eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-09-2014

Hello Canadian eBayers,

Welcome to the April 9th edition of the weekly Board Hour. PLease start posting your questions and comments!

*christmasangel* · ‎04-09-2014

Good afternoon! I'm hoping you have all your ducks in a row here with the heartbleed bug. I've now changed all my passwords and wouldn't want to have to do that task again *chuckle.

And I'm going to presume that PayPal is OK too as that one was changed as well.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-09-2014

@*christmasangel* wrote:

Good afternoon! I'm hoping you have all your ducks in a row here with the heartbleed bug. I've now changed all my passwords and wouldn't want to have to do that task again *chuckle.

And I'm going to presume that PayPal is OK too as that one was changed as well.

Hi *christmasangel*,

We have a Security & Privacy team tasked with protecting our users' and the company's data against such attacks. Regardless, it's never a bad idea to update your passwords when something like this happens, better safe than sorry.

rose-dee · ‎04-09-2014

Hi Raphael! I hope it's finally spring where you are!

I have a question about a problem with US buyers using the cart when purchasing from eBay.ca sellers. I had a buyer email me today to say she'd been attempting to purchase 2 items (to get the combined shipping discount which I always offer), but each time she put one item in the cart, eBay wouldn't let her add the other. She said that when she clicked on the "add an item" button she got a window saying there were no items in her cart. She was concerned about losing one of the items because it was the last one listed.

I had to email her to say that I understand this is a known issue between the two sites, but that I couldn't do anything to remedy it. I asked her to purchase the 2 items separately, pay the 2 shipping amounts, and I'd refund her the overage. Obviously this will mean I'll pay FVFs on the refunded amount, but what really concerns me is how many other buyers may have tried the same thing and given up completely. At least this buyer contacted me, but I think many might not.

Since I used to make a lot of multiple-item sales, and have had none in the last few weeks, I'm very worried about the effect this will have upon US buyers. Many will just be driven away if they can't put more than 1 item in their cart at a time.

Do you know: (a) whether a fix is in the works for this; and (b) how long it may take to get this incompatibility remedied?

Thanks!

*christmasangel* · ‎04-09-2014

Thank you raphael. Yup, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

pocomocomputing · ‎04-09-2014

Why not have theme driven weekly sessions sometimes like the eBay.com USA forums? I know participation is small on these forums but perhaps a theme once in a while would be interesting. Perhaps with a guest from an eBay team.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-09-2014

@rose-dee wrote:

Hi Raphael! I hope it's finally spring where you are!

I have a question about a problem with US buyers using the cart when purchasing from eBay.ca sellers. I had a buyer email me today to say she'd been attempting to purchase 2 items (to get the combined shipping discount which I always offer), but each time she put one item in the cart, eBay wouldn't let her add the other. She said that when she clicked on the "add an item" button she got a window saying there were no items in her cart. She was concerned about losing one of the items because it was the last one listed.

I had to email her to say that I understand this is a known issue between the two sites, but that I couldn't do anything to remedy it. I asked her to purchase the 2 items separately, pay the 2 shipping amounts, and I'd refund her the overage. Obviously this will mean I'll pay FVFs on the refunded amount, but what really concerns me is how many other buyers may have tried the same thing and given up completely. At least this buyer contacted me, but I think many might not.

Since I used to make a lot of multiple-item sales, and have had none in the last few weeks, I'm very worried about the effect this will have upon US buyers. Many will just be driven away if they can't put more than 1 item in their cart at a time.

Do you know: (a) whether a fix is in the works for this; and (b) how long it may take to get this incompatibility remedied?

Thanks!

Hi rose-dee,

Yes, there is a fix coming for this, unfortunately I don't know how soon it'll come yet.

Anonymous · ‎04-09-2014

@pocomocomputing wrote:

Why not have theme driven weekly sessions sometimes like the eBay.com USA forums? I know participation is small on these forums but perhaps a theme once in a while would be interesting. Perhaps with a guest from an eBay team.

Thanks for the suggestion pocomocomputing.

Any suggestions for topics you would like to see?

rose-dee · ‎04-09-2014

I'd like to follow up on last week's discussion, as I'm still a bit confused about the implementation of the new tracking rules as they concern US TRS+ (sorry, I hate to keep harping on the same subject, but it's probably important to some other sellers too).

Please tell me if I understand the timeline and details correctly, or let me know if I'm mistaken in any of these:

1) Starting April 16, eBay's various new rules re Defects and performance come into affect, including those affecting US TRS+ and tracking;

2) Starting April 16, eBay hopes to have the ability to determine whether Canada Post tracking #s are valid or not, and the valid/invalid statistics will start to show up on sellers' dashboards. If eBay hasn't got the validation ability in place, there may be some concessions made for Cdn. sellers;

3) Starting Aug. 20th, Cdn sellers will be assessed (for US TRS+) based on the 3 (or 12, as the case may be) previous months' tracking #s.

So, assuming a 3-month retroactive assessment, if tracking #s uploaded in May, June and July, 2014 can all be validated a seller will retain the US TRS+ (assuming all other TRS+ requirements are met), . If the tracking #s during that 3-month period are in fact genuine, but aren't able to be validated by eBay because of a delay in implementation of the validation process, what will happen -- is this where Rodney's suggestion that an accommodation might be given to Cdn sellers comes in?

If you can clarify this, I'd be very grateful. Thanks!

rose-dee · ‎04-09-2014

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
Hi rose-dee,

Yes, there is a fix coming for this, unfortunately I don't know how soon it'll come yet.

That's very disappointing -- adds one more level of difficulty in competing from Canada until this is dealt with.

Could you tell me how soon the change to FVFs on refunds is expected (i.e. no FVFs on shipping refunds made to buyers after a sale)? This was mentioned last week, but I'm not sure a timeline was noted.

pocomocomputing · ‎04-09-2014

Shipping, Bulk Editor, Sell Your Item form, Business Policies, PayPal.

Announce in advance a few days so questions can be prepared.

rose-dee · ‎04-09-2014

@pocomocomputing wrote:
Shipping, Bulk Editor, Sell Your Item form, Business Policies, PayPal.

Announce in advance a few days so questions can be prepared.

I wouldn't mind theme-based sessions as long as they're only occasional. Important issues often come up "out of the blue", and it's helpful to be able to turn to this place for answers most weeks -- sometimes it's the only place we can get any answers.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-09-2014

@rose-dee wrote:
Please tell me if I understand the timeline and details correctly, or let me know if I'm mistaken in any of these:

1) Starting April 16, eBay's various new rules re Defects and performance come into affect, including those affecting US TRS+ and tracking;

Starting April 16, your seller dashboard will start to preview what your performance would be under the new rules, which come into effect in August.

@rose-dee wrote:
2) Starting April 16, eBay hopes to have the ability to determine whether Canada Post tracking #s are valid or not, and the valid/invalid statistics will start to show up on sellers' dashboards. If eBay hasn't got the validation ability in place, there may be some concessions made for Cdn. sellers;

That is correct. Either the Canadian tracking numbers will be recognized by the eBay system in time for the changes in August, or we will work with the Global Standards Team to place safeguards for Canadian sellers selling to US buyers.

@rose-dee wrote:
3) Starting Aug. 20th, Cdn sellers will be assessed (for US TRS+) based on the 3 (or 12, as the case may be) previous months' tracking #s.

Correct.

@rose-dee wrote:
So, assuming a 3-month retroactive assessment, if tracking #s uploaded in May, June and July, 2014 can all be validated a seller will retain the US TRS+ (assuming all other TRS+ requirements are met), . If the tracking #s during that 3-month period are in fact genuine, but aren't able to be validated by eBay because of a delay in implementation of the validation process, what will happen -- is this where Rodney's suggestion that an accommodation might be given to Cdn sellers comes in?

That's our plan.

rose-dee · ‎04-09-2014

Thanks very much for this Raphael -- I needed to make some decisions vis-a-vis tracking (whether the cost is warranted) over the next few months. This clarification helps, and hopefully will assist other sellers who are in the same boat.

pocomocomputing · ‎04-09-2014

@rose-dee wrote:
@pocomocomputing wrote:
Shipping, Bulk Editor, Sell Your Item form, Business Policies, PayPal.

Announce in advance a few days so questions can be prepared.
I wouldn't mind theme-based sessions as long as they're only occasional. Important issues often come up "out of the blue", and it's helpful to be able to turn to this place for answers most weeks -- sometimes it's the only place we can get any answers.

Yes, the session would always be open to current issues all the time.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-09-2014

@rose-dee wrote:
Could you tell me how soon the change to FVFs on refunds is expected (i.e. no FVFs on shipping refunds made to buyers after a sale)? This was mentioned last week, but I'm not sure a timeline was noted.

Actually, there was no such promise made last week. What I did say was that I would source the answer to the question whether the new partial refunds treatment on the Order Details page would enable corresponding FVF credits automatically. I haven't received a definitive answer to that questions yet.

westernstargifts · ‎04-09-2014

Good afternoon Raphael,

Although I know that eBay cannot monitor the contents of every single listing, I am becoming increasingly frustrated with Chinese sellers flooding the categories in which I sell (copper jewellery) with items that are not even pure metal (alloys), let alone copper or "solid copper". They list it in the title as being "copper leather", silver or gold jewelry and then use the Item Specific of Copper so they can show up in more searches.

Products that are legitimately copper are being buried in search. I have also noticed that on eBay.ca the U.S. sellers of copper jewellery frequently show up ahead of mine. Since they are TRS Plus does that give them a better status on .ca than Canadians with TRS only?

I have some lines of jewellery of which I have sold thousands on eBay. They still sell well, but only when they can actually be seen. When I ended some of the FP listings for these products to update them and to add variations and then relisted them they seem to have been lost in search, probably because they didn't get a sale right away and were shoved to the back pages. I DO SELL many of these same items in auction format and they also sell well in FP....when a buyer can actually find them.

I would appreciate your comments. Reporting the sellers who spam categories does absolutely nothing.

Thanks.

One thing I would like to add: Twice now I have previewed a post before posting it and the preview showed up blank.

raanana · ‎04-09-2014

There are som changes in Canadian postcard categories.No instead of optopn to list postcard in Province subcategory we have only one category,-Canada.

As per ebay "Category, item specifics, and catalog updates will be released this spring to provide a more intuitive buying, selling, and search experience. These updates will also increase item visibility, eliminate redundancies, and improve the overall shopping experience on eBay."

Can you please explain how having only one category for whole Canada will improve search experience as well as shoppong experience ?????

I would say exact opposite,search will takes longer,unless a potential buyer looking for something very particular, as a result it will decrease in sales ,as for shopping experience,for sure it will be not the best one.

While some other sites provides with wider range of subcategories.ebay is shinks.

What was a reason to eliminate all subcategories in Canada postcards section ???

rose-dee · ‎04-09-2014

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@rose-dee wrote:
Could you tell me how soon the change to FVFs on refunds is expected (i.e. no FVFs on shipping refunds made to buyers after a sale)? This was mentioned last week, but I'm not sure a timeline was noted.
Actually, there was no such promise made last week. What I did say was that I would source the answer to the question whether the new partial refunds treatment on the Order Details page would enable corresponding FVF credits automatically. I haven't received a definitive answer to that questions yet.

OK, thanks, understood - fingers crossed. Every little bit helps.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-09-2014

@westernstargifts wrote:

Good afternoon Raphael,

Although I know that eBay cannot monitor the contents of every single listing, I am becoming increasingly frustrated with Chinese sellers flooding the categories in which I sell (copper jewellery) with items that are not even pure metal (alloys), let alone copper or "solid copper". They list it in the title as being "copper leather", silver or gold jewelry and then use the Item Specific of Copper so they can show up in more searches.

Products that are legitimately copper are being buried in search. I have also noticed that on eBay.ca the U.S. sellers of copper jewellery frequently show up ahead of mine. Since they are TRS Plus does that give them a better status on .ca than Canadians with TRS only?

I have some lines of jewellery of which I have sold thousands on eBay. They still sell well, but only when they can actually be seen. When I ended some of the FP listings for these products to update them and to add variations and then relisted them they seem to have been lost in search, probably because they didn't get a sale right away and were shoved to the back pages. I DO SELL many of these same items in auction format and they also sell well in FP....when a buyer can actually find them.

I would appreciate your comments. Reporting the sellers who spam categories does absolutely nothing.

Thanks.

One thing I would like to add: Twice now I have previewed a post before posting it and the preview showed up blank.

Hi westernstargifts,

Can you share the search query you used to observe the flooding from Chinese sellers? I'd love to take a look.

Regarding your concerns with US TRS + sellers whose items are showing up higher than yours on eBay.ca, unfortunately I don't know the answer to this with enough certainty to make a statement on here. Search placement is complicated, I'll try to get the answer and post it back here.

Lastly, I have reported the preview issue to the forums team.