Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 12.06.24 @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 anita@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. 

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

[marco@ebay]

---

@pg_kicks wrote:

Are you able to tell me how eBay determine whats relevant and whats not? I don't see how something a buyer purchased 9 months ago is as relevant to something purchased a week ago. I want to know how the seller is operating currently not historically.

---

Hi pg_kicks, thanks for your question.

This is based on research/data and feedback from buyers. While some buyers do not find it helpful, other buyers do find it helpful.

Thank you,

Marco

[anita@ebay]

---

@plum993 wrote:

Hi all.

I hear ebay are doing away with "American Express" cards/payments as there to expensive now,come  August this year.

Is that correct?

---

 Hi @plum993, thanks for your post.

That is correct. We'll no longer accept American Express as a form of payment on eBay starting August 17, 2024, since we have been unable to agree on terms that are acceptable to eBay.

Thank you,

Anita

[ccla3379]

Suggestion - would it be possible to get the community board posts (at least to the Technical Issues section) to ask the initial creator to provide the software platform and versions they are using?

I know sometimes it is possible to guess that they may be using the app or a desktop browser, but at other times it can be quite ambigous and encouraging them to check these things may help recognise patterns.

If no then please say so, I can take it 🙂

Many thx, keep up the great work.

[darth_baggins]

Thanks.

Does this page need updating then?

"We automatically remove defects, adjust your late delivery rate, and remove Feedback when:
We take action to close an eBay Money Back Guarantee case or appeal request in favor of the seller"

That doesn't say we may do, or sometimes will, it just says it will be automatically removed if a seller wins a case.

[marco@ebay]

---

@bojangled wrote:

Dear team

I like many others am really exasperated with the business sellers masquerading as private sellers. It's blatant fee avoidance. 
I know the team say report the seller, but my question is when are eBay going to take responsibility for the situation?
How does a private seller with at least 3 shops all selling similar items each with over 4,000 multiple items fly under the radar?

I have given up reporting these sellers because nothing ever happens.

I would just like a level playing field.

Jo

---

Hi bojangled, thanks for your question.

I appreciate where you are coming from, and I totally see your point. For the moment, we are all doing all we can in order to support the reporting system and enforce the policies we currently have in place. We do realize that a number of users are not happy about this, but I can reassure you that we are constantly looking into it and working on it.

Thank you,

Marco

[threeeight-3d]

we predominately sell low value items on eBay and every month we get several return requests, We would expect that with the volumes we sell, however the majority of them are opened as "Not Working" and when we Provide a return label items are never returned and we receive no further contact from the buyer i assume there being opened by buyers with there fingers crossed for a automatic refund and a free unit not expecting us to issue a return label. The only problem that arises for us with this repeatedly happening, is that the service metrics are negated upon opening a case regardless of the resolution. (" We count all opened cases because even if you resolved the issue promptly, it indicates that the transaction didn't go as smoothly for the buyer as it could have.")

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/service-metrics-policy?id=4769 

Is there anything i can do as a seller to protect myself from this and or does eBay have any plans to rectify this issue, The best suggestion i would have is that unless a item is returned(If a tracked label is provided) and or unless the buyer opens a case with eBay / activly seeks a remidy that service metrics should not be counted against the seller

[marco@ebay]

---

@darth_baggins wrote:

Thanks.

Does this page need updating then?

"We automatically remove defects, adjust your late delivery rate, and remove Feedback when:
We take action to close an eBay Money Back Guarantee case or appeal request in favor of the seller"

That doesn't say we may do, or sometimes will, it just says it will be automatically removed if a seller wins a case.

---

Thanks for your reply, darth_baggins. 

No problem, glad to help. That is something I can definitely flag for you, and pass it on as feedback no problem.

Thanks,

Marco

[anita@ebay]

---

@ccla3379 wrote:

Suggestion - would it be possible to get the community board posts (at least to the Technical Issues section) to ask the initial creator to provide the software platform and versions they are using?

I know sometimes it is possible to guess that they may be using the app or a desktop browser, but at other times it can be quite ambigous and encouraging them to check these things may help recognise patterns.

If no then please say so, I can take it 🙂

Many thx, keep up the great work.

---

Hi @ccla3379, thanks for the suggestion.

It's always a good idea to provide as much as possible information that is relevant and can help to investigate the potential issue.  We always ask for that information when needed, but I'm not sure we would be able to make it mandatory, however I can certainly pass on that feedback.

Thank you,

Anita

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I have to add my pennysworth here.

A search taking 5 minutes, easily reveals multiple business sellers masquarading as "private" sellers.

It is more than a little frustrating when reporting them, to get "Our AI didn't detect any issues!"

At the very least, these kind of queries need to be viewed by a human being, who can see that a picture contains contact details etc for a business.

Why should we as sellers, have to spend extra time contacting support directly to report these bad sellers?

It is so absolutely frustrating to see these sellers, breaking the law AND Ebay rules.  And getting discounts and fee free listings, that we have compete against.

Why is it, that even your support has been quoted multiple times, telling sellers to use private accounts, to get cheaper fees?

[pg_kicks]

I'm going to guess you cant tell me when or where this data is and its 100% never able to be seen by eBays customers (ie us)? As customers we are telling you its not working, we would rather it be the old way, I cant ever remember being asked, and it seems nobody else can either, can you please pass this feedback on to whomever decided this was a change that was needed over the major issues on the site and let them know its pretty pointless and made the site harder to use.

Thanks

[marco@ebay]

---

@therenewalworkshopltd wrote:

I have to add my pennysworth here.

A search taking 5 minutes, easily reveals multiple business sellers masquarading as "private" sellers.

It is more than a little frustrating when reporting them, to get "Our AI didn't detect any issues!"

At the very least, these kind of queries need to be viewed by a human being, who can see that a picture contains contact details etc for a business.

Why should we as sellers, have to spend extra time contacting support directly to report these bad sellers?

It is so absolutely frustrating to see these sellers, breaking the law AND Ebay rules.  And getting discounts and fee free listings, that we have compete against.

Why is it, that even your support has been quoted multiple times, telling sellers to use private accounts, to get cheaper fees?

---

Thanks for your input, therenewalworkshopltd.

Absolutely understandable. Like I said before, we do realize that some users are not happy about this, and we're honestly doing everything we can at the moment. For the moment, we would keep encouraging people to flag this with us like you are doing right now and continue to report these items and/or accounts, so we can keep working on it. 

Thank you,

Marco

[marco@ebay]

---

@pg_kicks wrote:

I'm going to guess you cant tell me when or where this data is and its 100% never able to be seen by eBays customers (ie us)? As customers we are telling you its not working, we would rather it be the old way, I cant ever remember being asked, and it seems nobody else can either, can you please pass this feedback on to whomever decided this was a change that was needed over the major issues on the site and let them know its pretty pointless and made the site harder to use.

Thanks

---

Thanks for your reply, pg_kicks. 

I'm afraid some procedures, information, and data are for internal use only. As advised before, while some users don't find it helpful, other users do find it helpful. And yes, no problem at all, happy to pass your feedback on. 

Thank you,

Marco

[anita@ebay]

---

@threeeight-3d wrote:

we predominately sell low value items on eBay and every month we get several return requests, We would expect that with the volumes we sell, however the majority of them are opened as "Not Working" and when we Provide a return label items are never returned and we receive no further contact from the buyer i assume there being opened by buyers with there fingers crossed for a automatic refund and a free unit not expecting us to issue a return label. The only problem that arises for us with this repeatedly happening, is that the service metrics are negated upon opening a case regardless of the resolution. (" We count all opened cases because even if you resolved the issue promptly, it indicates that the transaction didn't go as smoothly for the buyer as it could have.")

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/service-metrics-policy?id=4769 

Is there anything i can do as a seller to protect myself from this and or does eBay have any plans to rectify this issue, The best suggestion i would have is that unless a item is returned(If a tracked label is provided) and or unless the buyer opens a case with eBay / activly seeks a remidy that service metrics should not be counted against the seller

---

Hi @threeeight-3d, thanks for your post.

I see where you are coming from and I can see that in most of those Return cases buyers didn't return the item back, because we refunded them from eBay, with no fault to you. When we refund the buyer on behalf of the seller, we will not require them to return the item back. 

Having said that, it does not change the fact that there was an issue and return was open so that would still count against the open cases as that is how service metrics would calculated, you can see more information here .

The best I could advice is to review your listings and see if there is anything that needs to be improved to make sure they are as accurate as possible to avoid 'Not as described' claims, take buyers' feedback on board, possibly check with your supplier and flag quality issues about the items that are mostly reported as faulty to see if this can be improved.

Thank you,

Anita

[anita@ebay]

---

anita@ebay wrote:

---

@dwtrading2015 wrote:

After the generic reply, I was asked to send details, as I did below (11th May),

"You asked to DM regarding the feedback score issue I raised. The feedback score profile says there are 435 positive, only 399 are used in the calculation. I went back through the last 12 months of feedback looking for duplicates and only found 4 multiple feedbacks. 431 should be used for the calculation. It does look like the multiple feedback count is over a much longer period of time, I suggest from when the account opened."

This has not been answered, the details are clear.  There does appear to be an error in the software.

---

@dwtrading2015, thanks for replying. I will be happy to look into this more in detail. It will take some time to investigate this, so I will take some time after the chat and come back to you once it's been reviewed.

Thanks,

Anita

---

Hi @dwtrading2015, I just wanted to let you know that I did escalate this to the tech team for a more thorough review as I want to make sure everything is working well. 

As soon as I get an update, I will let you know.

Have a lovely weekend.

Thank you,

Anita

[marco@ebay]

---

@kempseykate wrote:

When I tried to leave feedback this morning for a seller, I couldn't do it (the 'leave feedback' button was greyed out) unless I filled in the 'product review' at the top of the page (see screenshot).

As this was for an item that didn't arrive, I didn't want to/couldn't leave a review for the item. I just wanted to give feedback for the seller, who was quick to reply to my message, polite and helpful.

This was pressing the 'leave feedback' button that appeared on the item at the top of my feedback page.

Later I tried just going to 'leave feedback' via the Hub and I could leave it without the product review.

I thought feedback was supposed to be about the transaction, NOT about a product review?
Surely at the very least this should be optional?

---

Hi kempseykate, 

I've just got an update on this, and I've been confirmed that this is a new update and it will remain like this going forward. Please note that while you won't be able to skip the rate this item part, the item rating won't impact the seller. For example, if you give the item 1 star, but give the seller 5 stars/positive feebdack, the seller's rate/score won't be impacted at all by the negative of the item, and vice versa.

It is of my understanding that some buyers are not happy with this change, so I will be passing on everyones feedback on this, so it can be taken into consideration for future updates.

Thank you,

Marco

[anita@ebay]

---

anita@ebay wrote:

---

anita@ebay wrote:

---

@dwtrading2015 wrote:

After the generic reply, I was asked to send details, as I did below (11th May),

"You asked to DM regarding the feedback score issue I raised. The feedback score profile says there are 435 positive, only 399 are used in the calculation. I went back through the last 12 months of feedback looking for duplicates and only found 4 multiple feedbacks. 431 should be used for the calculation. It does look like the multiple feedback count is over a much longer period of time, I suggest from when the account opened."

This has not been answered, the details are clear.  There does appear to be an error in the software.

---

@dwtrading2015, thanks for replying. I will be happy to look into this more in detail. It will take some time to investigate this, so I will take some time after the chat and come back to you once it's been reviewed.

Thanks,

Anita

---

Hi @dwtrading2015, I just wanted to let you know that I did escalate this to the tech team for a more thorough review as I want to make sure everything is working well. 

As soon as I get an update, I will let you know.

Have a lovely weekend.

Thank you,

Anita

---

Hi @dwtrading2015, apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

I had a technical team to review this, and they came back saying that the Feedback % calculation is working as designed.

The calculation window for the last 12 months isn't based on a daily basis. The total amount of feedback taken into the count is starting from the first day of the calculation week last year. For feedback purposes, we define a week as Monday through Sunday, Pacific Time. For example, today's score wouldn't be based on the feedback received in the last 365 days, but from the calculation week last year, therefore, the total amount of positive feedback you see on your Feedback profile can be slightly different from what is counted for the feedback score, as it falls outside the year border.

Hope this helps.

Thank you,

Anita