Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 11.12.24 @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 kat@ebay, marco@ebay and dave@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. We understand that certain topics, such as concerns about businesses possibly using private accounts, can be frustrating and important to you. Please refrain from asking the same question repeatedly in our weekly live chats. We assure you that we carefully review all posts in the forum and ensure that your concerns are communicated to the relevant teams for appropriate action.
To maintain a constructive and community environment, posts that repeatedly breach this guideline may be removed. Continued violations could result in further action against your community account. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in helping us keep our community focused and respectful.

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

[funkybunnie-direct]

In replies to post in the chat in the last month, I have twice asked how to 'report' illegally trading business sellers trading as 'Private'. The answer has been that you will find out and let me know. Nobody has. So how do we?

[darth_baggins]

You're probably sick of hearing about EDDs by now, but how can it be correct that 2nd class, 1st class and RM24 Tracked all have the same EDD range?

If the 'dynamic' estimates are working as intended, then maybe the intention is wrong. What incentive is there for a seller to offer postage upgrades if the customer sees no benefit?

Also, you're quoting Saturday for next day delivery for something ordered on a Tuesday. Plus RM charge extra for Saturday special delivery so Saturdays should not even be included in this.

When is eBay going to admit that the whole thing is just broken?

This is what I saw when buying something yesterday.

[funkybunnie-direct]

Is there a point, takings wise, that ebay might actually look at a 'Private' seller and decide that they are trading illegally? 

[lincolnshiremarine]

Good afternoon,

Where can I find the VAT invoices for postage purchased through eBay? Such as Evri, Yodel and Royal Mail. They do not seem to appear on the monthly Tax invoice.

Thank you.

[kat@ebay]

Hi @funkybunnie-direct ,

With the new report system there is no drop down option to report these kinds of accounts. We are still following this up with the relevant team to get clarification. We don't have a current update right now and as soon as we further details on it I will share.

Thank you,

Kat

[marco@ebay]

---

@darth_baggins wrote:

You're probably sick of hearing about EDDs by now, but how can it be correct that 2nd class, 1st class and RM24 Tracked all have the same EDD range?

If the 'dynamic' estimates are working as intended, then maybe the intention is wrong. What incentive is there for a seller to offer postage upgrades if the customer sees no benefit?

Also, you're quoting Saturday for next day delivery for something ordered on a Tuesday. Plus RM charge extra for Saturday special delivery so Saturdays should not even be included in this.

When is eBay going to admit that the whole thing is just broken?

This is what I saw when buying something yesterday.

---

Hi darth_baggins, thanks for your question.

Let me flag this one with the shipping team, so they can take a further look and then I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for including screenshots.

Thank you,

Marco

[funkybunnie-direct]

Whilst I appreciate this is beyond your personal control, this is something that ebay should have done before introducing free listing fees for private sellers. As previously stated this has a major impact on sellers trading legally, and ebay seems happy to let that continue. Has there been a single private account that ebay has even ' suggested' that they should be a business account?

[marco@ebay]

---

@lincolnshiremarine wrote:

Good afternoon,

Where can I find the VAT invoices for postage purchased through eBay? Such as Evri, Yodel and Royal Mail. They do not seem to appear on the monthly Tax invoice.

Thank you.

---

Hi lincolnshiremarine,

I don't think we have an specific report for VAT invoices for postage. However, let me double check that for you and see if I can find further information on it.

Thank you,

Marco

[kat@ebay]

---

@funkybunnie-direct wrote:

Is there a point, takings wise, that ebay might actually look at a 'Private' seller and decide that they are trading illegally? 

---

Hi @funkybunnie-direct ,

Ebay have their own internal reviews that are performed on accounts. There is action taken on accounts that is not shared publicly due to security and privacy reasons. 

Thank you,

Kat

[equinox-electronics]

Hi 

Can I just give some positive feedback on the festivefun coupon for business sellers last week. I can say it definitely drove sales (was my best week in 6 years) and been a business seller it's one good thing ebay have done in quite awhile! Past this on to the relevant teams 

[kat@ebay]

---

@funkybunnie-direct wrote:

Whilst I appreciate this is beyond your personal control, this is something that ebay should have done before introducing free listing fees for private sellers. As previously stated this has a major impact on sellers trading legally, and ebay seems happy to let that continue. Has there been a single private account that ebay has even ' suggested' that they should be a business account?

---

Hi @funkybunnie-direct ,

There is action taken on these accounts but it is not always visible as we have advised before.  We understand the points being raised by yourself and others for reporting these accounts. We continue to share this as feedback with our relevant teams within eBay.

Thank you,

Kat

[marco@ebay]

---

@equinox-electronics wrote:

Hi 

Can I just give some positive feedback on the festivefun coupon for business sellers last week. I can say it definitely drove sales (was my best week in 6 years) and been a business seller it's one good thing ebay have done in quite awhile! Past this on to the relevant teams 

---

Hi equinox-electronics, thanks for your input.

I will definitely pass on your feedback, anything else please feel free to let us know.

Thank you,

Marco

[funkybunnie-direct]

I appreciate the need for privacy. But would ebay consider a private seller who has 1000s of items list, the majority brand new (with many having multiple quantities) who has sales of £1000+ a week, as being ILLEGALLY trading as private when obviously a business?

£1000 in sale would cost me £120+ in selling fees alone. That's a loss of £120+ in revenue to ebay. And if they are selling the same products as myself they could sell them for £900 and obviously more than likely get the sale (and still make more profit than me!).

[lincolnshiremarine]

Thank you Marco.

The postage costs include vat (Royal Mail parcels), and as a business we need to be able to account for it to claim it back.

Best wishes

[bojangled]

Hello Team!

Asking with my private seller hat on.

I don’t if you’ve got your heads round this forthcoming feature Simple Delivery  but the Help/FAQ page states

How is the label provided to me chosen?

‘We’ll take into account the buyer’s location, the item location, your distance to a convenient drop off point, the appropriate delivery service for the item you're posting, and whether the buyer has selected a standard or express delivery service at checkout, amongst a number of other factors.’

The criteria seems a little presumptive, how can eBay know what drop off point sellers have available to them, particularly in a small rural area, or physical access/transport to get there ? What is deemed ‘convenient’ to eBay may be inaccessible to the seller.
Jo

[funkybunnie-direct]

Again I appreciate that action isn't always visible. However, I have been 'following' around 40 sellers since October who are (in the eyes of UK law) trading illegally as 'private' seller, and all 40 are still selling as 'private' . Cold you please provide some information as to exactly what ebay are doing to address this situation? Or are ebay happy to allow 1000s of seller on their site to break UK law?

[marco@ebay]

---

@lincolnshiremarine wrote:

Thank you Marco.

The postage costs include vat (Royal Mail parcels), and as a business we need to be able to account for it to claim it back.

Best wishes

---

That's no problem, lincolnshiremarine. Thanks for raising this point anyway.

I might have to look into this after the chat ends, but I will definitely provide you with an update just to confirm.

Anything else, please let us know.

Marco

[lincolnshiremarine]

Marco,

Will I have to log back on this weekly chat to see your reply, if you manage to find out?

Best wishes

[kat@ebay]

---

@bojangled wrote:

Hello Team!

Asking with my private seller hat on.

I don’t if you’ve got your heads round this forthcoming feature Simple Delivery  but the Help/FAQ page states

How is the label provided to me chosen?

‘We’ll take into account the buyer’s location, the item location, your distance to a convenient drop off point, the appropriate delivery service for the item you're posting, and whether the buyer has selected a standard or express delivery service at checkout, amongst a number of other factors.’

The criteria seems a little presumptive, how can eBay know what drop off point sellers have available to them, particularly in a small rural area, or physical access/transport to get there ? What is deemed ‘convenient’ to eBay may be inaccessible to the seller.
Jo

---

Hi @bojangled ,

It would base it off the sellers location and what drop off points eBay is aware of that are around that location.  That's a fair point regarding physical access/transport to get there. It is a new process so it will be evaluated on how it is working for further improvements. I'll share the point as feedback.

Thank you,

Kat