eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-16-2014

Hello Canadian eBayers,

Please start posting your questions and comments whenever you like, we will start answering at 1 pm Eastern.

See you then!

rose-dee · ‎04-16-2014

I'd like to ask about cancellations under the new seller performance standards. Specifically, how will eBay determine ("see") whether or not a buyer has made a request of a seller to cancel a transaction?

For example, if a seller has a non-paying buyer and would prefer to cancel a transaction rather than open an Unpaid Item Dispute (and possibly risk a defect from an annoyed buyer leaving neutral or negative FB (= a defect)), how should the seller proceed? Send a message to the buyer suggesting they send a message back to the seller, asking for a cancellation? In other words, is the "ask" part of the equation obligatory, or will eBay make the defect determination based solely on whether the buyer accepts a cancellation request?

If the buyer doesn't respond by asking the seller to cancel, is the seller then obliged to continue with the transaction, forcing payment through a UID, risking defects anyway? I ask this because there will be situations where avoiding a defect is the better choice yet a cancellation may not be asked for by the buyer (for example with new buyers who may not realize a cancellation system exists).

Sorry, I suppose this is more like 5 or 6 questions in one, but I'm really not clear on how this system will work vis-a-vis defects. Thanks very much!

For reference, this is the relevant text (from the Spring Update):

Does the transaction count as a defect if the buyer asked me to cancel it?

No, a cancelled transaction does not count as a defect if we can see the seller cancelled at the buyer's request. If the buyer asks you to cancel the transaction, make sure you do so through the eBay cancel transaction process and select the correct reason for the cancellation.

vintagenorth · ‎04-16-2014

Yes, that question of rose's is something I was wondering about myself. I sometimes get buyers who buy the same pattern again, forgetting that they already have bought it previously. When I let them know they are grateful, I'm not losing sales because they come back to buy other items. I ask if they wish to cancel and show it in the case as buyers requesting to cancel. Will this type of cancellation count as a defect? I call it good customer service.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-16-2014

Hi Raphael,

I probably won't be able to be around in the next hour so I will ask this now. I admit that I haven't run any numbers to try to figure this out yet but on the new dashboard showing the number of defects, is it showing each defect received in the evaluation period or is it only showing one defect from one buyer? For example, I know that I received a negative and 2 low DSR's from one Canadian buyer so on the dashboard, is that showing a defect in each area or just 1 of the defects?

It does seem to be showing them all right now and if that is the case, I still have no idea of how many total defects I have since only one per buyer is to be counted.

Also, I believe that I have only had one not as described case and that was from a US buyer. My dashboard is showing an open case on both the USA and Global dashboard. Are U.S. buyers counted on both dashboards?

Thanks in advance.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-16-2014

@rose-dee wrote:

I'd like to ask about cancellations under the new seller performance standards. Specifically, how will eBay determine ("see") whether or not a buyer has made a request of a seller to cancel a transaction?

For example, if a seller has a non-paying buyer and would prefer to cancel a transaction rather than open an Unpaid Item Dispute (and possibly risk a defect from an annoyed buyer leaving neutral or negative FB (= a defect)), how should the seller proceed? Send a message to the buyer suggesting they send a message back to the seller, asking for a cancellation? In other words, is the "ask" part of the equation obligatory, or will eBay make the defect determination based solely on whether the buyer accepts a cancellation request?

If the buyer doesn't respond by asking the seller to cancel, is the seller then obliged to continue with the transaction, forcing payment through a UID, risking defects anyway? I ask this because there will be situations where avoiding a defect is the better choice yet a cancellation may not be asked for by the buyer (for example with new buyers who may not realize a cancellation system exists).

Sorry, I suppose this is more like 5 or 6 questions in one, but I'm really not clear on how this system will work vis-a-vis defects. Thanks very much!

For reference, this is the relevant text (from the Spring Update):

Does the transaction count as a defect if the buyer asked me to cancel it?

No, a cancelled transaction does not count as a defect if we can see the seller cancelled at the buyer's request. If the buyer asks you to cancel the transaction, make sure you do so through the eBay cancel transaction process and select the correct reason for the cancellation.

Hi rose-dee,

When you cancel a transaction, you have to choose a reason for the cancellation:

Out of the list, only "I ran out of stock" and "I sold the item to another buyer" would count as defects. Obviously we can't hold it against a seller to cancel a transaction because the buyer's payment didn't go through, or because the buyer is unresponsive, etc. Only the two reasons I stated above are things that drive buyers away from eBay and thus, considered to be defects.

westernstargifts · ‎04-16-2014

I presently have an annual premium store subscription which renews on May 1. I want to downgrade to a basic store on a monthly basis. When is the best time to make the change?

If I downgrade on Apr. 30 will I be charged basic store fees for the month of April?

If I downgrade on May 1 will I be charged a penalty for changing to the monthly subscription rate?

westernstargifts · ‎04-16-2014

Why has the contact seller link been moved to the very bottom of the listing page where buyers cannot find it? Why does eBay mislead buyers into opening a case when they believe they are only contacting the seller to ask a question?

This month I have had 3 INR cases opened with no previous contact from the buyer. Although only one of them contacted me saying that she did not know she was opening a case the same thing could have happened with the other 2. I also had another buyer contact me through the contact seller link saying that she did not receive her order. Three of these orders were shipped on the same day, and the other was shipped a few days later. All went to destinations in the U.S. This leads me to believe that there was a problem somewhere along the line causing the delay, or perhaps loss, of the packages. This is not under my control. I do not have tracking for them because CP`s rates are also not under my control and are not affordable for most of my products. I accepted the responsibility and issued a full refund for all of them…a total loss to me of $120.83.

I do have proof of shipping as the postal clerk enters the postal code under each entry on the invoice when my husband takes the mail to the postal outlet.

What I cannot accept is the fact that, although I gave them the best service possible, circumstances beyond my control have now added 4 defects to my account in less than one month. Besides the INR I also received a neutral FB from a buyer who found it easier to leave poor FB than to ship the item back to me…again no contact from the buyer. It was based on her opinion, not on the actual quality of my products….and yet another defect added.

I rarely receive negative or neutral FB and have had very few revisions. I don`t receive many INR messages, let alone cases. And rarely do I ever have a buyer repay me after receipt of the package.

eBay seems to be setting us up for failure with the new changes and policies. Very frustrating!

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-16-2014

Hi pjcdn2005,

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

Hi Raphael,

I probably won't be able to be around in the next hour so I will ask this now. I admit that I haven't run any numbers to try to figure this out yet but on the new dashboard showing the number of defects, is it showing each defect received in the evaluation period or is it only showing one defect from one buyer? For example, I know that I received a negative and 2 low DSR's from one Canadian buyer so on the dashboard, is that showing a defect in each area or just 1 of the defects?

It does seem to be showing them all right now and if that is the case, I still have no idea of how many total defects I have since only one per buyer is to be counted.

Remember your defect rate won't start to affect your Seller Performance until you have transactions with defects from at least 8 different buyers, within your evaluation period. When calculating the defect rate, the rule is: 1 transaction can only ever have 1 defect, even if it has more than one defect indicator on it. For example, if you got a negative feedback, 2 low DSRs and an open case on the same transaction, that would still only count as 1 defect against your defect rate.

Despite all this, your Seller Dashboard will always show you your defect rate as well as all the metrics separately (eg. all the defect indicators separately) as well as the defect rate according to which transactions those defect indicators happened on.

This can get pretty complicated, I hope I'm making sense. 🙂

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
Also, I believe that I have only had one not as described case and that was from a US buyer. My dashboard is showing an open case on both the USA and Global dashboard. Are U.S. buyers counted on both dashboards?
Thanks in advance.

Open cases should not be shown on your Global dashboard as this metric doesn't apply to the Global program. Thanks for flagging this, I'll take it to the Dashboard team.

rose-dee · ‎04-16-2014

Thank you Raphael, but this begs the question: does the buyer need to make the "ask" first?

The FAQ/answer quoted above seems to suggest that eBay will be able to monitor ("see") whether a buyer has asked a seller to cancel. As I said, I imagine many new eBay buyers might not be aware of the cancellation system, and the seller may need to prompt them to follow through. It might not be simple to get some buyers to send a written (email) request.

Does this mean that if a seller chooses "I ran out of stock"/"I sold the item to another buyer", yet the buyer agrees to the cancellation, it will still count as a defect? I assume a simple refund be a better choice for a seller in situations where the buyer had already paid immediately?

Thanks in advance!

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-16-2014

@westernstargifts wrote:

I presently have an annual premium store subscription which renews on May 1. I want to downgrade to a basic store on a monthly basis. When is the best time to make the change?

If I downgrade on Apr. 30 will I be charged basic store fees for the month of April?

If I downgrade on May 1 will I be charged a penalty for changing to the monthly subscription rate?

Hi westernstargifts,

I'm not 100% on this but as I understand it, your best option would be to make the change on April 30 which would make the system charge you just the basic store fee for the month of May. Just to be sure I'll ask the Stores team and get back to you though.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-16-2014

@rose-dee wrote:

Thank you Raphael, but this begs the question: does the buyer need to make the "ask" first?

The FAQ/answer quoted above seems to suggest that eBay will be able to monitor ("see") whether a buyer has asked a seller to cancel. As I said, I imagine many new eBay buyers might not be aware of the cancellation system, and the seller may need to prompt them to follow through. It might not be simple to get some buyers to send a written (email) request.

eBay does not monitor member to member messages to determine if the buyer really requested a cancellation.

@rose-dee wrote:
Does this mean that if a seller chooses "I ran out of stock"/"I sold the item to another buyer", yet the buyer agrees to the cancellation, it will still count as a defect? I assume a simple refund be a better choice for a seller in situations where the buyer had already paid immediately?

Yes, a cancellation with "I ran out of stock" or "I sold the item to another buyer" for a reason will count as a defect. Those are the things that drive buyers away from eBay.

rose-dee · ‎04-16-2014

OK, thanks Raphael, I think I've finally got it!

Anonymous · ‎04-16-2014

Hi westernstargifts.

Thanks for sharing your perspective on the new Seller Standards program.

Changes to "ask seller a question" happened quite some time ago, and was in response to feedback we received from some sellers - especially some large multi-channel sellers - that their business on eBay was high touch and expensive relative to business on their own website and other marketplaces. eBay members are an inquisitive bunch and we ask a lot of questions. 🙂 In many cases, buyers were emailing to ask about things that were covered in the seller's FAQ, and/or the listing description.

I've been working here a long time. When I started, there was no structured data for international shipping (!), so you pretty much had to contact the seller if you were a Canadian and wanted to buy something. But over the years, as our product and our community evolved, more and more of our transactions now get completed without the buyer and seller ever even needing to contact one another. As part of that product shift, there is now less emphasis on contacting the seller in our standard listing page. Some sellers feel we went to far with that, others say not far enough. I don't know whether we will adjust the balance further or not, but I can say that the team is definitely interested in this kind of feedback. 🙂

I hear you on your concerns with regard to the new standards program and defect rates. It is a high standard to try to hit for any seller - by design, but it is particularly challenging if your business model doesn't allow you to offer trackable shipping. Tracked packet was a helpful addition to the CPC lineup at a lower price point than expedited parcel, but the weight and size limits means it didn't help everyone.

Our outgoing Detailed Seller Rating-based standards program was tweaked significantly and often after launch, in response to buyer and seller feedback. I'm sure we'll see something similar with the new program.

westernstargifts wrote:

Why has the contact seller link been moved to the very bottom of the listing page where buyers cannot find it? Why does eBay mislead buyers into opening a case when they believe they are only contacting the seller to ask a question?

This month I have had 3 INR cases opened with no previous contact from the buyer. Although only one of them contacted me saying that she did not know she was opening a case the same thing could have happened with the other 2. I also had another buyer contact me through the contact seller link saying that she did not receive her order. Three of these orders were shipped on the same day, and the other was shipped a few days later. All went to destinations in the U.S. This leads me to believe that there was a problem somewhere along the line causing the delay, or perhaps loss, of the packages. This is not under my control. I do not have tracking for them because CP`s rates are also not under my control and are not affordable for most of my products. I accepted the responsibility and issued a full refund for all of them…a total loss to me of $120.83.

I do have proof of shipping as the postal clerk enters the postal code under each entry on the invoice when my husband takes the mail to the postal outlet.

What I cannot accept is the fact that, although I gave them the best service possible, circumstances beyond my control have now added 4 defects to my account in less than one month. Besides the INR I also received a neutral FB from a buyer who found it easier to leave poor FB than to ship the item back to me…again no contact from the buyer. It was based on her opinion, not on the actual quality of my products….and yet another defect added.

I rarely receive negative or neutral FB and have had very few revisions. I don`t receive many INR messages, let alone cases. And rarely do I ever have a buyer repay me after receipt of the package.

eBay seems to be setting us up for failure with the new changes and policies. Very frustrating!

westernstargifts · ‎04-16-2014

Thank you Rodney.

I would really like to see a change where the buyer is made aware they are opening a case and not contacting the seller. One buyer was quite upset and apologetic that she had opened one as that was not her intention. Even after a month she was willing to wait longer but I do not like having open cases and issued the refund. She is the only one who has offered to pay when it arrives.

rose-dee · ‎04-16-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi westernstargifts.

Changes to "ask seller a question" happened quite some time ago, and was in response to feedback we received from some sellers - especially some large multi-channel sellers - that their business on eBay was high touch and expensive relative to business on their own website and other marketplaces. eBay members are an inquisitive bunch and we ask a lot of questions. 🙂 In many cases, buyers were emailing to ask about things that were covered in the seller's FAQ, and/or the listing description.

Some sellers feel we went to far with that, others say not far enough. I don't know whether we will adjust the balance further or not, but I can say that the team is definitely interested in this kind of feedback. 🙂

Wouldn't it be possible for eBay to offer a nice, big, prominent "Ask Seller A Question" button (preferably bright red!!) to sellers on an individual basis? In other words, smaller sellers could choose to have it placed up top, up front in all their listings, and those big-volume sellers who want a lot less customer contact, refuse it? Couldn't this be made workable especially with store owners, who already have options for customization?

By a contact link/button, I mean just a simple, straightforward and direct line to the seller - no FAQs, no automated accidental cases opened, etc. I completely agree with 'westernstar' that this has been one of my least favourite changes in the past couple of years.

rose-dee · ‎04-16-2014

@westernstargifts wrote:
Thank you Rodney.

I would really like to see a change where the buyer is made aware they are opening a case and not contacting the seller. One buyer was quite upset and apologetic that she had opened one as that was not her intention.

Yes, I've had precisely this scenario happen to me on at least two occasions I can recall. Each time the buyer was perplexed and apologetic. Not only that, but I had to help them out in navigating the case closure process. With open cases now counting as defects, this is going to adversely affect a lot of smaller-volume sellers in particular.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎04-16-2014

@rose-dee wrote:
Wouldn't it be possible for eBay to offer a nice, big, prominent "Ask Seller A Question" button (preferably bright red!!) to sellers on an individual basis? In other words, smaller sellers could choose to have it placed up top, up front in all their listings, and those big-volume sellers who want a lot less customer contact, refuse it? Couldn't this be made workable especially with store owners, who already have options for customization?

By a contact link/button, I mean just a simple, straightforward and direct line to the seller - no FAQs, no automated accidental cases opened, etc. I completely agree with 'westernstar' that this has been one of my least favourite changes in the past couple of years.

Usually, the colour red is only used for urgent messages around important warnings or system errors. 🙂

Thank you for your feedback regarding the Ask Seller a Question link position, I'll take it to the Seller Communications team.

Anonymous · ‎04-16-2014

Thanks westernstargifts. That was the most troubling part of your question. I agree with you - if buyers are opening up cases when they really just wanted intitiate a conversation, we need to make sure that it's clearer to the buyers that they are opening a dispute. That's excellent feedback and we will take it back to the seller protections team.

westernstargifts wrote:

Thank you Rodney.

I would really like to see a change where the buyer is made aware they are opening a case and not contacting the seller. One buyer was quite upset and apologetic that she had opened one as that was not her intention. Even after a month she was willing to wait longer but I do not like having open cases and issued the refund. She is the only one who has offered to pay when it arrives.

westernstargifts · ‎04-16-2014

Yes, and it has already had a huge impact on my seller status.

rose-dee · ‎04-16-2014

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@rose-dee wrote:
Wouldn't it be possible for eBay to offer a nice, big, prominent "Ask Seller A Question" button (preferably bright red!!) to sellers on an individual basis? In other words, smaller sellers could choose to have it placed up top, up front in all their listings, and those big-volume sellers who want a lot less customer contact, refuse it? Couldn't this be made workable especially with store owners, who already have options for customization?

By a contact link/button, I mean just a simple, straightforward and direct line to the seller - no FAQs, no automated accidental cases opened, etc. I completely agree with 'westernstar' that this has been one of my least favourite changes in the past couple of years.
Usually, the colour red is only used for urgent messages around important warnings or system errors. 🙂

Thank you for your feedback regarding the Ask Seller a Question link position, I'll take it to the Seller Communications team.

OK, I'll take lime green, or bilious purple, anything that stands out would be fine! And yes, I'd LOVE to see eBay find some way to make this an option.