"These items haven't sold yet? Let's change that."
Summary: retroman303 expresses frustration with an eBay message that suggests sellers need to revise their listings to sell items. Others join in, discussing similar annoyances with eBay's prompts and grammar misuse. suelel1968 and podlingsmum suggest more honest, albeit tongue-in-cheek, alternatives for the messaging. department28 and the_book_seekers add that eBay's numerous messages and prompts can be overwhelming. The conversation includes light-hearted camaraderie and humor while acknowledging broader issues with eBay's interface and communication style.
Not an earth-shattering post, I'm just having a bit of a whinge about this annoying message that frequently pops up in my inbox.
It's that question mark that aggravates me the most! It's completely redundant (both eBay and I are perfectly aware that the items haven't sold), it reminds me of some people's annoying tendency to phrase a statement as a question by raising the pitch towards the end of a sentence, and it comes across as slightly hassling. I'll revise my listings as and when I see fit, thank you. Having said that, I do understand the reason for regular prompts like this from eBay's business point of view. We mustn't slack on generating those fees. We must continually feed the insatiable beast.
It would be so much less annoying if they just used a full stop instead!
eBay, the wording of this message is very annoying? Let's change that.
Grrrr! File next to "vinyls"!
Also, "Let's change that" is overly optimistic (one could go so far as to say "potentially misleading") as there is no guarantee whatsoever that following eBay's recommendations and/or making my own adjustments to a listing will "change that", i.e. will change my items' as-yet-unsold status. In fact, incorporating some of eBay's recommended changes would almost certainly ensure that my items remained unsold.
"Let's see if we can change that" still conveys the intended meaning and sense of (faint) hope, but sounds less prescriptive, and is more realistic in that it doesn't imply that making eBay's suggested changes definitely will change my items' as-yet-unsold status.
I post this is in the full knowledge that eBay is plagued with far more serious issues (and lots of them), so I hope people won't accuse me of clogging up the boards with an unnecessary and whimsical post.
I'm also posting partly as a way of easing myself back into these boards, even though, like many others, I now find it virtually impossible to follow longer threads in any coherent order. I just read the comments, and have largely given up on trying to work out to which post another post is a reply (or even if it is a reply). For the most part, I am just reading a list of comments, rather than following a conversation that flows in a meaningful way.
For goodness 's sake, eBay, please at least number the posts so that we can explicitly reference them (and, to ensure consistency and avoid confusion, if a post gets deleted - whether by the OP or a mod - keep the numbered text box there with a message to say that the contents has been removed).
I hope everyone is having a superbly scintillating Sunday, or at least a somewhat satisfactory one.
theelench
路1 week agoWhy does ebay waste so much time and effort on this sort of misleading advice ?
Why not tell the truth ?
Why not just send emails telling it as it REALLY is on today's ebay ??
Why not just say "Blah, blah, blah. Let's change that. Give us Promotion Fees, or even more fees if you're not already giving us enough and ebay will let your ad. be seen, POSSIBLY leading to more sales. Cough-up or forget selling anything much on ebay.
the_book_seekers
路1 week agoIn addition to the messages there are there the insertions in my seller hub, particularly the Manage Active Listings page. I have similar messages added to
listings under actions. Then there are the banners which are pointless to remove as ebay replaces them, sometimes within minutes. At the moment I have 4 banners telling me I need to reduce dispatch time, promote off ebay, send offers and promote with a general strategy. I wish there was a way to switch these things off.
retroman303
OP1 week agoHey, AI thread summary - I was the one who compared the cumulative effect to a swarm of mozzies, not that scene-stealing department28! It was me! Me! ME!
department28
路1 week agoThe creepy summary has updated itself several times since it made that foolish error... we're all 'sharing a light-hearted camaraderie' at the moment... 馃槃 Goodness knows how it 'decides' which comments are supposed to be humorous, or sarcastic etc.
Oh come on AI, just hurry up & finish us all off... you know you want to... 馃拃
department28
路1 week agoYes - these 'encouraging' little messages from eBay are very irritating to some of us. Whilst not a big deal in the scheme of things, all these small irritants add up... over time, they have turned eBay into an increasingly annoying place to be.
Let's change that... is the bit I find especially annoying. It implies don't worry! we're in this together... come along small child, hold eBay's hand, and we'll soon sort this out for you...!'
And it's not only eBay - other sites are just as bad, with the 'Let's get you started' business, & all the rest of the fake chummy AI nonsense... 馃檮
suelel1968
路1 week ago"chummy AI nonsense.."
I think I like AI more than I like my friends....
retroman303
OP1 week ago 路 Edited@department28
I agree. In isolation, you can shrug these things off with barely a neuron fired, but there's a damaging cumulative effect.
It's like the difference between being bitten by a mosquito and being attacked by a massive swarm of them. One of them barely registers; a horde can easily bring you down.
It is indeed a testing environment to be in for any length of time (apart from the relative sanctuary of these forums). One minute eBay is chummy, the next it's hectoring, then it's cajoling, then it's controlling... It's like having an employer who just cannot settle on a single management style.
It keeps us on our tootsies, I guess, but oh my, what a tempestuous relationship we have with this platform!
moonlight-rhapsody
路1 week agoI love a bit of grammatical pedantry, especially when it's combined with a whimsical post 聽馃ぃ
retroman303
OP1 week ago@moonlight-rhapsody Ha ha, glad to have hit the spot!
podlingsmum
路1 week agoIt should be 'These items haven't sold yet because we hide your listings. Please pay us more and we may be able to get these sold?'
retroman303
OP1 week ago@podlingsmum eBay hiding non-promoted listings? Steady now!
I remain on the fence with that one, but some of my selling experiences - as well as a general awareness of how eBay treats sellers - are definitely causing my head to turn in one direction...
suelel1968
路1 week ago 路 Edited@retroman303 I absolutely love a grammar post! I live in a town where all the apostrophes have been left out of the signage or even put in where not needed. Drives me crazy.
This is an annoying message from eBay even without the grammatical error. In terms of improving the wording, would " Pay us more fees and we'll try harder to sell it!" work?
retroman303
OP1 week ago@suelel1968 Well, I'm glad it resonated with someone!
Are you a member of the Apostrophe Protection Society? Sounds like you should be! Or perhaps email your local authority with a link to it (or vice versa)!
Your suggestion is certainly more honest, but how about removing "harder"?