Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 06.12.23 @2pm

[community-team@ebay]

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 marco@ebay, katie@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. Some questions may not be suitable for this weekly chat, as it closes after 1 hour. If you have a long question or one that requires a lot of investigation please write a discussion post on the boards and tag our team members. 

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

[lincolnshiremarine]

Marco 

Which board do you want me to post it on?, and will you get back to me.

The reason I am asking is........ I put my ebay shop on Time away/seller away last week.  The TIME AWAY display banner came up for the buyers to see on the shop, but, the auto message response did not work.  I spent my time talking to ebay trying to get this resolved when I should of been relaxing at the airport. 

Whilst you may say that the SELLER TIME AWAY banner is showing on the shop, I feel it is good customer service to let customers know should they message us, we are away.  

Anyway, despite advice given by the ebay customer service the auto message DID NOT work.  I know this as I did several tests myself sending myself messages, with no auto messages sent back.   

I was then told it would take 3 days to fix then later got an email stating that they would look into it and get back to me within 15 working days. 

What is the point of asking for help, pointing out isseues,  when we are told either nothing is wrong or we will  get back to you in 15 working days.   Now returned back to work and now the issue with the postage. 

Thank you 

[anita@ebay]

---

@darth_baggins wrote:

Yes, and my question (which you've not answered) was do eBay still have 'the user leaves a disproportionate amount of bad feedback?' as one of those policies that gives grounds for removal.

Could you please answer my question? Thanks.

Incidentally your link doesn't have an option to report leaving a lot of bad feedback.

---

@darth_baggins, thanks for your reply.

This will not be the reason for the feedback removal, as feedback is about the transaction and each transaction is not related to each other, unless the same buyer did leave a negative feedback to the same seller. However, if the buyer did abuse the feedback policies, and we took an action on their account, depending on the action, it may affect the feedback they have left. You would need though to report the buyer in order for a review. If you are unable to use the link I provided, you may contact our customer support and report them here.

Thanks,

Anita

[marco@ebay]

---

@risalvage2022 wrote:

Hi, I'm a business seller.  I sold an item to a buyer for £250.  She messaged saying she didnt think the suede felt like suede and wasn't happy.  I said I would accept the return and asked her to return (my account states buyer pays/returns if remorse).  She didn't open a case.  Waited a week and received nothing.  To cut a long story short the buyer messages and sends me Royal Mails delivered signature.  Signature was not mine but my surname printed underneath, no card through door and no parcel left anywhere (not with neighbours, in garden, anywhere).  She sent it 2nd class Signed For which isn't a tracked service and doesn't cover over £50 for loss.  We didn't agree this method as she did it so quick.  Signed For is not a tracked service, RM tracked services are Tracked 24, Tracked 48 and Special Delivery only.  I said I hadn't received it and would refund when received.  She opened a case today for not as described and she has to upload proof of return.  She's uploaded the reciept of posting and the unknown signature from last week.  Ebay have messaged giving me 2 days to refund.  What can I do.  I didn't book the courier and even if I could claim from Royal Mail as a third party for stolen parcel etc she didn't use a 'suitable' method of return postage as doesn't cover full value.  First line of my address is wrong on the return too.  On the Ebay claim/request it shows a tracking number Ebay sent her today and the photo shows the RM Signed For reference number.  Looks like she will get a full refund and I end up with no returned item and no way of claiming my money back from Royal Mail.  Is this correct please?  I'm at my wits end with worry.  I sent it Special Delivery in the first place.  Thanks in advance to anyone that can help or point me in direction of what to do next please x

---

Hi risalvage2022, thanks for your post.

Normally, you'd be covered in this scenario as there is no tracking information confirming delivery to your return address. Please note that if there is tracking information confirming the delivery to your return address, then I would suggest refunding the buyer. However, according to your message above, this doesn't seem to the case, so you should be ok.

If the case gets closed against you, please feel free to create a thread and tag me on it, and I will take a look for you and assist you further and take the necessary actions then based on the case evidence available to the case at that time.

Thank you,

Marco

[marco@ebay]

---

@lincolnshiremarine wrote:

Marco 

Which board do you want me to post it on?, and will you get back to me.

The reason I am asking is........ I put my ebay shop on Time away/seller away last week.  The TIME AWAY display banner came up for the buyers to see on the shop, but, the auto message response did not work.  I spent my time talking to ebay trying to get this resolved when I should of been relaxing at the airport. 

Whilst you may say that the SELLER TIME AWAY banner is showing on the shop, I feel it is good customer service to let customers know should they message us, we are away.  

Anyway, despite advice given by the ebay customer service the auto message DID NOT work.  I know this as I did several tests myself sending myself messages, with no auto messages sent back.   

I was then told it would take 3 days to fix then later got an email stating that they would look into it and get back to me within 15 working days. 

What is the point of asking for help, pointing out isseues,  when we are told either nothing is wrong or we will  get back to you in 15 working days.   Now returned back to work and now the issue with the postage. 

Thank you 

---

Thanks for your reply, lincolnshiremarine.

You can post it on Seller Central, and I will get back to you by the end of the day.

Thank you,

Marco

[pg_kicks]

marco@ebay so if it is working correctly then you are accepting that eBay dont care for users to break policy?

Great thanks, the copy and paste answers you give are pretty pointless, you have not asked for any proof that I have that show the system is broken but you will just parrot that its not broken, I have proof that its either broken or not fit for purpose, again if you wish to have this evidence then I'm more than happy to share it with you, or you can just give me a copy and paste saying its working fine when I have reported hundreds of accounts for selling fake items and they are still listed. Unless you work in the reporting department you can not 100% tell me its working fine without looking at any of the evidence I'm more than happy to share with you. 

anita@ebay katie@ebay are either of you's willing to take a look into it as I have a list of accounts I'm more than happy to share who are breaking policies, have been reported yet are still selling and breaking the law. All I ask is somebody from eBay community team actually looks into this and does nto give me a copy and paste answer saying all is fine as the site burns down around you's, I wish I could insert a meme into this reply as we all know the one which fits perfect for this situation.

[teegs123]

Good afternoon

The authentication service says it now comes with free delivery using eBay packlink.

Is it the buyer that now pays this fee when they pay? And how much does insurance cover via this method as it seems to be linked to DPD and DPD only insure up to £60 which is really low I would rather use the original royal mail signed for and tracked service due to their insurance policy? 

And do we have any explanation to why the offers for reduced fees have disappeared since February not had a single offer and it's really disappointing

Thanks

Tegan

[darth_baggins]

Ok once more, a simple yes/no would be great.

I know for a fact that eBay used to have a rule that said if a buyer leaves a high percentage of bad feedback for sellers, then this is against eBay policy. I know it was there, I've read it. But now I can't find it.

So please tell me, is this still a rule or not? Has it been changed? That's all I want to know.

[*kittylou*]

Hi, ongoing (about a month or so), I am not receiving a message / notification that someone has requested a total. For the items to show as sold my side but not paid for they must have clicked on it but I get nothing which would include any message that they have for me. 

I have mentioned a few times on threads but no discussion from others. Is it just me? Can someone look into this please?

Thanks, Katharine 

[katie@ebay]

---

@pg_kicks wrote:

marco@ebay so if it is working correctly then you are accepting that eBay dont care for users to break policy?

Great thanks, the copy and paste answers you give are pretty pointless, you have not asked for any proof that I have that show the system is broken but you will just parrot that its not broken, I have proof that its either broken or not fit for purpose, again if you wish to have this evidence then I'm more than happy to share it with you, or you can just give me a copy and paste saying its working fine when I have reported hundreds of accounts for selling fake items and they are still listed. Unless you work in the reporting department you can not 100% tell me its working fine without looking at any of the evidence I'm more than happy to share with you. 

anita@ebay katie@ebay are either of you's willing to take a look into it as I have a list of accounts I'm more than happy to share who are breaking policies, have been reported yet are still selling and breaking the law. All I ask is somebody from eBay community team actually looks into this and does nto give me a copy and paste answer saying all is fine as the site burns down around you's, I wish I could insert a meme into this reply as we all know the one which fits perfect for this situation.

---

Hi @pg_kicks,

Thank you, I appreciate you have reports and have been making them through the site. With thousands of items going onto the UK site even by the hour sometimes this is an around the clock task for our teams.

When reporting through the site it is sent directly to our teams who can take the needed action. My reporting adds a step to this and my reports go into the very same queue.

We do take note of the system itself and the feedback we receive about it is sent on accordingly. At this time, this is the action our team can take here. 

Thanks,

Katie 

[marco@ebay]

---

@*kittylou* wrote:

Hi, ongoing (about a month or so), I am not receiving a message / notification that someone has requested a total. For the items to show as sold my side but not paid for they must have clicked on it but I get nothing which would include any message that they have for me. 

I have mentioned a few times on threads but no discussion from others. Is it just me? Can someone look into this please?

Thanks, Katharine 

---

Hi *kittylou*, thanks for your post.

Could you please create a new thread on this on one of our boards, and tag me on it and I will help you from there? Just add the item numbers for the items you got requested a total for, but didn't get a notification for it. I will then review that for you, and get back to you before the end of the day.

Thank you,

Marco

[johannadee]

The email states quite clearly that the feedback has been fully removed. The cooment had been removed two weeks prior so that would not be what the agent was talking about.

And are you really saying that a buyer can leave a negative for someone elses's complaint, who is not a buyer, and that doesn't violate policy?

[anita@ebay]

---

@teegs123 wrote:

Good afternoon

The authentication service says it now comes with free delivery using eBay packlink.

Is it the buyer that now pays this fee when they pay? And how much does insurance cover via this method as it seems to be linked to DPD and DPD only insure up to £60 which is really low I would rather use the original royal mail signed for and tracked service due to their insurance policy? 

And do we have any explanation to why the offers for reduced fees have disappeared since February not had a single offer and it's really disappointing

Thanks

Tegan

---

Hi @teegs123, thanks for your post.

Our Authenticity guarantee is now managing the shipping and the charge is 8.95 to the buyer and you can find more information here. As for the insurance, let me double-check with the Authenticity team and come back to you on that.

In relation to the promotions these are set up by the marketing team, and we have no control over them, so unfortunately I woulnd't have an insight on this.

Thanks,

Anita

[rwl1001]

Hi Marco

Screenshot attached.

This happens when I click the nectar link on the screenshot. I'm trying to link my nectar account to my ebay account

[pg_kicks]

Hi Katie,

Thanks for the reply, I'm not sure if its just me but I dont really understand what you have just said, are you to saying the reporting feature is working fine and dandy, or just that you and the other team members dont really know how it works (very understandable) and just that the reporting team are working very hard but the system isnt set up for the amount of reports so is clearly failing as I have been reporting policy violations for months and the accounts are still active?

We were told previously that eBay deal with the most serious reports first, is this still the case? Obviously you may not even know but certainly wont tell us what eBay deem as serious, but I'd have thought selling fake goods would be pretty serious. 

I apologise if I come across aggressive or annoyed, but I am trying to make eBay a safer place for people to buy and sell but I feel like I'm hitting my head off a brick wall as we (as customers of eBay) keep getting copy and paste replies like we are a not worthy of a genuine reply when we are just trying to help put out a fire as it seems certain parts of eBay dont care how fast it burns.

like I have offered numerous times I'm more than happy to send a list of accounts to anyone who wishes to take ownership of the issue from eBays side and help create a safe and trustworthy platform for both buyers and sellers.

PS thank you for the none copy and paste anwer.

[risalvage2022]

Thanks for super quick reply Marco! all comes down to 'definition' of enough tracking information then and criteria? there's a signature of someone but not me, my printed surname in capitals under it and no parcel and no card.  Not sent by me with my address but missing part of house name.  Is that sufficient delivery info to initiate a refund to customer, I've tried to ask them on a chat but they said we can help you more on the 13th of December and try to resolve matters for me.  Meaning shut up, we are going to refund and they you will have a fight on your hands.  Will they rely on her old proof of delivery or wait until she uploads new proof of return using their provided label of today, (which is never going to happen as she has already said she has sent item back so she has no item to send).  Do humans deal with these returns or all automated?  I can of course let you know what happens too.

[darth_baggins]

Simply as an FYI, I tried your link. I'm on live chat now with an agent who seems to think I am a buyer and I received negative feedback from a seller. Seriously, what's the point?

[anita@ebay]

---

@darth_baggins wrote:

Ok once more, a simple yes/no would be great.

I know for a fact that eBay used to have a rule that said if a buyer leaves a high percentage of bad feedback for sellers, then this is against eBay policy. I know it was there, I've read it. But now I can't find it.

So please tell me, is this still a rule or not? Has it been changed? That's all I want to know.

---

@darth_baggins,

Once again, buyer leaving negative feedback to other sellers wouldn't be a reasons for feedback removal on it's own. Buyer might have genuinely had a bad experience. However, if we did determine that buyer is abusing the feedback policy, we would take the action, that can affect the appeal decision. The best thing is to report the buyer first, and then appeal the feedback.

Thanks,

Anita

[returns_andexdisplay]

I appreciate your concern. Since EDDs are dynamic, it takes into consideration history and performance of your shipping time. If you post your items on the first day of handling time, it will take it into consideration, as well as courier performance, and when items are being delivered.

Thanks,

Anita

Junping on this reply. 

EDD does not work for a small business. When are ebay going to understand that what my working pattern was 2 weeks ago where I might be able to dispach quicker will not be the same today or this week if I am businer or have other things to deal with. Please let us manage our own shipping expecations. Thought that is the whole point of allowing business to create shipping policies with courier and shipping dispatch was so we can create our own shipping expecations. 

I understand how something will be delivered quicker to someone  20 miles away as opposed to someone the other end of the country.  But ebay is continually showing unrealistic delivery times before an item is due to be shipped creating issues between buyers and sellers. 

[lincolnshiremarine]

marco@ebay 

I have now posted this.

If you are unclear of what I am explaning please let me know before the end of this chat session.  Otherwise I will not be able to reply and get a general message back.

Best wishes

[marco@ebay]

Hi johannadee, thanks for letting me know more about this.

I will review this myself after the weekly chat, and provide you with an update before the end of the day.

Thank you,

Marco