Hello everyone,
Welcome to our weekly chat. The thread will remain open for the next 24 hours or so, please go ahead and post at your convenience.
Open issues:
- Errors when uploading more than one tracking number at a time (repeated, erroneous numbers saved)
- Request Total unavailable
Updates:
- Anchor Store coupon not working/only working on AU site - Issue has been identified and is being worked on between eBay and PayPal. In the meantime CS has been provided with tools to help affected sellers with a work around.
- Printer friendly Order Details page missing items - Resolved - fix rolled out or to roll out soon.
- Selling limits live items count discrepancy - We are investigating further.
- Missing Tracked Packet destinations - still no update from PayPal and Pitney Bowes
- Combined shipping offers not shown to international buyers - ticket open
If anything is missing, please let me know. Thanks!
@mjwl2006 wrote:
Another question, if you please. Further to ebay's Announcement on Monday that the 72-hour lockout threat had been lifted and that "In response to this development, eBay Canada will now initiate a process to roll back the changes made to estimated delivery dates as well as the buyer-facing messaging about a possible disruption. We will reinstate these measures as necessary, pending further announcements from Canada Post and/or CUPW."
I see that the extended delivery times have been rolled back to normal. I cannot object overly to that since I never did close but I am still a bit leery about managing buyer expectation and potential seller defects. What also rolled back behind the scenes? And, more importantly, what exactly will re-trigger seller protection and manage buyer expectation with extended deliver times to be displayed again? Another 72-hour notice?
I ask because it's worrisome enough to keep monitoring the news to see what's happening with the potential postal disruption without also worrying that ebay won't adequately manage buyer expectations for us while we stay open. If it all goes pear-shaped again.
All we rolled back was what we said: the extended estimated delivery dates and buyer-facing messaging to warn them about the possible delays. The rest of the protective measures remain in effect but dormant, as they are real-time protections against defects and INR cases caused by postal delays that aren't happening right now.
In terms of putting these measures back up, we will make the call depending on what news come from Canada Post and the CUPW in the coming days/weeks. We are pretty agile with this, as you saw with how fast we were able to revert back to normal state when the lock-out notice was retracted.
@musicyouneed wrote:
I use selling manager on a desktop computer. I was going through all my listings and making new ones in drafts, so no listing number was attached. The only drafts that are in there right now are for .com.
What I was looking for was item numbers from the original listings in USD. When the migration tool creates drafts, there is a draft ID created that is saved in a database and is matched with the original item ID. With that info I could ask someone to look and see if the missing draft is there in the data and figure out why Selling Manager isn't showing it to you.
@musicyouneed wrote:
I can guarantee that the maximum drafts that are allowed are 250. Your selling manager person is incorrect and is providing the wrong info.
Here is a screen shot from my own personal account:
@musicyouneed wrote:
What happened was that as soon as I reached 250 drafts on .ca, and continued to list more drafts, it dropped off the oldest ones and left the current ones I was doing. How I know that is I was using a printed list of all my old listings alphabetically. I am now still in the "A"'s trying to start over revising then listing them.
I wasn't doing any conversion, I just took all my listings down because of the possible postal strike. I wanted to use that time to update my listings, review pricing, etc.
I think that the "selling manager" is confusing it with the conversion/migration tool, not just the plain drafts available to ebay sellers using selling manager.
There is no possible confusion between the migration tool and Selling Manager, I assure you. The tool isn't on eBay itself, it lives on a separate server and only connects to eBay via the API. eBay staff, except myself and another on the Canadian team, don't have any visibility on the migration tool.
Can you describe more specifically how you were creating the drafts that disappeared?
@pierrelebel wrote:
Hi Raphael.
How many eBay staffers/managers from eBay-Canada in Toronto will be in Las Vegas?
Hi Pierre,
5 of us will be there. Are you attending?
@rose-dee wrote:
@mjwl2006 wrote:
I don't think anyone claimed this was a scam, rose-Dee. The only question was whether a refund was required and, if so, with or without requesting return of the uneaten portions.I used the term broadly. Some felt such a buyer (or buyers in similar situations) might deliberately be trying to get a "freebie". Others felt it was odious of the buyer to expect a refund. Nonetheless, it's the principle that matters -- does a seller believe or not believe such a buyer is being honest (i.e. truly dissatisfied with the product) and should accordingly merit a refund, particularly in the face of a clear seller guarantee?
Frankly I doubt many of us will ever have to deal with an identical dilemma involving a food product, but I do deal with a similar risk every time I sell an item of clothing. People try things on, yank tags off, snag fabrics, then decide they really don't like the colour. At least those items are returnable and resalable (mostly).
Raphael -- I'd be very interested to hear your opinion on whether you feel it's generally better in such situations to refund cheerfully or to consider the buyer a pariah and treat him/her accordingly (i.e. refund or not, and block), where there is no specific eBay policy governing the seller's conduct, but where the seller has a stated guarantee of satisfaction.
I'd also be interested in your response on the same question, absent any stated guarantee on the seller's part.
The other obvious issue is that seller treatment of a buyer could result in trouble if an upset buyer decided to leave negative FB, or a bad review of the product. My understanding was that only cases closed in favour of the seller would preclude the buyer from leaving FB. Is that correct, or wrong? Does that also apply to reviews?
To me, this whole debate goes to the core of what selling online means in terms of customer relations.
I don't really like giving opinions, especially when it comes to how a seller on eBay should run their business. But with that said, I'll humour you.
I think certain items, for example food items, are inherently risky to sell online. Taste is subjective, and the main selling point is the taste. That creates a high risk of buyers claiming they don't like the taste and unlike with technology for example, where it either works as described or it doesn't, there is no way to make the call whether the seller lived up to their promise of a great tasting product. So for sure I would advise caution in how a seller should word their promise of a great tasting product.
As for how to handle the buyer wanting to return a poor tasting food product, putting my seller's hat on, I would treat it on a case by case basis. I don't think there is a process that would be right 100% of the time.
NO. Just wanted to make sure someone from eBay-Toronto would be there to buy Stu a drink or two! 
@rose-dee wrote:
It would be hard for me to determine this unless one of my buyers actually reported to me that they were having trouble (or unless I tried to purchase something and request a total, which I don't want to do at the moment). I'll let you know if it crops up again, but I'd appreciate your keeping it on your "issues" list.
It's on there and I'll keep it until we know what's going on I promise.
@rose-dee wrote:
All record of the listing, sale and shipment has disappeared. However, fortunately I print out a hard copy of every sales record for my files, and I see the item # there: 160995808271. Let me know if you can see the sales information from your end. Thank you!
I found item 160995808271 in your sold items. Can't see it in Paid & Shipped but it's there in Sold. Order # 1025.
@pierrelebel wrote:NO. Just wanted to make sure someone from eBay-Toronto would be there to buy Stu a drink or two!
Pierre! Wed 5-6:30.
@silverpinups wrote:
Hi Raphael,
I'm hoping I posted this right....
Taste may be subjective, but returning an "opened" product that becomes "unsellable" to the seller is "not" the same thing as returning a sweater because they don't like the colour.
The sweater can still be resold by the seller.... while the "opened" food product is basically garbage.
Hi silverpinups,
Sorry if I mis-expressed myself. I meant that the reason for return was the same (buyer remorse), not that the returned items are equivalent in both cases. It was a comment on how eBay would adjudicate the case if it got escalated.
@rose-dee wrote:
raphael@ebay.com wrote:What an interesting edge case. I have searched the CS database and there are no specifics on how eBay should decide if for example that return case was escalated. At first glance, I want to look at this as buyer remorse, where the seller's return policy would apply. Taste is subjective and to me it's the same thing as a buyer wanting to return a sweater because they don't like the colour (different thing than it being the wrong colour).
Raphael, may I offer the opinion that "buyer's remorse" should properly only apply to instances where a buyer has purchased an item, then had second thoughts about the purchase (decided they didn't want it after all, made a mistake in reading the listing, spent too much money, etc.).
In this particular situation, it seems the buyer wanted the product, but was just disappointed with, or put off by the taste. The real problem arose because the bottle had to be opened in order for the customer to know whether she liked it or not. This made it useless (unsalable) to the seller. This isn't the case with garments, provided they aren't beyond repair or cleaning.
I know eBay doesn't obligate a seller to accept a return for buyer's remorse. I would do it anyway, because I want buyers to come back. To me the larger question is: do we as sellers accept that such a buyer is acting in good faith or not?
Most posters on the discussion felt the right approach was to consider this person a "problem buyer" because she didn't like the taste once she opened the product, and get rid of her permanently by blocking. The vehemence of some of the sellers in assuming the buyer was in the wrong was surprising to me, especially since the seller had a guarantee of satisfaction.
I see this as a larger issue of online retailing rather than a particular situation CS can decide upon, e.g.:
How do we sellers view our relationships with customers?
Does a complaint always equal a "problem buyer"?
Does eBay want sellers to blow off and block buyers who may be honestly dissatisfied even when a refund isn't mandatory under eBay rules?
Does "the customer is always right" have a place on eBay?
Again, and it was on purpose that my last response on this remained a bit vague, I'm not here to tell anyone how to run their business. To determine whether the buyer was asking for a return in good faith or whether they are blatantly trying to get an item for free, a seller would have to judge by their own interaction with the buyer. I can't say it's one or the other, nor are there answers to your last questions that would apply 100% of the time.
@pierrelebel wrote:
NO. Just wanted to make sure someone from eBay-Toronto would be there to buy Stu a drink or two!
Stu will be taken care of, I'll personally see to it.
rose-dee wrote:Raphael -- as a seller, which would you do with a "didn't like it" complaint? Try to win over your dissatisfied buyer, or get rid of him/her as quickly as possible, with or without refund? (Assuming the buyer approached you politely and promptly).
Please see my previous comments on this topic.
raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@musicyouneed wrote:I use selling manager on a desktop computer. I was going through all my listings and making new ones in drafts, so no listing number was attached. The only drafts that are in there right now are for .com.
What I was looking for was item numbers from the original listings in USD. When the migration tool creates drafts, there is a draft ID created that is saved in a database and is matched with the original item ID. With that info I could ask someone to look and see if the missing draft is there in the data and figure out why Selling Manager isn't showing it to you.
My listings were all in Canadian $ to begin with. No conversion here.
These I created a draft they disappeared and I have since did a sell similar on them (only a test sample, there are many more).
201605640717, 201605640762, 201605640774, 191898980518, 191898980534, 191898980538, 191898980558, 191898980546, 201605640702, 201605642913, 201605640707, 201605640763, 191898980503, 201605640759, 191891453945, 201605640721
These I created a draft it disappeared and I have not yet done anything with them (again only a test sample there are many more 😞
201605640712, 191898982453, 201605640780, 191898980541, 191898980547, 201605640755, 201605640718, 201605640710, 201605640747, 201605640769, 201596476431, 191898980543, 201605642914, 191898982457, 191898990003, 191898989981
@musicyouneed wrote:I can guarantee that the maximum drafts that are allowed are 250. Your selling manager person is incorrect and is providing the wrong info.
Here is a screen shot from my own personal account:
@musicyouneed wrote:What happened was that as soon as I reached 250 drafts on .ca, and continued to list more drafts, it dropped off the oldest ones and left the current ones I was doing. How I know that is I was using a printed list of all my old listings alphabetically. I am now still in the "A"'s trying to start over revising then listing them.
I wasn't doing any conversion, I just took all my listings down because of the possible postal strike. I wanted to use that time to update my listings, review pricing, etc.
I think that the "selling manager" is confusing it with the conversion/migration tool, not just the plain drafts available to ebay sellers using selling manager.
There is no possible confusion between the migration tool and Selling Manager, I assure you. The tool isn't on eBay itself, it lives on a separate server and only connects to eBay via the API. eBay staff, except myself and another on the Canadian team, don't have any visibility on the migration tool.
Can you describe more specifically how you were creating the drafts that disappeared?
I am totally shocked that you have over 5000 showing it may be because you were doing a migration.
I usually use sell similar as the information on most listings is the same, I just fill in the item specifics/pictures and then I just save for later.
