Message confusion

[zoomingmouse]

I sent a message to a buyer letting them know that delivery would be on XX in case they were waiting in for it. 

Sent the message & then followed 2 failed delivery attempts.

I've just checked the message I sent & I'm not sure about the message below it - have they raised a query & Ebay are dealing with it?

Or, has AI been confused by my message & thinks it's the buyer asking about the delivery?

Or, is it not really a message, just info from Ebay letting me know that the buyer gets all the info they need & I don't need to do anything?

[wellingnorth]

This is very unhelpful isn't it. 

A little while ago I had this appear for me where the messages I received from a buyer suggested I might have missed a message. So I contacted ebay customer services and asked if they had intercepted a message and if so what it said. They said that the buyer had asked 'when will it arrive', but I'm not really convinced that that was the case. 

From subsequent experience and comments I've read from other people on the forum I think this message may just be appearing whenever there is any communication between buyer and seller after an order has been placed using simple delivery. 

[jefftopman]

The message appears on all my sales when i go to message buyer so nothing to worry about.

Also with Simple delivery there is nothing to worry about either since eBay deal with the couriers. As long as you sent it Simple delivery eBay can check the tracking if needed.

[porte2425]

Ignore them. These are not messages but information displayed to you. They seem to appear whenever a message is sent or received and Simple Delivery was used – a crude implementation by eBay! As some people are still refunding buyers themselves for Simple Delivery issues, they don’t appear to be doing a great job anyway! 

[department28]

As if Simple Delivery isn't causing enough confusion... these ai messages are just making matters worse!

Some sellers have said they have sent messages to buyers about dispatch etc, but that the buyer doesn't seem to get the message, because if it is anything to do with Simple postage, the messages are now being 'fielded' by eBay ai.  

Sellers are getting this 'Your buyer has reached out' message, but can't find any actual message...

I don't know why eBay think ai messages about postage will make things easier... Most buyers are quite capable of asking 'where's my item?', and I'm sure most sellers would prefer to be able to respond via a 'normal' message.

[porte2425]

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@department28 wrote:

As if Simple Delivery isn't causing enough confusion... these ai messages are just making matters worse!

Some sellers have said they have sent messages to buyers about dispatch etc, but that the buyer doesn't seem to get the message, because if it is anything to do with Simple postage, the messages are now being 'fielded' by eBay ai.  

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I had assume the eBay AI would just suggest replies etc. Are you saying it is actually doing things automatically with messages?

[department28]

I'm not sure exactly what is going on with these ai messages between buyer & seller - but when this first came in, some sellers reported their normal messages about postage were not being relayed to the buyer, so it was assumed eBay were replacing any postage-related messages with auto-messages.

[guymafo]

marco@ebay during the weekly chat on the 13/08/25 you said when asked about this message that it was ‘odd’.

Yet I get this every time I communicate with a buyer or seller. 
It makes no sense, doesn’t help anyone and creates confusion.
Is it here to stay?

GM

[wellingnorth]

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@department28 wrote:

I'm not sure exactly what is going on with these ai messages between buyer & seller - but when this first came in, some sellers reported their normal messages about postage were not being relayed to the buyer, so it was assumed eBay were replacing any postage-related messages with auto-messages.

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I have a feeling that the message is being shown against all communication with Simple Delivery buyers. With the wording it's unclear whether ebay has worked with the buyer or may work with the buyer. But the fact that it's there at all suggests that ebay are in some circumstances intercepting or replying to messages and it would be good to know when they may do that. Clearly it would also be very helpful to see the intercepted messages and any automated replies so we could check and add information where necessary.

In my case I was concerned that the buyer may have sent a message asking for urgent shipment or delayed shipment, etc. According to the CS agent they were just asking when the item would be delivered, but even in that case I will have a better idea of when I'm going to dispatch the parcel than any automated reply. 

[porte2425]

The "message" pop up does NOT signify that eBay are currently (or have been) in contact with the buyer.

It is just a badly implemented notification, trying to warn the seller that anything postage related will be handled by eBay when/if the correct procedure is followed. And following the correct procedure is the important bit that isn’t made clear at all!

If the reason you are communicating with the buyer is not because of a postage issue, then ignore the notification.

If you know to get the buyer to start an INR (or return, if there are damages) because of a postage issue (instead of refunding them yourself), then ignore the notification.

Basically, ignore the notification. Because if you know what you’re doing then it is less than helpful. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, then you probably still won’t after seeing that notification anyway.

There is no evidence of eBay AI sending any automated messages to the buyer about Simple Delivery. Again, this appears to be confusion brought about by this poorly implemented notification.

If the correct procedure is followed then eBay will deal/communicate with the buyer, but not via the seller's messaging.

[wellingnorth]

As I mentioned above an ebay CS agent did tell me that the buyer had sent me a message that was not shown to me asking when the parcel would arrive. I double checked with them that they can see all the messages and they said yes. It's possible that they were entirely making that up, but a bit odd!

I'm prepared to believe that the whole thing is just badly worded, but if what they actually mean is 'ask your buyer to open a case if the item is delayed or missing' then that is a really weird way of communicating that. 

[porte2425]

Well maybe I’m wrong. Maybe eBay is blocking some messages from buyers if the system picks up it’s (Simple) delivery related, and then an automated response being sent. I would be surprised if it was the case though, as it would be a massive overreach for eBay.

But I do know that I have had that message pop up whenever I’ve contacted a buyer, including a time when I was talking about something unrelated to postage, and I am 100% sure they had not made any previous contact attempt (it was minutes after the order was placed, and so before the item had even been posted).

[wellingnorth]

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@porte2425 wrote:

Well maybe I’m wrong. Maybe eBay is blocking some messages from buyers if the system picks up it’s (Simple) delivery related, and then an automated response being sent. I would be surprised if it was the case though, as it would be a massive overreach for eBay.

But I do know that I have had that message pop up whenever I’ve contacted a buyer, including a time when I was talking about something unrelated to postage, and I am 100% sure they had not made any previous contact attempt (it was minutes after the order was placed, and so before the item had even been posted).

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Yes, I think you're right, I do think the message is appearing on all post-order communication when Simple Delivery is used. And I'm not 100% sure that ebay are ever intervening in messages, but the CS agent on the phone did tell me they had in that one case and it is just very odd wording if they are never intervening. 

Practically though at this point I'm just ignoring the message as there's no way of knowing what it means really! Hopefully Marco may be able to make some internal inquiries and post back with some confirmation of whether or not this would be happening and when.

[porte2425]

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@wellingnorth wrote:

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... but the CS agent on the phone did tell me they had in that one case and it is just very odd wording if they are never intervening. 

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How would that "intervening" system work? They would have had to have paid to have that system built (and given the things that clearly they haven’t wanted to pay out for, this seems like something frivolous for them), and then they also put themselves in a potentially dangerous situation if they are hiding messages. Would the system be clever enough to receive a message like “When will the parcel will arrive? And will you do a deal on the vase you have for sale?”, and split that, so it sends an automated message to the buyer about delivery, and forwards the message about a deal on another item to the seller? I highly doubt it! It would make far more sense that if they did have that system in place, then all messages – sent from the buyer, and sent automatically from the AI – should be shown to buyer and seller.
So I think either the CS agent was lying, or there was just a system glitch that meant the message was never received by you.
Did the CS agent say an automated response had been sent to the buyer? Or just that they could see the message from the buyer that was never received by you?

[wellingnorth]

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@porte2425 wrote:

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It would make far more sense that if they did have that system in place, then all messages – sent from the buyer, and sent automatically from the AI – should be shown to buyer and seller.
So I think either the CS agent was lying, or there was just a system glitch that meant the message was never received by you.
Did the CS agent say an automated response had been sent to the buyer? Or just that they could see the message from the buyer that was never received by you?

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Yes, that would definitely be the sensible way to implement something like this! The implementation of many aspects of Simple Delivery has been sub-optimal so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that something odd has been implemented here. Certainly even if they are not intervening then it is sub-optimal to add a message implying that they are. 

As you say my CS agent may have been making it up, this was a few weeks ago and he was fairly surly so I don't think we got to what ebay may have replied, I just made sure to reply myself to the buyer explaining when I was sending it, what the service was, etc. For now I am just ignoring the messages, but it would be good to have clarity on what it all means. 

[department28]

I'm wondering if it is now meant to be a 'one-way' system? The buyer asks a postage question by choosing an ai option, eBay sends the seller the 'buyer has reached out' message - but the seller can no longer respond directly because eBay is automatically dealing with all Simple Delivery questions.

[zoomingmouse]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply - I've not been on the boards as much recently so have not seen other comments relating to the message system so it's interesting to read what's been going on.

I looked again today <as nothing from buyer yet & parcel not collected /no mention of redelivery either on RM> .

What is making it even more confusing is that it looks like I've replied to the buyer, which I haven't <see in my inbox - what I would think is a reply arrow with my message in the screenshot 1 >.

Then, in screenshot 2, it's in the folder for messages 'from members', again with what I take as a reply arrow followed by my message.

As a side... the reason for my message was becasue I printed & dropped it off in a RM locker <for the 1st time> on the Bank holiday & then on Wednesday, although it stated due to be delivered the next day, the parcel location was showing my town, which is another confusion <this time for the buyer, as I have experienced my self as one>...

 

[porte2425]

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@department28 wrote:

I'm wondering if it is now meant to be a 'one-way' system? The buyer asks a postage question by choosing an ai option, eBay sends the seller the 'buyer has reached out' message - but the seller can no longer respond directly because eBay is automatically dealing with all Simple Delivery questions.

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That could make sense. However, the message is always showing when it is a Simple Delivery listing. Plus, I’m fairly sure the Simple Delivery notification came a while before AI was even an option. Additionally, if Simple Delivery postage issues should always be handled by eBay, why would it be integrated into an optional AI system? And, as a buyer who has contacted sellers recently, I’ve not actually seen an AI features offered yet.

I have just checked the help notification, and see this:

eBay.ai

eBay.ai helps to streamline messages between buyers and sellers. If the seller has enabled this feature, eBay.ai may suggest a response gathering details from the item listing or order details.

eBay.ai will not provide suggestions to all questions. eBay.ai is experimental and may suggest inaccurate or inappropriate responses. Sellers have the ability to review and edit suggested responses before sending it to the buyer.

So, as I would have expected, this AI should just be a helper, not an automated system.

[porte2425]

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@zoomingmouse wrote:

Then, in screenshot 2, it's in the folder for messages 'from members', again with what I take as a reply arrow followed by my message.

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'From members', 'Unread from members', 'From eBay', and 'Unread from eBay' are all just filters of 'Inbox' - so messages will seem like they may be duplicated, but it's the same message. (Again, another feature in eBay that is not made clear.)

I'm a little confused about your other comment on the arrow. AFAIK the arrow just signifies outgoing/sent - which is what you did.

[zoomingmouse]

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@porte2425 wrote:

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@zoomingmouse wrote:

Then, in screenshot 2, it's in the folder for messages 'from members', again with what I take as a reply arrow followed by my message.

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'From members', 'Unread from members', 'From eBay', and 'Unread from eBay' are all just filters of 'Inbox' - so messages will seem like they may be duplicated, but it's the same message. (Again, another feature in eBay that is not made clear.)

I'm a little confused about your other comment on the arrow. AFAIK the arrow just signifies outgoing/sent - which is what you did.

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Ah Ok, so it's not a reply indication then. Makes sense as I hadn't replied to anyone.