WHY IS A MESSAGE I SENT TO A BUYER NOT APPEARING IN MY 'SENT' MESSAGE FOLDER ?
Summary: fergua3 is experiencing difficulties with eBay's new messaging system, where messages sent to a buyer are not showing up in the sent folder, leading to confusion about whether they were actually sent. ricarmic and other participants shared similar encounters, suggesting that the system's auto-refresh feature may be causing issues. wilsonharborsales mentioned that certain keywords might trigger the system's AI to delay messages until reviewed by a human. pjcdn2005 and kawartha-ephemera discussed how messages appear in both inbox and sent folders, suggesting the new system is more like threaded text messaging rather than traditional email, which could explain the perceived irregularity in message sorting. Participants expressed frustration over the lack of clear notifications when messages are blocked and the urgent need for effective communication during a postal strike.
i'm fuming. Had a small sale. I sent the buyer a message informing him about the strike. A few hours later i checked to make sure my message went through on this crazy new system.
Nothing in my sent message folder. I look in my inbox and the message is there. Does that mean it didn't get sent to the buyer?? I definitely clicked on the little paper airplane icon to send the message after i typed it.
If it is sent, why is it not showing up in my sent message folder??
marnotom!
·1 year agoMy understanding from other community posts and the test messages I've sent to a couple of you boardies is that the new message system is supposed to be a threaded system emulating what one gets with text messages or systems like Facebook Messenger. There is no "sent" box in the system for new messages (just archived ones) because you don't need one with a threaded system.
Messages you send end up in the "inbox" because there really isn't anywhere appropriate to put them in a system that's also trying to archive messages sent through the old webmail-ish system. The message in the inbox is evidence that you sent the message, but as with the old system, I don't believe there's anything that indicates that the recipient has received and actually read the message.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year ago@marnotom!
@fergua3
I'm on a PC. Any recent messages I have sent to both buyers and other sellers are showing up in my sent folder. It's very likely for the APP it was designed totally differently. That seems to be how most new or tinkered with features work. I've had numerous discussions lately with others telling me they don't see the same things I am seeing or have access to. On the not helpful side I keep finding dropdowns on a PC that used to work but are now greyed out. (Deactivated). Same goes for help links. Of they will work with one set of search results or but not with another set of results. (Duct tape and chewing gum.)
fergua3
OP1 year agoso the bottom line is i have no idea if my messages are getting through to the buyer or not.
To the most recent buyer i sent the same message 3 times (didn't mean to but kept forgetting to have a copy sent to my email) PLUS i sent another message asking him to please tell me if he recieved my earlier messages.
No response. Could well be they are being blocked by dumb AI, could be he just hasn't read them yet. But he's a very active user, buys many items per month, so you would think he would have read my messages by now. Again....this needs to be sorted out pronto. Not next week, not in a month or six months. Now.
So another question, for those who have had messages blocked by Ebay, does Ebay at least inform you that they were blocked? So far i have not had any such notification on any of my messages...
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year agoBefore this new version of mail came out you could have a messages you receive get a copy sent to your personal email. Mine goes to my gmail account. In testing now the link for communication with buyers has been deactivated. Unsure if that was accidental or intentional. No longer seeing a way to add a secondary email addy. Speaking quietly to not disrupt the boat, mine are still behaving in that manner.
Yellow - Disabled.
Blue - Working but not all options are fully functional.
Example for blue. Unable to update Edit your Best Offer notification preferences. Be notified when your offer has been submitted or you receive a counteroffer.
https://contact.ca.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ManageBuyerCommunication&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK
@devon@ebay Are you able to confirm if eBay email addresses ONLY work within eBay parameters or are also valid with say USPS or international postal services? From a customs perspective they need a valid address to message a customer when there is an issue. Have settings within eBay been deactivated with the mail switchover?
devon@ebay
Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! The eBay messaging system only works within eBay itself. It is not a valid email address that can be used outside of eBay.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year ago@devon@ebay This is what I a feeling was in play. A VALID email is required for customs...Especially for Intl although to USA would be a bonus and also required for assisting postal services when either an MIA package is in play or for damage claims. There are no guarantees that any number on file is valid. Without this info it makes any claims die a very slow death causing a seller to not get reimbursed which is part 2 of this equation. The email works as a backup. A valid email is ALSO required for courier shipments. Has been for years. How are sellers supposed to work around this issue?
-Lotzofuniquegoodies.
As a side this was passed on to Tyler before you, who I believe we were told forwarded to tech but appears it was never resolved.
marnotom!
·1 year agoA message appearing in the old system's "sent" box is no indication that the message got through to the recipient, though. It's just a copy of the message that you sent.
I can't see why it's not possible to indicate when an eBay message has been theoretically seen by the recipient, though, the way Instagram messages or Facebook messages work.
fergua3
OP1 year agohowever, if the message isn't in the sent folder that seems to be a good indication that it wasn't sent at all.
pjcdn2005
·1 year agoWhen I click on messages it takes me to my inbox where I can see all received and sent messages. For me that is true whether or not there has been more than one message sent or received in that thread. I usually do see the ones I've sent in my sent folder as well but after I read your post I checked my sent box. The last message I sent on on the 15th is only showing in my inbox. Strange.
wilsonharborsales
·1 year agoThe new message system will flag certain words and will not send to the buyer until a human looks at it in order to prevent sellers from negotiating sales outside of eBay.
fergua3
OP1 year agoi sent my message to the buyer again and copied my email on it. I didn't receive a copy and still nothing in my sent folder. This is great.......a strike on and i have no way of communicating with my buyer about this very important issue.
Here is a copy of my message. What would Ebay flag?
Hello and thank your for your purchase.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Please be advised that i am shipping this item from Canada. At the moment, the Canadian Postal employees are on strike. The strike is expected to be resolved in the next few days. However, as a result, there will be a delay in shipping this item to you. The delay could be a week or so, perhaps longer.If you do not wish to wait, please let me know and i will cancel your order and issue a full refund. If you choose to wait, i will mail your item to you as soon as is possible.
Very sorry for the inconvenience.
andrew
fergua3
OP1 year agoDo your messages appear in your sent folder when you initiate contact or just when you respond to someone else's message to you?
i've sent my message to the buyer 3 times now and none are appearing in my sent folder. Although i did get a copy of the third one sent to my email.
ricarmic
·1 year agoI checked my inbox more fully, as PJ mentioned even stuff that I've only sent once with no response from buyer shows in the inbox (don't understand why, it doesn't make sense, perhaps it is a bug).
I looked back to before I closed my store for the strike and the "contact buyer" messages I send for every purchase, they show up in both the inbox and the sent folder.
Things that I see only in the inbox are:
-messages from eBay
-it probably would also include messages from buyers that I haven't responded to (and never originally sent them one). I can't test this one as I almost always respond to a message from a potential/buyer.
(maybe something else I've missed)
fergua3
OP1 year agoso, a first contact message i sent pre-strike to a buyer which had no response, is showing in my sent folder. The one i sent today (3 times now), which has had no response, is not showing in my sent folder.
It seems among the 3 of us we are all seeing the same thing: that being, messages we have sent after the strike began are NOT showing up in our sent folder, only in our inboxes. Does this mean none of these messages have gone through to the buyers we sent them to?
fergua3
OP1 year agoi just sent another message and it didn't go through either. What is going on?? Can someone please contact the moderator so he can look into it. I have forgotten how. This needs to be addressed pronto.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year ago@devon@ebay
Can you look into this please.? Some users it seems to be working fine. Others not so well. It appears there is no longer a way to opt out of the new messaging. There also is no formatting. Would be helpful if a message were the longer variety. Just a suggestion.
msau4301
·1 year agoI just sent a message to a buyer this morning and it shows up in my sent messages but it was in response to hers if that makes any difference. Your message most certainly does not contain anything that looks like it would cause it to be flagged. My message also mentions the strike (my buyer was saying she hadn't seen my listings for a while and making sure all was well, it's someone with years of history and a large message history). I think your issue somehow has something to do with your reaching out to her first. Naturally you had to because of the strike (being proactive).
Just wanted to point out all messaging since the strike is not affected (and my message says the word strike also). Perhaps the gradual roll out of the new messaging system is 100% complete now and it has something to do with that for messages initiated by the seller only.
fergua3
OP1 year agoyes, that's my suspicion too. That seller initiated messages are being blocked by Ebay's paranoid AI becasue the seller might be trying to make a deal outside of Ebay. If so, that is a disgrace.
Sellers have to be able to communicate with their buyers.....and they are OUR buyers, not Ebay's. Ebay doesn't sell anything so they don't have any buyers. And sellers must be able to initiate contact to inform, thank and explain. And IF these messages are being blocked, Ebay is doing it without even informing the seller that they did not go through. Also disgraceful.
If we are not going to be allowed to initiate contact then take away the DSR for communication, buy our inventory from us and sell it yourself, Ebay.
kawartha-ephemera
·1 year ago@ricarmic
Quote. "I checked my inbox more fully, even stuff that I've only sent once with no response from buyer shows in the inbox (don't understand why, it doesn't make sense, perhaps it is a bug)." Unquote.
That's not a bug, it's a feature. I'm not surprised that new users are finding the Inbox and sent folders / filters confusing, the first is incorrectly labelled and the second is not really relevant to threaded text message communication. Most likely the inclusion of those 2 folders is an attempt to molllify those resistant to change, unfortunately their presence just causes confusion.
Try not to reference email habits when using this, it's not email so try not to think in terms of received and sent, aka inbox and sent folders.
Desktop folders / filters:
INBOX. This is misleading, the name implies that only messages received from others are included here. The implication is untrue, The correct filter name should be ALL MESSAGES, meaning messages of all origins, both sent and received are included here, it does not matter who initiated the conversation. Absolutely everything is included here.
SENT. Irrelevant, not used or needed in a text message system
msau4301
·1 year agoThat is a good way to describe it, a "text messaging system" is exactly what the new method looks like. Just like on my phone all texts are just there in "messages" they aren't broken up as you say. But at least with phone texts though (Apple not eBay) if a message doesn't got through it immediately gives a "message not delivered" and asks you to try again. Would be handy if that showed up for us. I agree with fergua that if for some reason AI is blocking anything from being sent we should be notified, otherwise we just have to assume it was sent and the receiver didn't bother to respond.
kawartha-ephemera
·1 year agoFor sure an immediate "message not sent" warning would be appropriate whenever a message fails to send. Alternatively, if for some reason a message just sent does not immediately appear in blue, you know that it failed to send. For this reason it should not be necessary to check a sent folder to confirm a message was sent, on the app this behaviour is strait forward and obvious to all. On desktop though, with so much vacant white space everywhere and the extra redundant folders, the user experience is muddled and dreadful. This last year or so, I seldom use the desktop for messaging, i just pickup the phone or tablet as it is so much better in this regard
pjcdn2005
·1 year agoOther sellers have mentioned being notified if a message is blocked by AI so I do t think the op's messages are being blocked.
fergua3
OP1 year agothat does not explain why all the other messages i've sent on the new message system, both responses and initiated contact, ARE showing up in my sent folder, but the ones i have sent to this buyer alone are not.
I still have not heard beck from this buyer, after sending 4 messages, the last one asking him to confirm receiving the others. They are also still not in my sent folder. The only conclulsion can be is that they were not sent.
Unless i get action today i am going to leave my message to my buyer as positive feedback and will add an explanation as to why i am leaving it that way. I am sick of this garbage new message system that has been foisted upon us.
pjcdn2005
·1 year ago@fergua3
If you are seeing your message on the main message/inbox page and it is in blue, I'm sure that it has been sent. As I mentioned the other day, the last message I sent was also not showing in the sent file. But yesterday the buyer sent a reply so they obviously did get it and now it is showing in the sent file. Since the other ones I sent did not get a reply and are already in the sent file, perhaps it takes a few days to get there if there is no response??
it's an odd system on a pc but it does seem to be similar to what I see on my phone when I text. There are no separate sent boxes etc on my text messages and that seems to be how this one is set up. When the new system came out on ,com a while ago, there was no sent box then so it is something they've added, perhaps because sellers didn't like not having it.
I'm also not seeing a copy sent to my email even when I check it off. I will ask a .com seller who has used the system for a while to see if it is working the same on that site and will let you know.
ricarmic
·1 year agoI've just been messaging back and forth a few times with a buyer regarding an MIA item.
When I respond to him or vice versa, I have to leave that message "stream" and come back in again for it to show it, try doing that, it doesn't seem to autorefresh.
PS mine are all showing in the "sent" folder, which brings up the whole "stream" of messages.
PSPS if you only sent them a message, it won't be in your "inbox" it will be showing in the "sent" folder.... it looks like the messages look the same "stream wise" regardless where you look at them (if there's more than one sent/received to the same buyer)