Free store trial not free???

[forester_studios]

I signed up for a free one month store trial.  In my latest invoice I am being charged over $26 store fee which they will take out of my account the middle of this month.  When I signed up it said I had a month free to decide.  What is ebay doing - CHARGING FOR A FREE TRIAL???

[momcqueen]

Was there something you needed to 'activate' in the offer so ebay would know you were using their free trial offer and not just opening a store? 

With their 'free' promotions, they charge it in one spot on your invoice and then credit it in another so that you can see what a great value it is. 

You will likely have to call ebay Customer Service to see it ironed out. Be sure to pack a lunch and clear your agenda for the following three hours first; there have been many recent reports of major delays in speaking to people at the Help Centre.  

[pocomocomputing]

eBay stores are always billed one month in advance. So (without a promo), the first invoice would have the current month prorated and the next month billed in advance. So the first invoice would be a shock as it would have a complete month and a partial month billed.

Based on the above scenario, if you got a credit for a month you would still see some of the partial month billed  because up to two months could be billed on your first invoice.

What store level did you get? Basic at 15.95/19.95 or Premium at $49.95/59.95?

PS When you end the store, you get a credit on your invoice in the last month and this is when you get your billed in advance money back.

[lady.stark]

The free trial was for a basic store... I also subscribed to it to see how it works 😉  Maybe you chose an upgraded store?

[momcqueen]

Thank you for explaining it as nicely as you did, pocomo. Do you have insight as to the reason ebay does it like this?

I'm always appalled by the double-billed first month of my contact and don't notice the last month being any lower.

My point being, if it's still a big turn-off to a seller like me who's had a store subscription for three years, how does ebay hope to entice other sellers into new store subscriptions if they feel like they're getting slapped in the face with a cold, dead fish in the first month? 

I don't know if anyone here can answer that part of my subsequent question. 

[forester_studios]

It is a basic store.  I did activate the offer, but maybe something got messed up.  Ebay has been "glitchy" the past few days.  When I signed up I got emails for .ca and .com saying my selling manager was cancelled.  Odd because it is still working on both sites.  I dread calling customer service as they are often useless, but I may have to. 

[pierrelebel]

" $26 store fee"

This would suggest you opened your store on eBay.com (US$19.95) instead of eBay.ca (Cdn$ 19.95)

Yes, you should call eBay support.  There is most likely a very simple answer.

Have you checked your account carefully.  Is it possible the charge was offset by a credit for the same amount?

[pjcdn2005]

I didn't think that it was possible now for a seller registered in Canada to open a .com store? I realize that was the only choice before ebay.ca was started but I didn't think that was possible now.

[lady.stark]

I really think it is a mistake then... As I said, I also tried the free trial and there is no additional fee into my account. If I want to cancel the store, I'll have to do it before November 15, because I opened mine on October 15. Do you remember the date when you opened it? Is it possible that you passed the deadline to cancel your store before the free month expired?

[momcqueen]

That is a good point. I've noticed the 'free' duration of anything tends to pass a lot faster than the paid portion. 

Or can it be that a store was opened on both ebay.ca and ebay.com? That's not possible with the same, sole user id, is it? I know I have to subscribe to the (free) Selling Manager on ebay.ca and ebay.com and ebay.co.uk if I want to see it reflected when I log into those sites but that is with an existing store created on ebay.ca. When I first opened a basic store in 2012, I accidentally opened it on ebay.com and then had to cancel that to open it again on ebay.ca. Or so I recall.