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💬 Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 19.04.23 @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 @katie@ebay . Between us, we have knowledge in Buying, Selling, ProTrader, Fulfilment, Parts & Accessories, 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.
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
ukhaberdashery
·3 years agoi still dont get it she said she received them on the 18 and then you closed it .
pg_kicks
·3 years agoCould you please tell me if a customer returns an item using a label purchased from eBay if it is marked as delivered but it is not actually delivered, with no proof, how do we go from here?
The original seller can not input a claim as the label was purchased from ebays Royal Mail account and any compensation would be given to eBay, also unless eBay are willing to give account number and address a claim can not be opened, but eBay are taking delivered on Royal Mail website as enough proof, even if the post person have marked it incorrectly.
I have had the issue a few times and each time it has resulted in hours of being passed pillar to post between agents who don't have a clue. I'd like a standard across board for any future issues.
katie@ebay
Hi @pg_kicks,
This depends on whom the owner of the label is and the reason for the return.
If it is an item not as described case the money for the label (even an automatic one through eBay) comes from the seller. In this situation if the tracking shows it has arrived back to the seller we would need a refund to be issued within 2 business days and the seller (who will be charged for the label via eBay) will need to reach out to Royal Mail.
If the buyer purchased the label for example in a remorse return they would need to reach out to Royal Mail.
This looks to be a more complicated one to discuss publicly so I would recommend reaching out to customer support again to go through the details.
Thanks,
Katie
sueg8453
·3 years agoHi
Sold a brand new graphics card on Ebay. It had been an unwanted gift. Buyer bid and accepted and send it off. A week after he received it, Ebay contacted me to say that he had asked for a return due to the item being faulty. I do not accept returns.
He said it seems be hitching and crashing which I regard as a technical issue and I have subsequently referred him to the manufacturers website where they have technical support and if the item is deemed faulty, they will arrange an RMA under its warranty. There are many things which can cause these issues but it doesn't mean that the actual item is faulty, it could even be his own equipment not being sufficient for the card.
He was reluctant to follow this advice and said that he had done all that was reasonably possible but didn't do as I had suggested and still wants a refund.
I am reluctant to refund him as the item received by him was brand new, unopened and unused and if he returns it to me, it will no longer be in that condition and hence its value will be far less.
My last response to him has not been replied to and that was five days ago. I fear he may not do anything further for a while but how long do I have to wait before Ebay stop the hold on my funds?
Await your advice
Thank you
katie@ebay
Hi there,
Thank you for your question.
When selling on eBay your sales would then fall under the eBay Monty Back Guarantee. You can choose to not except remorse returns but any claims of item not matching the description or being faulty are automatically accepted. We would need for the buyer to be offered a means of returning the item to you for a full refund to be issued when it's back.
You can see more on this here with some details on the next steps.
Thanks,
Katie
eshopforce01
·3 years agoHello,
The research option is switching to worldwide automatically instead to default location.
It's really annoying.
Thank you
dave@ebay
Hi @eshopforce01
You should be able to add a filter for buyer and seller location to filter out any international items and then lock the filters you are using with the switch above the More filters.
Thanks,
Dave
2009happychap
·3 years agoHi I hope you can help, I am being houded by a seller becasue I put honest feedback on which was negatvie, he keeps contacting me to withdraw the feedback... I origally did not ask for a refund as I had used the item I have politley told him my feedback was honest so No I wont remove, he has now offered me a 50% refund. I am not interested in the refund, I just want to be left alone and feel like i am being hounded, I have searched to see if I can contact ebay to inform them but nothing. Please please help thanks Deborah
katie@ebay
Hi @2009happychap,
Sorry to hear this has happened here.
You have done the right thing in expressing that you do not want to accept anything for the feedback to be revised. This would fall under feedback extortion and would be against eBay policy that the seller is asking you to do so. Please report the seller to our teams via the help pages if they continue to break the policy.
Thanks,
Katie
returns_andexdisplay
·3 years agoWhy do ebay keep repearting that accounts are only forced to become a business account when they hit the VAT threashold of 85K. HMRC mention you become a business when you buy products to sell for a profit. There are countless accounts in catagories that I sell in, who often have mutiple accounts selling the same items (which again is meant to be against ebay polices) yet no matter how many times they get reported ebay do nothing.
ebay keep sending messages asking sellers to pay more for permoted listings or even calling to book a account health check which was basicaly have you considered paying ebay more to list and when I was not interested lost interested and ended the call pretty quick. I would spend money on advertisting if I knew I was competing equally against competiors but many on the site get given a thousand free listings a month, lower FVF and don't have to accpet buyer remorse returns all while trading as a business.
dave@ebay
Hi @returns_andexdisplay
There can be a number of reasons why request an account to upgrade to a business account. Two of the main being the account is selling more than the threshold on eBay, this amount includes the total cost of the transaction. In some cases the HMRC has reached out to eBay and provided a Business Name that needs to be VAT registered. eBay locates the eBay account related to the business and places the action on it.
Usually when a report is received, the account is reviewed and there may or may not be action taken against them depending on the findings. It might also be the case that we have reached out and asked for more information or gave the account holder time to take an action we provided them so it would appear that nothing happened on the account.
Thanks,
Dave
Anonymous User
·3 years agoThe message about extra Nectar points because it's 'hump day' ....
I am English, I speak English and I list/buy on ebay.co.uk, so I expect interactions with them to be in English as well.
I know of three definitions of 'hump':
a hump (like a camel's)
'in a hump', meaning annoyed with someone
and a third one, which I can't really put into words as the mods will delete it - let's just say being really, really friendly with someone.
Apparently in America 'hump day' means Wednesday - but I'm not American, I don't live in the US and I don't speak American-English.
So, could we just call Wednesday 'Wednesday', please?
katie@ebay
Hi @Anonymous,
I can assure you this one refers to Wednesday being in the middle of the week. You're over the "hump" in the week. I'm Irish and it's a term we use here in the office too.
eBay is an American brand and this saying may have originated in the US but is used universally.
It's also a bit of fun to express Wednesday in a more positive way. One of my German colleagues shared with me recently they have a similar saying "Bergfest ", which roughly translates to Mountain Party.
We're over the hump/mountain of the week! 😊
Thanks,
Katie
jckl1957
·3 years agoWe are still seeing almost daily posts from members who are being inconvenienced (or worse) because payments are taken twice from their bank accounts. One payment appears in pending and does vanish after a few days and the money is not actually taken. However, if the amount is large, and is pending, your bank will not show this as available funds and members may not be able to pay bills or purchase necessities.
I raised this on 14th december - 4 months ago. My post and response below:
Hi @jckl1957 ,
I have noticed this on posts before. It seems to happen that one payment doesn't go through and goes to a holding state. We have reported it to be looked into so I will include this recent example from today to have it reviewed.
katie@ebay
Hi @jckl1957,
Thank you for your question. This sounds like a security measure that is in place for buyers. This usually happens if it's a new account, a dormant account or a new card. We place the amount in a pending state and then send it back to the buyer typically within 24 hours.
This can be difficult for buyers as you mentioned if it is a large amount but it is a safety feature in place to prevent any issues.
I hope this helps to explain and that I have understood the situation correctly.
Let me know if not.
Thanks,
Katie
jckl1957
·3 years agoI will bear this in mind and send you links for future posts if it clearly isn't the case that it's a new or dormant account.
darth_baggins
·3 years agoCan you please explain why a buyer is allowed to open an INR case where the tracking is already uploaded to the order and shows delivery?
Surely an INR should be automatically denied if tracking is already present and shows delivery? Otherwise what's the point of having tracking?
dave@ebay
Hi @darth_baggins
The option is there in case there is something that need to be added or checked. For example, the item is delivered to the wrong address or left with a neighbour.
I will pass your feedback the development team to see if there is a way to integrate more into the INR flow.
Thanks,
Dave
darth_baggins
·3 years agoPlease can you explain why messages in INR cases are now truncated?
Up until recently I could read the entire messages between myself and the customer but now the messages are cut off and only show the first 200 or so characters. I don't see the point in this change as sometimes I need to refer back to what was said and I now I can't.
I've attached a screenshot and redacted it but you should be able to get the gist of what I mean.
dave@ebay
Hi @darth_baggins
You should have the option to click see more at the end of any messages:
Is this option not available to you?
Thanks,
Dave.
hettsville
·3 years agoThere is x20 nectar bonus points at the moment.
It used to show what bonus points you'd be getting on the listings and at checkout but now it just shows the normal x1 nectar points.
Is this a glitch or has eBay/nectar stopped letting buyers know what extra points they'll get?
Are we just supposed to hope we get them?
katie@ebay
Hi @hettsville,
You're correct, the amount is not being shown at the checkout at this time. I do think this is something they are hoping to re-add for future promotions.
Thanks,
Katie
rainbowtrax
·3 years agoWhat on earth is going on with the desktop view of listing pages? After suffering weeks of buyers having the most important part of the listing, the seller's description, hidden by the fade-out test (STILL ongoing), ebay have now done the same to the item specifics section as well. Ebay have spent the last 5 years continually banging on about the importance of item specifics only to now hide them! What are the decision-makers thinking? Is there some cunning plan to increase everyone's return rates for some bizarre reason?
katie@ebay
Hi @rainbowtrax,
This is a test as you mentioned that is ongoing.
They are gathering data about the test and the design team will make a decision from there.
We have been sharing sentiment from users on the community with the team to add to their data.
Thanks,
Katie
rainbowtrax
·3 years ago@katie@ebay thankyou for the reply. I am just struggling to imagine what on earth the purpose is of a test to hide everything a buyer needs to see. This has been going on for weeks and is getting worse as ebay gradually hide more and more of the listing.
Is there any end in sight? Surely it can't go on much longer? What exactly is it that they are hoping to find out? Surely they don't need to run a test to establish that if you can't see what's for sale you're less likely to buy and more likely to return if you do? Most buyers and sellers could tell ebay that in an instant and bypass the need for ebay to wreck our listings.
katie@ebay
Hi @rainbowtrax,
Thanks for your reply.
I cannot answer those questions for you with the information we have been provided in regard to the test. They are making changes with the aim of increasing sales for sellers.
We don't know when the test is running to but we have been in contact with them sharing the options you and other members have provided us here. It adds human feedback to the numbers and we appreciate that.
Thanks,
Katie
nakedkeg
·3 years agoHi Community Team,
Please can you escalate this to someone who will engage with me and resolve this?
Or, if eBay has no interest in doing so, please can you let me know?
So I don’t waste any more time with eBay.
Coming up on four weeks ago I raised an issue where it appeared eBay was applying my postage rules incorrectly on selling multiples, resulting in eBay undercharging the buyer, to my financial detriment.
Having had two chat sessions to try to resolve this, I then raised it here two weeks ago, a third chat session, also failed to get any progress.
Kat from the Community Team got back to me last week saying Tech had identified a Bug, and were working on a fix.
I then received an email from the customer service rep I’d had the original chat session with ref SR# 1-461556482242, stating that there was no issue with the postage cost and postage had been charged correctly - this and the rest of their explanation makes no sense.
I replied referring them to Kat’s explanation of a bug. Having sent two further emails, and flagging this contradiction to Kat, I am no further forwards.
Customer service aren’t answering any of my questions about this.
I have previously explained my experience is at odds with how ebay shouts about supporting small businesses in the U.K.
I’ve further explained I’m experiencing a clear disconnect between eBay’s public messaging, versus the attitude of an organisation that’s happy to charge ever increasing fees to its sellers, apply payout holds for no reason, in the two transactions I have identified, charge me £70 in fees, whilst appearing to bump me £11.50 on the postage rule.
EBay haven’t earned their fee, if they can’t apply the postage charges to the buyer correctly based on the postage rules in the listing.
I’ve previously observed that having found one instance, then a second, it’s reasonable to assume there may be others on my own account.
If it’s happening to me, it’s also reasonable to think it may be happening to others, and that when I raised this, and chased it, I don't feel your Customer Service guys on the chat sessions were particularly interested.
I have previously highlighted EBay has failed to accurately provide the service they have charged me for, to my financial detriment.
No one from eBay, in my now three chat sessions with Customer Service, in my contact with Kat or with my emails from Customer Support have offered any remedy to this, or indicated at all that eBay have any interest in correcting my financial position.
I also previously raised that my Impressions/Page Views/Sales on eBay have significantly reduced, against a back drop of increased business on other channels.
I have invited an explanation for this, and asked if there any issues with my account that I am not aware of?
I haven’t received a response on this.
Having made repeated attempts to resolve this, and with mounting frustration, My next step, is to initiate a legal process, that’s not a threat, I’m sign posting what happens next.
It’s what we do when we have tried everything to resolve a situation which has created a financial detriment to us, when Customer Service from our service providers spectacularly fails as EBay has here, compounding eBay’s initial failure to accurately provide the service for which they have taken payment from us for.
Because the legal process is time bound, and given the conflicting information I have received about if this is a bug, or if there is no fault by eBay here, I can’t give eBay an indeterminate length of time to resolve this.
As I said at the top my question for you as a Community Team, is, Please can you escalate this to someone who will engage with me to resolve this ?
If eBay have no intention in resolving this, please be honest and tell me.
We then move forwards to where we serve papers on an eBay U.K. Senior Executive, who inevitably will have trouble understanding how their Service delivery to its Customers then its Customer Service can so spectacularly fail, in an Organisation that shouts loudly about supporting Small Business.
Regards
Neil
EBay Small Business Survivor for 7 years.
dave@ebay
Hi @nakedkeg
This issue has been escalate to the Tech Team to be reviewed. I just checked the ticket and at the moment there is no update yet.
The Tech Team are not a customer facing team so there is no way for you to speak directly to them. We will however monitor the Bug Report and as soon as there is an update we will reach out to you and let you know.
Thanks,
Dave
ducatimondo
·3 years agoCan someone look at the bell notifications on the PC webpage
This account shows 46 items to dispatch, there is only 1 as the rest have been shipped.
Our other account shows 88 items to dispatch, there is also only 1 as the rest have been shipped.
On the app, they both show 9+ as for some reason it was only ever set up to show upto 9, then just shows 9+ if you have more or the system doesn't work and it thinks you have more.
Surely this is basic programming, how come it does not work?
Thanks
Russ
katie@ebay
Hi Russ,
This is feedback I have seen and understand what aspect you are referring to. We have been informed it can take 24 hours for the prompt to reflect new actions taken on the account. So if you dispatch an item it can take up to 24 hours to remove from the prompt notifications.
We are always aiming for these features to be more real-time and they are continuing to make advances to seller hub and notifications where possible.
Thanks,
Katie
nakedkeg
·3 years agoHi Dave,
Thanks for your reply.
Would I be correct in thinking that Tech are only concerned with the Bug?
Is there any indication that anyone from eBay is looking at correcting the financial detriment I have suffered?
Regards,
Neil
dave@ebay
Hi @nakedkeg
The guys in the tech team are indeed looking into the bug itself however, we do not offer any compensation for tech issues.
Thanks,
Dave
pg_kicks
·3 years agoHi,
Could you please tell me why on the FAQ on the authenticity Guarantee you spell out that if a customer marks it as customised they will bypass the scheme, this is just giving scammers a step by step guide on how to con ebay users out of money.
Ebay claim many users know about the scheme, but as I sell in this market and get 50% of my customers asking why the shoes have been delivered to a location in London and not them it clearly shows they have no idea about it, this is even after I send them a dispatch email letting them know.
I have spoken to the Authenticity Scheme team and they say they can not authorise customise shoes, but again this is false, you can still say the basic shoe is a genuine Nike/New Balance/Adidas and its been customised, its just eBay dont wish to do that.
I have reported numerous pairs but very rarely are they removed or if they are a new account pops up with the same listing/picture, so the moves eBay mark are clearly not enough, you could stop this by having the customised shoe go via authentication to confirm even if its been repainted that its a genuine product to start off with.
I obviously expect a we shall pass this on but the FAQ will stay the same and nothing will be done but at least I have highlighted it once again.
katie@ebay
Hi @pg_kicks,
Thank you for you insight into this topic.
At the moment customized shoes are not a part of the Authenticity Guarantee Programme. The team is constantly adding new categories, brands, and items so I am not sure if this is something they plan to add in the future.
I understand what you mean in regard to this being a benefit to be checked so I will send this on as feedback to the Authenticity Guarantee Team.
Thanks,
Katie
pg_kicks
·3 years agoThanks so basically nothing will get done and the FAQ aka steps on how to bypass the scheme will stay in place? Glad to see that supporting the sale of fake goods is so high up on the agenda for eBay and stopping this crime is so low down on the agenda. It is a very simple step to take yet eBay just seem to enjoy taking the FFV on the sale of fake goods even though they know 100% what they are doing.
ukhaberdashery
·3 years agoA buyer opened a case to say their item hadn't arrived . I replied that it was most probably due to the easter holiday and problems that RM were having at the moment and to hold on a while.
When it did arrive she contacted ebay to finish of the case quoting
"The buttons arrived this morning. Too late for me. the estimated time of delivery was on the 8th of April "
Ebay promptly refunded them for the item even though they clearly stated the item had arrived"
Ebay should have told them to open up a case for a return of the items they received.
I am now out of pocket and product because ebay did the wrong thing.
I appealed the case to get a message today that was written by someone who obviously did not know english stating that was the right decision and that was final.
"
Thank you so much for contacting us at eBay today about Shirt Jacket Coat Buttons you sold to notnewbelongings. I understand that the case got closed and a full refund is issued to the buyer even when the tracking shows item is delivered to the buyer. This is surely very frustrating. Let me check the details why the case got closed.
After checking the details I see that the item is expected to be delivered by 7th April but it does not went through. By which the buyer got chance to open a case with us. They did not get any help or refund from you for the delayed item. This is the reason we had to step in and solve for the buyer.
Sorry for the convenience caused to you for this transaction. But I suggest you for your future transactions please ensure you resolve your buyer's issue within the seller make it right period. By this you will be hold at fault.
"
Seems ebay are hiring the cheapest employees in order to save costs at the sellers expense.
katie@ebay
Hi @ukhaberdashery,
Thanks for your question.
You're right, in the case an INR is opened and the item does arrive late we should close the case and ask the buyer to open a not as described case if they want to return since the item arrived past when it was meant to.
However, in your situation here, the agent made the decision to refund the buyer at no cost to you. eBay refunds the buyer and you will receive the funds for this sale. This can take up to 72 hours. This is usually due to the cost of the item and doing what's best for both parties. I'm sorry this was not explained when you chatted with our teams to appeal. The appeal was denied because the refund will not come from you in this situation.
Hope that helps to explain, any questions let me know.
Thanks,
Katie
ukhaberdashery
·3 years agoShe bought 2 item. one it seems was not an issue but the 2nd 20-09885-67025 indicated that we were to blame as per the screenshot attached
ukhaberdashery
·3 years agoThe buyer had stated in the case the item had arrived and valid tracking had been given.
katie@ebay
Thanks @ukhaberdashery , sorry I missed the second one there.
These cases are slightly different because of the timeline.
The first case we chatted about when the case was closed on the 19th the item had already arrived. So the agent could help like I mentioned.
For the other case it was closed before the item had arrived on the 18th. Therefore, the case closes with a fault to the seller as at the time of closure the item had not arrived. It does not allow for another appeal on a case, so there is no further action I can take here on the second one.
This one comes down to timing. I hope this helps to explain why they have been treated differently.
Thanks,
Katie
ukhaberdashery
·3 years agoSo your saying I was lucky I was only robbed once and not twice! Ah thats good.
These were cheap items but people sending more expensive items will possibly have £100s of pounds taken from them with no recourse (as ebay does not bother sending follow up messages to try and get the item back) . Hopefully the Christmas, postal problem RM are having are now over but it seems that any problems in the postal system are ultimately paid for by the seller.
gnosemalf
·3 years agoI would like to ask why the perfectly functional Summary page was stripped of all the useful information it contained for purchased items; i.e. payment, shipped, feedback left and received icons as well as a tracking number, if provided by the seller.
Removing these items from the Summary page now requires buyers to click through two or three links to find the required information for each item when previously it had all been visible in one place.
How is this supposed to improve user-friendliness?
dave@ebay
Hi @gnosemalf
As part of integration across the site its sometimes needed to move options around to different locations.
I understand this can lead to extra clicks to find some information but it can sometimes be due to how the site works on the backend.
I will however pass your feedback to the development team to review.
Thanks,
Dave
gnosemalf
·3 years agoThanks for the reply but it doesn't explain how such a bad idea managed to get implemented.
If you can find a single eBay user who prefers the new stripped of anything useful Summary page, I will be shocked.