eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎08-13-2014

Hello Canadian eBayers,

This week, on the heels of the 2014 Fall Seller Update announcement, Rodney, Ryanne and I will be joined by Sonu, from the Post Transaction team out of the San Jose headquarters. Please go ahead and start posting your questions and comments, we will start answering at 1 pm Eastern.

See you then!

raphael@ebay.com · ‎08-13-2014

@pierrelebel wrote:

Last week the following question was raised:

Why is it that so many sellers (myself included) regularly claim not to have received the invitation by email and/or through "My Messages" although they were eligible to the invitational promotion. Where is the problem?

Why can't eBay send email and a message through "my messages" to those invited sellers?

The reply received was:

"For your second question, as far as I know when invitation-based promos are run, an eligible seller is defined as one who received the invitation email. Thus, if a seller didn't received the invitation, they aren't eligible for the promo."

That is incorrect and does NOT answer the question.

I have NOT received an email message from eBay inviting me to the promotion, I did NOT receive a message from eBay through "my messages" inviting me to the promotion, yet I was eligible to the promotion as evidenced by the promotional offer available in "Selling Manager". As stated last week, many other sellers have experienced the same problem.

It is a recurring problem, on and off.

Why is that? Are you aware of the problem? What is being done to solve it? Is it related to being "legacy users" (Canadians registered long ago on eBay.com)?

Thanks for bringing this up, Pierre. Yes I realize there is a bigger problem than I had originally understood here. I'm working with the promo team to figure out what's going on and how to fix it. All invitees to a promo should be made aware of it via email.

To that effect, next time you see this happen, if you could shoot me a quick email so I can provide the promo team with a live example of the problem occurring, that would greatly help. Thanks!

pierrelebel · ‎08-13-2014

Hi Rodney.

The "eligible domestic returns" reference can be found on eBay.com under the heading "Highlights"

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/fallupdate2014/after-sale-experience-details.html#impor...

00nevermind00 · ‎08-13-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi 00nevermind00.

For Canadian buyers, this means we are growing the amount of inventory available for Canadians to buy on our platform. The goal is to continue to make it easier for US sellers to export to Canada, and to open up nearly all US inventory to Canadians. That's a good thing.

At the same time, we have been listening to Canadian buyers, and you're right - they have not been shy about telling us how they feel about the Global Shipping program! Our work is not done on that front - so even as we work with US sellers to open up more inventory, we are also seeking ways to make GSP items more attractive and affordable to Canadian buyers either through improvements and ehancements to the program, or even by replacing how it works entirely. More to come on that front.

Thank you for your reply Rodney. However it seems to me that eBay should try fixing what is broken before thinking about expanding the program. It seems that many (most?) buyers simply bypass GSP listings without even looking at them. What is the point of making more inventory available to them if they won't even look? The kinks need to be ironed out first.

Many sensible suggestions have been made on the two tacked threads but were never acted upon. I know my time as a buyer here has ended if GSP becomes the only option available. I doubt that I'm the only one.

Anonymous · ‎08-13-2014

@gctks wrote:

We are concerned that the new policy , which requires sellers pay return shipping costs, offers a large potential for abuse and would like to take all steps required to ensure we will not be subject to the cost of paying postage to the customer's location , and for return postage , if a buyer deems an item is not as described. To that end, unless these cases are simply decided in favour of the buyer , please provide us with the process that ebay goes through to determine whether an item is as described when an "Item Not As Described" case is opened. We need to ensure that , should an "Item Not As Described" be opened on one of our sales , our listings are accurate and complete in order for ebay to have the required information to be able to properly adjudicate the case.
Although we are interested in other ebay users thoughts and opinions, we need to have a response from ebay on this question .

Hi gctks.

Thanks for your question. To minimize returns and customer issues of all kinds, the best practices are:

1. Provide clear, high quality photos - and many of them! - to ensure any defects or blemishes are called out and visible in the photos. Especially with used or imperfect items, it's important to do all you can to ensure the buyer knows what they are getting.

2. Provide a clear and detailed written description, including details on the item's condition.

3. Provide great customer service - answer questions promptly and post them on the listing if appropriate.

Of course, even if you do everything perfectly, there will still be situations that will arise that can lead your buyer opening an "item not as described" claim. For example, sometimes things get broken in transit. And from time to time you may run across a buyer who had unreasonable expectations, despite your best efforts to describe and photograph the item as carefully as possible.

But if you do all these things well, you'll reduce the chances of a buyer having a problem in the first place, as well as improving your position in the event you need to appeal, etc.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎08-13-2014

@rose-dee wrote:

Two final questions about the new returns policy:

1) If a buyer claims an item is not as described, defective or damaged, and processes a return request, what process will the seller have available to him/her to verify the buyer's claim before being charged for return shipping?

2) If a seller in such an instance requests a photo and damage is obvious, what happens if the seller decides he/she has no use for the item and doesn't want it returned? Will the seller be able to block the shipping charge process, or will there be a procedure to claim a refund later? If so, how does the seller show the label was never used? Or, if the buyer uses the label anyway, regardless of what the seller wants, will the seller still be able to get a refund for the unwanted return? This whole procedure isn't making sense to me.

Hi Rose-dee,

I have more information from Sonu regarding this. Under the Post-Transaction policy (not HFR),

1) seller will have the opportunity to create a case and ask eBay to step in if the return they received is not an INAD before refunding the buyer

2) sellers will also have the option to refund without requiring a return if the seller decides that have no use for the item any more

Hope this helps 🙂

raphael@ebay.com · ‎08-13-2014

@pocomocomputing wrote:

Restocking fees are currently allowed according to these eBay pages

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/selling-practices.html

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-practices.html

Can a seller specify restocking fees to minimize the return shipping cost if paid by the seller? Will restocking fees still be allowed after the changes?

Restocking fees are not buyer friendly but paying for buyer return shipping costs are not seller friendly.

As mentioned, return shipping with tracking is so expensive for Canadian sellers if they had to pay for this. Even domestic shipping within Canada is expensive.

Hi pocomocomputing,

The only situation where eBay will force the seller to pay for return shipping is if the item was not as described. With that in mind, the restocking fees wouldn't apply in this case. So the answer is no, there wouldn't be a way for the seller to use restocking fees to offset the price of return shipping on items that were not as described.

If a buyer returns an item due to remorse, then it's business as usual (restocking fees allowed and seller won't be forced to pay for return shipping).

bryan.ca@ebay.ca · ‎08-13-2014

@greenmangoes wrote:

SHOPPING CART:

The eBay shopping cart is not available on ebay.ca to ebay.com buyers.

When will this be available? Why is it taking so long?

Thanks!

Hi Greenmangoes,

US buyers (ebay.com) are able to use the cart on eBay.ca, if you know of a specific issue please let me know. However, we are aware of the cross-cart sharing issue between the two sites, there is a number of technical blocks that need to be solved prior to allowing the carts to intermingle for buyers. We are awaiting a date on when this can be released live.

Bryan

Anonymous · ‎08-13-2014

@gctks wrote:

Will sellers have access to the number of returns a buyer has made and be able to cancel a transaction if they feel that a buyer has made too many returns? Ebay may have a process in place to monitor unusaally high return rates by buyers but because of the new policy change , which requires sellers pay return shipping costs, coupled with the high cost of Canadian postage, sellers should be able to determine whether to deal with a buyer and have the ability to cancel a transaction if they feel the buyer initiates too many returns. By the time Ebay identifies a buyer with too many returns, that buyer may have cost a seller, or sellers, a significant amount of money.
Although we are interested in other ebay users thoughts and opinions, we need to have a response from ebay on this question .

Hi gctks.

That's an interesting thought.

We have no plans to make a given buyer's returns history available to sellers right now. We do have a number of seller protections announced in our spring update that will help protect sellers from problem buyers. You can read more about these here.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-13-2014

First....I am amazed that all of the detail are not already worked out before the announcement. Not working out the exact details ahead of time only causes confusion and speculation on what is going to happen. I realize that we will not be in the hfr program however that program does say that the seller will not have to pay more for return postage than was paid for incoming postage. That should be the same for any returns that we have to accept. If I charge someone in Russia $6.99 for postage, I shouldn't have to pay $25 for return shipping.

Second....I believe it was Rodney's comment that ebay was catching up to ecommerce as far as paying for return shipping. The big difference here is that those particular sites sell their own merchandise and they are the ones that are deciding whether or not the item is really not as described. Here, it is often a bot that decides or a rep that really knows nothing about the product or the situation. Also, those companies are often working with a much larger profit margin than many of the sellers here.

Third.... One of the reps mentioned that sellers would be protected from 'bad' buyers as shown in the spring seller update. I don't seem to remember that part of the spring update. The problem that I forsee is that once buyers know their shipping will be paid, they are of course going to say that an item is not as described. If I fight it and lose (which doesn't mean that I was wrong), I use up 1 of my unresolved cases. Since .3% is 1.72 cases for me, I believe that I would only be allowed one more case like that. Obviously, that is going to make me hesitate to question ANY claim that someone makes.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎08-13-2014

@bookelph wrote:

“Buyers can request a cancellation if they change their mind within an hour after the sale (as long as you haven’t already shipped the item). This will help reduce the hassle of unpaid items and help you get your merchandise back up for sale faster."

Question: Will this apply to auction listings, or only to fixed price listings? If it applies to AUCTION listings, I can foresee problems.

--->Someone puts in ridiculously HIGH proxy bid, just to see if winning bid is what he wants to pay, then cancels when it turns out to be higher than he wanted. Plus, he can see other bids, and when it’s relisted gets a deal.

Ripe for abuse, wouldn't you agree?

Hi bookelph,

I have Sonu helping me out on this one, unfortunately she's having login issues so I'll type her answers for her.

From Sonu:

Buyer cancellations will be available across all formats (Auctions and BIN) but they can count against a buyer. We will be monitoring and taking actions against buyers for excessive cancellations, which combined with UPI's can lead to warning/account suspension for the buyer.

Anonymous · ‎08-13-2014

@dutchman48 wrote:

are the mods also going to deal with the fall seller update postings where we were supposed to post

Hi dutchman48. During our weekly board hour, we are focused on our weekly board thread. 🙂 We have responded to some of the questions on the other thread already - including some of yours - and will do our best to answer more of them.

gctks · ‎08-13-2014

Thank you for the response but it does not answer our question. What process does ebay go through to determine that an item is not as described? As far as we can tell, a buyer simply has to open a "Item Not As Described" case and Ebay makes the assumption that they have a valid case. Is that how it works? Please answer, yes or no. Evasive answers are very disappointing.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-13-2014

I think that part of the confusion about how the new updates apply to Canadians is that the U.S. update seemed to be available quite a few hours before the Canadian one was posted so the U.S. one was probably most widely read. At least...I couldn't find the Canadian one till early afternoon. If that's true, that was not very good planning on someone's part.

ryanne@ebay.com · ‎08-13-2014

@kcgwynne wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@pierrelebel wrote:

Yesterday afternoon, eBay.com announced several changes to the User Agreement to incorporate the policy changes announced with the Fall 2014 Update:

http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/08/updates-to-the-ebay-user-agreement-user-privacy-notice-and-money-back-guarantee/

No such similar announcement has been made yet on eBay.ca.

First question: Will there be similar changes to the eBay.ca User Agreement?

Second question: When will they be announced?

Third question: How are Canadian sellers (including legacy users) affected by the changes of the User Agreement on eBay.com?

Fourth question: Are Canadian sellers affected in any way by the changes on eBay.com when they list on eBay.com and sell to residents of the USA?

Hi pierrelebel.

A similar announcement re changes to the user agreement will go up on eBay.ca soon. The changes will be identical. There is in fact only one eBay user agreement that we translate into many languages. It is in the process of being localized and deployed for Canadians and this will happen soon. The user agreement changes applies to all users, irrespective of which site they registered on, or where they list. The process of notifying all users in all countries typically takes a few weeks.

Hope that helps.

As a buyer, does this mean sellers in Europe or Asia will provide return shipping to Canadians?

Yes, the same rules apply if the buyer purchases the items on eBay.ca or eBay.com.

gctks · ‎08-13-2014

We're gratified that you find the question interesting and thank you for the link to seller protections. Please answer our previous question directly, yes or no.

Anonymous · ‎08-13-2014

@dutchman48 wrote:

China will be exempt

Not sure what you are referring to here?

Sellers from China are subject to the new policy like any other seller, provided that the transaction in question qualifies for the Money Back Guarantee and was purchased by a buyer on either eBay.ca or eBay.com.

pierrelebel · ‎08-13-2014

"Buyer cancellations will be available across all formats (Auctions and BIN) "

So it is OK for a buyer who feels he has paid too much at auction to simply say: "Cancel this transaction" if done within an hour of closing time. No liability or responsibility to that buyer.

It leaves to seller with an unsold item, having to waste time to relist and no guarantee that the same selling price will be realized a second time around since the high bidder is out of the equation.

And you really think that is fair to sellers?

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-13-2014

bryan.ca@ebay.ca wrote:
@greenmangoes wrote:
SHOPPING CART:

The eBay shopping cart is not available on ebay.ca to ebay.com buyers.

When will this be available? Why is it taking so long?

Thanks!
Hi Greenmangoes,

US buyers (ebay.com) are able to use the cart on eBay.ca, if you know of a specific issue please let me know. However, we are aware of the cross-cart sharing issue between the two sites, there is a number of technical blocks that need to be solved prior to allowing the carts to intermingle for buyers. We are awaiting a date on when this can be released live.

Bryan

Below is an example of a listing done on .ca in U.S. $

On .ca, the item can be added to a cart. On .com that option is not available.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=351140900161&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=351140900161&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Anonymous · ‎08-13-2014

@dutchman48 wrote:

I think it is only under the managed returns it is domestic. INR or SNAD is international. Correct me if I am wrong

If you are referring pierrelebel's question about the apparent disparity between eBay.ca and eBay.com announcements, then I think you are 100% correct. The US announcement has a part that explains how US domestic transactions will be mandated to use hassle free returns. (We didn't include that part on eBay.ca because we don't have the hassle free returns and associated carrier integration on eBay.ca yet).

That is a different thing than the SNAD return shipping question. That policy change applies to all transactions that happen on eBay.ca or eBay.com, whether they are domestic or cross border.