Unintentionally hilarious e-mail from eBay
Summary: phc64 and several other participants discuss receiving an incorrect email from eBay about a Platform Tax Transparency report being submitted to German tax authorities. transtraders suggests it might be an AI error, while dinomitesales criticizes eBay Canada for not addressing the issue properly. Another participant, mandicrafts, mentions receiving a different unrelated email from eBay, further highlighting communication issues. lotzofuniquegoodies questions whether the message could be related to sales in Germany, but it seems unlikely for most involved.
Yesterday I received the following e-mail from eBay:
Hi Paul,
We’re writing to let you know that your 2025 Platform Tax Transparency report has been corrected.
The report has been updated to include all your post-sale activities from Jan-01-2026 - Apr-01-2026 for sales that occurred in 2025 . We’ll now submit your corrected report to the German tax authorities. Click the button below to download your report.
The German tax authorities????
I have never even been in Germany!
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 weeks ago@phc64
Have you had any sales to Germany that could be applicable for "updating"?
mandicrafts
·2 weeks agoI got an email from eBay saying the "item I reported was not removed". I did NOT report anything to anyone anywhere. There was no item ID referenced. Another bogus email.
dinomitesales
·2 weeks agoI got this as well.
Furthermore, the email ends with the paragraph:
That link is broken and goes nowhere.
@devon@ebay why has no one at eBay Canada addressed this or issued a correction/clarification? This is an astounding level of incompetency on behalf of the communications team at eBay Canada.
one-cent-stamps
·2 weeks ago · EditedI received a similar email and thought it related to an issue I had with inaccuracies in my 2025 Platform Tax Transparency Report, but it is clear this was sent out to other Canadian eBay sellers as well. However, I reconciled my new report and it still is incorrect. Here is a summary of what I have found so far:
apmtrade
·2 weeks agoGot the same. eBay reporting to tax authorities in Germany ?????
byto253
·2 weeks agoYer all foreneigers!!!
transtraders
·2 weeks agoYeah I got the same e-mail. I assume someone forgot to change the country when sending out to a massive mailing list. OOPSIES!
Either that or its AI's fault. Just blame AI eBay! lol!
byto253
·2 weeks agoJust can't make this stuff up.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 weeks ago@byto253
@transtraders
Proofing vs bad AI. Who's to judge?
One more example for the collection: Suggestion offered from a inputted title that did not include the word "Baseball".
Team-Baseball: Toronto Maple Leafs
This is can be actually worse than it seems because many listings are now being entirely created using AI and users do not always proof the results.
transtraders
·2 weeks agoIn eBay's defense, the Leafs are probably better at Baseball than Hockey.😎
lotzofuniquegoodies
·2 weeks agoThis still begs the question when eBay's autofill/AI became the default for listing research and listing creating who is technically responsible in INAD situations? Pretty sure eBay doesn't have a "It was our fault" department.
ypdc_dennis
·2 weeks agoThey are a real team. The Toronto Maple Leafs have won 8 baseball championships since 1969. However, this year they are currently 8th place in the 9 team Canadian Baseball League.