Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 17.01.24 @2pm

[community-team@ebay]

Hi everyone,

Our eBay Community Team is made up of marco@ebay, @dave@ebay  and katie@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. 

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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

[ducatimondo]

We posted further issues in the "eBays down" thread and as were assured that would be monitored
and there has not been a follow up reply since Friday when Marco had confirmed it was all fixed.

I am not shooting the messenger here, just merely pointing out that there were still outstanding technical issues from some updates or other meddling that were no resolved.

There issue is partly with searching by SKU in our active listings in seller hub.

That has not worked properly since at least midday on 11th January, and still does not work properly.

That makes putting sold items back into stock take 10 times longer than normal as you have to search for what the item is, rather than the SKU...

I have also discovered on Friday that the eBay search does not work properly either...

So if a buyer actually knows what they want and search by part number, then it does not always show any of the honest seller's items that do list and add the part numbers as as we are all supposed to do.

A lot of our items are not found in search at all when searching for them by part number...

The vehicle search feature for motorcycle parts also does not work properly. Well, it has never worked properly, certainly never on the app anyway...
Now it is working less well than normal.
The search is not recognising bike models and only recognising vehicle bands...
So if search for parts for a "Yamaha YZFR125", it chaotically recognises sometimes just the "Yamaha", sometimes "Yamaha YZF R",  sometimes does not show any info for what it is matching, for example.

Again, the honest sellers that DON'T abuse the duplicate listings policy are paying the price for this disgraceful failure from eBay.

If you have the same item listed 500 times, with the vehicles in the titles for each, they can be found on eBay, no problem. No amount of reporting them duplicates makes any difference, no matter what the eBay team on here tell us.
I asked about some item numbers in a weekly chat with eBay a few weeks before Christmas and was told by anita@ebay that they were not duplicates.

Another member had a look and commented that the same item was listed 500 times or something. So we really are fighting a loosing battle when asking for help with anything eBay policy related when the eBay team do not know how to understand the policies.
This is the same when you report them, the reporting system is junk, as you can only post 10x item numbers with no context. So they are either kicked out by the AI that is also junk, or read by someone that does not know anything about the items or the policies and then disregarded.
This is becoming a more serious issue the longer it goes on. eBay's lack of willingness to sort it out only makes the hole bigger when it does eventually get sorted. If eBay had sorted this when I started asking about it 7 years ago, the problem was nowhere near as bad. This is lead to by there being no consequence to the sellers that abuse the policy, added to with eBay not even knowing what their own policy even is and definitely not implementing it; no matter what we are told!!!

I reported some things on the weekend and the AI decided there was nothing wrong, so there isn't even a person looking at them reports now. Maybe we should all stop reporting stuff, as we are all wasting our time...

Yet if you are honest and follow the policies, use the vehicle compatibility tool, promote your listings, et al, then your stuff just gets hidden when someone breaks the site Friday and then has a nice relaxing weekend not giving on iota about it!!

marco@ebay  You have asked us to post Click here  to let you know if there are on going issues and you will try and address them.
I did post about them.
They were not responded to after your post saying everything was fixed on Friday.

There are still on going issues!!

Why do the eBay team ask us to tag them in posts and threads outside of the weekly chat, so the discussion can be continued outside of the short window we have on a Wednesday afternoon, then usually not bother replying to them anyway. When questioned about these, we are asked to send links to the team to let them know when and where they were tagged. Is this something else in the very long list of things that does not work?

Or are we just being ignored?

Any chance of someone at eBay trying to fix some of these important issues?

Thanks

Russ

[returns_andexdisplay]

Thanks for your reply, 

I understand my obligations as a registered VAT business and complay to the best of my knowledge with all applicable laws. Which many private sellers on this site don't. 

But why can't ebay automacally add my VAT rate to each listing instead of having to manaully add another piece of information to each listing?

I don't have to add a VAT rate to each Amazon listing or Shopify listing. ebay are meant to be a technology company and making things simplier and easier for sellers yet more often than not make more work for sellers. 

[contessa35]

Is any more yet known about what is causing the vanishing of the UK as a destination for eBay International Shipping (the replacement for the Global Shipping Program in the US) items in several categories in the US? As a UK-based buyer, it's very disappointing to see lovely items effectively unavailable from excellent sellers I've previously used, who would ship to me if they could - plus pretty well every other seller in the categories of interest who is based in the US too. The majority of US sellers are auto-enrolled in EIS and it often happens without their knowledge, but for those who value EIS and are already aware of the the issue, there's little they can do, as sellers have no control over it and if they don't want to revert to using other shippers, that's that. Often even bidding/offering/buying is blocked by eBay on the first attempt at doing it anyway, so there's no option to even negotiate a different method of shipping if time is short, and sellers who are willing sometimes can't find a way to do it in time (or at all) in any case.

To recap, for listings in affected categories, the UK is not in the list of countries shipped to, even if it's supposed to be worldwide, is not on the list of countries excluded, nor on the country selection list, leaving sellers unable to add the UK back in.

The categories of concern to me that are affected in this way are Dolls & Bears and Toys & Hobbies (what we know on eBay UK as Toys & Games).

[kempseykate]

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marco@ebay wrote:

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@kempseykate wrote:

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marco@ebay wrote:

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@kempseykate wrote:

When an item sells and the buyer selects Click and Collect, or inputs an address of their choice at checkout, why is the seller even shown the buyer's registered address?

I ordered something recently, selecting Click and Collect (Argos), because we thought we might be out when it arrived. The item arrived on Tuesday - at my home/registered address. Fortunately we were in, so it was OK.

But what if we had been out? What if it was something I wanted sent to my daughter the other end of the country - I would then have paid for the postage to get it from the seller to me, then paid again to get it to my daughter, just because they didn't use the correct address.

I think this is because sellers (think they) 'know' that the item has to be sent to the buyer's registered address for seller protection. I did send a message to my seller telling him it needed to be 'post to' address, not 'registered' address - but I think he probably ust thinks I am a scammer out to trick him!

There is no need for the registered address to be shown, it's confusing. Just show the address that it needs to be sent to.

---

Hi kempseykate, thanks for your post.

Normally, when you order an item for Click and Collect, the seller gets the shipping address of the shop you selected, so they can send it there. Once the shop receives it, they should hold it until you collect it. If the item is not collected, the item is eventually returned to the seller, and you could open an item not received case to get your money back.

If this is not what happened, I suspected something else might have happened. If you confirm the item number for the transaction in question, I can take a look for you.

Thank you,

Marco

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Yes, Marco, I know how Click and Collect works!

My post is about the fact that on the invoice you show the buyer's registered address on the right hand side, and the 'post to' address on the left hand side. My seller just sent it to my registered address, NOT the C&C address I had selected at checkout.
So my question was why even show the seller the buyer's registered address, just show them the address they need to post it to.

Item number: 296142678804

---

Thanks for your reply, kempseykate.

I've just checked and the seller did get the shop address in the order details as the shipping address, that was the only shipping address shown to the seller. The seller probably mixed up the addresses when sending the invoice.

Thank you,

Marco

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Well obviously he had my registered address as well, else how did I get the item, unless he is clairvoyant?!

My point is (still) why show both addresses, just show the one he needs to send it to.

[ducatimondo]

Can one or more of the eBay team please also look at this thread and join the discussion.

Reporting listings in violation of policy 

Thanks

Russ

[dave@ebay]

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@russellmattin wrote:

my final question of today! only just found this useful forum! 

      Quite often I have suggestions to improve some ebay pages or I`ve identified faults. Sometimes you have a `comments` tab or `tell us what you think` or `feedback` but often nothing. Could you not have a standard option on every screen to report faults or suggestions?

   Ive tried in the past to report to customer service but they usually don’t understand the issue and don’t pass it to the team that can consider it

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Hi @russellmattin 

We are here every week to help with any issues or questions you have but if you come across anything urgent you can create a post and tag one of us we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

I hadn't noticed the feedback tab not being available for every page. I just had a quick look there and I see what you mean. I'll send this back to the Site team to review, there may be a reason for this but I don't know why.

I'll keep a note of this and I'll come back to you if I can find any more information on it. 

Thanks,

Dave

[marco@ebay]

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@phmea27 wrote:

Hi, 

my name is Phil Mealey, I am the co-writer of Early Doors TV Series and Early Doors Live. We only ever released Early Doors Live on Vimeo for download for alimited time to people who purchase this for £4.99. With all profit going to The Christie Cancer Charity in Manchester.

I have made several complaints about this seller who have clearly recorded and bootlegged this and are now selling it on Ebay with no autherisation and completly breaks copyright law.

My most recent responses from Ebay have been they  '... didn't find the listing to be in violation of our policy.'

How can this be as it is a clear violation of the law. Also what further action would you suggest I take to stop this despicable act of exploiting ourselves and people with cancer! Your help iss much appreciated.

---

Hi phmea27, thanks for your post.

If you are the verified rights owner of the items in question, you can report it here, and further actions will be taken. If you are not the verified rights owner, you can register them here as well.

Thank you,

Marco

[richyrara]

Thanks. It's not correct that the disputes team couldn't see what the buyer received. In this particular case the disputes team were provided with photographs from the buyer showing what they had received. Thereby proving that nothing was missing. The 'missing' item was fictitious. 

I've been with ebay 20 years and to be perfectly frank if I don't get a fair resolution one way or another this will be the last item I ever sell on here.

[pg_kicks]

Hi Katie,

Thanks for the reply.

I understand you pass it on, and thanks for that. It seems the issue is when you pass it on its passed to the team who have created the faulty coding/issue. Its human nature that this isnt then passed onto their management as who really wants to admit they messed up.

If we could speak to the people who say they love hearing from their customers without needing yourself to pass onto somebody who then may or may not pass it on could save 2 levels of passing the message and highlight to management that some things are working amazing and could be expanded to make the site more money and others are failing badly and need urgent looking at.

Theres a few issues that are brought up every week either in these chats or on the forum and we are told its been passed onto the department and then nothing changes, the department are marking their own homework kind of thing.

It doesnt need to be every week, once every few months is more than enough as they dont need to give a reply on the spot, just hear about good and bad things, surely as customers its the least we deserve as majority of the users on here are TRS with many thousands of sales.

[marco@ebay]

Hi ducatimondo, thanks for your post.

I asked for further updates on the server down issues, if you kept getting the server error, I wanted to know just in case it had to be escalated. However, that issue is fully resolved. So, if you are getting different error/issues, you would need to create a thread on it or add your example to an existing thread, since the server down is a different issue that is now resolved.

Thank you,

Marco

[katie@ebay]

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@pg_kicks wrote:

Hi Katie,

Thanks for the reply.

I understand you pass it on, and thanks for that. It seems the issue is when you pass it on its passed to the team who have created the faulty coding/issue. Its human nature that this isnt then passed onto their management as who really wants to admit they messed up.

If we could speak to the people who say they love hearing from their customers without needing yourself to pass onto somebody who then may or may not pass it on could save 2 levels of passing the message and highlight to management that some things are working amazing and could be expanded to make the site more money and others are failing badly and need urgent looking at.

Theres a few issues that are brought up every week either in these chats or on the forum and we are told its been passed onto the department and then nothing changes, the department are marking their own homework kind of thing.

It doesnt need to be every week, once every few months is more than enough as they dont need to give a reply on the spot, just hear about good and bad things, surely as customers its the least we deserve as majority of the users on here are TRS with many thousands of sales.

---

Thank you for your reply.

I hear you and I do appreciate your feedback on this chat and how it might improve.

I can take this with me and see what we can do but I can't make any promises at this time.

Thanks,

Katie 

[pg_kicks]

No problem, I dont need any promises just hoping that our business is appreciated and the service we get is worthy of the price we pay thats all.

[ak_craft_crazy]

Hi,

Every week the dynamic delivey date gets raised as an issue but each time you always say it is "working as designed" if this is the design of it then it is a very poor design and should never have been implimented in the first place. I have attached an example from last month, an item was due to be dispatched on the 18th December, our standard post is set to 2nd class which is a 2-3 working day service that is advised by Royal Mail themselves who actually deliver the item. However you have decided that the estimated delivery date should be 18th-19th, How on this earth can an item be estimated to arrive on the same day it is to be dispatched??? and the last date is the day after it is meant to be dispatched???

How is this working? it is not and you need to accept it and change it for the sake of your sellers and buyer.

Please can this be looked into as a matter of urgency

[marco@ebay]

Thanks for your reply, returns_andexdisplay. 

It will be automatically filled at checkout whenever it is required based on the factors I mentioned before, that's why it is optional for you to do it when creating the listings. If you leave it in blank, it will be automatically done if eBay is required to add VAT at the time of purchase for the buyer.

Thank you,

Marco

[marco@ebay]

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@contessa35 wrote:

Is any more yet known about what is causing the vanishing of the UK as a destination for eBay International Shipping (the replacement for the Global Shipping Program in the US) items in several categories in the US? As a UK-based buyer, it's very disappointing to see lovely items effectively unavailable from excellent sellers I've previously used, who would ship to me if they could - plus pretty well every other seller in the categories of interest who is based in the US too. The majority of US sellers are auto-enrolled in EIS and it often happens without their knowledge, but for those who value EIS and are already aware of the the issue, there's little they can do, as sellers have no control over it and if they don't want to revert to using other shippers, that's that. Often even bidding/offering/buying is blocked by eBay on the first attempt at doing it anyway, so there's no option to even negotiate a different method of shipping if time is short, and sellers who are willing sometimes can't find a way to do it in time (or at all) in any case.

To recap, for listings in affected categories, the UK is not in the list of countries shipped to, even if it's supposed to be worldwide, is not on the list of countries excluded, nor on the country selection list, leaving sellers unable to add the UK back in.

The categories of concern to me that are affected in this way are Dolls & Bears and Toys & Hobbies (what we know on eBay UK as Toys & Games).

---

Hi contessa35, thanks for your post.

I am still working on it, and I will let you know once I have an update on this, but don't worry as we are still reviwing this.

Thank you,

Marco

[dave@ebay]

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@ak_craft_crazy wrote:

Hi,

Every week the dynamic delivey date gets raised as an issue but each time you always say it is "working as designed" if this is the design of it then it is a very poor design and should never have been implimented in the first place. I have attached an example from last month, an item was due to be dispatched on the 18th December, our standard post is set to 2nd class which is a 2-3 working day service that is advised by Royal Mail themselves who actually deliver the item. However you have decided that the estimated delivery date should be 18th-19th, How on this earth can an item be estimated to arrive on the same day it is to be dispatched??? and the last date is the day after it is meant to be dispatched???

How is this working? it is not and you need to accept it and change it for the sake of your sellers and buyer.

Please can this be looked into as a matter of urgency

---

Hi @ak_craft_crazy 

As you know the EDD calculation takes a number of factors into consideration. This can be historic dispatch times on the account and the delivery times provided by the carrier for the chosen shipping option. 

This can sometimes lead to the earliest EDD showing the same date as the dispatch date. I will as always pass this example back to the shipping team to review.

Thanks,

Dave