Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 15.10.25 @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

[custom-giftsuk]

Can I ask, that as a seller, if I can put on my listings offering buyers the chance to pay outwith eBay, on bank transfer?

[davrman]

I reported the same issue some time ago in a Weekly Chat...

[kat@ebay]

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@leadhills_scot wrote:

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Technical-Issues/Ebay-Sys-Broken-Offer-Auto-Pay-quot-Shipping-Select...

order numbers

18-13680-34801

19-13678-68073

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Hi @leadhills_scot ,

Thank you for these. 

I will report it to the tech team and I'll post on that thread to keep you updated.

Thank you,

Kat

[paulblueandwhite]

My question seems until now not answered: 

How to add age verification to items for sale with Simple delivery ? I can only use Royal Mail.

Have a few items where age verification is needed to list, post this items: a saw blade, a letter opener, saws?

Don't see this option on Simple Delivery. How to do this:  add Royal Mail tracked 48 with age verification on listings?

Thank you for your help.

[marco@ebay]

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@ravengirl12345 wrote:

It was collected last friday, they bought the label which they placed on the parcel and then scanned it, I heard the beep.  Royal mail are saying that the postie might have pushed the wrong button and said didn't collect rather than did.  I have full cctv showing this. they say they can't update the tracking as they need to scan the parcel to do this which they can't do as they have lost it. The tracking number is YA197591178GB

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Thanks for confirming, ravengirl12345.

If that's the case, I don't think there is anything we could do then. However, I'd still need you to confirm the item number please.

Thank you,

Marco

[paulblueandwhite]

Thanks for your reply, but don't see the option : customs postage on my listings.  Only simple delivery.

[pegr-834437]

deleted as i dont want another black mark. Please fully delete if you wish.

[kat@ebay]

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@davrman wrote:

I reported the same issue some time ago in a Weekly Chat...

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Hi @davrman ,

If you have any recent order examples where it occurred on can you provide these and I'll include them for the report with tech.

Thank you,

Kat

[dave@ebay]

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@drgwalker wrote:

I have an order going to Canada. Alas, there is currently no courier or postal service due to Canada Post being on strike. How do I avoid a late dispatch strike? The buyer is happy to wait until everything is resolved but that doesn't help my dispatch metric.

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Hi @drgwalker 

If the order has a delivery date between 11 September and 10 October 2025 you will be protected for any late delivery defect etc the full details of protections can be found here.

If its outside of the timeframe for the protection the buyer could request you cancel the order and you can relist it for them at a later date. 

Thanks,

Dave

[ducatimondo]

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Good afternoon team,

A few things in one post, as they are all related anyway.

The Royal Mail integration for showing when items are delivered or not does not work.

See image below:

Is it a Royal Mail issue or an eBay issue?
This does not help when trying hard to maintain good relationships with buyers and also does not help when trying to solve and close cases.

Second issue on same order, item ordered on evening of Wednesday 8th Oct, so can't post till Thursday 9th; which we did.
eBay shows tracking number provided by us at 3.38am. It was not, this is the timing issue with shipping that we have asked eBay for help before, but they refused to acknowledge there is an issue.
According to our Royal Mail account, the label was created at 10.32am, then a little time for the Royal Mail to update with eBay and that will say there is a 7 hour time difference between what is happening and what eBay shows as happening. That is because there is a clock in California affecting the delivery estimated, same as I have said for more than 2 years. There, right exactly there is the evidence that IS what is happening

This leads to the "estimated delivery" time being shortened by eBay, as according to the eBay IT, it was posted more than 5 hours before we even open.
But it will also affect the same day posting cut off times too.
So there is definitely 100% an issue that needs solving, even though you will say it is working as expected!!

That item was listed as being sent with Royal Mail 48m which is 2nd class post with a VAT element to the postage price. That is a 2-5 working day service according to what Royal Mail tell me, with a delivery aim of 2-3 days.

When you look, it says post by 9th, which we did and it shows an estimated delivery time of Friday 10th - Saturday 11th
That is 1-2 days and Royal Mail don't delivery most Royal Mail 48 items on Saturday's either.

So again, it clear to anyone with a brain in their head that it is NOT working properly.

Then we have a case opened saying it not delivered. We checked the tracking and it is now delivered, but we can't get the case to recognise that is the integration is not working!!

And now the finale, Royal Mail were fined £21 million by Ofcom again today for continually failing to meet their delivery targets for 1st class, 2nd class, RM24 and RM48 items

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/post/royal-mail/ofcom-fines-royal-mail-21m-for-missing-its-202425-delivery-... 

Yet eBay still promise buyers that 2nd class items will arrive in 1-2 days and make it the seller's fault when they don't.

Please tell us when eBay are actually going to listen to sellers and let us all be fair to buyers with realistic expectations, eBay included!!

Thank you

Russ

[randalbond]

Hi, my order GPC on Royal Mail site shows as delivered to the wrong address, neighbouring block of flats. I went there, and nobody admitted receiving it. Where do I stand if tracking says "delivered"? What to do if seller refuses refund? They haven't replied to my message. I know that ebay INR cases are decided automatically,  so not sure what to do.

Thank you.

[vvsl10]

I recently had to cancel six of my presale orders this month and it appears that these cancellations are now impacting my performance review. For context, I previously spoke with an eBay customer service agent named Fabian on 10/10/2025 via eBay chat regarding these presale orders, as I was unable to generate postage labels once 30 days had passed. The agent confirmed that the Presale Policy has not yet been integrated into the Simple Delivery program, which allows for shipping within 40 business days.

Based on their advice, I cancelled the orders, relisted the items, and notified the buyers accordingly. All buyers were given the opportunity to repurchase their items at a discounted price. However, it now seems that these cancellations are being flagged as seller faults.

I have tried requesting that the 'defects' be removed, but each request has been swiftly rejected. This is very frustrating, as my Seller Performance is now going to be significantly affected because of this situation. I thought I have done everything right by following the eBay customer agent's advice but apparently I've done something wrong. Do I have any recourse for this? 

[dave@ebay]

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@custom-giftsuk wrote:

Can I ask, that as a seller, if I can put on my listings offering buyers the chance to pay outwith eBay, on bank transfer?

---

Hi @custom-giftsuk 

Cheques, money orders, and bank wire transfers aren't allowed for most eBay purchases. However, you can use these payment methods to buy vehicles, capital and business equipment, real estate, and items you pick up in person. See our Payment methods policy for more details.

Thanks,

Dave

[custom-giftsuk]

Thank you Dave@ebay

So what you are saying is that for normal eBay sales, bank transfers are not allowed. 

Could you comment on why reporting such a listing asking for bank transfer instead of paying through eBay, which you have so kindly said isnt allowed, the eBay "AI" will refuse to take action saying no breach of eBay rules have occured?

[kat@ebay]

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@randalbond wrote:

Hi, my order GPC on Royal Mail site shows as delivered to the wrong address, neighbouring block of flats. I went there, and nobody admitted receiving it. Where do I stand if tracking says "delivered"? What to do if seller refuses refund? They haven't replied to my message. I know that ebay INR cases are decided automatically,  so not sure what to do.

Thank you.

---

Hi @randalbond ,

If the proof of delivery is showing an incorrect address(  not the address on your order) provide this detail in the INR case. If the case gets auto closed with the proof of tracking then appeal the case by contacting customer support.

Thank you,

Kat

Thank you,

Kat

[marco@ebay]

Hi ducatimondo, thanks for your post.

As mentioned above here to someone else, and a couple of threads in the boards. This is an issue that is currently being worked on, while this is fixed, we are encouraging members to check tracking from the carrier's website directly (that is why you are seeing that banner in the tracking window), so you can stay on top of your tracking updates.

Regarding estimated delivery dates, I understand where you are coming from. However, you are only taking a couple of factors in only, when they actually take multiple factors in to calculate the date in question. I understand you're not happy with the way they work, and we've reviewed this for you before and so far, we haven't found any faults, but if you want, you can give one item number and we will check that for you again to make sure it is all working ok.

Thanks,

Marco

[dave@ebay]

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@custom-giftsuk wrote:

Thank you Dave@ebay

So what you are saying is that for normal eBay sales, bank transfers are not allowed. 

Could you comment on why reporting such a listing asking for bank transfer instead of paying through eBay, which you have so kindly said isnt allowed, the eBay "AI" will refuse to take action saying no breach of eBay rules have occured?

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Hi @custom-giftsuk 

As you know, when you reply with these scenarios, we cannot see what happened with the report so I cannot comment on why it was or wasn't actioned. 

Thanks,

Dave

[dave@ebay]

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@paulblueandwhite wrote:

Thanks for your reply, but don't see the option : customs postage on my listings.  Only simple delivery.

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Hi @paulblueandwhite 

It should be available to you to in eligible categories. If reached out to the Simple Delivery team to confirm. 

Leave this with me for a bit and I'll come back to you with clarification on it. 

Thanks,

Dave

[kat@ebay]

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@vvsl10 wrote:

I recently had to cancel six of my presale orders this month and it appears that these cancellations are now impacting my performance review. For context, I previously spoke with an eBay customer service agent named Fabian on 10/10/2025 via eBay chat regarding these presale orders, as I was unable to generate postage labels once 30 days had passed. The agent confirmed that the Presale Policy has not yet been integrated into the Simple Delivery program, which allows for shipping within 40 business days.

Based on their advice, I cancelled the orders, relisted the items, and notified the buyers accordingly. All buyers were given the opportunity to repurchase their items at a discounted price. However, it now seems that these cancellations are being flagged as seller faults.

I have tried requesting that the 'defects' be removed, but each request has been swiftly rejected. This is very frustrating, as my Seller Performance is now going to be significantly affected because of this situation. I thought I have done everything right by following the eBay customer agent's advice but apparently I've done something wrong. Do I have any recourse for this? 

---

Hi @vvsl10 ,

We are unable to take action or remove defects on accounts here on the community.  It will have to be followed up with customer support to check the detail of the conversation on the 10th of October to advise of the reason chosen for the cancellations.

There is currently a contact with customer support following up your appeal from today so they will need some time to go through the details and then will contact you with the outcome.

Thank you,

Kat