Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 20.08.25 @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 dave@ebay and marco@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

[moonlight-rhapsody]

Re the matter of irrelevant search results that I’ve raised previously.  I reported 15 listings that had irrelevant search terms in the Subject line of Item Specifics, which were skewing the results for the search term “Original watercolour painting seascape”.  One of them was an AIRFIELD which had "Seafaring, Seascape, Seaside, Sunsets, Boats, Sea" in the Subject line.  

According to the AI reply that I received, there is no problem with the seller describing an AIRFIELD as "Seafaring, Seascape, Seaside, Sunsets, Boats, Sea”.  I appealed AI’s decision, but it seems that a customer service agent thinks that there is no problem with that either.  

I am not able to respond to the appeal decision, so can somebody on the Community Team please explain to me why ebay condones a seller skewing search results by describing an AIRFIELD as "Seafaring, Seascape, Seaside, Sunsets, Boats, Sea”.  Thank you.

[bcstampsuk]

I use Outlook to search my eBay emails to manage things like non-payment, unsold items and buyer history. Back around 24th January this year several email formats were changed and longer include the eBay item ID anywhere in the emails. Am not sure whether this was done intentionally but it makes those emails much less useful. Can you forward to the relevant team to investigate whether the missing information below can be added back into the emails? I now have to search my mailbox using item titles, but as I regularly auction items with the same title again and again this is really clumsy. This affected emails are:

Auction End email - "You made the sale for xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID.

Payment Confirmation email - "You got paid for xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID.

Unsold Auction email - "It's time to relist xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID and also only includes a truncated item title - the full item title would be extremely useful.

Unsold Auction email  - "Relisting xxx is easy as 123" (occasionally sent instead of the usual email)

This has full item title, but still missing the eBay ID.

Item Refund email - "The buyer received your refund xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID.                          

Maybe there's a technical problem why eBay IDs could no longer be included in emails, but if an oversight then be really helpful to have it included again.

Thanks,

Iain

[marco@ebay]

---

@moonlight-rhapsody wrote:

Re the matter of irrelevant search results that I’ve raised previously.  I reported 15 listings that had irrelevant search terms in the Subject line of Item Specifics, which were skewing the results for the search term “Original watercolour painting seascape”.  One of them was an AIRFIELD which had "Seafaring, Seascape, Seaside, Sunsets, Boats, Sea" in the Subject line.  

According to the AI reply that I received, there is no problem with the seller describing an AIRFIELD as "Seafaring, Seascape, Seaside, Sunsets, Boats, Sea”.  I appealed AI’s decision, but it seems that a customer service agent thinks that there is no problem with that either.  

I am not able to respond to the appeal decision, so can somebody on the Community Team please explain to me why ebay condones a seller skewing search results by describing an AIRFIELD as "Seafaring, Seascape, Seaside, Sunsets, Boats, Sea”.  Thank you.

---

Hi moonlight-rhapsody, thanks for your question. 

We don't do these reports over this channel, and without looking at the report I wouldn't be able to confirm what exactly happened with that report. For further information, you can contact customer support. However, please note that due to privacy and security reasons some specific information might not be shared due to you not being the account holder.

Thank you,

Marco

[dave@ebay]

---

@bcstampsuk wrote:

I use Outlook to search my eBay emails to manage things like non-payment, unsold items and buyer history. Back around 24th January this year several email formats were changed and longer include the eBay item ID anywhere in the emails. Am not sure whether this was done intentionally but it makes those emails much less useful. Can you forward to the relevant team to investigate whether the missing information below can be added back into the emails? I now have to search my mailbox using item titles, but as I regularly auction items with the same title again and again this is really clumsy. This affected emails are:

Auction End email - "You made the sale for xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID.

Payment Confirmation email - "You got paid for xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID.

Unsold Auction email - "It's time to relist xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID and also only includes a truncated item title - the full item title would be extremely useful.

Unsold Auction email  - "Relisting xxx is easy as 123" (occasionally sent instead of the usual email)

This has full item title, but still missing the eBay ID.

Item Refund email - "The buyer received your refund xxx"

This is missing the eBay ID.                          

Maybe there's a technical problem why eBay IDs could no longer be included in emails, but if an oversight then be really helpful to have it included again.

Thanks,

Iain

---

Hi @bcstampsuk 

I haven't seen any reports of it but if you can take some screengrabs of the emails and PM them to me Ill send them over to the guys in Tech to see if it's an issue they are aware of. 

Thanks,

Dave

[mygaras]

Consequences of Cancellation of Order by Buyer (private seller)

Hi team!

Three things which have come to light after a buyer recently cancelled their order with me:

1. If the seller has opted to pay for postage (Simple Delivery), and the buyer cancels the order, the seller then has to take a very convoluted route to re-claim the cost of the postage label, using a form which doesn't even have the option of 'Buyer cancelled order' as a reason for reclaiming the postage. The seller then has to wait up to 14 days for the refund to be processed. This doesn't seem fair on the seller and is not acceptable when this is through no fault of their own. If eBay can immediately and automatically refund the buyer the purchase price and BPF, then surely they can also immediately and automatically refund the seller for the cost of the postage?

2. Once the seller has agreed to the cancellation request, the item gets re-listed. However, the seller has then lost any other watchers from the original listing and all offers previously sent to watchers then become null and void. Again, this is unfair for the seller but also unfair for buyers who were in receipt of the previous offer. Surely they should still have the opportunity to accept the offer which has been sent? Similar to Second Chance Offers on auction listings. 

3. Buyers should be limited in the amount of time available to select "ordered by mistake" as a reason for cancelling an order. Surely you know pretty much straightaway if you've ordered something by mistake, not 2 hours and 20 minutes later? Especially if you've already responded to the seller's 'thank you, I'll post that first thing in the morning' message in the meantime?

As an aside, it seems odd to me that when a buyer cancels their purchase, the item remains visible as 'sold' in all search results. It now looks like I might be pulling a fast one, listing an item that appears to be exactly the same as an item I've just sold (but not actually sold due to the buyer cancelling their order) 😳

Just some thoughts, perhaps they could be passed to the relevant team?

Thanks 😊

[marco@ebay]

---

@mygaras wrote:

Consequences of Cancellation of Order by Buyer (private seller)

Hi team!

Three things which have come to light after a buyer recently cancelled their order with me:

1. If the seller has opted to pay for postage (Simple Delivery), and the buyer cancels the order, the seller then has to take a very convoluted route to re-claim the cost of the postage label, using a form which doesn't even have the option of 'Buyer cancelled order' as a reason for reclaiming the postage. The seller then has to wait up to 14 days for the refund to be processed. This doesn't seem fair on the seller and is not acceptable when this is through no fault of their own. If eBay can immediately and automatically refund the buyer the purchase price and BPF, then surely they can also immediately and automatically refund the seller for the cost of the postage?

2. Once the seller has agreed to the cancellation request, the item gets re-listed. However, the seller has then lost any other watchers from the original listing and all offers previously sent to watchers then become null and void. Again, this is unfair for the seller but also unfair for buyers who were in receipt of the previous offer. Surely they should still have the opportunity to accept the offer which has been sent? Just like Second Chance Offers on auction listings. 

3. Buyers should be limited in the amount of time available to select "ordered by mistake" as a reason for cancelling an order. Surely you know pretty much straightaway if you've ordered something by mistake, not 2 hours and 20 minutes later? Especially if you've already responded to the seller's 'thank you, I'll post that first thing in the morning' message in the meantime?

As an aside, it seems odd to me that when a buyer cancels their purchase, the item remains visible as 'sold' in all search results. It now looks like I might be pulling a fast one, listing an item that appears to be exactly the same as an item I've just sold 😳

Just some thoughts, perhaps they could be passed to the relevant team?

Thanks 😊

---

Hi mygaras, thanks for your input here.

I'll forward this to the relevant team, so they can take your feedback into consideration. However, please note that this doesn't necessarily means that changes around this will be made.

Thank you,

Marco

[guymafo]

Dear team

Is there any increased action on incorrectly registered private sellers ?

Like the the example pictured below?

GM

[dave@ebay]

---

@guymafo wrote:

Dear team

Is there any increased action on incorrectly registered private sellers ?

Like the the example pictured below?

GM

---

Hi @guymafo 

I'm not aware of any changes to the policy but you can report the sellers through the usual channels and if necessary, the policy team will take the appropriate action. 

Thanks,

Dave

[mygaras]

Thanks marco@ebay  👍 

As another aside, has there ever been an up-vote system for us to support other members' suggestions? Perhaps this might help development teams gauge interest in ideas and feedback, and might reduce the number of multiple posts on one topic.

[bcstampsuk]

Hi Dave

I wouldn't call it a "glitch" as such. The formats of all the emails were changed on 24th January and for some reason the new templates no longer included the eBay Item ID. I've attached a before / after screenshot of the relevant section of the Auction End email. You'll see the eBay ID was removed and it isn't anywhere else in the email or the email title.

Iain

[ak_craft_crazy]

Hi,

Incorrect information is being passed by yourselves in relation to the new terms for Royal Mail to deliver 2nd class mail (letters & Large Letters on alternate weekdays).

The first one was a post by dave@ebay stating that 2nd class Large Letters are not affected. This is not the case and 2nd Class Large Letters are affected. As can be found on the Royal Mail website and also on the attached email directly from Royal Mail.

The 2nd issue is that you have said that the EDD will be reflected BEFORE Royal mail's new delivery pattern.

Ofcom confirmed they have allowed Royal Mail to implement this from the 28th July. Royal Mail confirmed it will be rolled our area by area and they are already rolling it out.

So why have EDD's not yet been updated to reflect this change?

[ak_craft_crazy]

here is the direct communication from Royal Mail

[marco@ebay]

---

@mygaras wrote:

Thanks marco@ebay  👍 

As another aside, has there ever been an up-vote system for us to support other members' suggestions? Perhaps this might help development teams gauge interest in ideas and feedback, and might reduce the number of multiple posts on one topic.

---

Thanks for your reply, @mygaras 

No, we wouldn't have this and I don't think we've ever had anything like that before. However, we have links on some of the pages where you can leave your feedback about updates/layouts on our site, but not an up-vote system. I'd be happy to add that your your previous suggestion if you wish. 👍

Thank you,

Marco

[fjgjhgjkhkljkl_39]

Regarding the message buyer button on the view order details page, when using a desktop this used to be right clickable so you could open the My Messages area in a new tab straight into typing the message. Now it opens a small side panel with a tiny box which is hard to write messages in and see what was written.

Over the years eBay has a habit of making messaging boxes as small as possible, is there any reason for this?

Also (using Chrome) if I copy and paste a previously sent message from My Messages when pasting in to a new message this pastes the content twice, not one full message after the after but rather in clusters of duplicated paragraphs, very odd?

Lastly last week I asked about the Online Safety Act and was told to contact customer services, as joyful a prospect as it is to discuss such a complex matter with someone on the other side of the world, the chat opening here says if you don't know the answer you'll know the people who do. Still plenty of images of naked people when searching for fine art photographs so with that in mind can you pass the concern on please?

[wellingnorth]

I noticed recently that simple delivery listings only seem to allow Click & Collect from Evri stores rather than Argos, etc. If Evri is disabled Click & Collect does not seem to be available at all.

Is this a deliberate policy change or something that's crept in with Simple Delivery by mistake?

The Click & Collect page here still suggests Argos + Sainsbury's collection should be available
https://pages.ebay.co.uk/clickandcollect/

[mygaras]

Hi dave@ebay 

Can I just check if this is the correct link for reporting business sellers using private accounts? There doesn't seem to be an option for 'Using the wrong account'...

As previously documented, there doesn't seem to be much action taken when reporting businesses registered as private sellers (I appreciate there might be sanctions taking place that we're not aware of), and it would be good to know that we're using the correct channels for reporting such concerns. Thanks 😊

[mygaras]

---

marco@ebay wrote:

---

@mygaras wrote:

Thanks marco@ebay  👍 

As another aside, has there ever been an up-vote system for us to support other members' suggestions? Perhaps this might help development teams gauge interest in ideas and feedback, and might reduce the number of multiple posts on one topic.

---

Thanks for your reply, @mygaras 

No, we wouldn't have this and I don't think we've ever had anything like that before. However, we have links on some of the pages where you can leave your feedback about updates/layouts on our site, but not an up-vote system. I'd be happy to add that your your previous suggestion if you wish. 👍

Thank you,

Marco

---

That would be great, thanks marco@ebay  😊

[1956glyn]

Hi.

I am rather confused.    When i list sterling silver jewellery it is exluded from Simple Delivery.    Saying that when i listed solid silver tongs they were NOT excluded.

I appreciate they were listed in different categories but saying that both items are made of exactly the same metal........both fully hallmarked.

Surely simple delivery should exclude/include items based on what they are made of????

[cool-novelties]

Hi

Is it possible to add Global Shipping to a single destination i.e. USA and still allow other shipping options i.e. Royal Mail International Tracked for all other countries?  So for example, a buyer from the US would need to select GSP, a buyer from Australia would get the option of Royal Mail International Tracked.

We've asked customer services, they thought it was possible, then not possible, then not sure. 

The options in the listing editor seems to suggest it should?  Please can you clarify if this is possible or not - thanks.