💬 Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 30.11.22 @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 , dave@ebay  and katie@ebay . Between us, we have knowledge in Buying, Selling, ProTrader, Fulfilment, Parts & Accessories, 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. 

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

[lord_and_lady_m]

I keep spending the better part of my days responding to INR requests that should never be allowed to open. All because chose to tell me customers that if they order the day before a strike day, they wilĺ get 2nd class orders on Saturday 26th. I am absolutely fuming about it, and the fact that ebay are emailing those customers to tell them if it hasn't arrived to open a request.

Is ebay going to reimburse my completely wasted time?

Is ebay going to be putting the food on my table when  I am forced to refund for items that will no doubt arrive in a few weeks time?

Is ebay ever going to extend the request deadline in which a customer can escalate as right now i am on the edge. There is absolutely no way on earth I can resolve any delay issues by Friday 2nd. 

[douglaspuglas]

Why has the search location filter disappeared from search pages for anyone searching who's delivery location isn't in the UK when using the UK site. 

There have been complaints from buyers in eu countries that search the UK site and can no longer filter item location to the eu or anywhere else because that function has disappeared.

Here's a link to one of the threads. https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Technical-Issues/Country-and-region-search-filters-gone-or-not-worki... 

And this is another thread.https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Technical-Issues/Option-to-filter-item-location-vanished/m-p/7329704... 

I discovered it is possible to use the advanced search to filter country/region location but it's not as easy as using the search filter on the actual search pages.

[mysterious_cities_of_mold]

When using the Pale Moon browser, the buttons on the Shopping cart page do not work. I add something to the Shopping cart and when I go to the Shopping Cart page, the "Go to Checkout", "Continue Shopping", "Save for Later" and "Remove" buttons do nothing when you press them. Also some other elements are missing from the page.

I believe this is related to the more extensive browser problems when the Best Offer buttons stopped functioning on the Ebay website, as it started around the same time. This need to be fixed so it works when using the Pale Moon browser.  I have reported this to Ebay several times in the last couple of weeks but the problem is still there. Pale Moon is regularly updated by its developers to ensure it is safe and secure so it is not a problem with it being "outdated".

[ducatimondo]

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kat@ebay wrote:

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@petals-and-paws wrote:

Hey guys - estimated delivery dates again, sorry... I have orders showing with estimated delivery for Friday 9th December, which is another Royal Mail strike day and so they will not be delivered on that day! Are eBay aware that there are more strikes due to take place and if so, will the EDDs be adjusted to allow for them? Thank you.

---

Hi @petals-and-paws ,

Similar to the previous communication for the strike days its a ever changing situation. Right now we are taking this weeks dates into account. We are continuing to monitor the future dates and once we have more information on this we will update accordingly.

Thank you,

Kat

---

You are not taking this week's dates into account.

This below is from just now on a live eBay listing and past our cutoff for shipping today (not that we could when they are on strike...)

Free postage	United Kingdom	Economy Delivery (Royal Mail 48)	Free 2-4 day postage Get it between Fri, 2 Dec and Mon, 5 Dec
£0.99	United Kingdom	Standard Delivery (Royal Mail 24)	Estimated between Fri, 2 Dec and Mon, 5 Dec
£1.99	United Kingdom	Standard Delivery (Royal Mail Tracked 24)	Estimated between Fri, 2 Dec and Sat, 3 Dec
£6.49	United Kingdom	Express Delivery (Royal Mail Special Delivery (TM) 1:00 pm)	Estimated on or before Fri, 2 Dec

How are any of these possible?

We can't post today, can't post tomorrow and eBay now shows items sold today need shipping by 2nd December in our seller hub.

So how are you even saying you are taking this week's dates into account when you are clearly not.

I was also sure you were "taking this away" from last week's chat as so many members asked about it.

eBay have done nothing about that, gave lip service to me on the phone and on here saying we are protected.

Buyers are opening claims for items not arriving that definitely would not arrive. eBay and eBay alone are 100% responsible for estimated delivery dates.

Yes, the Royal Mail are on strike, but it is you, eBay that need to change the estimated delivery dates to reflect that!!!

Please stop misleading buyers and then making it our fault as sellers.

Please stop saying you are protecting us, you are not.

Please stop saying you are taking this week's dates into account, as you can see above, you are not.

Please stop saying you are continuing to monitor and update, you are not.

I've been messaging on here asking for help, you say you will do something and nothing happens.

I've had 10+ calls to eBay CS, they do nothing.

Can eBay please actually do something...

Regards
Russ

[returns_andexdisplay]

Are there any more updates planned to the listing tool as it is still awful to use and not user friendly. 

EAN hidden at the very bottom of the item specifics even thou it is required in some listings. Don't find this out till you submit the listing then have to waste time going back to fill it in. 

MPN number required in some categories, little hard to find when item is a used customer return and have no packing. 

Still to much clicking in and out of boxes. 

For the fees sellers pay the experiences is no where near good enough especially considering it has just been revamped as part of the tech led reimagination 

[bravergrace]

And, along with the wheelnut listings, come the 99p Stairlift listings.

These are occasionally removed, but soon replaced by identical listings from a new ID.  

There cannot be any actual VALUE to eBay in allowing companies to advertise their "contact details" for 99p, when the product they are selling costs tens of thousands of pounds.  And the poor person who thinks they are buying safely on eBay, is actually buying something with no guarantee and virtually no consumer rights.

Here is an example (anonymised, but otherwise copy-and-paste from a live eBay listing):

******** *******lifts.

Hi,

My names ***** I’m the Director of a lift company based in ********. Even though we are based in ****we cover the whole of the UK & Europe. I have over 20 years experience in the mobility industry. My back ground is Mechanical & Electrical Engineering as well as general building & electrical works. I was an Engineer at ******** in the early development stage of the company training installation teams & builders. I later left to set up my own company & still have a great relationship with ********* today.

This advert is just to advertise our company our experience & what we can provide for you.

1. We sell brand new ******* lifts & products to our clients.

2. We can sell reconditioned ******* lifts. We typically have half a dozen in stock at anyone time.

3. We can provide a call out service (UK & EU)

4. We can provide servicing (UK & EU)

5. We remove unwanted ********* lifts

6. We can remove a lift & repair the ceiling & floor

7. We also have a lift buy back scheme.

We do not sell lifts on eBay just our contact details.

If you require anymore information please message us through eBay messenger. We charge 0.99p for our contact details which is refundable. This way we don’t break any eBay rules.

Kind regards

*****

[lord_and_lady_m]

I think we would all appreciate being protected BEFORE issues arrive. We all knew RM were striking. All of us except for ebay it seems. So no doubt, i'll have to refund hundreds of orders because of the lies peddled by the perfectly working Estimated Delivery Date system that is based on past performance. Past performace that is totally irrelevant in this situation.

 AND no doubt in a months time when there are no strikes my performance will affect the EDD's again and show that it take me normally 3 weeks for items to arrive and therefore make no sales.

What are we paying ebay for?

I have sponsored listing too and if had known ebay were not going to extend dates, despite the communication saying the would, why would i bother paying to promote listings. I've essentially paid to promote my items, and then made sales, sent items out and then refunded them. So customers get free items and I pay for them and promote.

RM is not to blame for this complete farce. I am livid

[kat@ebay]

Hi @lord_and_lady_m ,

We have provided as much messaging and communication as possible to buyers to make them aware of delays due to strikes. Even when buyers reach out to customer support through calls and chats they are being educated on delays and giving time before opening cases. We are unable to stop buyers opening cases on the system. We are continuing with what we can support with which is extending EDD's for strike days and having seller protections. 

Thank you,

Kat

[returns_andexdisplay]

Is there a reason why there is no transparency with return credits when a buyer claims not as described but nothing wrong with the item? I could have 10 returns in month, try to claim 4 credits for buyer abusing the system yet only get 2 credits. Get no notification of which credits are accepted, only a credit on the statement. Large items cost more to send back yet eBay only part refund the return even if buyer abused the system

eBay seem to be promiting part refunds on social media yet fail to warn sellers that ebay keep the  fees for part refunds. Again why is this? 

[bayseeker11]

I sell predominately "Crested China" which were all deemed to be vases by ebay when item specifics were first rolled out. This resulted in completely nonsensical item specifics. For example, there are in excess of 300 makers of crested china and despite there being a very long list of makers available in the item specifics only 8 are actually makers of crested china.

I could  give many more examples but fundamently Crested China needs its own category with relevant item specifics. If the "team" involved would like some idea of the relevant specifics there are a number of books written about Crested China they would then appreciate the magnitude of the issue.

This is also not a niche item, there are currently over 19000 listing showing when you search Crested China.

This is also a predominately UK market so you cant cut & paste from other ebay sites.

[maggna]

As we have already had multiple strike days and as we are told EDD are worked out using previous performance data why can't the shipping team see the delays the strikes are causing for themselves?

[lord_and_lady_m]

I'd like to know where the messaging is for customers?

I spent 2 days last week contacting all my customers to advise them and sat up at 2 in the morning as we can only message them one by one.

[dave@ebay]

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@ianseymoursalvage wrote:

The sellers with the 99p listings have been doing it for years and still continue to do it so obviously the "actions" you are taking are not severe enough.

Each one of these listings has numerous policy breaches so even if you gave them the benefit of doubt on one theres ten other breaches

No item listed for sale

Search and browse manipulation

Avoiding ebay fees

Keyword Spamming 

etc

etc

Us honest car parts sellers run the gauntlet of returns,bad feedback,late deliveries and god knows what else and pay you fees on each sale

These listings avoid all this

Instead of roadshows and telling us how to sell why not devote a dedicated team to sort car parts out once and for all!!!

I could sort it out in a month its easy,get rid of those cheating fees and the genuine sellers then sell more generating far more revenue for you its a win win for everyone including the buyers too as they deal with genuine sellers and the transactions are done through ebay.

---

When an account is reviewed there might not be anything that can be directly actioned and the team will take note of them and look for a pattern of behaviour that can then be actioned at a later date. The seller may also receive a warning which would give them a timeframe to update or remove listings. 

P&A is a focus and the team are taking all the feedback provided and have been making changes where possible.

As always I will send your feedback and suggestions back to the guys for future updates. 

[lord_and_lady_m]

How is the an extension of delivery dates? You tell me. Post by 6th and it'll arrive 7th latest. What a joke

[iceblue_uk]

Hi Kat.

Regarding seller protections, there doesn't seem to be any covering cases resolved without seller resolution.

I understand the usual rule that we must resolve cases within 4 working days but when the buyer opens a case due to Royal Mail delay, we are sending the buyer information about the delays and asking them to let us know if they still don't have it by a certain date. In most cases we receive no reply and since we know that most buyers don't bother to close cases or even tell us when they receive the item, we wait for a response but then the buyer simply comes back 4 days later and, without contacting us, asks ebay to step in, resulting in a loss of fees and a defect on our account.

This seems massively unfair, can we appeal this kind of defect during periods of industrial action?

If not, are we expected to refund every delay case, even though the item may since have arrived?

Doing so would be crazy because we've had upwards of 100 such cases over the last few months that simply closed on their own because the buyer received the item.

If we cannot appeal these defects, could you simply extend the time we have to resolve cases to allow for the strike days and subsequent delays?

What about extending the number of days before a buyer can claim for delay?

We had a case last week where a buyer ordered last Weds evening before the 2 strike days, was given an EDD of 3-4 days, opened a refund case on the Sunday and due to strikes this week probably won't see the item for another week at least.

We need some protection against having to issue refunds so soon after delivery, 6 or 7 days just isn't enough right now. The delivery date for RM post is always estimated, but many buyers treat it as a guarantee, even now and the system is allowing them to act as if it is.

[eshopforce01]

If you search for : 

"Playstation 2 games" (in the video games category)

Out of of the 19 first listing 18 are offering multiple choices and breaching ebay policy.

Search manipulation policy

Offering a choice of different products in a single listing is not allowed.

[petals-and-paws]

I know eBay have had seller protections in place over the strike period. However, eBay are now sending emails to buyers reminding them that items they have ordered haven't been delivered. I know a lot of sellers don't use tracking, or don't input the tracking - or, like me, use RM24 / RM48 which is dependent on the postie scanning the package, which doesn't always happen. Is this not going to encourage dishonest buyers to open INRs, if they are made aware that an item they have received doesn't show as delivered on eBay? Some sellers - who are also buyers - have even reported receiving these emails before the item is due to arrive! I appreciate it does ask for patience before opening a case and to message the seller, but I think this is going to cause a lot of issues for sellers.

[ducatimondo]

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@maggna wrote:

As we have already had multiple strike days and as we are told EDD are worked out using previous performance data why can't the shipping team see the delays the strikes are causing for themselves?

---

Good point.

Do eBay mean that the EDD's are worked out based upon our own previous performance data or are they worked out collectively.

So are they seller based, courier / shipping service based or a blend of the 2?

[pixiesen2012]

@lord_and_lady_m 

look closer it actually says the buyer has been told it will arrive BEFORE the date you have to post it

community-team@ebay 

how is this acceptable at any time?

[returns_andexdisplay]

The catagory I list in is awful for private sellers trading as a business but avoiding distance selling regulations. I have competitors with hundreds of listings of similar stock but nothing gets done.