eBay

pacificwinds6875 · ‎11-09-2015

So I thought I'd check my Seller Dashboard and behold - a sneak peek of what it will look like in Feb. 2016. The new DSR will count only 2 factors not 7. Great! Wait a minute, I have 11 defects against me for not sent on time! Heck no, I ALWAYS ship same day or on the next business day. I looked at each one. There were multiple items for 3 very excellent customers that shop, buy and always ask to hold items until they are finished "shopping" or until an auction of an item they are interested in, ends. Totally fine by me. Great customer service is what I do BUT, that payment they made on Nov. 1st sits and then it looks like when I do ship all their items out on Nov. 9th - it appears as if I did not ship it within my stated shipping timeframe. Defect recorded. So I've asked EBay what to do. They advised me - get this - ask your buyer to cancel or accept a cancellation of that item, which means do that on Ebay, go to PayPal - refund their money, save their item, remember who ordered what, when they are finished shopping, invoice them for all. WHAT???

So how do you handle this? I suggested that if my customer buys and pays for an item - I will just put a bogus tracking and mark it shipped but still hold it until they are done. Ebay said "Oh you can't do that!"

I am not going to do what they suggest that's for sure. So I wonder what I will do.

momcqueen · ‎11-09-2015

Yes, this is going to be a problem for many sellers. Thank you for red-flagging it.

It's been awhile since anyone asked me to hold something that was already paid but it does happen on occasion.

Can you explain to your customers in advance that they can buy but not pay?

I'd be worried about taking the convoluted advice given to you to cancel the orders and then re-invoice BECAUSE those orders might get funnelled into the defect pile for not-in-stock.

Bring this up at Board Hour and see what ebay Canada staff have to say about it.

I don't know if we'll have a Board Hour this week, however, with Wednesday being Remembrance Day.

amya4295 · ‎11-10-2015

That is a concern. Throughout the year I do switch some of my items to Auction from BIN and many, many times I have buyers ask me to hold as they are watching/bidding on other items. Often they pay for the items as they win them even though I ask them to hold off. Last year I held items for about a week as a buyer bid on an item that ended that day and on another that had 6 days in the listing left. We need some clarification on this. I do offer 1 day handling but always hold if a buyer requests it!

momcqueen · ‎11-12-2015

I think we need to take it to Board Hour, to remind them it poses a problem for many small sellers and then ask for the eBay Canada staff to provide specific advice and/or direction in terms of how to protect ourselves as sellers under the new system of evaluation. Anyone who runs auctions or has regular buyers who are comfortable paying first and asking for a delayed ship-date will face this danged-if-you-do and danged-if-you-don't dilemma. Say 'yes' to that request and you've got a defect. Say 'no' and you've alienated your buyer, perhaps lost them forever, and risk negative feedback.

pacificwinds6875 · ‎11-12-2015

I totally agree. I've never gone on "the Board" but this is so very important. I have about 4 really awesome customers that I joke with about having a small piece of real estate on my shelves of items they have collected to be shipped later on. Some of them I hold for 3-4 weeks so they can save big on shipping and plus I have such a varied supply of interesting items from week to week that they want to bid on. Totally great customer service, right?

I have composed emails to them in advance explaining the upcoming EBay changes and how it impacts me (negatively of course - thanks EBay). Take care all - and good luck with all these new changes that EBay has imposed on us.

P.S. What happened to the exemption for Canadian Sellers in uploading shipping info? We did have that, am I wrong?

momcqueen · ‎11-12-2015

That exemption has (or had) more to do with Top Rated Seller discount. We didn't have to meet the same percentage to get the TRS final value fee discount on a Global basis.

Raphael at ebay Canada, the fellow who is on hand for most Board Hours, will give you a well-thought plan of action as to how to deal with this, although it might not be a suitable one for your specific business and your customers. I do find it's always good to get detailed instructions, though, straight from ebay itself wherever possible. Every Wednesday starting at 1 pm EST. (Are we EDT now?)

Hopefully, your buyers will become accustomed to NOT paying until everything is ready to go. But, yes, before I got into offering Custom Lots for specific buyers, it wasn't unusual to have an auction end, be paid, and then set aside for others. Or sometimes a person might be moving? Taking vacation? There are many factors that lead buyers to ask a paid order to sit and, ebay is one of the places where a customer can ask that of their seller. A big-box retailer won't accommodate that kind of boutique approach, they cannot.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-12-2015

Sellers who have top rated plus on .com have had the same problem ever since they have had to upload tracking within their handling time.(the last year or so?) Many of them have complained about it but ebay hasn't put in any procedures to solve the problem. I've seen suggestions to refund and have the buyer pay again later on but I don't think that is a good solution. Perhaps now ebay will look at the problem again but I wouldn't hold my breath. .