💬 Weekly Chat with the eBay Community Team- 31.05.23 @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. 

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

[drgwalker]

I sold an item on Saturday going to the USA without any issues using my preferred courier for dispatch. I sell an item on Monday morning (Item number: 115811918256) going to New Zealand only to find it was sold via the Global Shipping Programme.

Can someone from eBay be as kind as to inform me why I was suddenly enrolled into the GSP without any prior warning or notification and can you also inform me how you calculated the courier rate, as what you charged the buyer probably won’t cover the cost for a 2kg parcel?

[drgwalker]

Buyers email addresses…prior to Managed Payments, the email address could be garnered from the PayPal notification. Managed Payments – it could be found on the ‘Print Invoice for Own Records’ within seller hub. None of these options are available now, nor is the encrypted eBay email address that used to appear (somewhere).

In the past I’ve managed to get the buyers email via the ‘live chat’ feature – not so at the weekend when speaking to the US reps who informed me that under no circumstances would eBay give the buyers email address to the seller.

Can you confirm your policy on this, as when shipping overseas via courier both the email address and telephone number are a prerequisite (I get the telephone number via the app on the ‘Sold Items’ list)?

Can’t be anything to do with data protection as every other platform that I sell on provide the buyers email address at the point of purchase.

[kat@ebay]

---

@drgwalker wrote:

I sold an item on Saturday going to the USA without any issues using my preferred courier for dispatch. I sell an item on Monday morning (Item number: 115811918256) going to New Zealand only to find it was sold via the Global Shipping Programme.

Can someone from eBay be as kind as to inform me why I was suddenly enrolled into the GSP without any prior warning or notification and can you also inform me how you calculated the courier rate, as what you charged the buyer probably won’t cover the cost for a 2kg parcel?

---

Hi @drgwalker ,

There is auto opt in for GSP and there should be a notification on your account when this occurs. It usually gives a timeframe to opt out before it takes place on the account.  I will send your details to our shipping team for feedback  if no notification was received as part of the auto opt in process. The courier rate is done between eBay and their shipping partners for GSP.

Thank you,

Kat

[dave@ebay]

---

@drgwalker wrote:

Buyers email addresses…prior to Managed Payments, the email address could be garnered from the PayPal notification. Managed Payments – it could be found on the ‘Print Invoice for Own Records’ within seller hub. None of these options are available now, nor is the encrypted eBay email address that used to appear (somewhere).

In the past I’ve managed to get the buyers email via the ‘live chat’ feature – not so at the weekend when speaking to the US reps who informed me that under no circumstances would eBay give the buyers email address to the seller.

Can you confirm your policy on this, as when shipping overseas via courier both the email address and telephone number are a prerequisite (I get the telephone number via the app on the ‘Sold Items’ list)?

Can’t be anything to do with data protection as every other platform that I sell on provide the buyers email address at the point of purchase.

---

Hi @drgwalker 

For privacy reasons we no longer show personal email addresses on site. However, you can contact them with an email using their Buyer alias email address this can be found on the view orders page. The address will end in @members.ebay.com.

Thanks,

Dave

[kempseykate]

When listing in some categories I get the item specific 'original/repro' (or variations on that wording).

Why is this not an option for craft patterns (knitting, crochet & sewing)?

I see quite a few neg feedbacks where buyers thought they were buying an original and are upset to get a copy, surely this would make things clearer, and would give buyers the option to just select original only if that is what they want.

[vintage.antique.chandeliers]

Sold a Very Large Antique Brass Chandelier for £475.00 

Size of item was in the description, and chain height can be altered.

The current maximum dimensions are as follows.

Current Height with Chain and Ceiling Rose - 114.0 cms - 45.0 inch

Height without Chain and Ceiling Rose - 65.0 cms - 25.5 inch

Diameter / Width at Widest part of Arms - 80.5 cms - 31.75 inch.

I spent over 5 hours crating and boxing it up, packing materials and shipping costs approx £55.00

27.05.23 - the day after delivery, Buyer Messages to say Morning, unfortunately I have to send back the light. My dining room ceiling now has to be dropped so I won’t have enough space for the light 

I Replied,  Return Address is, xxxxx - Please make sure the Chandelier is Securely fastened into the crate the same way it was sent out.

29.05.23 Case Opened, Buyer Returning Item. £475.00 Now on Hold.   Return reason - Doesn't fit. . .  Comments - I now have to drop my dining room ceiling so the item doesn’t fit.

30.05.23 - Buyer Messages to say, Hi, the chandelier is being collected tomorrow. I haven’t taken it out of the box do it should be secure. It looks lovely and is a real shame my ceilings have been lowered

I will currently be £55.00 out of pocket for the outgoing postage.

I would like to know who is going to be paying for the return shipping label, which is on the case probably supplied by ebay, which I have just checked is Parcelforce 48 and will not even be suitable for the size of the package, as I used 48 Large, and what if there is an additional charge if it arrives here without incorrect label

[eshopforce01]

Hello,

I don't have the option to send an offer from the new messaging system or the app.

Thanks

[kat@ebay]

---

@kempseykate wrote:

When listing in some categories I get the item specific 'original/repro' (or variations on that wording).

Why is this not an option for craft patterns (knitting, crochet & sewing)?

I see quite a few neg feedbacks where buyers thought they were buying an original and are upset to get a copy, surely this would make things clearer, and would give buyers the option to just select original only if that is what they want.

---

Hi @kempseykate ,

This is a good point. I will share this insight with our development team for categories.  As a workaround in the meantime, you can create your item specific for this.

Thank you,

Kat

[vjm-supplies]

I have seen a lot of comments being made recently from long term ebay sellers who are all experiencing significant decreases in sales.  This seems to be a theme that is being replicated across the site as a whole.  

What is ebay's view on this?  

Lots of sellers are leaving the platform permanently.  Is ebay doing anything to drive up visitors to the site and help prevent sellers closing their ebay shops?

[kat@ebay]

---

@vintage.antique.chandeliers wrote:

Sold a Very Large Antique Brass Chandelier for £475.00 

Size of item was in the description, and chain height can be altered.

The current maximum dimensions are as follows.

Current Height with Chain and Ceiling Rose - 114.0 cms - 45.0 inch

Height without Chain and Ceiling Rose - 65.0 cms - 25.5 inch

Diameter / Width at Widest part of Arms - 80.5 cms - 31.75 inch.

I spent over 5 hours crating and boxing it up, packing materials and shipping costs approx £55.00

27.05.23 - the day after delivery, Buyer Messages to say Morning, unfortunately I have to send back the light. My dining room ceiling now has to be dropped so I won’t have enough space for the light 

I Replied,  Return Address is, xxxxx - Please make sure the Chandelier is Securely fastened into the crate the same way it was sent out.

29.05.23 Case Opened, Buyer Returning Item. £475.00 Now on Hold.   Return reason - Doesn't fit. . .  Comments - I now have to drop my dining room ceiling so the item doesn’t fit.

30.05.23 - Buyer Messages to say, Hi, the chandelier is being collected tomorrow. I haven’t taken it out of the box do it should be secure. It looks lovely and is a real shame my ceilings have been lowered

I will currently be £55.00 out of pocket for the outgoing postage.

I would like to know who is going to be paying for the return shipping label, which is on the case probably supplied by ebay, which I have just checked is Parcelforce 48 and will not even be suitable for the size of the package, as I used 48 Large, and what if there is an additional charge if it arrives here without incorrect label

---

Hi @vintage.antique.chandeliers ,

The responsibility of the return postage  is based on the reason code chosen by the buyer at the time the case is opened. Due to the value of this item and the fact we cannot provide 1-1 support for cases here we would recommend reaching out to customer support to review.

Thank you,

Kat

[iceblue_uk]

For at least a few day now the invoice/packingslip generated for GSP orders has been printing the buyer's own address in the 'Post To' section instead of the GSP address. It does read correctly in order details. Is this a known issue that is going to be corrected?

[eshopforce01]

Since the last update i've to manually agree every packlink payment on my banking app.

It's really annoying for a £5-10 transtion.

Any chance to opt out this option ?

Thanks

[dave@ebay]

---

@eshopforce01 wrote:

Hello,

I don't have the option to send an offer from the new messaging system or the app.

Thanks

---

Hi @eshopforce01 

You should be able to send offers to watcher from eligible listings through the app. If the option isn't showing you may need to update it. There is also some troubleshooting steps you can try with the App that usually resolves any issues:

Clear the Apps Cache

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Find Apps or Application manager (depending on your device, this may be different, possibly under "more" settings).
3. On the list, tap the eBay app. 
4. Find  Storage.
5. Tap Clear cache.

 Clear the Apps Data

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Apps or Application manager (depending on your device, this may be different).
3. On the list, tap the eBay app.
4. Find Storage.
5. Tap Clear data.

Force Stop the App

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Find Apps or Application manager (depending on your device, this may be different, possibly under "more" settings).
3. Select the eBay app from the list.
4. Tap Force Stop.

Check for App Updates

1. Open the Play Store app.
2. At the top left, tap Menu ☰.
3. Tap My apps & games.
4. Apps with available updates are labeled "Update."
5. If an update is available, tap the eBay app and then Update.

Uninstall/Reinstall the App

1. Tap the Apps button
2. Touch & hold the eBay app.
3. Drag the app to Uninstall at the top of the screen.
4. Open the Play Store app.
5. Tap Menu ☰, then go to My Apps and games and tap All.
6. Tap the eBay app.
7. Tap Install or Enable.

Thanks,

Dave

[iceblue_uk]

Occasionally GSP customers ask us for an invoice, which of course we cannot provide since we didn't charge them for the import tax and international shipping costs which are shown on the ebay generated invoice. How should we respond to these requests?

[vintage.antique.chandeliers]

So basically you let a customer open a false and incorrect case, it should have been change of mind, then gave them an incorrect shipping label with no insurance to cover the value of the item, and the item is supposed to be collected today.

Now I have to chase around to find out if I am paying for return shipping, and arrange it all due to a buyer not reading a description.

[dave@ebay]

---

@iceblue_uk wrote:

For at least a few day now the invoice/packingslip generated for GSP orders has been printing the buyer's own address in the 'Post To' section instead of the GSP address. It does read correctly in order details. Is this a known issue that is going to be corrected?

---

Hi @iceblue_uk 

I'm not aware of any pother reports of this issue. Can you PM me the transaction ID for where you are seeing this and I'll have it looked at to find out what happened. 

Thanks,

Dave

[eshopforce01]

This option disappeared

[kat@ebay]

---

@vjm-supplies wrote:

I have seen a lot of comments being made recently from long term ebay sellers who are all experiencing significant decreases in sales.  This seems to be a theme that is being replicated across the site as a whole.  

What is ebay's view on this?  

Lots of sellers are leaving the platform permanently.  Is ebay doing anything to drive up visitors to the site and help prevent sellers closing their ebay shops?

---

Hi @vjm-supplies ,

eBay are investing in the platform in new programmes such as authenticity guaranteed and providing new updates to the site. They have hosted roadshows for sellers in numerous locations all over the UK in the last 12 months and continue to do more of these this year. 1-1 support sessions are available at these roadshows where sellers can have have their accounts checked. 

There has also been lots of webinars run on different topics to helps sellers with their businesses and sales. Examples of these topics  have been creating a rock solid business plan, building customer loyalty, managing online retail in a recession, product photography fundamentals, getting great reviews to drive sales, growing your social presence on a budget and establishing a brand identity.  Please see our Events page here for any upcoming road shows or webinars.

Thank you,

Kat

[dave@ebay]

---

@eshopforce01 wrote:

Since the last update i've to manually agree every packlink payment on my banking app.

It's really annoying for a £5-10 transtion.

Any chance to opt out this option ?

Thanks

---

Hi @eshopforce01 ,

I asked the shipping team about this and they are unaware of any changes that may have caused this. This may have been a change on the banks side, have you confirmed with them that there were no changes from there?

Thanks,

Dave