Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

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

Available via Email for Community-related inquiries:
contactcommunity@ebay.comeBay
Message 1 of 37
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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

555njp
Conversationalist

Good afternoon guys,

In nearly twenty years of trading on this site I cannot remember a period when sales were so bad. This is being reported all over the boards and can be put down to several things eBay has put into place but the biggest problem (for me anyway) appears to be the sheer number of businesses operating illegally on private seller accounts.

These can be found on virtually every other listing in some categories, but one in particular has flooded one of the categories I sell in and of course, with no fees to pay are undercutting all the legitimate business sellers, hence zero sales!

 

I have, as instructed by yourselves reported several such listings but eBay either completely ignore the reports and NOTHING IS DONE, or if I’m lucky I get the standard “we’ve looked at the listing you reported and could find nothing wrong, this was looked at by a customer service agent”.

Well if that was the case, sorry but that agent is totally inept and should not be the one looking into my report!

There also needs to be a way of reporting a specific member for fee avoidance or trading illegally rather than having to report listing by listing.

 

I know this has been asked before but my question is are eBay ever going to resolve this?

 

Previous chat sessions have eluded to a solution coming in the near future that would remove this illegal practice, but if that was the announcement of the 4% plus 75p buyer fee for private sellers that’s coming in February, I can assure you that falls woefully short as illegal traders will still have at least 10% fee saving advantage over those operating a business account.

In fact, looking at the community boards I would say rather than going towards fixing the underlying problem, all the announcement has done is upset our genuine private sellers.

 

I’m looking again today and the same account holder is still adding to their 70+ brand new, multi-listings worth thousands of pounds, merrily avoiding fees.

 

Happy to share more information via PM if anything can be done.

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

Happy New Year to the Community Team

 

My question is: 

 

Where is the option to select on ebay Royal Mail parcels to be paid from my Pay Pal account as a default setting?  I know I can select Pay Pal parcel by parcel, but I want to set it as a default.

 

Thanks 

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

Hi, re no payment until delivery confirmation -  Could you please confirm if this will apply to International orders via the GSP? These are very rarely scanned by Royal Mail when entering the UK GSP hub - will this mean that we have to wait up to a month or longer for payment to be released?

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@lincolnshiremarine wrote:

Happy New Year to the Community Team

 

My question is: 

 

Where is the option to select on ebay Royal Mail parcels to be paid from my Pay Pal account as a default setting?  I know I can select Pay Pal parcel by parcel, but I want to set it as a default.

 

Thanks 


Hi @lincolnshiremarine ,

 

Thank you for the question. I'm not sure if it can be set as the default. Let me check that and I'll come back to you.

 

Thank you,

Kat

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@555njp wrote:

Good afternoon guys,

In nearly twenty years of trading on this site I cannot remember a period when sales were so bad. This is being reported all over the boards and can be put down to several things eBay has put into place but the biggest problem (for me anyway) appears to be the sheer number of businesses operating illegally on private seller accounts.

These can be found on virtually every other listing in some categories, but one in particular has flooded one of the categories I sell in and of course, with no fees to pay are undercutting all the legitimate business sellers, hence zero sales!

 

I have, as instructed by yourselves reported several such listings but eBay either completely ignore the reports and NOTHING IS DONE, or if I’m lucky I get the standard “we’ve looked at the listing you reported and could find nothing wrong, this was looked at by a customer service agent”.

Well if that was the case, sorry but that agent is totally inept and should not be the one looking into my report!

There also needs to be a way of reporting a specific member for fee avoidance or trading illegally rather than having to report listing by listing.

 

I know this has been asked before but my question is are eBay ever going to resolve this?

 

Previous chat sessions have eluded to a solution coming in the near future that would remove this illegal practice, but if that was the announcement of the 4% plus 75p buyer fee for private sellers that’s coming in February, I can assure you that falls woefully short as illegal traders will still have at least 10% fee saving advantage over those operating a business account.

In fact, looking at the community boards I would say rather than going towards fixing the underlying problem, all the announcement has done is upset our genuine private sellers.

 

I’m looking again today and the same account holder is still adding to their 70+ brand new, multi-listings worth thousands of pounds, merrily avoiding fees.

 

Happy to share more information via PM if anything can be done.


Hi 555njp, thanks for your question.

 

I've just double checked there, and there is nothing particularly impacting sales at the moment. Please note that eBay's main income is fees from sellers, so if there was anything negatively impacting sales, we would jump in there straight away to get it resolved as this matter would be considered priority for us.

 

Regarding the reporting, please continue to report them they way you have, I know you probably don't think so, but these reports are still reviewed and they are also taken into consideration. However, I'd be happy to share your thoughts on this topic. 

 

Thank you,

Marco


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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

kat@ebay

 

I asked the question on Sunday via chatting to an eBay agent.  They did not know and told me someone would get back to me, which they have not.

 

Therefore, will you give me your word that you will get back to me please?

 

Best wishes

 

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@lincolnshiremarine wrote:

kat@ebay

 

I asked the question on Sunday via chatting to an eBay agent.  They did not know and told me someone would get back to me, which they have not.

 

Therefore, will you give me your word that you will get back to me please?

 

Best wishes

 


Hi @lincolnshiremarine ,

 

They could be following it up.

 

I'll look into it on my side and yes I will come back to you as soon as I get clarification.

 

Thank you,

Kat

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

Hello,

I have a couple of questions.

I have already asked this of @marco twice by tagging him in, but no joy.

The press report on MSC states that the new buyer fees will not apply under 99p. Is that correct?

Also, there are differing views on when changes on existing listings will take place. Will buyer fees be added to existing listings on the 4th Feb or just as and when they are relisted?

Finally. I cannot access Simple Delivery when listing clothing and i am told by CS that is because i use Postage policies.  If that is correct how can we even try out the system to get used to it, see what carriers we can use and how much they will cost? 

Thank you for what you do and the flack you take, even from me above Marco, but now is not the time to ignore issues raised on the boards, nor to continue  to allow every thread to turn into a vendetta against private sellers. Can we have a Private Seller board where only Private sellers can comment and we don't get our listings stalked by the usual suspects and the thread immediately taken off topic? Genuine question.

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

Hi @pauuk.35za36 

 

Private sellers using GSP will have to wait for the item to be delivered to the buyer before the payments are released. Depending on the location and service used it could possibly take several weeks for the payment to be received by the seller. 

 

Thanks,

Dave

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@suelel1968 wrote:

Hello,

I have a couple of questions.

I have already asked this of @marco twice by tagging him in, but no joy.

The press report on MSC states that the new buyer fees will not apply under 99p. Is that correct?

Also, there are differing views on when changes on existing listings will take place. Will buyer fees be added to existing listings on the 4th Feb or just as and when they are relisted?

Finally. I cannot access Simple Delivery when listing clothing and i am told by CS that is because i use Postage policies.  If that is correct how can we even try out the system to get used to it, see what carriers we can use and how much they will cost? 

Thank you for what you do and the flack you take, even from me above Marco, but now is not the time to ignore issues raised on the boards, nor to continue  to allow every thread to turn into a vendetta against private sellers. Can we have a Private Seller board where only Private sellers can comment and we don't get our listings stalked by the usual suspects and the thread immediately taken off topic? Genuine question.


Hi suelel1968, thanks for your question.

 

Apologies if I haven't seen your tags, but if you are tagging me the way you did here with you "@marco" I wouldn't get notification, so I'd probably miss your message. If you click here, you can see how to tag us whenever you need something.

 

Regarding your question, it of my understanding that the fee will remain regardless of the amount of the transaction. However, I will double check that for you, and as soon as I get confirmation I will let you know here.

 

Thank you,

Marco


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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

I appreciate that with the new measures that are to be introduced shortly, that this may ‘encourage’ some ( and I emphasise some) sellers who are against ebay policy and UK law trading illegally as ‘private’ sellers when they are obviously trading to make a profit (ie ‘business’ sellers). However, this will only be the case for seller with small value items (mainly under £5), whilst penalising those genuine private sellers who are selling small value items (such as collections, or just wanting to pass on unwanted items).

 

Example in media

‘Private’ seller listing an item now for £4.99, would need to reduce it to approx £4.10 for it to appear to be approx. £4.99 after the change

Competing against an official business seller who would have charges of £0.98 so only receive £4.01 – a similar amount..

 

But, ‘Private seller’ listing an item for £30.00 would need to reduce it to approx £28.00 for it to appear at approx. £30 after the change

Competing against an official business seller would have charges of approx. £4.00 so only receive £26.00

 

Whilst I appreciate that these coming changes will level the field for business seller very slightly, it Is only very slightly. What else is ebay doing to ensure that these sellers are correctly registered?

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

Will you be answering the rest of my questions? as for the tagging video, it has been classed as helpful by 2 people so perhaps it just doesn't like Windows, but it is like watching through a lens smeared with butter. 

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

What will happen from 4th February if (when) Royal Mail fails to record a tracked delivery?  I have two such in my order list  - item reference  356249036083 and 356285164779.   I have received +'ve feedback for one of these.  

 

If I have a non-recorded delivery rate of around 2%  what does that amount to across the sales platform?

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@jughandles wrote:

What will happen from 4th February if (when) Royal Mail fails to record a tracked delivery?  I have two such in my order list  - item reference  356249036083 and 356285164779.   I have received +'ve feedback for one of these.  

 

If I have a non-recorded delivery rate of around 2%  what does that amount to across the sales platform?


Hi @jughandles 

 

Provided there's no issues with the transaction the funds will automatically be released 14 days after the EDD.

 

Thanks,

Dave

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@suelel1968 wrote:

Will you be answering the rest of my questions? as for the tagging video, it has been classed as helpful by 2 people so perhaps it just doesn't like Windows, but it is like watching through a lens smeared with butter. 


Hi suelel1968, thanks for your reply.

 

I was checking there, and the video seems to be clear enough (Please see screenshot below), maybe your connection is making the video to be blurry?

 

Regarding your question, changes will apply to all listings from the date the new changes take effect. So, listings listed before the date in question, and new listings after the date, will be impacted.

 

Simple delivery should be available to you, but depending on each case, it might be related to your postage policies, that's correct. However, since I personally haven't reviewed your case, I wouldn't be able to confirm it, but if they've reviewed your account and that's the case, then that would be reason why, yes.

 

Thank you,

Marco 


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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

Dave - An earlier question asked about funds for international items.  Is the 14 day "Drop Dead date" only to apply to UK sales?

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@funkybunnie-direct wrote:

I appreciate that with the new measures that are to be introduced shortly, that this may ‘encourage’ some ( and I emphasise some) sellers who are against ebay policy and UK law trading illegally as ‘private’ sellers when they are obviously trading to make a profit (ie ‘business’ sellers). However, this will only be the case for seller with small value items (mainly under £5), whilst penalising those genuine private sellers who are selling small value items (such as collections, or just wanting to pass on unwanted items).

 

Example in media

‘Private’ seller listing an item now for £4.99, would need to reduce it to approx £4.10 for it to appear to be approx. £4.99 after the change

Competing against an official business seller who would have charges of £0.98 so only receive £4.01 – a similar amount..

 

But, ‘Private seller’ listing an item for £30.00 would need to reduce it to approx £28.00 for it to appear at approx. £30 after the change

Competing against an official business seller would have charges of approx. £4.00 so only receive £26.00

 

Whilst I appreciate that these coming changes will level the field for business seller very slightly, it Is only very slightly. What else is ebay doing to ensure that these sellers are correctly registered?


Hi @funkybunnie-direct ,

 

I understand the concern with those businesses trading on private accounts. The new measures of the buyer protection fee & holding of funds will help towards having users register correctly.

From internal reviews there has been a huge number of accounts that have been asked to upgrade to businesses and when they have not done the ability to continue selling has been removed. Other measures introduced for private accounts have been access to discount tools being removed.

Ebay will continue to review current policies for these accounts and once we are aware of any further changes and measures we will share.

 

Thank you,

Kat

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm

marco@ebay 

Did that tag you? 

And will you be answering my final question? 

Thanks

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Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.01.25 @2pm


@jughandles wrote:

Dave - An earlier question asked about funds for international items.  Is the 14 day "Drop Dead date" only to apply to UK sales?


Hi @jughandles 

 

The 14 day rule is for UK based sellers (its 30 for the US).  It shouldn't make a difference where the item is set to, but I'll reach out the payments team to confirm this. 

 

Thanks,

Dave

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About this Weekly Chat!

Welcome to the Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team! Unless otherwise noted, chats occur every Wednesday from 2pm to 3pm.

Our Community Team will be in the Chats to help with the questions.

If you have multiple questions please open a post per question so we can get back to them individually. If it's something we can't answer right away we will get back to you after the chat has finished.