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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 27.11.24 @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 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.
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
bobsbrickstuff
·1 year agoHi there, I've been unable to buy Royal Mail international postage labels for small and medium parcels for quite a few weeks. Only UPS and DPD are shown in the single label purchase page, and on the bulk labels page changing the size from letter/large letter to small parcel crashes the page.
Letters and large letters are working fine.
a45heaven
·1 year agoThe Post Offices still provide them.
bobsbrickstuff
·1 year agoI know thanks, I'm doing them manually on the Royal Mail site but this is several times slower and I'm running a business 😅
kat@ebay
Hi @bobsbrickstuff ,
I will check up on the ability to buy the royal mail international labels. For the bulk labels page issue it is open with tech and I will add your account to that ticket.
Thank you,
Kat
cobwebcottage
·1 year agoHello all,
Would you be able to escalate a report which I submitted, which hasn't been actioned, for a private seller who is really abusing Ebay's policies?
They have over 1600 listings and every photo has contact details for their shop on E**y. Their user name even starts with the word E**y followed by their shop name ( on the other site).
All of their Ebay listings are also on the other site which they are promoting.
I cannot believe that they were not removed straight away. Happy to give you more details in messages.
cobwebcottage
·1 year agoTo be clear, the stars are missing the t and s.
dave@ebay
Hi @cobwebcottage
Happy to escalate this for you. Please PM me the userID and Ill have a look into it after the chat.
Thanks,
Dave
krafty-kreations
·1 year agoAdditionally, private sellers will no longer have access to the Multi-buy discount tool.
Hi Kat, is that all private sellers or just those with shop subscriptions
I am not sure stopping the discount tools is going to rectify the situation in all honesty, that just tells me that actually eBay have no intention of sorting the issue of business sellers on private accounts out at all, you are just penalising genuine private sellers that may use those tools!
kat@ebay
Hi @krafty-kreations ,
This will be for all private sellers. I understand on what your advising on not rectifying the situation but its another measure that will help towards these types of accounts.
Thank you,
Kat
Anonymous User
·1 year agoHello!
Why is there so much inconsistency on the 'sell similar' form?
Having removed all my listings while I was away recently, I have finally managed to get them all back on again, using 'sell similar'.
All my listings offer change of mind returns, and none offer 'collection'.
But using 'sell similar', sometimes it reverts to 'postage + collection' and even takes out the returns option on some. What should be a quick and easy task becomes such a chore, because I have to check every little thing to make sure ebay haven't changed something from the original.
And why, oh why, can we not choose our default out of 'post + collection' , 'post only' etc?
dave@ebay
Hi @Anonymous
I believe sell similar will use the original version of the listing when it lists. Did you ever offer collection on your items?
Thanks,
Dave
Anonymous User
·1 year agoNo, Dave that was my point!
I have never used 'collection' and have always offered returns.
dave@ebay
Hi @Anonymous
I just wanted to rule that out, it will be the first thing that's checked when I escalate it. If you want to PM me the item numbers of where it was different I can ask the site team to review it and see if I can get an answer for you.
Thanks,
Dave
auctiongabble
·1 year agoSpoken to a few agents past week, those who manage the accounts so quite high up in the support line and it is clear:-
Ebay are not interested in those who are clearly not a private seller but are using a private account.
Pointed one seller who has 1,240 items listed, 700 of these were brand new items!
Ebay response, they can have a large qty listed but if actual sales per month are low then its not an issue and only when high value per month is made in sales is when it triggers the system.
Raised same issues of problems with searches and how items are being hidden for a number of reasons and how UK site is flooded with oversea sellers items taking priority, even traders on private accounts are shown above mine…
I was basically told by the agent, if I want my items to be seen then pay for promotions.
Ebay agents have no concept of business expenses involved outside of ebay
14.9% ebay fees and ebays suggested promotion rate of 10 to 12%
No business will survive with selling costs like that!
Ebay agent also have said they no plans to assist business sellers, they currently see no issues and only if there is noticeable negative feedback or problems reported will something be looked in to.
So, what is coming from these weekly chats, feedback apparently gets taken.
I see nothing coming of these chats and it seems a pointless task as ebay are not taking any of members points seriously and clearly will not do anything to improve this site and make it a fair place to sell for private and business sellers, Are there any plans to improve the site for business sellers?
kat@ebay
Hi @auctiongabble ,
We are sharing the feedback raised with the relevant teams. It doesn't mean an immediate change will happen given that there are various processes and departments involved on the eBay platform.
In terms of what was introduced for business sellers it is the better protection against fraudulent returns and 1-1 seller clinics . We don't have information on further changes as of yet. Once we do we will let the community know.
Adding to the reduction of the listing allowance for private sellers Ebay are now also removing access to the discount tools for private sellers with shop subscriptions. This is another step towards managing the business accounts trading as private.
Thank you,
Kat
funkybunnie-direct
·1 year agoThe way to 'manage' the business accounts that are trading as private is to make them trade as a business account! Seems that ebay are happy to allow these sellers to trade against ebay policy, and also against ebay law that states that a business seller has to declare that they are when trading.
So are ebay going to actually 'make' these illegally trading sellers to become legal or just allow them to carry on and just put a few restrictions on the ways that they can allow offers etc?
auctiongabble
·1 year agoHi kat@ebay, you are missing the points here, many users are seeing nothing change and ebay would have the workforce to implement changes quickly if they wanted to. All ebay want from business sellers is more money to promote items. Ebay are not resolving the problems with the site and many users have raised and experienced the same problems. Please message me via messages as after 4 wks i need to talk direct
kat@ebay
Hi @auctiongabble ,
As we have already advised we don't support through private messages here. It is a community platform and it operates with users posting on threads. If you wish to speak to someone you can do so by going through the contact us option on your eBay account.
As a community team we share the points that are being raised as feedback. We cannot control when and how a change is made but we continue to follow up with our teams for future improvements.
Thank you,
Kat
dwtrading2015
·1 year agoHaving had to change my dispatch to same day to try and get the Top Rated Seller discount of 10% off FVF (still not showing despite multiple escalations to 'the back office teams'), the order page now says I am late in dispatch for not despatching on a Sunday. So, will this also apply to Christmas day, Boxing day and indeed every single day? Is it for real that the system expects same day including non-business days? I am informed if I use the one business day dispatch then it is not possible to full fill the 2-3 free post delivery target and only the same day dispatch is to be used.
AND STILL... Saturday is being counted as a Royal Mail working day despite myself posting here weeks ago Royal Mail do not include Saturday as a working day.
Seriously, 7 day a week dispatch requirement including bank holidays with impossible delivery dates due to a known bug in the calculation for delivery? Why is there even a dynamic delivery date anyway?
dave@ebay
Hi @dwtrading2015
I'll have a look at your account and see who was looking into the discount for you and see if they have an update for you.
I have passed your previous feedback on the EDDs to the shipping team. Ill also forward this post to them so they can review it.
Thanks,
Dave
rhyobrie2
·1 year agoCould I have a confirmation on the duplicate listing policy?
Reported a seller with 200+ Violations of the duplicate listing policy on two separate ebay stores both shops are competing against eachother, I've had customers think im also that seller.
2/3 of the search results are these duplicates of the same item in under 15 colours. Single item listings and variation listings. That's well over 100 listings.
Every rep i have spoken to said this seller should not be doing what they are doing and executive escalations team say they are not taken action. This has been going on for a year and ebay has done nothing at all apart from lie and give me false promises. While I have to pay ebay extra fees just to be seen. I'm just being messed about and ripped off by ebay at this point.
kat@ebay
Hi @rhyobrie2 ,
Duplicates are when a user has multiple listing for the exact same item which I understand is what you are advising of. There are auto tools on site that do flag up alot of duplicates across the site but it may not pick up everything. We don't take action on listings here and I don't have access to the escalation team's review. If they have advised they are not taking action they may have information that the reported accounts are not the same. If you are finding further duplicates its best to report them through the site.
Thank you,
Kat
rhyobrie2
·1 year agoThank you, I sent a spreadsheet of every item Id and the duplicates to ebay head office in the uk there was 200+ just on one product alone, ebay said they would take action, executive escalations confirmed they are doing nothing about the situation after months of nothing.
So thank you for confirming ebay are just ripping me off and destroying my business because they clearly do not care about rules being broken when it comes to them actually taking action.
What is the point of rules when they are not enforced?
treetopsminicottages
·1 year agoGood afternoon,
I appreciate that you are unable to comment on individual cases that have been opened but I am wondering if you can give any ideas on the grounds that sellers can escalate a case with eBay before receiving back, or while in transist, a return for an IND case opened well within the advised time scale? Thank you.
dave@ebay
Hi @treetopsminicottages
In general, the buyer has 15 business days to return the item. After that you can speak to the cases team who may close the return or extend the time to allow the item to be delivered. Some returns can remain open for up to 35 business days though.
Thanks,
Dave
treetopsminicottages
·1 year agoYes I understand the timescales re IND cases but I met this situation for the first time this week.
Having opened a IND case last weekend I received a returns label and posted the return yesterday morning (Tuesday). Within a few hours I was notified the seller had asked eBay to escalate the case. So, I am wondering on what grounds, when the return is confirmed as in transit, can a seller get a case escalated before actually receiving back the return?
dave@ebay
Hi @treetopsminicottages
It sounds like you were within the required timeframes so I can't say why in that case the option to escalate was available for the seller.
It might be worth reaching out to CS they will be able to review the case and tell you what happened.
Thanks,
Dave
funkybunnie-direct
·1 year agoA subject that keeps coming up – mainly because official business sellers are not only frustrated, but are losing money because ebay will not police their site and force the 1000s of private sellers that are ILLEGALLY selling as ‘Private’. Seems like ebay are happy to allow so many sellers to break the law.
Since the beginning of Octoer when the free listing for Private sellers started I have reported over 30 of these sellers that are trading illegally (against ebay policy and UK law). These include
Feedback over 6k – item listed 4.2k+
Feedback 8.4k – items listed 4k+
Feedback 3.4k – items listed 5.6k+
I could go on and on and on. It’s not just the number listed as I realise someone could have a private collection that they are selling off. But these seller are selling if not 100% then nearly 100% BRAND NEW items. And many with multiple quantities.
Whilst I realise that this is probably a massive task, can some one actually tell us what ebay are actually doing about this? And not just the usual ‘we are working on it”
kat@ebay
Hi @funkybunnie-direct ,
I understand the frustration with the reporting. EBay continue to review accounts and are taking action which is not always visible. In terms of measures being introduced to manage private accounts they have reduced the listing allowance from 1000 to 300 and most recently they are introducing that from 20th of January 2025 the discount tools will no longer be included for private sellers with Shop subscriptions . This will be Coupons, Sale Events and Order discounts. Additionally, private sellers will no longer have access to the Multi-buy discount tool.
Thank you,
Kat
funkybunnie-direct
·1 year agoThat's hardly an answer. Whilst I appreciate the listing number has been reduced, this is only for NEW listings. Why on earth a "Private' seller would need even this number is beyond me. To list 10 items a day takes time. 5,600 items listed from my previous example would cost me an extra £240 a month on top of my £92 subscription - and then have to pay when I sell
This is becoming a joke. Not wanting to be too aggressive, you can sit fobbing us off with responses that mean nothing and certainly don’t answer our questions. Regardless of the answers you will still get paid the same at the end of the month. And who pays a large portion of you wage – official business sellers. Business seller who are losing money because of allowing this illegal trading. You will be driving these sellers off your site, and who will pay your wages then?
I would happily do ebays job of finding these sellers that are trading for free! But tell us the way to report these sellers - from the sellers I have reported I have only had a response from 2 - and these ebay said were not doing anything wrong. So how do we report that something actually might be actioned?
kat@ebay
Hi @funkybunnie-direct,
We can do as much as we can on this side which is push feedback that is brought to the chats. With regards to the new reporting system we are currently following this up to get confirmation for the best way to have these accounts reviewed. As soon as we have that detail I will update.
Thank you,
Kat
returns_andexdisplay
·1 year agoWhat exactly do ebay understand?
Pretty much sums ebay managment up currently if the plan is to switch sale event and coupons off in mid Jan after peak is over.
The businesses that want to do well on the site and support feel cut off at the knees presently with the decisions that have been made recently.
Private sellers who move over to a shop get given a free shop till the end of the year along with free FVF
Private sellers get free everything
All a businesses gets is emails asking for more money to pay for ebay's bonuses from promoted listings.
Maybe HMRC will come and take a look at ebay and see all the VAT they have missed out on this quarter from the fees businesses should of been paying ebay.
kat@ebay
Hi @returns_andexdisplay ,
I understand where your coming from and get the frustration with the private accounts. I will share the points you are making as feedback.
Thank you,
Kat
darth_baggins
·1 year agoCan you explain why I continue to get nonsense emails from eBay? I've raised this before on here and of course it's been 'passed to the team' yet it keeps happening.
Is there no kind of quality control there at eBay or what?
dave@ebay
Hi @darth_baggins
Have you turned off marketing emails in your Communication preferences.? It should stop any unwanted emails.
Thanks,
Dave
cooksongold
·1 year agoI would say the issue isn't getting the emails as such - the original poster may actually be interested in business finance.
The issue is the content - you have a variable data field that has nothing in it - so the email is useless.
darth_baggins
·1 year agoDave - you've totally missed the point. May I suggest you look at the picture? It says I've qualified for £!
This is at least the fourth time this has happened. Does anybody working for eBay actually check these things before they're sent out?
dave@ebay
Hi @darth_baggins,
Apologies, I get you now.
As you know it's not something we have any control over, but would you mind forwarding the email to contactcommunity@ebay.com. I'll find out what team it came and make them aware of the issue.
Thanks,
Dave