Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 23.10.24 @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 kat@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

[darth_baggins]

Thanks Dave.

Follow up question;

Do you think it's acceptable to make a major change in feedback policy but then keep it hidden, promise an update 'sometime' but continue to keep your customers (sellers) in the dark?

[wellingnorth]

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kat@ebay wrote:

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Hi @wellingnorth ,

We are not aware of a change in the policy. 

Our policy is as " Listings that run during a daylight saving time-change will still receive the full amount of the listing duration. For example, if you have a 1-day listing that starts at 1pm on Saturday, and the daylight saving time spring transition occurs that Saturday evening, the listing will end at 2pm on Sunday."

Do you have item number example and I can follow up offline

Thank you,

Kat

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If you do a search on ebay for anything, limit it to auctions, set it to sort by newly listed you'll find examples. For example a search for ornament

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ornament&_sacat=0&LH_Auction=1&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sop=10

Top listing Burleigh Blue Felicity New Christmas Tree Decorations Set Of 3
On the results page shows Listed at "23-Oct 14:25"
Click into the listing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226414117977

The page shows "Ends in 7d 0h30/10, 14:25"

[mrdandt]

Hello,

Just wanted to ask, what would you classify a seller that makes products for resale i.e. manufactures products to make profit – Private seller or Business seller ?

Would manufacturing products been seen as trading as a business ?

Would really appricate clarification as there seems to be a number of private sellers manufacturing products and woundered what the eBays view is on this.

Thanks

[kat@ebay]

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@sheffieldtoolingco wrote:

Hello

I have a large store and some items have not sold after several years.  They have now falled down the rankings, what are your views on ending and relisting the item / items?

Thanks

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Hi @sheffieldtoolingco  ,

If you have items that have not sold in years then it is worth either revising the listings or relisting them. You can focus on changes to price/title/description and images to make improvements.  There is good helpful information on this on our eBay for Business youtube channel so can be worth having a look here for best practices.

Thank you,

Kat

[b024281025]

How do i get refund of postage to royal mail through ebay

[dave@ebay]

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@pg_kicks wrote:

When we phone eBay we are thanked for our loyalty, can this please be removed as its patronising, also the hold music has been the same for about 10 years, can it be changed?

The main issue, eBay has a big issue of lying on the phones, be it the incorrect information or the issue I'm currently suffering from the phantom promised call backs from managers. As concierge I should get a call back within 24 hours (so 1 business day) I had to wait 8 business days and phone 3 times, now a manager promised a call back on Monday, didnt happen to I called last night and still not heard from him? Why do eBay just lie so much on the phones, then when we complain we are never given any feedback on the complaint due to eBays policy of not doing so aka we dont really follow up your complaint.

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Hi @pg_kicks 

Thanks for your feedback Ill pass it on the CS teams.

Ive reached out to the manager you were speaking to about the callback. As you know CS is a different channel to us so I don't know what would have caused the delay in them getting back to you. 

Ive asked that they call you back as soon as possible. 

Thanks,

Dave

[pg_kicks]

Thanks, its just annoying as we are all being told different information, like I always say communication is simple as long as its truthful and released sadly eBay rarely release any info (no idea why they are afraid) and then tell each person different things when they phone up, one concierge member was told businesses selling over £1000pa will eb forced to upgrade, I was told its between £50k-£80k but he wasnt sure and would find out, and accounts that have 300+ listings all of brand new trainers are not going to be considered a business? Sorry but thats basics, any manager should know these figures and know if they can give them out.

All we (I) want is a fair and equitable marketplace for all sellers/buyers, sadly is seems eBay want a badly designed website, with more bugs than London zoo and full of illegal accounts. Again if there is ever open forums in person I will happy pay travel costs myself to tell Sholto and the higher management exactly what is broken on his site.

[moldosgifts]

Tic Toc Still waiting for the timeline??

[ducatimondo]

We have a case for a return of 2 brand new relays, that apparently both do not work.

The buyer is in Italy and is playing like he doesn't know how to do returns, messages, etc.

Left us a negative feedback before asking any questions.

So I tried my best to help him, as the relays are a premium product, genuine Hella brand, exactly identical to the OEM part.
We have sodl loads of them, with no issues.

We have used the on bikes we are fixing in our own workshop, with no issues.

There is 100% not anything wrong with the parts!!!

He has not confirmed much information I have asked him to check.

He has now escalated the return and eBay have given me until tomorrow to provide a return label.

Except the utter genius that designs this has not made the system properly.

It does not allow me to add anything to the return, as it is now a case.

I cannot add anything to the case, as it is on hold until tomorrow.

I can't provide a return label anywhere, as the return is closed as he escalated it.

I can't add anything to the case, as eBay have put it on hold.

He will automatically get a full refund from MY  POCKET unless I provide a return label before tomorrow.
Yet there is nothing made in either the return or the case to let me do anything???????

So how exactly am I supposed to do that, with the ludicrous way it is made??

I know 100% what is going on, we are being played by an experienced buyer playing dumb and eBay is letting him do it.

It is return number 5275288734

This is not the first time this has happened to us, but is the first I can post on here whilst it is still open.

Help please!!

Thank you Russ

[dave@ebay]

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@british-ceramics-and-paintings wrote:

Same old question about business sellers on private accounts, I am competing against businesses trading on private accounts, some have 1200 to 1800 items for sale and are generating sales of many thousands each month.

As things stand my business pays ebay approximately £220 for every £1000 we generate in sales, the above sellers are paying next to nothing.

I don't see any changes on this despite the problems it is causing so many legitimate business sellers.

When will this be addressed as many of us don't want to / cannot wait weeks or months. As things stands the platform is no longer viable for us.

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Hi @british-ceramics-and-paintings 

This has been a focus over the past while. Through the community you may have seen the posts from private sellers the received notifications about upgrading to businesses with some having their accounts actioned. Much of this action is happening on an account level so we cant speak to non account holders about what has happened.

It is an ongoing process and there are many different factors involved so there is no timescale I can set to say all actions will or have been taken on this.

Thanks,

Dave 

[moldosgifts]

dave@ebay This has been a focus over the past while

While?  week ,month, year how long is a while.

And if i was an account reported how long can i expect to have action taken on me,

[kat@ebay]

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@technthread wrote:

eBay you don't half give out mixed messages to sellers. Today's message in the inbox - 'improve your delivery experience to help boost sales this season' went out to both business and private sellers. In that email it is linking the circular fashion fund offer for a chance of winning a £50k cash boost for a business. It is no wonder private business sellers just stay on the private account for the free fees.

And in that email it is telling sellers to get ready for the rush but don't worry about estimated delivery dates because eBay have us covered. They don't really do they when standard post options like evri, RM 2nd Class / RM Tracked 48 are always given an EDD of 1-2 days from the day the order is placed. Sellers just want you to get the basic EDD correct in the first place. I don't believe the dynamic EDD line. A family member of mine who is a private seller (and inactive in eBay for nearly a year) has just sold something today (2nd Class letter / 1 day dispatch time) and has asked me why the EDD would be Friday/Saturday. I can't help them to understand it because nobody but eBay seems to. If a 2nd class letter is posted on a Thursday the EDD shouldn't be Friday/Saturday should it? Why would a private seller who came back to test eBay out again want to list and sell if they are put under immediate pressure with an EDD they can't achieve. It's not a good experience for sellers at all eBay really need to listen to business and private we are getting tired of it. 

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Hi @technthread ,

With the EDD date being dynamic it is based on various factors. As there is quieter periods of the year and busy periods it helps to have it changing to give more realistic dates to buyers.  I will share your example here with our shipping team as feedback but currently there is no plan to change to how it is being calculated.

Thank you,

Kat

[direct.gifts]

I have an ongoing issue with Multi Buy Orders. I did report this on the techincal issues part of the forum a few months ago.

For example a customer buys 5 items across different listings. It correctly calculates the 10% discount the customer should get but splits the items across 2 orders.

One of the reasons for offering a 10% discount is to pass the postage savings I get onto the customer. However as it splits it in 2 orders we sometimes ship as 2 seperate orders as it is difficult to identify in Royal Mail click and drop which orders need to be merged.

Ideally it should place the 5 items under the same order number.

[dave@ebay]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

Ill ask again as ive not reived a relevaent answer 

What is the time line for businesses operating on a private account once reprted by us doing your job for you.

Example once you receive the report they have 1 month to offer any evidence they are not a business before being forced, i dont want to know individual informatio timelines just in general what to expect once reported.

How long before i see evidence you hav etaken action i do keep an eye on the ones i have reported and so far in 2-3 weeks no evidence at all.

1 week to take action, 1 week to appeal, 1 week of restricted listing sometyhing like that would be essentiol to share here.

So what IS the timeline.

Sorry for all the typos 

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Hi @moldosgifts 

Unfortunately there is no set answer to that question that I can give you. Each case can differ based on a number of factors and depending on what is required in each case there could be extra time needed. 

As I'm sure you've seen it will continue to be a focus for us and the policy team will work though any reports as they receive them. 

Thanks,

Dave

[pg_kicks]

Whilst I like to hear it has been a focus in reality I sent a list of accounts selling over 200 brand new items all different sizes and management told me these are not a business within eBays eyes, also the one which has 'small family run business' in the about us which me, many others, you, concierge staff, concierge managers, Pro Trader staff have all reported yet is STILL on a private account. This is the reality of it, words are easy but real actions are not following the words, granted 5 or 6 accounts may have been asked and REWARDED to upgrade but the issue is huge and eBay are not giving it the attention it needs. 

Sorry you are getting it as you are the face as management dont dare speak to us minions but the site has bigger problems than they care to admit in regards to this.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Dave, I am seeing very little movement on this, I hope ebay is prepared for the inevitable loss of a lot of good quality sellers from the platform.

I don't think Ebay quite understand the urgency that is required on this. This isn't a sudden development, it is being handled very very poorly. 

[wellingnorth]

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kat@ebay wrote:

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Hi @wellingnorth ,

We are not aware of a change in the policy. 

Our policy is as " Listings that run during a daylight saving time-change will still receive the full amount of the listing duration. For example, if you have a 1-day listing that starts at 1pm on Saturday, and the daylight saving time spring transition occurs that Saturday evening, the listing will end at 2pm on Sunday."

Do you have item number example and I can follow up offline

Thank you,

Kat

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As the chat is closing, there are a couple of threads about this from Sunday you could reply to

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Technical-Issues/Clock-change-bug-Duration-7d-1-hour/m-p/7697292

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Business-Seller-Board/day-auctions/m-p/7697344

Obviously I don't know whether in this case this is a bug, but as a side note I always think it would be great if someone on the development team were tasked with spending half an hour a day on the forums, particularly the 'technical issues' one, as it would surely help early identification of any malfunctions on what must be a very complicated site to improve and maintain.

[technthread]

Please do. The example I gave is someone who works full time.

They can't post the same day so they set their dispatch to 1 day which I think is very good for a private seller. They are irritated by it because what eBay are effectively saying is go home from work now and post it 2nd class or if you post it tomorrow as agreed, upgrade to 1st class post to be sure you won't get a defect. 

Anyway point made, I realise it's not your fault but it is so frustrating. I see it on my account but I am used to dealing with it. 

[kat@ebay]

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@moonspender wrote:

I read on a business seller comm that a consierge advised someone yesterday that private sellers doing over £1000 PA of sales will be expected to become business sellers by the end of the year, is this correct?

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Hi @moonspender ,

We are not aware of a specific amount like this for private sellers. This may be in relation to the HMRC rules.  eBay reviews accounts based on various factors of which we are not able to share due to security reasons.  I will follow up with concierge to check on the information being given.

Thank you,

Kat

[dave@ebay]

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@military-incorporated wrote:

Since June this year we’ve noted a significant decline in sales on the eBay platform, we’ve increased our stock offering since then, with a wider range available and we continue to add new stock regularly, we’ve tried your promotional options and regularly revise long term listings, and nothing is working to bring it back. I’ve spoken to a lot of other business users, and they are all experiencing similar declines. eBay has always been a huge part of our business and it’s quickly becoming unreliable and inconsistent. Can you tell me what has changed since June on the platform and with your systems please?

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Hi @military-incorporated 

Im not aware of any specific changes to the overall system that would cause a drop in sales. We do regularly run updates to the site to help improve its day to day running. 

There was our usual Seller Update in June where we announced some changes to the site. You can find details that here. 

If you're experiencing a drop in sales it could also be worth having a look over on our eBay for Business Youtube channel. There are some great videos from our recent eBay open which could help with optimisation as well as other tips for helping increase sales.

Thanks,

Dave