Weekly chat useful or not?

[moldosgifts]

As title says is the weekly chat helpful or not?

So this week we learnt that private accounts from late January will get restricted again.

"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." ( quoted from the weekly chat)

Sounds good but they still get access during peak selling period so too late for most of us.

Trying to compete with those illegally trading is breaking me slowly.

When you get the non descript answers fobbed off is exactly what i feel.

I dint participate this week thing would have burst a blood vessel if i had.

RANT OVER

[krafty-kreations]

I haven't seen many business sellers on private accounts with shops, losing the multi discount tool isn't much of a loss when they can just lower their prices.

It's just eBay doing its very worst at trying to rectify a problem they do not want to rectify but need to try and keep unhappy business sellers on board! 

[moldosgifts]

Get her reported today!

[johnwash1]

"Boss, forum posts show the weekly chat isn't useful at present, shall I try to get more management and team leaders involved, so we can answer questions better and address problems?"

"Er, no, don't do that, this is the perfect excuse to say we've found the chats aren't useful for sellers and close it down"

[johnwash1]

---

@wyntersemporium wrote:

I reported one private seller at 17, 000 items, but eBay said it was ok . Too many private sellers acting as businesses even my sister is private but is buying to sell.

---

Maybe your sister is clearing out her drawers.  Cupboard drawers, I mean.

[moldosgifts]

Or just clearing out the 70.000 foot storage unit they have for their personal bits and bobs.

[johnwash1]

---

@moldosgifts wrote:

Or just clearing out the 70.000 foot storage unit they have for their personal bits and bobs.

---

Actually, someone I recently corresponded with, empathising about hoarding, I only half jokingly said that it sounded like he needed to move into a bigger house.  He replied that he doesn't want to move out of his flat, but his problem is so bad that he rents a couple of storage units.

But I apologise.  This is taking the thread off topic.  I don't even know why the thread was generously given its title.  The question is not whether the weekly chat is useful.  The answer to that is clear.  The question should be: is there any chance it ever will become useful, and what needs to happen for that change?

[moldosgifts]

Start your own chat 😂

Seriously though it is an important question, this is the only week in months anything came out of the chat that remotely counts as an answer to a very important question.

Not that i think it will address the issue of private/business

[johnwash1]

---

@moldosgifts wrote:

Start your own chat 😂

Seriously though it is an important question, this is the only week in months anything came out of the chat that remotely counts as an answer to a very important question.

Not that i think it will address the issue of private/business

---

Really?  I did read this week's chat earlier today, all I saw was the usual "we're powerless but will pass on your message" and "I've read your question and will anwer a slightly different one".  But I confess I was speed reading without much optimism.

Even as a private seller I would actually welcome a return to the fee structure before October.  I find now that I feel no sense of urgency.  Previously the discount offers coming along every fortnight would galvanise me, I would spend a good part of the 4 day period testing old items and listing them.

[bravergrace]

One aspect that I find frustrating, is when sellers ask a question and the forum reps don't understand it, or don't understand the problem.  It's frustrating because we sellers aren't supposed to contribute to the discussion, only to ask questions of our own.

For example, there was a recent question on the weekly chat about why the eBay postage labels don't work properly for international small parcels, but they do work for international large letters.  

The answer - or at least part of the answer - is that whoever set the system up, has assumed that the RM "small parcel size" is the same for domestic and international services.

The fact that the problem hasn't been sorted, probably means that whoever actually deals with designing/programming the page, hasn't noticed this, let alone understood the effects of it not working - at least, for sellers who send lots of international parcels.

[bojangled]

@bravergrace 

Was that the post early on in the year about how eBay postage international labels don’t format correctly for 6 x 4? 
Several people have requested this nothing has been done. As soon as I realised RM  C & D was a much easier interface and format, and I had control over EDD when marking as dispatched, it was a no-brainer. 

You can understand why people get frustrated, and at the end of the day eBay lose out. That’s not good for anyone.

Jo

[tascio1]

In my opinion, there is only one major thing that ebay needs to do: remove all the current programmers & hire some that have actual expertise gained over 20+ years. That way, all glitches would disappear making sellers happier & buyers may actually start to reappear knowing they can search for what they really want without being bombarded with foreign listings etc. etc.

[the-nutwood-collection]

A shop can be advantageous if you stock a lot of disparate items.

If I'm buying a low-value item, like stationery, I'll look in the seller's shop to see if there's anything else I want that will boost the order value and make packing it worthwhile.  Some sellers have an amazing mix of item types, so I can just look in the categories that I'm likely to buy from.

However, some sellers with hundreds or thousands of items don't seem to have mastered the category function and lump everything from car parts to toys in one category, which doesn't help at all.     

[moldosgifts]

I meant it absolutely did you not spot the emoji?

"This is taking the thread off topic"

So yes start your own thread 😂😂😀

[moonspender]

Also i raised a question relating to GPSR on the 20th and was advised i'd get an offline reply but to date i havent recieved this - this is poor customer service and prehaps an indication of the importance the ebay team atribute to the weekly chats.

Also suggesting in the weekly chat that i could go to the roadshows to ask questions to senior managers is rediculous and lacks an understanding of business -

The most recent one closest to us was 70 miles away so has associated costs to get there and back.

The ebay senior attendees were not in the areas I had questions about.

Cost to business - no work no pay - the joy of being self employed.

So I probably wont ask anymore questions in the weekly chat. As they say " insantity is doing the same over and over again and expecting a different outcome "

And that makes me sad as I want ebay to improve and grow ...

[johnwash1]

---

@moldosgifts wrote:

I meant it absolutely did you not spot the emoji?

"This is taking the thread off topic"

So yes start your own thread 😂😂😀

---

Unfortunately I'm emoji-challenged.  Plain smiley face is about my limit.  And '/s' to signify sarcasm.

I find it a particularly severe problem on ebay, because it seems like every second posting is an outraged John McEnroe "You can not be serious".  And with good reason.

[darth_baggins]

Another example of not understanding the question, I got an email saying I was entitled to borrow money (ha!) and I could get £!

I asked why this kind of nonsense was sent out and I got a reply explaining how I could opt out of marketing emails, totally missing the point (I added a screen shot) that the email said I could borrow £!

[exponential_developments]

I've had the  !!!!   message twice in the last month, plus them sending me a letter to my home address.