction of half a dozen right now that would be classed as offensive in the UK but would be unknown in the US (ie my earlier example).
But can I ask a further question - if I as a seller want to sell an item and the item that has options of a physical item or digital download and as per eBay rules “Electronically delivered items need to be listed in the Everything Else > Information Products category in the classified ad format.”, what categories would I have to list in? So for example I wanted to sell a pair of gloves and I offered a picture of the gloves which would be digitally delivered – what categories would I list in or must it be two separate listings? If you wonder why anyone would want just a picture of the gloves instead of the gloves this would enable me to have the listing price of 99p and an actual price of £9.99 but because the way the search engine works – it will give priority to items that are extremely cheap despite not actually being the item itself or would this be considered “search and browse manipulation”?
kat@ebay
Hi @custom-giftsuk ,
As gloves would normally be associated as a physical item and in the clothing category this is making your example confusing. If you have an item id that you are seeing that is in breach of search and browse policy?
Thank you,
Kat
custom-giftsuk
·1 year agoI can provide many examples - but gloves was a metaphor. I'd happily provide many many item numbers but would not care to post on here, as said sellers would know of the issues I'm asking in regards. If you wish I can do so via private message.
kat@ebay
Hi @custom-giftsuk ,
We would not be able take any action on listings. The best route for these is to report them through the site.
Thank you,
Kat
lincolnshiremarine
·1 year agoGood afternoon
Last week I raised an issue with regards posting, that if a buyer had purchased two items but on separate transactions we could no longer enter the same tracking number onto the second transaction.
You may ask why we need to add the same tracking number onto the second transactions, this is because we often have space in the postage box to add the second transaction item in, as well as the first item.
We ALWAYS did this, now it appears eBay have decided to take this away from us, and we cannot add the same tracking number to the same buyers, second purchase.
@dave, You mentioned that you did not think eBay allowed this before, well they did, and now they do not.
Please can we have a reply as it appears all we do on here is raise concerns/issues, and all we get is, "we will look into it"
Whom do you pass the issues on to please, as nothing ever gets resolved.
Best wishes
marco@ebay
Hi , thanks for your question.
We haven't had any further updates, as Dave requested an example from you to escalate it, but we never received an example. The team was made aware of the scenario you described, but when it comes down to this, we would need a couple of examples for further review. So, if you could provide 1 or 2 examples, we can pass it on, and that way we would get a quicker and more accurate update on it.
Thank you,
Marco
ruby*ryan
·1 year agoDave has received, and acknowledged examples of this from myself. So there are examples for the team to see. (I'm waiting for a response from Dave.)
lincolnshiremarine
·1 year agoMarco
I gave Dave in my first post the item transaction number of the issue. 13-12751-55785 & 13-12751-55786 (25/2/25) the same buyer, but separate purchases. We could not add the tracking number onto item number 13-12751-55785, yet it went in the same box as item number: 13-12751-55786. If you access this, you will see.
Another one
Transaction: 11-2778-5550 & 09-12780-90445 (3/3/25) same buyer, two separate transactions, we could not add the tracking number to the transaction 11-2778-55550.
We have ALWAYS been able to do this and now we cannot.
I then do believe that another seller gave Dave an example. If others are giving you proof why has it not been looked into anyway.
Is this sufficient for you to look into it please?
Best wishes
marco@ebay
Thanks for your reply,
That's perfect, thanks very much for confirming that for us. We will add those to the report you initially flagged, and once we get an update on it, we will let you know.
Thank you,
Marco
oakley_home_and_gifts
·1 year agoWhy are private sellers still allow to list multiple quantities when they are clearly a business?
I thought ebay was bringing in that private sellers would only be able to list one item per listing?
256828445144 listed on 22nd Feb
dave@ebay
Hi @oakley_home_and_gifts
I've seen some posts on this and there seems to be a bit of confusion. Private sellers are allowed to list with multiple quantities of an item but the option for multi variations in a listing has been removed.
Thanks,
Dave
oakley_home_and_gifts
·1 year agoSo sellers like this can continue to get away with paying no selling or listing fees?
I lose thousands of pounds in sales each year dealing with returns, thousands more in selling, shop and listing fees on ebay. Yet all we get is pay us more in promoted listings.
Yet private sellers who clearly run a business get an even better offer of zero listing and selling fees currently.
custom-giftsuk
·1 year agoHello, I hope you are all well this week.
With Business Sellers – what information is required to show on their listings? So if a buyer goes into a listing and clicks on the Seller Contact Information at the bottom of a listing – what information is required to be shown? Is it a company name, seller name, full address? Does the business (CRN) have to be shown as well?
kat@ebay
Hi @custom-giftsuk ,
The following is what is required to be shown
Thank you,
Kat
custom-giftsuk
·1 year agoThank you for that Kat, so if a seller had a false business name, no address apart from a city and no other details including company number, that would be in breach of eBay rules and should be reported yes?
kat@ebay
Hi @custom-giftsuk ,
Yes you can report through the regular reporting link on site.
Thank you,
Kat