eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-19-2014

Hello Canadian eBayers,

Welcome to our weekly chat. Please start posting at your convenience, we will join you at 1 PM Eastern as usual.

ecgt · ‎11-19-2014

Hi Raphael and everyone,

We have been experiencing an occasional problem over the past year where sometimes customers from Newfoundland are not being charged tax. This does not happened with every customer from NL. We started a thread about this last Thursday in the "Site Issues" section, but did not receive a response from anyone claiming to have the same occasional problem. We have been over our tax tables and checked all of our listings multiple times since we first encountered this problem earlier this year and everything seems to be in order. The problem most recently happened last week with item # 151449364556.

This problem has only occurred on shipments to NL and it has happened approximately 5 times in 2014. We are concerned that there is some kind of glitch in eBay's system causing this. To date we have been backing off the tax in such situations, but this is highly problematic (as it eats into our bottom line). This is not only an eBay issue, but a Canada Revenue Agency compliance issue. Is this something that you folks can look into? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

ecgt

pierrelebel · ‎11-19-2014

Good morning

From the announcement page this morning on eBay.com, confirming announcement made previously:

Beginning November 18, the latest updates to PayPal’s User Agreement and policies will take effect, with important implications for both buyers and sellers who use PayPal on eBay.

To help bring its purchase protection policies in line with the coverage many buyers receive when they pay for a product or service by credit card, PayPal will now give US buyers up to 180 days from payment to file a PayPal dispute for an item that wasn’t received or was not as described. Please note that this update does not affect the time buyers have to open an eBay Money Back Guarantee request, which will remain 30 days after the latest estimated delivery date.

Sellers: learn more about the eBay seller standards policies that will be updated later this month, with new protections for your seller standing.

For details on these and all the PayPal User Agreement changes taking effect November 18, be sure to review PayPal’s Policy Updates page.

http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/11/paypal-purchase-protection-window-will-be-extended-to-180-days...

Could you please take a few minutes and advise exactly how Canadian sellers will be affected -

1) if the buyer is American and the Canadian seller lists on eBay.ca

2) if the buyer is American and the Canadian seller lists on eBay.com

3) if the buyer is American and buys from a Canadian seller on eBay.ca (regardless of where the item was listed, or does it matter?)

When and how will similar protection be offered to Canadian buyers purchasing on eBay.ca? eBay.com? other international sites?

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-19-2014

@ecgt wrote:

Hi Raphael and everyone,

We have been experiencing an occasional problem over the past year where sometimes customers from Newfoundland are not being charged tax. This does not happened with every customer from NL. We started a thread about this last Thursday in the "Site Issues" section, but did not receive a response from anyone claiming to have the same occasional problem. We have been over our tax tables and checked all of our listings multiple times since we first encountered this problem earlier this year and everything seems to be in order. The problem most recently happened last week with item # 151449364556.

This problem has only occurred on shipments to NL and it has happened approximately 5 times in 2014. We are concerned that there is some kind of glitch in eBay's system causing this. To date we have been backing off the tax in such situations, but this is highly problematic (as it eats into our bottom line). This is not only an eBay issue, but a Canada Revenue Agency compliance issue. Is this something that you folks can look into? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

ecgt

Hi ecgt,

We are aware of this issue. This will only affect buyers with a Canadian shipping address and who registered before 2002 or so. We are working on identifying the accounts impacted and fix the data issue that is causing this break in the application of the tax table.

pierrelebel · ‎11-19-2014

On the same subject, I registered with eBay in 1998 (legacy member) and do NOT ever see the tax table.

Is it part of the same problem?

lukey9 · ‎11-19-2014

Is there any more Progress on the BIN Shopping Cart, I am getting very tired of giving back Shipping refunds all the time.

rose-dee · ‎11-19-2014

Good afternoon Raphael,

Can you please clarify whether eBay has any policy at all regarding verbatim copying by one seller of another seller's item title(s), especially if done repeatedly, and especially if the precise item specifics are also being copied wholesale? (I'm not referring here to the text of the item description or photos being pirated).

This is obviously made simpler by one seller opening another's item, and using the "Sell Similar" feature, effectively using the other's ideas, work, and time to save himself the same trouble.

Does eBay have any rules or policy(ies) in this regard? If so, can you elaborate, and also indicate what a seller can or should do who finds him/herself the object of repeated copying?

I would think many sellers' titles can be quite original and important as a marketing tool (I know I spend quite a lot of time on many of mine). If there is no specify policy in place, does this issue fall under the general umbrella of eBay's position on copyright violation?

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-19-2014

@pierrelebel wrote:

Good morning

From the announcement page this morning on eBay.com, confirming announcement made previously:

Beginning November 18, the latest updates to PayPal’s User Agreement and policies will take effect, with important implications for both buyers and sellers who use PayPal on eBay.

To help bring its purchase protection policies in line with the coverage many buyers receive when they pay for a product or service by credit card, PayPal will now give US buyers up to 180 days from payment to file a PayPal dispute for an item that wasn’t received or was not as described. Please note that this update does not affect the time buyers have to open an eBay Money Back Guarantee request, which will remain 30 days after the latest estimated delivery date.

Sellers: learn more about the eBay seller standards policies that will be updated later this month, with new protections for your seller standing.

For details on these and all the PayPal User Agreement changes taking effect November 18, be sure to review PayPal’s Policy Updates page.

http://announcements.ebay.com/2014/11/paypal-purchase-protection-window-will-be-extended-to-180-days...

Could you please take a few minutes and advise exactly how Canadian sellers will be affected -

1) if the buyer is American and the Canadian seller lists on eBay.ca

2) if the buyer is American and the Canadian seller lists on eBay.com

3) if the buyer is American and buys from a Canadian seller on eBay.ca (regardless of where the item was listed, or does it matter?)

When and how will similar protection be offered to Canadian buyers purchasing on eBay.ca? eBay.com? other international sites?

Hello Pierre,

This change is 100% on the PayPal side of things and doesn't impact how buyers are protected on eBay. As far as I know, the only thing that is changing is the time for buyers to file a merchandise dispute (Item Not Received and Significantly Not as Described), which is going from 45 days to 180 days. Here is the link to the Canadian PayPal program changes, please visit that page for more details:

https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/ua/upcoming-policies-full

This is not to be confused with the recent launch of the eBay Money Back Guarantee on the Canadian eBay sites, which aligns the coverage offered to Canadians with what had been in place only on eBay.com since 2008. Now that we have eMBG in Canada, Canadian buyers have the same coverage regardless of whether they buy on eBay.ca or eBay.com.

pierrelebel · ‎11-19-2014

As you know, I have always been a strong believer in the KISS system.

1) "which is going from 45 days to 180 days. "

I get that. Buyers (Canadians or Americans) now have 180 days to make a claim if payment was made through PayPal.

2) "This is not to be confused with the recent launch of the eBay Money Back Guarantee on the Canadian eBay sites"

That I do not get. Under the eBay Money Back guarantee buyers must now file a claim within 30 days from expected delivery date. What is the point? They have 180 days under the new PayPal policy.

Question - Under what circumstances would a Canadian buyer lose the ability to file a claim within 180 days if the eBay policy restricts the same buyer to 30 days from expected delivery date?

Finally, how do these new policies affect Canadian sellers? Are the effects of the policies different if a seller lists on eBay.ca or eBay.com? If the buyer buys from the Canadian sellers using eBay.ca or eBay.com?

ecgt · ‎11-19-2014

Thanks for the reply, Raphael. Just as an FYI, the client who purchased the item last week that was not charged tax registered in 2007, a much later date than what you indicate here. However, we registered in 2002, so is it an issue with our account or the buyer's account?

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-19-2014

@pierrelebel wrote:

As you know, I have always been a strong believer in the KISS system.

1) "which is going from 45 days to 180 days. "

I get that. Buyers (Canadians or Americans) now have 180 days to make a claim if payment was made through PayPal.

2) "This is not to be confused with the recent launch of the eBay Money Back Guarantee on the Canadian eBay sites"

That I do not get. Under the eBay Money Back guarantee buyers must now file a claim within 30 days from expected delivery date. What is the point? They have 180 days under the new PayPal policy.

I like the KISS system too 🙂

In a nutshell, you have 2 layers of protection. eBay Money Back Guarantee covers eBay buyers only. PayPal's Purchase Protection covers any buyers who paid for their item with PayPal, whether it was on eBay or from any other merchant who accepts PayPal payments.

@pierrelebel wrote:
Question - Under what circumstances would a Canadian buyer lose the ability to file a claim within 180 days if the eBay policy restricts the same buyer to 30 days from expected delivery date?

The only way an eBay buyer can forfeit their eligibility to claim under the PayPal program is of they open a claim for the same item under the eBay program. However, if the buyer misses the window to open a claim on eBay, they can fall back to the PayPal program.

@pierrelebel wrote:
Finally, how do these new policies affect Canadian sellers? Are the effects of the policies different if a seller lists on eBay.ca or eBay.com? If the buyer buys from the Canadian sellers using eBay.ca or eBay.com?

Now that eMBG is fully launched in Canada, Canadian sellers will be held against the same policies whether their buyers purchased on eBay.com or eBay.ca. The eMBG programs for these 2 sites are fully aligned.

buckcreekbilly · ‎11-19-2014

Hello

I bought two dvr security camera systems for a seller here. It stated that these systems will work with Blackberry, still advertise them as such. It will NOT work with Blackberry and they assured me that they are developing an app and will send it to me. They kept stalling and then told me i would receive the app on Oct 10. This date has come and gone and still nothing. Now when i try to contact them, all of a sudden, i always get an automated reply...office hrs blah blah. They always replied before, have a complete record of all communication in my mailbox. They obviously stalled me past the 45 day limit to file a complaint or fraud complaint. Can't even leave negative feedback. This was an over $400 purchase and i can't take any action with Ebay? They are still on here and STILL advertising that they work with Blackberry. Blatant fraud and i'm not allowed to report it or have Ebay take any actions?

pierrelebel · ‎11-19-2014

Thank you. That is pretty clear.

So that everyone here clearly understands the new PayPal policy, Canadian sellers offering their products on eBay (any site) are in fact giving buyers a 180 day guarantee of satisfaction, regardless of any disclaimer in their listings.

Buyers can make a claim through PayPal and get their money back - within 180 days - by making a claim of non-receipt or "substantially not as described".

Now, in case of claims for "substantially not as described", who will pay the return shipping? the buyer? or the Canadian seller?

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-19-2014

pierrelebel wrote:

Now, in case of claims for "substantially not as described", who will pay the return shipping? the buyer? or the Canadian seller?

Please refer to the terms of the PayPal Purchase Protection on the PayPal site.

pocomocomputing · ‎11-19-2014

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@ecgt wrote:
Hi Raphael and everyone,
We have been experiencing an occasional problem over the past year where sometimes customers from Newfoundland are not being charged tax. This does not happened with every customer from NL. We started a thread about this last Thursday in the "Site Issues" section, but did not receive a response from anyone claiming to have the same occasional problem. We have been over our tax tables and checked all of our listings multiple times since we first encountered this problem earlier this year and everything seems to be in order. The problem most recently happened last week with item # 151449364556.

This problem has only occurred on shipments to NL and it has happened approximately 5 times in 2014. We are concerned that there is some kind of glitch in eBay's system causing this. To date we have been backing off the tax in such situations, but this is highly problematic (as it eats into our bottom line). This is not only an eBay issue, but a Canada Revenue Agency compliance issue. Is this something that you folks can look into? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
ecgt
Hi ecgt,

We are aware of this issue. This will only affect buyers with a Canadian shipping address and who registered before 2002 or so. We are working on identifying the accounts impacted and fix the data issue that is causing this break in the application of the tax table.

This issue with NF was pointed out 5 years ago in these forums that I know of and was also said to be working on back then.

Apparently (from info back then), the tax table does not take into account alternate old abbreviation of a province (like Nfld of PEI or N.S.). Back then, data validation or data validation and standardization was not done on addresses entered when registered and that is why the issue exists. If true, then having a problem worked on for 5 years (what I know) or more is a long time.

lady.stark · ‎11-19-2014

Hi, I have 3 problems I would like to share with you and hopefully find a solution:

1. The "View original listing" link doesn't work anymore. I click on it, it seems to load the page, but it shrinks again on its own. How am I supposed to see the shipping tab and all the photos of the listing now?

2. The "View order details" link doesn't work either. It brings me to a blank page with only ads from AdChoice.

3. When I click on "Ask a question" or "Contact buyer", it brings me to a page where all the features are available EXCEPT there is NO space to type my message! And when I click on "Attach photos", nothing happens. How am I supposed to contact my sellers to ask questions or my buyers to respond to them if I cannot write anything?

I use Internet Explorer 8 with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Please do not ask me to use another browser, because that is not an option. Thank you!

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-19-2014

@pierrelebel wrote:

On the same subject, I registered with eBay in 1998 (legacy member) and do NOT ever see the tax table.

Is it part of the same problem?

Did you mean as a buyer or as a seller?

The tax table is available to all sellers in their Site Preferences.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-19-2014

@lukey9 wrote:

Is there any more Progress on the BIN Shopping Cart, I am getting very tired of giving back Shipping refunds all the time.

Hi lukey9,

Unfortunately things haven't moved since our last update on this subject. We are still working to get an enhancement prioritized for the US shopping cart.