Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 31.01.24 @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

[technthread]

Thanks for your reply Marco. 

Thinking of private sellers especially who will just take an address on face value, write it out on their parcel and put a stamp on, it is asking for a lost or delayed parcel. With my buyer, I still can't fathom what they have done as the Manchester part of the address doesn't seem to exist as a street anyway and they still aren't replying.

It would be good if eBay could automatically recognise an address as invalid when they add it to their profile, it will reduce the number of cancelled or refunded sales which is beneficial for eBay as well as users. Thanks 

[marco@ebay]

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@ak_craft_crazy wrote:

Hi,

As we sell a majority of personalised items, we often get customers who fail to fill the personalisation part correctly or have missed part of this off. We then have to message them and await for a response before proceeding with their order. Sometimes this can take a few days as they don't respond straight away. However this then causes the item to be sent a few days after it was meant to, not due to us but the buyer. This then goes against our seller rating when the tracking shows late delivery.

Please can we suggest that there is a way for sellers of personalised items to adjust the dispatch time when this occurs to prevent it going against them?

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Hi ak_craft_crazy, thanks for your post.

Thanks for your suggestion, I will ensure to pass this on, so this can be into consideration for future updates as well.

Thank you,

Marco

[katie@ebay]

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@russellmattin wrote:

Hi Katie Ah I see yes that works but not as good as when it was automatic, why are changes always worse than before??? Why was the change made?

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That's not something I have access to at the moment. 

I see what you mean and understand that the original way was fewer steps for you and other users. I will share this feedback.

Thanks,

Katie 

[marco@ebay]

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@tressygirl wrote:

Thank you Marco.

OK,   so this is when a buyer pays with a card payment or PayPal,  would the seller still be liable for a cash on collection item.  Again item fully inspected ( or should have been). NAD opened within 30 days.

Here is the seller liable to accept the return and pay for its return ?

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Thanks for your reply, tressygirl. 

Yes, it would be the same for cash on collection or paying electronically, as the money back guarantee would still work as usual.

Thank you,

Marco

[dave@ebay]

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@russellmattin wrote:

Since sellers stopped being able to leave feedback for buyers the system is worthless as far as we sellers are concerned. Why not introduce a new BUYER RATING based on the number of times they send returns or claim items haven’t arrived or are damaged etc …this way it would identify those who abuse the system and enable us to block them after x number of claims and make the whole ebay platform more honest

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Hi @russellmattin 

There is no front facing buyer ratings for buyers but we do have an option to report the buyer. Sellers can use this to let us know if there was an issue with the buyer during the transaction. It could be a case that the report doesn't warrant immediate action but, if there are a number of similar reports this could trigger a manual review and there could be more serious action against the account. 

Thanks,

Dave

[tressygirl]

Thanks Marco , the cash on collection still being open to a successful NAD claim I'm sure will be news to all mentors here.

I can understand PayPal and card buyer protection policies , but we as a team have always said cash on collection following a full inspection a buyer cannot later claim NAD.  What if the buyer then drops the item from their vehicle at home damaging it, claiming only the item is damaged when arriving home,  but of course it left the seller's home 100% intact.  Surely then a claim is invalid.

[darth_baggins]

Further to the question on personalisation, I've all but given up on it because as the other poster described, some buyers don't give the required information nor do they respond to any messages.

Can eBay not make it so that personalisation is required before placing the order, like on Amazon and Etsy?

[katie@ebay]

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@darth_baggins wrote:

Further to the question on personalisation, I've all but given up on it because as the other poster described, some buyers don't give the required information nor do they respond to any messages.

Can eBay not make it so that personalisation is required before placing the order, like on Amazon and Etsy?

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Thank you for your insight @darth_baggins. 

This does sound like it would be a great addition to the site, and I have no information about why it is not currently in place. I will pass on your suggestion.

Thanks,

Katie 

[tommystrezures]

Also @tressygirl  and marco@ebay  if that's now the case what then happens if the buyer sends in a third party courier to collect and the item gets damaged are you implying they would be covered by the eBay mbg? As item damaged falls under an inad.

[marco@ebay]

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@tressygirl wrote:

Thanks Marco , the cash on collection still being open to a successful NAD claim I'm sure will be news to all mentors here.

I can understand PayPal and card buyer protection policies , but we as a team have always said cash on collection following a full inspection a buyer cannot later claim NAD.  What if the buyer then drops the item from their vehicle at home damaging it, claiming only the item is damaged when arriving home,  but of course it left the seller's home 100% intact.  Surely then a claim is invalid.

---

Thanks for your reply, tressygirl.

I see where you are coming from, but as advised before, the money back guarantee still works the same as buyers would still have 30 days to file a claim. Online or in-store purchases are covered, as sometimes when we get the item in first place, they work ok. However, it is still possible that they stop working hours or days later, which is why protections are in place for 30 days with our money back guarantee. If damages were caused deliberately, this is something you can escalate with us for review, but please note that since we don't handle the items, we are not able to guarantee you that the case will be resolved in your favor.

Thank you,

Marco

[katie@ebay]

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@tommystrezures wrote:

Also @tressygirl  and marco@ebay  if that's now the case what then happens if the buyer sends in a third party courier to collect and the item gets damaged are you implying they would be covered by the eBay mbg? As item damaged falls under an inad.

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Hi @tommystrezures,

A buyer using a third party courier would make them not qualify for eBay Money-Back Guarantee. 

Thanks,

Katie 

[kempseykate]

On the subject of wrong addresses, what can I do if I order using checkout to have item sent to a relative in another part of the country,  and the seller ignores the 'post to' address and sends it to my registered address? If I receive it here, I then have to pay postage to send it to the address it should have been sent to?

Why do ebay even show the seller the registered address if the buyer has opted for another address at checkout?

[marco@ebay]

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@kempseykate wrote:

On the subject of wrong addresses, what can I do if I order using checkout to have item sent to a relative in another part of the country,  and the seller ignores the 'post to' address and sends it to my registered address? If I receive it here, I then have to pay postage to send it to the address it should have been sent to?

Why do ebay even show the seller the registered address if the buyer has opted for another address at checkout?

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Hi kempseykate, thanks for your question.

Sellers are always required to send the item to a shipping address, nothing else. It is the seller's responsibility to send the item to the shipping address in question, which is the one entered by the buyer. If by accident the buyer enters the wrong address, and then would like to send the item to a different place, it is the buyer responsibility to pay for that shipping as that was their mistake in first place for entering the wrong address. If the seller sends the item to a wrong address, then it would be the seller's responsibility.

Thank you,

Marco

[dave@ebay]

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@ak_craft_crazy wrote:

dave@ebay  thank you for your short response, please can you respond to the example i have provided? where the EDD is showing the same day as dispatch. Would you agree this is correct? 

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Hi @ak_craft_crazy 

I don't know if there was any issues in December, on occasion we have seen discrepancies with the delivery times so I cant give you a definitive answer.

Its worth keeping in mind that the EDD uses account history and delivery times for the buyers location as part of the calculation. For example using longer dispatch times with shorter delivery options or vice versa can affect how the EDD is shown on the account. 

Thanks,

Dave

[lep5224]

Hi ,what is the protocol for posting messages betwween buyer and seller ?

I ask only because the seller indicated they would inform me when ready as they were 

currently tending sick relative .

Hence my mistaken courtesy in delay .

eBay Customer Services have my consent to peruse messages .  Why do they then  not do this ?

It is the principle of the matter ...

[ak_craft_crazy]

dave@ebay I understand this, however when the processing time is 2 working days the delivery option is 2nd class 2-3 working days (eBay also says this on the delivery options) but yet EDD says same or next day delivery there is clearly an issue right? 

This eaxct issue and example i raised in December and was told by Marco EDD was working as expected. Im sure you can appreciate we as sellers feel like were banging our head against a brick wall with so many of us saying it is not working to keep getting the same response. You say it is fed back to the delivery team but there not listening. Its not accurate and is giving false information to buyers its unfair allround. 

We are not asking for much just more accurate times i.e. add a day onto the EDD its that simple

[katie@ebay]

Hi all,

Quick reminder that posts here should include questions to the community team, and discussions or conversations outside of Q&A will be removed.

Thanks,

Katie 

[marco@ebay]

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@kempseykate wrote:

A recent addition of the feedback page some of us are seeing is 'verified purchase' as in the screenshot below. Is there any point to this? You can only leave feedback for someone you have been in a transaction with, so all feedbacks are 'verified purchases', surely?

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Hi kempseykate, just an update on this.

A verified purchase is a review or feedback left by a buyer who purchased the item directly through eBay. This means that the purchase was made using eBay's checkout system, and that eBay has confirmed the transaction as legit.
When a buyer leaves a review or feedback on an item they purchased on eBay, eBay will indicate whether the purchase was verified or not. Verified purchases are typically given more weight in eBay's review and feedback system than non-verified purchases, as they are considered to be more reliable and trustworthy.
The verified purchase status can help to ensure that reviews and feedback are accurate and fair, and can provide valuable information to other buyers who are considering purchasing the same item. It's important for sellers to encourage buyers to leave honest reviews and feedback, as this can have a significant impact on their reputation and future sales on eBay.

Thanks,

Marco

[tressygirl]

oops soz Katie and one minute left to thank you and Marco for the answers today

[dave@ebay]

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@lep5224 wrote:

Hi ,what is the protocol for posting messages betwween buyer and seller ?

I ask only because the seller indicated they would inform me when ready as they were 

currently tending sick relative .

Hence my mistaken courtesy in delay .

eBay Customer Services have my consent to peruse messages .  Why do they then  not do this ?

It is the principle of the matter ...

---

Hi @lep5224 

Its possible that the messages in a case can be reviewed and taken into consideration by the agent who is handling it. 

If its in general messages between a buyer and seller it might not be be possible. It would depend on the circumstances. Without the context of the issue I cant provide you a more specific answer though.

Thanks,

Dave